Battle of narratives follows deadly incident at Gaza hospital

It was only a matter of time before a tragic incident in the war between Israel and Hamas would become a battle of versions between the two adversaries and their supporters.

Israel and Hamas have continued to trade blame on the explosion that rocked a hospital in Gaza on Tuesday.

The terrorist group blamed the blast on an Israeli airstrike. The Israeli military said a rocket that was misfired by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad landed in Gaza rather than in Israel. The Health Ministry in the Gaza Strip, which is run by Hamas, reported that 500 people were killed in the strike. Israeli officials did not immediately deny Israel’s involvement, saying, instead, that they would review the incident. They came up with proof of their non-involvement only hours later. For many Palestinian supporters, Israel's investigative efforts made no difference; the adoption of the Hamas version of events was almost immediate.

Israel's credibility at stake

“Hamas and similar terrorist organizations are quick to accuse Israel,” Prof. Motti Neiger, from the School of Communication at Bar-Ilan University, told The Media Line. “Israel takes more time and, in the meantime, the narrative sticks.”

He added: “Israel sees its credibility at stake. Because the fighting is expected to be long, it wants to maintain credibility.”

According to Neiger, Israel learned this lesson from the killing of Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh over two years ago when it immediately denied involvement in the shooting and later had to admit she was likely killed by Israeli military fire. The incident led to widespread condemnation of Israel.

Following the hospital blast, several Arab nations declared national days of mourning, with the Palestinian Authority announcing three such days. Demonstrations were held in several Arab cities in the West Bank, Lebanon, and Jordan. In Lebanon, protestors rallied in front of the US and French embassies, criticizing them for their support of Israel. They also tried to break into UN offices in Beirut. In Jordan, angry citizens tried to storm the Israeli Embassy.

“Gaza is considered an underdog by the Arab world,” Wadea Awawdy, a Nazareth-based political analyst from Radio Anas, told The Media Line. “The years of a blockade imposed by Israel and Egypt have led to a lot of anger, even though there are reservations about what Hamas did to civilians in Israel.”

According to Awawdy, “Israel’s attempts to explain the hospital incident are ridiculed in the Arab world. They claim the missiles in Gaza cannot cause such damage. There is no chance for Israel's explanations to be accepted, there is no belief,” he added.

Israeli media interviewed experts who said Israeli bombs would create a major crater in the ground, one that is not visible in drone or satellite imagery.

“The more technology there is, the easier it is to fabricate things,” Professor Hillel Frisch, a senior fellow at the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security, told The Media Line. According to Frisch, the number of casualties reported by the Hamas Health Ministry does not align with footage streamlined live from Gaza, which showed no increased traffic of ambulances in the immediate aftermath of the explosion or movement of bodies from the site.

The incident occurred just hours before US President Joe Biden landed in Tel Aviv on a visit to show support for Israel. After landing on Wednesday, Biden met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and said he “was deeply saddened and outraged by the explosion at the hospital in Gaza yesterday. Based on what I’ve seen, it appears it was done by the other team, and not you.” Biden added that he had viewed intelligence shown to him by the Pentagon, alluding to the fact that the US had its own information.

Denying responsibility, the Israeli military provided what it said was proof that it was not behind the deadly incident.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said in a video statement released hours after the incident that “an analysis of IDF operational systems indicates that a barrage of rockets was fired in Gaza passing in close proximity to the Ahli hospital in Gaza at the time it was hit.”

He added: “Intelligence from multiple sources that we have in order hands indicates that Islamic Jihad is responsible for the failed rocket launch that hit the hospital in Gaza.”

The IDF later released a recording and transcript of a conversation between Hamas operatives it had intercepted in which they acknowledged it was their own rocket that hit the hospital.

“They are saying that the shrapnel from the missile is local shrapnel and not like Israeli shrapnel,” said one of the participants in the conversation, as quoted by the IDF.

“There are two sides in the struggle. On the one hand, we have a state whose interest is not to hurt uninvolved citizens because that hampers its efforts to hit Hamas and continue the fighting. Such incidents only harm this effort,” Neiger said. “On the other hand, we have a terrorist organization that, just a week ago, committed a heinous massacre and is trying to destabilize the whole region—why should we believe their narrative?”

There was some criticism in Israel as to whether the army should have refuted the claims quicker, in an attempt to counter the claims that it was responsible for the incident.

“The IDF’s main goal is to win the battle and reach its goals. Propaganda is secondary in importance, and the army shouldn’t be preoccupied with that,” said Frisch.

After visiting Israel, Biden was scheduled to stop in Jordan for a summit with leaders from the Arab world. The meeting was canceled shortly after the hospital strike before its circumstances were known.

Biden was to meet with Jordan’s King Abdullah, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

Immediately after images of the hospital explosion began streaming, Abbas said he was withdrawing from the summit, and Jordan announced its cancellation.

“The anger among Arab leaders towards the US is so great,” said Awawdy. “The repeated declarations of friendship by Biden for Israel and the almost complete adoption of Israel’s position, make them believe there will be no benefit in speaking with Biden. They don’t see him as someone able to extricate the region from this catastrophe.”

For now, the reaction among Arab countries that have relations with Israel has been mainly condemnation. As the war persists and public opinion in Israel becomes harsher, this could shift.

“The room for maneuvering will become smaller,” Awawdy said. “If the fighting intensifies, especially if there will be a ground invasion of Gaza, this will change the positions of these countries. Until now, they have acted only to fulfill what they see is their obligation.”

The war comes after weeks of reports that there had been significant progress in normalization talks between Israel and Saudi Arabia. The fighting has put a hold on that process and could derail it completely, along with recent relations that Israel forged with the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, and Bahrain. After Hamas’ opening offensive last week, Bahrain and the UAE condemned the terrorist organization. After the incident at the hospital, though, the UAE, together with Russia, asked to convene a special UN Security Council meeting, which was held on Wednesday.

“Even those who believed in normalization, have now lost hope. This conflict has killed the chance for compromise, distancing any opportunity for peace,” Awawdy summarized.