ANKARA 

Palestinian group Hamas on Friday denied Israeli allegations that it is using a hospital in the northern Gaza Strip for military purposes. 

“The Israeli claims about Al-Shifa Hospital are false,” said Izzat Al-Rishq, a member of Hamas' Political Bureau.

In a statement, he also warned that “such allegations pave the way for targeting a hospital that contains thousands of wounded and shelters more than 40,000 displaced people.”

Rishq also called on “the United Nations and Arab and Islamic countries to intervene immediately to stop the bombing and destruction of the medical system in Gaza.”

The statement came in response to Israeli demands to evacuate the Shifa Hospital in preparation, as the Israeli army considers it a “military post” for the Palestinian movement and has threatened to bomb it.

Early in the Gaza conflict, Israel ordered over 1 million Gazans to evacuate the north Gaza Strip to the south, despite warnings that such a move would create a humanitarian disaster.

In its relentless air campaign since Oct. 7, Israel has been documented to carry out airstrikes on medical facilities, homes, and houses of worship, attacks which critics say violate the rules of war.

Nearly 8,800 people have been killed in the conflict, including at least 7,326 Palestinians and 1,400 Israelis. Some 70% of the deaths in Gaza are women and children, according to official figures.

* Writing by Ikram Kouachi