Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says: « We are at war and we will win, » as Israel responds to Hamas’s surprise attack – its biggest in years – by striking targets in Gaza.
At least 232 Palestinians have been killed after Israeli forces retaliated to the most deadly attack by Hamas in years.
The number of dead inside Israel currently stands at 250, according to local media reports.
Some 1,700 Israelis have been left wounded – and civilians and soldiers taken hostage, Israeli officials confirmed, after thousands of rockets were first launched from Gaza on Saturday morning.
The Palestinian Health Ministry reported that at least 1,610 have been wounded in Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country is « at war » and « will win », later adding that the events of the last 24 hours have « never been seen in Israel » and that the state will « take mighty vengeance for this black day ».
The military says it is still engaged in fighting with Hamas at 22 locations across southern Israel.
Hamas’s political bureau leader Ismail Haniyeh claims the group is « on the verge of a great victory and clear conquest on the Gaza front ».
Airstrike flattens high-rise in Gaza; follow Israel-Gaza latest
Militants breach usually heavily-guarded border
In a highly unusual development, Hamas fighters were also seen crossing the heavily-guarded Israeli border using paragliders, in an apparent failure of the intelligence services.
As rockets struck Tel Aviv, Ashkelon, Yavne and Kfar Aviv on Saturday morning, militants breached the border by sea and on foot.
Security camera footage showed them entering the Israeli town of Sderot, a mile from Gaza, in pick-up trucks and on motorbikes.
Retaliating to the incursion, the Israeli air force confirmed dozens of Israel Defense Forces (IDF) fighter jets struck a number of Hamas military compounds and operational command centres in the Gaza Strip.
The house of Hamas’s Gaza chief Yehya Al-Sinwar in the south of the Strip was targeted, but there were no reports of any casualties.
An IDF spokesman announced late on Saturday that one of their commanders, Lieutenant Colonel Yonatan Steinberg was killed in an « encounter with a terrorist » near Kerem Shalom.
Israelis taken hostage
Hamas militants have also taken both civilians and soldiers hostage in Gaza, the Israeli military confirmed – without revealing how many.
