There are questions surrounding the blast at Al Ahli Arab Hospital
The Gaza Explosion of a Supersonic Rocket Launch and the Role of the Islamic Jihad Group in the Breaking News: A Report from the New York Times
A blast occurred moments later at the site. According to witnesses and statements from the Hamas-run Ministry of Health in Gaza, hundreds were killed.
Israel denied being to blame for the rocket launch and blamed the Islamic Jihad group for not being responsible. The rocket came from Palestinian fighter positions, according to American and other international officials.
As more information became available, The Times reported disputed claims of responsibility and said that the death toll might be lower than originally thought. There was a headline and text at the top of the website about the explosion and the dispute over responsibility within two hours.
Given the sensitive nature of the news during a widening conflict, and the prominent promotion it received, Times editors should have taken more care with the initial presentation, and been more explicit about what information could be verified. Newsroom leaders continue to examine procedures around the biggest breaking news events — including for the use of the largest headlines in the digital report — to determine what additional safeguards may be warranted.
“I don’t think the question will ever get fully resolved using open source intelligence,” says Andres Gannon, an assistant professor of political science at Vanderbilt University.
An Israeli airshock blast from a Christian-run hospital in an active war zone is unlikely to be seen by a public eye, says Marc Garlasco
Hundreds of Palestinians were sheltering in the courtyard of Al Ahli Arab Hospital on Tuesday, believing the Christian-run facility would be a safe haven.
Just before 7 p.m. local time, militants began firing a barrage of rockets from a site west of the hospital, according to independent footage of the event.
There are many experts that agree that the visual evidence doesn’t support an Israeli airstrike. Those strikes typically leave large craters, damage structures and spread shrapnel over a large area. Hamas has said they have yet to find physical evidence at the site, which investigators say would normally be there.
There is a sound in the video that is close to the blast. The sound is marked by the Doppler effect, which can be heard in the rise and fall of the pitch, as something moves toward an observer.
Earshot conducts sonic investigations and analyzed that sound. Earshot found that it was most likely from the east.
Lawrence Abu Hamdan says the Earshot is saying this is decreasing the chance of this coming from the west. We can’t rule it out because it’s rocket science.
Some say that the publicly available evidence is not likely to give a definitive answer. Because the incident happened at night in an active war zone, the available video just might not be enough, says Marc Garlasco, a former United Nations war crimes investigator.
“I totally get why people are concerned about this,” he says. “It was a horrible thing, but man — there’s been a lot of people killed since that incident, right?”
He hopes the U.N. will be able to investigate who was behind the explosion. For now, other issues are in urgent need of public attention, he says. “U.N. facilities are being hit, hospitals are out of fuel — there’s a lot to worry about.”
An Israeli airshock blast from a Christian-run hospital in the Gaza Strip is unlikely to be seen by a public eye, says Marc Garlasco, a former UN war crimes investigator. The blast took place at around 7 pm local time on Tuesday and was believed to have come from an Israeli missile barrage. Hundreds of Palestinians were sheltering at the hospital.