JERUSALEM: The Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza says at least 198 people have been killed and at least 1,610 wounded in the territory in Israel's retaliation after a wide-ranging Hamas assault into Israel.
The toll came as Israel has carried out a number of airstrikes in Gaza and has clashed with gunmen at the border fence around the coastal territory.
Israel’s national rescue service said the death toll has risen to 70 in the Hamas militant group’s incursion in southern Israel. The Israeli military said that Hamas is holding Israeli civilians and soldiers hostage in Gaza, marking a major escalation in the fighting.
Hamas militants fired thousands of rockets and sent dozens of fighters into Israeli towns near the Gaza Strip in an unprecedented surprise early morning attack during a major Jewish holiday Saturday, killing dozens and stunning the country. Israel said it is now at war with Hamas and launched airstrikes in Gaza, vowing to inflict an “unprecedented price.”
Hamas militants were still fighting gunbattles inside several Israeli communities hours after the incursion began. An unknown number of Israeli soldiers and civilians were also seized and taken into Gaza, an enormously sensitive issue for Israel.