"We've not seen evidence of that at this point, but you know, we'll continue to collaborate with our Israeli counterparts to gain better fidelity on exactly what they're looking at," US media quoted Austin as saying in Rome.
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Avichay Adraee has said that a bunker belonging to the Hezbollah movement was located directly beneath the hospital, where a significant amount of cash and gold was believed to be stored. Sahel General Hospital Director Fadi Fakhry Alame told CNN on Monday that Israel's claims were "baseless" and served as a pretext to continue attacks on Lebanon.
The hospital has been operating in emergency mode since September 23. On Tuesday, all staff and patients left the hospital after the Israeli military warned of its intention to attack it, a Sputnik correspondent reported.
On October 1, Israel launched a ground operation against Hezbollah in the south of Lebanon, while also continuing to exchange air and rocket strikes with the Shiite movement. The death toll in Lebanon from Israeli strikes has exceeded 2,000 since the escalation. Despite losses, Hezbollah has been fighting Israeli troops on the ground and launching rockets across the border. Israel says its main objective is to create conditions for the return of the 60,000 residents who fled the shelling in the north of Israel.