Dozens killed as Israeli strikes continue ahead of Gaza ceasefire

The strikes killed 73 people overnight, following the announcement of the deal, Gaza's Hamas-run civil defence agency reported.

Victims include 12 people who were living in a residential block in the Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood of Gaza City, the health ministry said.

The Israeli Defence Forces initially said "a fallen projectile" had been identified in southern Israel on Thursday, but later said it had been wrongly identified.

Israel has previously launched air strikes in the run-up to ceasefire arrangements taking effect, most recently in Lebanon, where heavy bombing hit the capital, Beirut, just hours before the ceasefire there in November.

A doctor in Gaza City's Baptist Hospital said staff "did not rest for one minute" during the "bloody night".

"The injured kept on coming," Dr Amjad Eliwah told the BBC. "The dead were sent directly to the morgue."

He said "for a little while, everyone was happy and joyful", following news of the ceasefire.

"Then the same people who were happy were dead."