(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . CNN is Examining Al-Jazeera Video that Appears to Support Israel on the Hospital [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-10-18 CNN reports it has received and is examining a video taken by Al-Jazeera just before the explosion at the hospital in Gaza: Video shows rocket fired from Gaza exploding above Gaza City before explosion at hospital (note: link is to the live updates, so you may have to scroll down). Here is the essence of what they saw on the video: The video was broadcast live from an east-facing Al Jazeera camera and captures the rocket trail rising into the air just a few seconds after it was launched. The time on the screen reads 6:59 p.m local time. By geolocating where the Al Jazeera video was taken from, and the direction it's capturing, CNN has determined the rocket was fired from an area south of Gaza City. The rocket can be seen in the video continuing to rise, until it suddenly veers straight up in the air. The rocket then is seen making a sharp turn back toward the direction from where it was fired. A streak of fire is seen as the rocket flies significantly faster, continuing back toward the direction it was fired. Suddenly, the rocket is seen exploding mid-flight, in the air high above Gaza City. The rocket trail is no longer visible. From the video, it is unclear where the rocket ultimately fell. CNN has not reached any final conclusions, but they quote a military expert who watched the video and told them: "The aerial explosion is consistent with the type of explosion you’d see when a rocket malfunctions." The rest of the video shows this: Moments after the mid-air explosion, a flash of light is seen in the video in the east toward the ground. As the camera pans down, an explosion in another area of east Gaza City is seen. Then, a second flash of light — an explosion — is seen at the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital complex. There is only one rocket trail seen in the video. If the rising rocket was intercepted by another rocket, there would be another rocket trail. As I said, no final conclusions — but this evidence, gathered by an Arab news source, does appear to support Israel’s position that a malfunctioning rocket caused the hospital disaster. (Note also that no one is claiming Hamas or Islamic Jihad deliberately targeted a Palestinian hospital.) As for that Arab news source — Al Jazeera — they posted this story 9 hours ago: What we know so far about the deadly strike on a Gaza hospital / Palestinian officials say nearly 500 people were killed in an Israeli air raid on Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza. The health ministry in Gaza said the blast at the hospital was caused by an Israeli air raid. Israel has attributed the explosion to a misfired rocket launched by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) armed group. The PIJ has denied the allegation. Al Jazeera was not able to independently verify the accounts. Al-Jazeera then reports: What does Israel say? Israeli authorities said the hospital was hit by an errant rocket fired by Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which operates inside the Gaza Strip. “An analysis of IDF [Israel’s army] operational systems indicates that a barrage of rockets was fired by terrorists in Gaza, passing in close proximity to the Al Ahli hospital in Gaza at the time it was hit,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a social media post. “Intelligence from multiple sources we have in our hands indicates that Islamic Jihad is responsible for the failed rocket launch which hit the hospital in Gaza.” This is followed by a denial and accusation by the Islamic Jihad. What does PIJ say? The PIJ has rejected the Israeli allegation that it was responsible for the strike. “The Zionist enemy is trying hard to evade its responsibility for the brutal massacre he committed by bombing the Baptist Arab National Hospital in Gaza through his usual fabrication of lies, and through pointing the finger of blame at the Islamic Jihad movement in Palestine,” it said in a statement. Noteworthy is that the report is just that: a report. Al-Jazeera reported what each side is saying, without editorializing or assigning blame. The story is not completely even-handed. It gives more space to Arab leaders denunciations of Israel than to western leaders, but it’s not overly one-sided. Al-Jazeera is no friend of Israel, but in this instance and for this moment they seem willing to wait for the evidence — some of which is their own, that CNN is now examining. 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