The head of a European intelligence agency told Agence France-Presse that “there are not 200 or even 500 dead from the Al-Ahli hospital attack but rather a few dozen, probably between 10 and 50.”. The specific official, according to AFP, spoke on condition of anonymity. The same source also believes that “Israel probably did not do this,” according to the “serious indications” of information available to the agencies he works with.

Hamas immediately blamed the Israeli army for the bombing that killed 500 people.

The murderous bombing, for which Israel and and Hamas blame each othercaused “a few dozen deaths” and not hundreds, said the official, whose statements were also broadcast by other foreign media such as Liberation and Le Parisien.

“The building was not destroyed,” he added, and “the hospital had probably been evacuated before, like many hospitals located in the north of Gaza”after the relevant order from the Israeli army, he underlined, also stressing that “no evidence confirms” that there were hundreds of people in the parking lot where the attack took place.

Al-Ahli Hospital was hit by a rocket on Tuesday night. Hamas immediately blamed the Israeli military, which has been shelling the enclave daily since October 7, saying the blast had left 200 to 500 dead. At midday Wednesday, Hamas’ health ministry in the Gaza Strip said at least 471 people had been killed.

The Israeli army denied being behind the attack and blamed the Palestinian group on Islamic Jihad. According to the Israeli military, it was an IS rocket that was fired at Israel and missed its target. “There have been launch errors with several missiles,” this senior European intelligence official confirmed on Wednesday night.

US President Joe Biden, in his statements from Israel, said that apparently the strike was from the other sideblaming Islamic Jihad.