IDF bombs near Al-Quds Hospital as officials refute claims it harbored Hamas

Oct. 29 (UPI) -- The Israeli Defense Forces bombed near the Al-Quds Hospital in the Gaza Strip on Sunday as some refuted Israel's claim the hospital was being used as a "military command center."

"The Israeli army deliberately continues to launch rockets directly near Al-Quds hospital with the aim of forcing medical staff, displaced individuals and patients to evacuate the hospital," the Palestine Red Crescent Society said in a statement Sunday.

It was not immediately clear if the hospital had been directly hit in the strike and how many civilians were killed in the bombing. The White House has not yet addressed the bombing.

"This has caused significant damage to hospital departments and exposed residents and patients to suffocation," the Red Crescent Society said.

The Red Crescent Society previously said Israel had ordered the hospital to evacuate so it could bomb the area.

"Beneath the hospitals, schools, mosques, and homes in Gaza lies a horrific underworld of Hamas terrorism," the IDF said in a tweet in advance of the strike. "In order to dismantle Hamas, we must dismantle their underground tunnels."

But Bashar Murad, the director of the hospital, told Al-Jazeera that there's "no police presence in the hospital, no military presence, nothing at all."

"Israel is targeting every single building around Al-Quds Hospital," Murad said. "Why is that? Nobody knows."

Mads Gilbert, a Norwegian doctor who has worked at hospitals in Gaza for several years, said there is "no evidence" that the facilities were being used by the Hamas militia.

"I know the Al-Quds Hospital from the time it was built. There is a new medical block in al Shifa Hospital under international surveillance. During all these years having worked in these hospitals, I have never ever seen any sign of any military or political command center," Gilbert said.

"And if the Israelis ... cannot provide any evidence or any proof, how can we look at this as anything else but lies, intimidating and scaring people, and excuses to bomb the hospitals."