“We are at war,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video statement on Saturday, warning that the response will be harsh.
He also extended a hand to the opposition to form a coalition government.
After midnight on Sunday night, the Israeli army called on civilians in the Gaza Strip to immediately, for their own safety, leave their homes and move to other areas as the army targets Hamas targets in the area.
At the same time, according to the newspaper Haaretz, alarms were wailing with warnings of new rocket attacks in southern Israel, including at the town of Siderot where fighting was ongoing on Saturday. During the evening, the Tel Aviv area was also shelled with rockets.
Taken hostage
An Israeli government source tells CNN that the number of Israelis killed has risen to at least 300. Israeli media reports that around 1,600 Israelis are injured and have been taken to hospital. They are victims both of the thousands of rockets fired from Gaza at Israel and attacks by Hamas forces inside Israel against homes, government buildings and people on the street.
The Israeli army confirms, according to Haaretz newspaper, that a significant number of Israeli soldiers and civilians have been taken hostage by Hamas and taken to Gaza.
In Gaza, the death toll is also rising, among other things as a result of Israeli airstrikes in response to the attack on Israel. According to the Palestinian Health Authority, at least 232 people have been killed there.
Late Saturday, meanwhile, fighting continued along the border between Israel and Gaza after a day that began with surprise and widespread attacks by the Hamas movement.
Fighting continued during the evening in over 20 locations along the border between Israel and Gaza.
Thousands of rockets
According to Israel, over 2,200 rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip on Saturday morning. The terrorist-labeled Islamist movement Hamas claims to have fired over 5,000 rockets, according to the leader of the Islamist movement, Mohammad Daif.
On Saturday evening, sirens sounded again in, among other places, Tel Aviv as new rockets were fired at Israeli areas. Hamas said it fired an additional 150 rockets in response to air strikes on a symbolically important high-rise in Gaza City.
At the same time, the spiral of violence seems to be intensifying as Israel states from both a political and military perspective that Hamas must be stopped.
Caught Israel by surprise
Assessors express surprise that Hamas managed to catch Israel by surprise and describe it as a historic fiasco for the country’s extensive intelligence apparatus.
Tens of thousands of troops will be called in in response to the attack.
Hamas, in turn, says the attacks are to “put an end to the crimes of the occupier (Israel)” and calls on all Palestinians to attack Israeli targets. Islamic Jihad, another armed Palestinian group in Gaza, says it is taking part in the operation.
The major escalation comes after a few very tense months in Israeli politics as well as in the other Palestinian area, the West Bank.