Al Ahli Arab Hospital was bombed shortly before 7 p.m. Monday October 16 in Gaza. There are reports of “471 martyrs (…), 314 injured, including 28 in critical condition”, according to a press release issued in Gaza, cited by Al-Jazeera.

In a report by Jean-Michel Leprince on French Radio-Canada network broadcasted on October 18, an explanation of the bombing of the hospital was offered which reinforces the Israeli position. Biden is shown saying he believes Netanyahu claiming Islamic Jihad is responsible for what happened. The crater does not correspond to that caused by the large bombs launched by Israel. In addition, a recording reportedly shows a conversation between Hamas members proving the responsibility of Islamic Jihad. The journalist does not present the opposite version, except to show the Arab populations who attribute responsibility for the disaster to Israel.

And yet, the other version of the facts is much more plausible. Israel not only drops big bombs, it also drops 500-pound laser-guided bombs that create smaller craters and go undetected by U.S. surveillance. The alleged recorded conversation then looks like a fake. In an interview he gave to Véronique Dubé at Noovo info on October 18, Rachad Antonius clarified that “there is a long history of falsification in situations like that on the part of Israel. I have Palestinian friends who know the local dialects. And for them, it’s not the dialect we use.”

The Israeli authorities have always assured that they never target health infrastructures, but the World Health Organization (WHO) had already identified on Monday « 111 medical infrastructures targeted », « 12 healthcare executives killed and 60 ambulances targeted » . L’Humanité, October 19, 2023.

Israel further warned several hospitals in Gaza to evacuate, including the hospital that was targeted.

Finally, on Tuesday evening [October 17], Hananya Naftali, former member of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s communications team, was still talking about an Israeli strike, which he justified by the need to kill terrorists taking refuge in the hospital. (see below) He finally deleted his tweet, and published a second one in which he mentioned an “error”.

I would like to believe that a doubt persists and that there are two versions. I want to believe that the information I circulate here does not replace the essential work of journalists, including those from established media. They nevertheless still need to report all the facts and not just those that support the official position of the Canadian and American governments. And this applies to Ukraine and not only to the Middle East.

Regarding Ukraine, I do not know of a single journalist from the established media who has expressed a view different from the official American and Canadian positions. Regarding what is happening in Gaza, we are talking about a humanitarian crisis and it is as though it did not arise from its situation as an open-air prison, or even a concentration camp. We speak of a humanitarian crisis as if it did not result from collective punishment, forced population displacement, ethnic cleansing and Israeli actions of a genocidal nature, to use the expression of the UN special rapporteur in Gaza. So I would like to believe that social media do not replace the work of journalists, but the behavior of some, in the context of war, sometimes gives us the impression that we must get important informations by relying at least in part to less official media. It is as if we were entering a new era of Prohibition of Information, the latter having unfortunately become stuff that we pass on as contraband.