 He denied accusations that rockets were launched "from schools or hospitals when in fact they were fired 200 or 300 meters (yards) away".In a 2014 interview, a Hamas political leader Khaled Meshaal said to a CNN interviewer that the group did not use its people as human shields.In interviews with Gazan refugees, reporters for "The Independent" and "The Guardian" concluded it was a "myth" that Hamas forced civilians to stay in areas under attack against their will; many refugees told them they refused to heed the IDF's warnings because even areas Israel had declared safe for refugees had been shelled by its forces.