t least 600 people have been killed and more than 100 kidnapped in the Hamas attack on Israel, officials have said as fighting continues between the two sides.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared war against Hamas on Saturday after thousands rockets were fired from the Gaza strip. Fighters were also reported to have crossed the border into Israel, where civilians and Israeli soldiers were captured.
A Facebook post by Israel’s Government Press Office on Sunday said more than 100 people had been kidnapped. Women, children and the elderly are said to be among captives taken back into the coastal Gaza enclave.
Israeli soldiers battled Hamas fighters in the streets of southern Israel on Sunday and launched retaliation strikes that leveled buildings in Gaza, while in northern Israel a brief exchange of strikes with Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group raised fears of a broader conflict.
A plume of smoke rises above the port in the Gaza Strip after an Israeli air strike on Sunday
/ AFP via Getty ImagesOfficials say more than 600 Israelis have been killed since the attack began on Saturday, while well over a thousand have been wounded.
One UK national, 26-year-old Jack Marlowe, has been reported missing by his family while providing security at a music festival near Kibbutz Re’im, close to the Gaza border. Meanwhile 20-year-old Nathanel Young, a Briton serving in the Israeli army, has been killed. Both men formerly attended school in north London.
In response to the Hamas attack, the Israeli army hit several areas in Gaza. Residential building were flattened in giant explosions, with local authorities claiming over 300 people have been killed and a further 2,000 wounded. An Israeli official said the military had killed a further 400 militants and captured dozens more during fighting in Israel.
Although vowing that Hamas “will pay a price” for the attack, the Israeli Prime Minister told the nation that “this war will take time. It will be difficult” But added: “I say to the residents of Gaza: Leave now because we will operate forcefully everywhere.
“At this hour, the IDF is clearing the terrorists out of the last communities. They are going community by community, house by house, and are restoring our control.”
The Israel Defence Forces tweeted on Sunday that airstrikes had continued on the Gaza Strip.
A statement read: “IDF fighter jets just struck Hamas terrorist targets in Gaza that were used to attack Israel. We will continue to protect Israeli civilians.”
There were reports of a brief exchange between Hezbollah early on Sunday and Israeli soldiers, while in neighbouring Egypt, a policeman shot dead two Israeli tourists and an Egyptian at a tourist site in Alexandria, the Interior Ministry said.
Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, an Israeli military official, said troops had moved into every community near the Gaza frontier, where they planned to evacuate all civilians and scour the area for militants.
Both US President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, have pledged their support to Israel and condemned the attack by Hamas militants.
The surprise attack early on Saturday was the deadliest on Israel in decades.
In an assault of startling breadth, Hamas gunmen used explosives to break through the border fence enclosing Gaza, then crossed with motorcycles, pickup trucks, paragliders and speed boats on the coast. They rolled into as many as 22 towns and communities outside the Gaza Strip, while Hamas launched thousands of rockets at Israeli cities.
