The Joint Incidents Assessment Team (JIAT) in Yemen denied allegations that Arab coalition forces had targeted a hospital and wedding hall in al-Hodeidah governorate.
The official Spokesman of JIAT in Yemen, Legal Counsellor Mansour al-Mansour, said that a press release issued by the Office of the Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator in Yemen indicated that al-Thawrah hospital, al-Hodeidah’s main hospital, was targeted in 2018 with strikes that resulted in many deaths and injuries.
JIAT vetted the incident and reviewed all documents, including air-tasking orders, and after assessment of evidence, it found that the hospital is located on al-Thawrah street in the south-western part of al-Hodeidah city, consists of a building complex surrounded by main roads, and is in the Coalition Forces No Strike List (NSL).
Mansour said that on the same day, the Coalition Forces carried out air missions targeting a unit where Houthi Armed Militia elements gather, on a specific location in a semi-isolated area, 2500 meters away from the claimed site.
JIAT specialists studied the satellite images of al-Thawrah Hospital and found no signs of actual targeting in the area.
By studying the photos and videos published in the media and the open sources, JIAT specialists found signs of damages near the hospital due to mortar shells. They also found that the Coalition Surface Forces did not carry out any attacks in the city.
They concluded that Coalition Forces are not responsible for the targeting of al-Thawrah Hospital.
Mansour indicated that JIAT vetted the incident and reviewed all documents, including daily missions of the Coalition Surface Forces, operational reports, intelligence reports, satellite images, open sources, rules of engagement, provisions, and principles of International Humanitarian Law and its customary practices.
The specialists found that the wedding hall in the claim is called al-Mansour wedding hall and its located on the airport street in the al-Hook directorate, southeast of al-Hodeidah.
They studied photos and videos published in the media and by open sources for the claimed sight. They found that the projectile fell in front of the outer gate of the wedding hall, a minibus parked in front of the hall was damaged, and the front wall from the entrance to the wedding hall had small fragments.
“In light of that, JIAT found that Coalition Forces are not responsible for the targeting of the surrounding of the wedding hall on in al-Hook directorate of al-Hodeidah city” asserted Mansour.
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