JERUSALEM: The Israeli military on Wednesday has denied involvement in an explosion that killed hundreds of people at a Gaza City hospital and that the blast was caused by a misfired Palestinian rocket.

“Intelligence from multiple sources we have in our hands indicates that Islamic Jihad is responsible for the failed rocket launch,” the Israeli military earlier said.

A military spokesperson told journalists that there was no structural damage to buildings around the Al-Ahli Al-Arabi hospital and no craters consistent with an air strike.

The spokesperson accused Hamas of inflating the number of casualties from the explosion and said it could not know as quickly as it claimed what caused the blast.

Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that controls Gaza, blamed the deadly blast on Israel.

The Israeli military earlier claimed that some 450 rockets fired from Gaza have fallen short and landed inside the strip in the last 11 days.

Islamic Jihad however denied Israel’s claim that it was behind the deadly blast at Al-Ahli hospital. It accused Israel of “trying hard to evade responsibility for the brutal massacre it committed.”

“The accusations promoted by the enemy are baseless,” Islamic Jihad said, adding that the group “does not use places of worship or public facilities, especially hospitals, as military centers or weapons stores.”

The group said details such as “the angle of the bomb’s fall and the extent of destruction it left behind” confirm it was similar to Israeli strikes.

Islamic Jihad is a smaller, more radical Palestinian militant group that often cooperates with Hamas in their shared struggle against Israel.

*Agencies