Video shows rocket fired from Gaza bursting into the sky before explosion in hospital

A video taken by Al Jazeera news network appears to show a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip exploding during flight above Gaza City, which reportedly happened moments before an explosion at Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital.

It is not yet clear whether these events are related. A CNN continues to conduct its own investigation into the hospital explosion and has not yet concluded it.

Authorities in Gaza blamed Israel, while the country said its intelligence indicated the cause was a failed Islamic Jihad rocket launch. The armed group denied this.

The video began to be analyzed by CNN on Tuesday (17), shortly after the explosion. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has since pointed to this video as proof that they were not responsible for the incident at the health facility.

Watch the video shared by the Israel Defense Forces:

Check your own footage before you accuse Israel.

18:59 – A rocket aimed at Israel misfired and exploded.
18:59 – A hospital was hit in Gaza.

You had one job. https://t.co/iCgYOkaE84 pic.twitter.com/Ag2mKCBb6M

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 18, 2023

A CNN compared nearby buildings in the video to geographically locate them to an area west of the hospital.

The video was broadcast live from an east-facing Al Jazeera camera and captured the rocket’s trail rising into the air just seconds after its launch. The time on the screen reads 6:59 pm local time.

By geolocating where the Al Jazeera video was taken and the direction in which it was captured, the CNN determined that the rocket was fired from an area south of Gaza City. The projectile can be seen rising, until it suddenly turns upward into the air.

The rocket is then seen making a sharp turn back in the direction from which it was fired. A streak of fire is seen as he flies significantly faster, continuing in the direction he was fired.

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Suddenly, the device explodes in mid-flight, high above the city of Gaza. The rocket trail is no longer visible. From the video, it is unclear where the rocket landed.

Retired Colonel Cedric Leighton told CNN, after analyzing the video, that it “is consistent with a faulty rocket.”

“The ‘lights’ are consistent with a rocket burning fuel as it attempts to reach altitude. The aerial explosion is consistent with the type of explosion you would see when a rocket fails,” explained Leighton.

Moments after the mid-air explosion, a flash of light is seen east toward the ground. As the camera pans down, an explosion is seen in another area of ​​eastern Gaza City.

Then, a second flash of light – an explosion – is seen in the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital complex.

There is only a rocket trail seen in the video. If the rising rocket was intercepted by another rocket, there would be another wake.

The Iron Dome system is programmed to intercept only rockets that are identified to explode in Israel. However, the explosion shown in the video took place in the middle of Gaza and an interception so far away would be unusual, according to the correspondent for CNN in Jerusalem Hadas Gold.