MOSCOW, October 18. /TASS/. Israel did not attack the Al-Ahli hospital in the Gaza Strip, rather an Islamic Jihad rocket was fired at it, Israeli Ambassador to Moscow Alexander Ben Zvi told an online news briefing.

"Israel did not attack the hospital. A poorly manufactured rocket of Islamic Jihad fell on the hospital," the Israeli diplomat said.

Arab media outlets reported on October 17 that Israeli airstrikes on the central part of Gaza City had hit a hospital. The attack killed over 500 people and left hundreds wounded, according to the Palestinian radical group Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip. However, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) denied responsibility, saying in a statement that the powerful explosion in the Gaza City hospital had resulted from a misfired rocket launched from within the Palestinian enclave.

Palestine and Syria declared official public morning for a period of three days, while Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas withdrew from a summit in Amman slated for October 19.