Hamas has denounced Israeli army claims that a discarded baby bottle, makeshift toilet, and bullet-scarred motorbike were evidence the group held hostages inside a Gaza hospital, AFP reports.
On Monday evening, army spokesman Daniel Hagari said troops “found signs that indicate that Hamas held hostages” in the basement of Al-Rantisi children’s hospital in Gaza City.
AFP was not able to independently confirm the allegation, and the Hamas health ministry said the objects merely showed the basement was used by displaced residents fleeing fighting.
In a statement, the ministry said the video was “poor staging” with “not a single piece of evidence” backing the Israeli army claims.
“This basement appeared in the original blueprints of the hospital as a storage area and displaced people found refuge there,” it added.
