Israeli strike on hospital kills at least five Palestinians, Gaza civil defence agency says

At least five Palestinians have been killed after an Israeli airstrike hit a building at Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza, an official from the Hamas-run Civil Defence agency has told the BBC.

Eyewitnesses said that a single missile, fired from a warplane that briefly flew over the area, struck a building housing the hospital's surgical wards and intensive care units. Twenty others were injured, the civil defence spokesman said.

A surgeon is reported to be among those who were killed during the strike early on Thursday.

The Israeli military says it struck a senior Hamas member and other militants who were using the hospital "as a command center for military and terrorist activities".