Tlaib Still Refuses to Accept Palestinian Responsibility for Hospital Blast, Demands ‘International Investigation’

Representative Rashida Tlaib (D., Mich.), a member of the progressive Squad group, still refuses to accept Palestinian responsibility for the hospital blast that occurred in Gaza last week.

Last week, major U.S. news outlets quickly ran with Hamas’s claim that an Israeli air strike hit a Gaza hospital where civilians were sheltering. U.S. intelligence has since debunked the claim, revealing that the blast resulted from a misfired Palestinian Islamic Jihad rocket. Video and images also demonstrate that the blast did not strike the hospital directly and instead hit the parking lot.

“Media outlets and third-party analysts have raised doubts about claims and evidence offered by both Israel and the Gaza Ministry of Health, and I agree with the United Nations that an independent investigation is necessary,” Tlaib told Israeli newspaper Haaretz on Monday. “I cannot uncritically accept Israel’s denials of responsibility as fact, especially in light of confirmation from the World Health Organization that Israel has bombed numerous medical facilities in Gaza and reports from the Palestinian Red Crescent Society of ongoing threats from the Israeli military to evacuate hospital.”

The Gaza Health Ministry, which is controlled by Hamas, originally estimated that 500 Palestinians were killed in the hospital blast. Tlaib parroted that approximation on X shortly after the incident occurred.

“Both the Israeli and United States governments have long, documented histories of misleading the public about wars and war crimes — like last year’s Israeli military assassination of Shireen Abu Akleh and the false claims of weapons of mass destruction that led our country into the Iraq War — and cannot clear themselves of responsibility without an independent international investigation,” Tlaib said Monday. “This debate should not distract us from the urgent need for a ceasefire to save innocent civilian lives.”

Tlaib’s comments come after video analyses performed by major news outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, CNN, and the Associated Press confirmed that the blast was caused by a rocket that originated in Gaza.

After initially endorsing Hamas’s claim about the hospital blast on social media, Tlaib tearfully repeated the lie at a pro-Palestinian rally outside the Capitol, held days after the IDF had produced evidence disproving the claim that Israel was responsible. pic.twitter.com/Bu6abgEr3d

Tlaib has been demanding Israel initiate a ceasefire in its war with Hamas, calling for de-escalation in the Middle East while attending an anti-Israel protest on Capitol Hill last Wednesday. Thousands of protesters attended the rally, which led to hundreds unlawfully entering a House office building while Congress was in session. As a result, about 300 in attendance were arrested by Capitol Police.

Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R., Ga.) is expected to bring forward a resolution on Tuesday to censure Tlaib, accusing her of inciting an “insurrection” at the Capitol last week.

Greene aims to formally disapprove of Tlaib’s “antisemitic activity, sympathizing with terrorist organizations, and leading an insurrection at the United States Capitol Complex” last Wednesday, the censure resolution reads.

“By leading an anti-American and antisemitic insurrection on October 18, 2023, Rashida Tlaib followed Hezbollah’s orders to carry out a ‘’day of unprecedented anger’’ following an explosion at a Gazan hospital, lying about Israel’s responsibility for the attack, which United States intelligence agencies said was not perpetrated by Israel,” Greene’s resolution stated.