Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said today that Israel provided fuel to Gaza’s al-Sifah hospital, which suspended operations after running out of fuel, but the fighters refused to receive them.

Netanyahu was responding to a question from NBC News whether Israeli claims that Hamas has a command post under Gaza’s main hospital justify putting the lives of patients and babies at risk.

“On the contrary, we actually offered, last night, to give them enough fuel to run the hospital, to run the incubators and so on, because we have absolutely no fighting with the patients or the civilians,” Netanyahu said.

The Israeli army said it was ready to evacuate babies from al-Sifah today, but Palestinian officials said people were still trapped inside the hospital, with three newborns dead and dozens at risk due to the power outage.. Conflicts rage nearby.

Netanyahu was asked if Israel has a plan to send fuel to Gaza to feed the hospitals. “We offered exactly the Shifa hospital the fuel, they refused it,” Netanyahu said.

“Hamas (which) hides in the hospitals and sets up there, they don’t want the fuel for the hospital… they want to secure fuel that they will take from the hospitals to their tunnels, to their war machines.”

Hamas denies claims that it has command posts under Shifa and other Gaza hospitals. He had no immediate comment on Netanyahu’s statements.

Hamas suspended hostage talks over al-Shifa hospital

Hamas said today it was suspending hostage negotiations over Israel’s handling of the al-Shifa hospital issue in Gaza, a Palestinian official briefed on the hostage talks told Reuters.

The hospital comes under heavy fire as Israeli forces approach its premises. Israel accuses Hamas of using the hospital as a cover for a command center without providing proof. Hamas denies the accusations.