As Israel pounded Gaza with incessant air strikes, prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu warned on Monday that the Israeli response to Saturday’s attacks by Hamas militants would “change the Middle East”.
Speaking to council heads from communities close to the Gaza border, he vowed that Israel would defeat Hamas forcefully. “What Hamas will experience will be difficult and terrible: we are already in the campaign and we are just getting started,” he said.
Defence minister Yoav Gallant ordered a total siege on the Gaza Strip. “There will be no electricity, no food, no water, no fuel, it’s all closed. We are fighting barbaric terrorists and we will fight accordingly.”
More than 500 people have been killed and at least 2,500 injured in Gaza since Israel began striking the coastal enclave in retaliation for the attack by Hamas in Israel that began at the weekend and has killed at least 900 people. Israel claims that “hundreds” of militants have been killed in the Israeli strikes and that Hamas is not releasing details in order to keep morale high.
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Many Gaza residents were told by the Israeli military that they had minutes to leave their homes ahead of impending air strikes. The United Nations says more than 120,000 Gazans have been displaced from their homes, with many seeking shelter in UN schools. On Monday residents of the Rimal neighbourhood of Gaza city, where many of the senior Hamas leaders have homes, were also told to evacuate.
The Israeli army declared that it had regained control of all Gaza border communities that were infiltrated by Hamas militants on Saturday, although it warned that dozens of gunmen may still be in hiding, waiting for an opportunity to strike again.
Declaring the area free of Hamas fighters was the top priority for the Israeli military as it continued preparations for a massive ground assault on Gaza.
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Almost all the civilians from border area communities have already been evacuated. Tanks and combat soldiers have taken up positions on all sections of the border fence breached by militants on Saturday.
Israel drafted in 300,000 army reservists as it boosted its forces on both the Gaza border and along the northern border with Lebanon in case the powerful Iranian-backed Hizbullah militia opens a second front. Troops killed three Palestinian gunmen who Israel said infiltrated from Lebanon on Monday. A Hizbullah member was killed in Israeli retaliatory shelling, raising tension along the border.
The attack in southern Israel on Saturday began when hundreds of well-armed militants poured into the area in jeeps, motorbikes and via hang gliders and from the sea. It was confirmed on Monday night that at least 900 had died in the operation by Hamas, the militant organisation that rules the Gaza Strip.
The victims include 260 young revellers who had been attending an all-night music festival in the desert close to the Gaza border. They were gunned down by dozens of militants as they fled the area to escape a rocket barrage. Others were seized by the militants and taken to Gaza where an estimated 170 or so Israelis – civilians and soldiers – remained in captivity on Monday. They include young children and the elderly.
Hamas has threatened to execute Israeli hostages if air strikes continued. Qatar is reportedly mediating an exchange deal involving the female Israeli hostages for female Palestinian security prisoners held by Israel.
Irish citizen Kim Damti (22), who holds joint Israeli nationality, was at the festival and has been missing since Saturday morning.
