Hamas Unwittingly Admits Gaza Rockets Are Prone to Misfire

Latest Developments

Hamas sought to push back on October 18 against mounting evidence that an errant Palestinian rocket caused the Al Ahli Arab Hospital carnage, only to provide testimony in support of that evidence. In a statement to the media, Hamas argued that its rockets are “homemade, and do not have the destructive power that kills hundreds at once” a reference to the death toll it has given for the October 17 explosion at Al Ahli. But the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has already explained that, because the errant rocket fired by Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) had only begun its intended flight, it carried unspent fuel that caught fire on impact, compounding the lethality of its warhead’s explosion.

As Hamas was attempting to revive its canard that Israel bombed the hospital and refute Israeli and U.S. findings that the blast was caused by an PIJ rocket that fell short, the arguments in the Hamas statement were clearly meant to apply to the PIJ arsenal too. And the acknowledgment that Hamas, PIJ, and other Gaza terrorists use rockets produced in underground foundries, from improvised materials, merely bolsters the probability of a misfire.

Separately, Israel has issued a rebuttal to the Hamas claim that 471 Palestinians were killed at Al Ahli. In an X post, Foreign Ministry chief spokesperson Lior Haiat said, “several dozen people were apparently killed” there, an apparent precursor to an official Israeli count from aerial footage and other information sources.

Expert Analysis

“Hamas has been hoisted by its own petard. Its lies are collapsing upon themselves. It rushed to blame Israel within an hour of the hospital blast, and to assert a staggering death toll that could not credibly have been ascertained in that short a time. Too many international media and observers bought it. But the lies are collapsing upon themselves. We know from Israeli radar trackers that at least 450 terrorist rockets have landed within Gaza since this war began on October 7 — an almost 10 percent ‘friendly fire’ rate. That will only rise as Hamas and Islamic Jihad feel the pressure of the IDF counter-offensive. Is it too much to ask that, from now on, no one listen to their lies?” — Mark Dubowitz, FDD CEO

“We would never take ISIS or al Qaeda’s word for anything, nor should any media outlet run with claims made by Hamas. We also need to remember Hamas uses human shields — a war crime. Even when civilians may tragically get caught in the conflict, their blood is on Hamas’ hands, not Israel’s.” — Richard Goldberg, FDD Senior Advisor

“How Palestinian Terrorists Yet Again Killed Palestinians, Lied to the Media,” by Mark Dubowitz

“Gaza Hospital Suffers Explosion, Islamic Jihad Misfire Implicated,” FDD Flash Brief

“Misfired Islamic Jihad Rockets Kill Palestinian Children,” FDD Flash Brief