An Israeli military spokesman said on Wednesday (October 18) that a failed Islamic Jihad rocket launch caused the bombing of a Gaza City hospital on Tuesday.

"I can confirm that an analysis of the IDF operational systems, indicates that a barrage of rockets was fired by terrorists in Gaza, passing in close proximity to the Ahli hospital in Gaza at the time it was hit. Intelligence from few sources that we have in our hands indicates that the Islamic Jihad is responsible for the failed rocket launch which hit the hospital in Gaza. I repeat this is the responsibility of Islamic Jihad that killed innocents in the hospital in Gaza," Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, the spokesperson for the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said.

About 500 Palestinians were killed in a blast at a Gaza City hospital on Tuesday (October 17) . Health authorities in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip said that an Israeli air strike caused the blast while Israel's military attributed it to a failed rocket launch by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group.

• Rescue workers scour rubble for survivors after strike hits Gaza hospital
• Fury erupts after Gaza hospital strike kills hundreds

The blast was the bloodiest single incident in Gaza since Israel launched a bombing campaign to retaliate for an Oct. 7 Hamas assault on southern Israeli communities that killed 1,300 people. The strip is 45 km-long (25-mile) enclave and home to 2.3 million people.

Reuters could not independently verify who was responsible for the blast.