Israeli death toll grows at least 600 after the shocking Hamas attack
The Israeli death toll after the surprise attack by the militant group Hamas on communities in the country’s south has risen to at least 600, including 44 soldiers, as the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said Israel was embarking on a “long and difficult war”.
In Gaza, which was pummelled by Israeli airstrikes, officials reported at least 370 deaths.
With thousands of Palestinians and Israelis wounded since Saturday morning, Israel said more than 100 Israeli citizens, including women and children, were believed to have been abducted at gunpoint by Hamas to Gaza.
Many of the Israeli victims were civilians who were murdered in their homes, on the streets of their communities and at other locations along a broad swathe of territory bordering Gaza, leading the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, to describe the Hamas assault as an “indiscriminate terrorist attack”.
Blinken added that Washington had not seen any evidence that Iran was behind the attack.
As Israel’s security cabinet signed off on a wide-ranging authorisation for military action, Israelis were struggling to comprehend the scale of Saturday’s attack, as the likelihood of a ground invasion of Gaza and a wider conflagration with Hezbollah in Lebanon loomed large.
On Sunday afternoon waves of Israeli jets were carrying out “intense” strikes on targets in Gaza. Dozens of Israeli armoured vehicles and tanks were heading towards Gaza, suggesting preparations were under way for a ground offensive.
In a televised address on Saturday night, Netanyahu said the Israeli military would use all of its strength to destroy Hamas’s capabilities in response.
“Get out of there now,” he told people in Gaza, who have no way to leave the tiny, overcrowded Mediterranean territory.
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