Israeli strike at Gaza hospital kills 5

An airstrike at Nasser Hospital in Gaza's Khan Younis on Sunday killed five people, including a Hamas political leader, as Israel launched an all-out air and ground campaign against Hamas.

Israel's defence minister, Israel Katz, confirmed the target was a member of Hamas' political office, Ismail Barhoum, with the military adding that its attack followed extensive intelligence and used precise munitions to minimise harm at the site.

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.

Another leader in Hamas, Salah al-Bardaweel, was killed in a separate strike in Khan Younis, Hamas said earlier. The Israeli military confirmed it had killed Bardaweel on Saturday.

Both Bardaweel and Barhoum were members of the 19-member Hamas decision-making body, the political office, 11 of whom have been killed since the start of the war in late 2023, according to Hamas sources.

Explosions echoed throughout the north, central and southern Gaza Strip early on Sunday, as Israeli planes hit targets in those areas in what witnesses said was an escalation of the attacks that began earlier in the week.

Signalling it could escalate its actions further, the Israeli military said on Sunday one of its divisions that had operated in Lebanon, where Israel fought Hamas' ally Hezbollah, was preparing for possible action in Gaza. It distributed video of tanks unloaded in a field and a caption that read: "Preparations of the 36th Division for Operations in the Gaza Strip."

At least 45 Palestinians had been killed in Israeli strikes on Rafah and Khan Younis so far on Sunday, health authorities said.

Palestinian officials on Sunday put the death toll from nearly 18 months of conflict at over 50,000.

The Israeli military said it does its best to reduce harm to civilians and questioned the death toll provided by health authorities in the Hamas-run territory. Most of the dead in Gaza have been civilians, according to health officials. Israel says they include around 20,000 fighters. Hamas does not disclose casualty figures.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the aim of the war is to destroy Hamas as a military and governing entity. The aim of the new campaign is to force the group to give up remaining hostages, he said on Tuesday.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with Netanyahu to "emphasise US support for Israel," a State Department spokesperson said. They discussed Israel's ongoing military operations in Gaza, efforts to bring hostages home and US strikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen, the spokesperson added.

Israel launched its offensive in Gaza after Hamas fighters stormed southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.