Fact Check: No, WSJ Did Not Report Gaza Hospital Was Hit by a US-made Bomb

U.S. President Joe Biden arrived in Israel on Wednesday, after hundreds were said to have been killed following an explosion at Gaza City's al-Ahli Hospital on Tuesday.

Speaking at a Tel Aviv press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday morning, Biden said: "Based on what I've seen, it appears as though it was done by the other team, not you. But there's a lot of people out there not sure, so we have to overcome a lot of things."

While Biden was traveling aboard Air Force One, claims spread on social media that The Wall Street Journal had reported the explosion was caused by an American ballistic.

The Claim

A post on X, formerly Twitter, by user @IranObserver0, posted on October 17, 2023, and since viewed 300,000 times, stated: "The Wall Street Journal: 'The bomb that was dropped on the hospital was an American MK-84.'

"This bomb is precision-guided, largest in MK family and has about 950 kg weight."

The Facts

The claim about The Wall Street Journal is false.

There is no record that the Journal, or any other credible media outlet, reported the claim made in the viral social media post.

The newspaper has been contacted for comment.

An unprecedented surprise attack conducted by Hamas against Israel on October 7 and the Israel Defense Forces' largest-ever bombing campaign against the Gaza Strip has marked the deadliest flare-up in decades in the 75-year Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The Associated Press reports that, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, at least 2,778 people have been killed and 9,700 wounded in Gaza with another 1,200 people across Gaza believed to be buried or under the rubble, alive or dead. In Israel more than 1,400 people have been killed since Hamas' October 7 attack.

Many questions remain unanswered about the explosion at al-Ahli Hospital. As with much of the information surrounding the conflict, limited verifiable, independent reporting has fomented a breeding ground for misleading content.

A video posted earlier this morning from the official State of Israel X account claimed to show a rocket fired from Gaza caused the explosion.

However, this was later deleted after a New York Times journalist noted the timestamp on the video was 40 minutes after the hospital explosion took place.

Images were released by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on X on Wednesday that they said had been taken before and after the blast. The IDF alleged the damage was caused by "a failed rocket launch by the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization."

Palestinian militant group Hamas has said it is collecting evidence that proved Israeli responsibility.

The Ruling

False.

The Wall Street Journal did not report that an American-made bomb was used in the explosion at al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza. No other credible media outlet has reported it either. The claim that the Journal did report this appears to be completely made up.

FACT CHECK BY Newsweek's Fact Check team

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