Israeli air strikes battered Gaza overnight, killing more than 300 Palestinians and smashing buildings, tunnels and the houses of Hamas officials, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed “mighty vengeance for this wicked day”.
In southern Israel, Hamas gunmen were still fighting Israeli security forces in several places 24 hours after their incursion in the early hours of Saturday, both sides said, as more rockets were fired from Gaza, sparking air raid sirens.
“We’re going to be attacking Hamas severely, and this is going to be a long, long haul,” a military spokesman told a briefing with reporters.
Jets resumed strikes on Gaza in the morning and troops were conducting clearing operations around the blockaded enclave, including at a military base in the area of Zikim that was overrun on Saturday.
In a possible sign of further escalation, Israeli artillery responded to mortar fire from Lebanon and drone strikes hit a post of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia along Israel’s northern border.
“We recommend Hezbollah not to come into this and I don’t think they will,” Israel’s army spokesperson said.
The surprise Hamas attack represented the biggest incursion into Israel – and its bloodiest day – since Egypt and Syria launched a sudden assault in an effort to reclaim lost territory in the Yom Kippur war 50 years ago.