Funny how they always say they’re investigating how they managed to commit a war crime, isn’t it?

It seems the Israeli Air Force has performed an air strike on the Al Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza, with the death toll totalling 500 – so far. But 1,000 displaced people were said to be seeking refuge there and hundreds are said to be trapped under the rubble.

The Hamas government has called the strike a war crime – and this seems an accurate description:

An attack against a civilian person or object may constitute a war crime. A person or object can lose its civilian status if it starts making an effective contribution to military action, but this determination must be unequivocal: when in doubt as to whether a school or hospital has become a military objective, there is a presumption that it retains its civilian status.

Even attacks against legitimate military targets mustfollow two additional principles: proportionality – whereby an attack that would cause incidental loss of civilian life, injury to civilians, damage to civilian objects, or a combination thereof, which would be excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated, is prohibited – and precaution in attack – which states that constant care must be taken to spare the civilian population, civilians and civilian objects. All feasible precautions must be taken to avoid, and in any event to minimize, incidental loss of civilian life, injury to civilians and damage to civilian objects.

Al Ahli hospital is funded by the Anglican Church – the Church of England. Richard Sewell, Dean of St George’s College, and one of the church’s top figures in Jerusalem, posted on X, formerly Twitter, that the hospital took “a direct hit from an Israeli missile”.

He called the act the “deliberate killing of vulnerable civilians” and stated: “The bombs must stop now. There can be no possible justification for this.”

And Israel? Israel has said a hospital is not an IDF target. It says the IDF is investigating the source of the explosion, “prioritising accuracy and reliability”.

The simple fact is that these people would have known immediately if their forces were responsible. They are far more likely to be cooking up an excuse that they believe may seem plausible. Two hours, and the clock is ticking…

UPDATE 8.51pm: And here it is: “An analysis of IDF operational systems indicates that a barrage of rockets was fired by terrorists in Gaza, passing in close proximity to the Al Ahli hospital in Gaza at the time it was hit. Intelligence from multiple sources we have in our hands indicates that Islamic Jihad is responsible for the failed rocket launch which hit the hospital in Gaza.”

Do you believe a word of it?

UPDATE 9.38pm: From Reuters: “Daoud Shehab, a spokesman for Islamic Jihad, told Reuters: “This is a lie and fabrication, it is completely incorrect. The occupation is trying to cover for the horrifying crime and massacre they committed against civilians.””

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