BELOW SUPERNAV drop zone ⇩

Proof in Gaza hospital blast ‘won’t make a difference’: Ex-diplomat

  • An explosion at a hospital in Gaza killed hundreds of people
  • Israel showed evidence pointing to a Palestinian rocket as the cause
  • Former Ambassador David Friedman: Proof won't change minds

MAIN AREA TOP drop zone ⇩

MAIN AREA TOP drop zone ⇩

maylen

https://digital-stage.newsnationnow.com/

AUTO TEST CUSTOM HTML 20241114185800

AUTO TEST CUSTOM HTML 20241115200405

AUTO TEST CUSTOM HTML 20241118165728

AUTO TEST CUSTOM HTML 20241118184948

(NewsNation) — President Joe Biden and the Israeli military said Wednesday that intelligence, satellite imagery and an audio recording point to a Palestinian militant group as being responsible for the explosion of a Gaza hospital.

Former U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman said the evidence presented “won’t make a difference” in the eyes of people who have already drawn their own conclusions.

“They say a lie is halfway around the world before the truth puts on its shoes,” Friedman said Wednesday on “Elizabeth Vargas Reports.”

The cause of the explosion Tuesday evening was unclear, but Israel and Hamas blamed each other.

Biden waded into that debate when he landed in Israel, telling reporters that the United States has concluded it was likely “the other team” — meaning, not the Israeli military — that was responsible for the explosion.

The Hamas-run Health Ministry initially said there were more than 500 killed, but the death toll was revised downward Wednesday to 471.

The explosion and claims from Hamas that Israel was responsible sparked protests across the Middle East.

Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi has warned the war was “pushing the region to the brink.” After the hospital blast, Jordan canceled a meeting between Biden, Jordan’s King Abdullah II and the Palestinian and Egyptian presidents.

“There is no appetite in any of these areas to really understand what really happened. They have their narrative and want to stick with it,” Friedman said.

While Israel denied involvement in the blast, it took the military hours to do so and even longer to show proof it was Islamic Jihad, a smaller militant group operating in Gaza.

“I would have acted faster. I think it would have been helpful to act faster, but it didn’t matter. Within an hour, it was too late. This took over the area so quickly,” Friedman said. “Even now, tomorrow, the next day, with all the evidence, you go into Egypt, go into Jordan, you go into Gaza, you go into the West Bank and you show, it won’t make a difference.”

Hamas called Tuesday’s hospital blast “a horrific massacre,” saying an Israeli strike caused it. Islamic Jihad accused Israel of trying “to evade responsibility for the brutal massacre it committed.”

Biden announced Wednesday that an agreement has been reached to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza from Egypt. But it will stop flowing if Hamas intercepts it.

As civilians in northern Gaza move south, both Egypt and Jordan have said they won’t take in Palestinian refugees.

NewsNation reporter Zaid Jilani and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Elizabeth Vargas Reports

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed

 

MAIN AREA MIDDLE drop zone ⇩

Trending on NewsNation

AUTO TEST CUSTOM HTML 20241119133138

MAIN AREA BOTTOM drop zone ⇩

tt

KC Chiefs parade shooting: 1 dead, 21 shot including 9 kids | Morning in America

Witness of Chiefs parade shooting describes suspect | Banfield

Kansas City Chiefs parade shooting: Mom of 2 dead, over 20 shot | Banfield

WWE star Ashley Massaro 'threatened' by board to keep quiet about alleged rape: Friend | Banfield

Friend of WWE star: Ashley Massaro 'spent hours' sobbing after alleged rape | Banfield

Sunny

la

51°F Sunny Feels like 51°
Wind
2 mph E
Humidity
49%
Sunrise
Sunset

Tonight

A few passing clouds. Low 48F. Winds light and variable.
48°F A few passing clouds. Low 48F. Winds light and variable.
Wind
3 mph NNE
Precip
9%
Sunset
Moon Phase
Waning Gibbous