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GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Israeli warplanes on Wednesday bombed a central Gaza City hospital after the army claimed militants opened fire from the premises, while a UN human rights chief warned that abuses by Hamas did not justify possible war crimes by Israel.

The Israeli military said in a statement that they had "targeted specific sites" in the al-Wafa rehabilitation hospital compound "in light of several occasions in which fire was opened" and "despite repeated warnings against such activities."

The military last bombed the hospital on Thursday, forcing doctors and patients -- 14 of whom were paralyzed or in a coma -- to flee the premises.

The Israeli military has repeatedly claimed hospitals are being used as launching grounds for Palestinian militants, giving those inside only minutes to flee before subjecting them to bombing raids and shelling.

On Monday, Israeli shells left four dead and wounded 60 at the Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al Balah.

The military said that on Wednesday warnings were also given for civilians to vacate the hospital, adding that "warnings have been conveyed directly to the hospital administration and other Palestinian officials."

"The hospital grounds and its immediate surroundings have been repeatedly utilized by Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad as a command center, rocket launching site, and a post" for militants to fire at soldiers, the military added.

Reports in the Israeli media indicated around 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday that Israel had given warning to Gaza's main hospital al-Shifa of an impending strike, but an Israeli army spokeswoman contacted by Ma'an denied the claims.

Ashraf al-Qidra, spokesman for the Palestinian Ministry of Health, later denied the claims as well.

The bombing comes on the 16th day of the Israeli offensive on Gaza, which has left more than 650 Palestinians dead, more than 4,000 injured, and more than 135,000 displaced in the coastal enclave of 1.7 million people.

The assault has left hospitals overflowing with injured amid a severe lack of medical supplies caused by the seven-year long siege of the Gaza Strip by Israel.

The attacks have also raised alarm around the world, as more than 50 mosques have been bombed as well as thousands of homes.

Israel's military actions in the Gaza Strip could amount to war crimes, UN rights chief Navi Pillay said Wednesday.

"There seems to be a strong possibility that international law has been violated, in a manner that could amount to war crimes," Pillay told an emergency session on Israel's Gaza offensive at the UN Human Rights Council, citing attacks that have killed Palestinian civilians, including children.

Pillay added that the firing of rockets from Gaza into Israeli civilian areas does not justify war crimes on the Israeli side.