Israel has rejected accusations that it was behind a massive explosion at a hospital in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, which killed hundreds of people and injured many more.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that the blast at the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital was caused by a rocket fired by Gaza terrorists, which failed to reach its target and landed near the hospital.

The IDF said that it had evidence that Islamic Jihad, an Iranian-backed militant group, was responsible for the rocket launch, which was part of a barrage of rockets fired from Gaza toward Israel.

The IDF also said that it had not been conducting any operations in the area at the time of the explosion, and that it had no intention of harming civilians or medical facilities.

The Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza said that the attack on the hospital was a war crime and that it held Israel accountable for the carnage.

According to the Associated Press, the ministry initially reported that at least 500 people were killed in the blast, but later revised the figure to between 200 and 300, as reported by AFP.

The World Health Organization (WHO) also condemned the attack, saying that it was “unprecedented in scale” and that it had destroyed one of the few functioning hospitals in Gaza.

The WHO said that there were patients, health workers and internally displaced people in the hospital when it was hit, and that many of them were killed or wounded.

The WHO also said that it was impossible to evacuate the hospital, as Israel had ordered 20 hospitals in northern Gaza to do, due to the lack of ambulances, staff, beds and alternative shelters.

Several videos circulated on social media showed the moment of the blast at the hospital, which sent a huge plume of smoke into the sky.

Israeli Media houses said video, taken from an Israeli kibbutz near the Gaza border, appeared to match footage taken by Al Jazeera, which also showed a rocket falling short and exploding inside Gaza.

Another video, published by Palestinian media outlets, showed the aftermath of the blast at the hospital, with debris and bodies scattered around.