// BBC WORLD NEWS — MONDO
Israeli strike on hospital kills at least five Palestinians, Gaza civil defence agency says
Members of the Palestinian Civil Defence inspect the damage at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis
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".
In a joint statement, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Israel Security Agency (ISA) said that they strongly condemn Hamas exploiting "civilian and medical infrastructure for military purposes".
They added that "steps were taken to mitigate harm to civilians, including the use of precision munitions and aerial surveillance".
Under international law, hospitals have a protected status, but they have been repeatedly targeted during the Gaza war.
Israel accuses Hamas, which continues to retain its weapons and maintain security control over the Gaza Strip, of using hospitals for military purposes. It says the group stores weapons and runs command and control rooms in hospitals, which Hamas denies.
Earlier, civil defence spokesperson Mahmoud Basal told news agency AFP that six people had been killed. The BBC is prevented by Israel from reporting independently from inside the Gaza Strip, and is unable to verify details of the incident.