Israeli strike at Gaza hospital kills 5

An Israeli airstrike at a hospital in Gaza on Sunday killed five people, including a Hamas political leader, Palestinian medics and Hamas said, in an attack Israel said had targeted a key figure in the Palestinian group.

The Gaza Health Ministry said the strike hit the surgery department at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. The Israeli military said its attack followed extensive intelligence and used precise munitions to minimize harm at the site.

Hamas said a member of its political office, Ismail Barhoum, had been killed.

Israel's defence minister, Israel Katz, confirmed the target was Barhoum. The military did not name the target, which it described only as "a key terrorist" in Hamas.

Hamas' Al-Aqsa TV said Barhoum was being treated at the hospital for wounds sustained in a previous attack. Israel says Hamas systematically embeds in hospitals, schools and shelters, which the group denies.

Gaza's Health Ministry says Israel's military struck the largest hospital in southern Gaza on Sunday night, and Nasser Hospital says one person was killed.

The ministry says the strike caused a large fire in the surgical building of the hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis. The hospital says there are a number of wounded.

Israel's military did not immediately comment.

Nasser Hospital was overwhelmed with dead and wounded when Israel resumed the war in Gaza last week with a surprise wave of airstrikes that killed hundreds of people.

Like other medical facilities around Gaza, the hospital has been damaged by Israeli raids and strikes throughout the war.

Agencies