The radical Islamic terrorist group Hamas scored a huge propaganda victory yesterday with false claims that an Israeli airstrike against a hospital in Gaza killed 500 civilians.
Headlines across the world rapidly spread the terror group’s message and blamed the Israeli Defense Force for the explosion.
Evidence to the contrary quickly poured out of Gaza, but the message was out.
Hamas scored their easy propaganda victory thanks to the mainstream media.
Take a look —
Media outlets around the globe were quick to run Hamas’ headlines—without fact checking.
We now know that an Islamic Jihad rocket aimed at Israel misfired and hit the hospital in Gaza. pic.twitter.com/DzJgsbxS4i
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 17, 2023
The Horn News reported on the explosion but waited until there was evidence of the Palestinian claims before attributing blame.
But the damage has already been done.
Rage and protests spread across the entire Middle East, threatening to enlarge the bloody war — and potentially plunge the United States into the conflict.
“After the terrible crime of the Zionist regime in the bombing and massacre of more than 1,000 innocent women and children in the hospital, the time has come for the global unity of humanity against this fake regime more hated than ISIS and its killing machine,” Iran’s foreign minister said Wednesday. “Time is OVER!”
Take a look at some of the evidence that has emerged that shattered the mainstream narrative —
The IDF released drone footage showing the Ahli Hospital in Gaza both before and after the explosion overnight.
The IDF points out the absence of a crater and the lack of damage to surrounding buildings. pic.twitter.com/UodlmuruS8
— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) October 18, 2023
— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) October 18, 2023
So let’s walk through it.
We now have video of the scene showing the explosion is from the parking lot and the buildings are in tact. There is no crater, no building demolished. This is inconsistent with the type of bomb many were suggesting yesterday. pic.twitter.com/HFKKxS8kvr pic.twitter.com/SpgG3Ktbiy
— AG (@AGHamilton29) October 18, 2023
The IDF has released a phone call allegedly between 2 Hamas operatives where one informs the other that the Islamic Jihad missile was launched from a cemetery near the hospital and the shrapnel is consistent with one of their missiles. pic.twitter.com/LFkwBs52m7
— AG (@AGHamilton29) October 18, 2023
First, we need to understand something crucial regarding the flow of information during war. War is fast-paced, it is brutal, and information becomes a weapon to be yielded. Fact-checking is almost impossible in real-time, this is a privilege not given during a war.
— Tal Hagin (@talhagin) October 17, 2023
Fake News (Israeli Activists): Numerous videos, mainly posted by Israeli activists, were alleged to showcase a misfired rocket being the culprit – These videos were from 2021/22 and were irrelevant to this event.
— Tal Hagin (@talhagin) October 17, 2023
2. At 19:10 Al Resalah, a television channel reported that "The occupation targets Al-Ahly Baptist Hospital in central Gaza City, causing a large number of injuries"
(This was posted at the same time the PIJ (Palestinian Islamic Jihad) took responsibility for a rocket barrage) pic.twitter.com/me4kZfWMzO
— Tal Hagin (@talhagin) October 17, 2023
5. First images from the hospital appear at 19:25. pic.twitter.com/JMTAVfObfh
— Tal Hagin (@talhagin) October 17, 2023
Timeline Confirmed. Now we need to analyze raw footage from a live stream published by @AJEnglish, which is as follows: pic.twitter.com/GfPPCGrihv
— Tal Hagin (@talhagin) October 17, 2023
Based solely on this video, there is a high likelihood that this rocket misfired – but its payload was not entirely destroyed, resulting in a devastating explosion.
But how do we know this video showcases the explosion at the hospital?— Tal Hagin (@talhagin) October 17, 2023
An additional video of the alleged incident was also investigated by another OSINT account @GeoConfirmed and Twitter users who were able to pinpoint the location of the explosion. Analysis here: https://t.co/bU3Cl5gYkl
— Tal Hagin (@talhagin) October 17, 2023
The Horn editorial team