Israel, Gaza death toll hits over 1,100 in war with Hamas

Israel relentlessly pounded the Gaza Strip early Monday, as fighting raged with Hamas around the Gaza Strip and the death toll from the war against the Palestinian militants surged above 1,100.

The Israeli army said it hit more than 500 targets in the blockaded and impoverished Gaza Strip in overnight clashes, while fighting persisted in seven to eight locations inside Israel around the enclave.

This came two days after Hamas launched a barrage of rockets and sent a wave of fighters who gunned down civilians and took at least 100 hostages in an massive attack that took Israel by surprise.

The government on Sunday, officially declared war on the Palestinian militant group that controls Gaza.

Also, the Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, warned Israel to prepare for a “long and difficult” conflict.

The Israel Defence Forces on Monday, said more than 700 Israelis have been killed since Hamas launched its large-scale attack, Another 1,200 people have been wounded, many critically.

In retaliation, Israeli air strikes have hammered the impoverished and blockaded Gaza Strip, an enclave of 2.3 million people, with officials there reporting at least 413 Palestinian deaths.

“Overnight IDF fighter jets, helicopters, aircraft and artillery struck over 500 Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorist targets in the Gaza Strip,” the military said in a statement.

“We’re still fighting. There are between seven to eight open places around Gaza (where) we still have warriors fighting terrorists,” military spokesman Richard Hecht told reporters.

“We thought by yesterday (Sunday) we would have full control. I hope we will by the end of the day,” he added.

Thick plumes of smoke billowed from the Palestinian enclave as the strikes continued in the early hours of the morning, AFP reported.

Army spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus, estimated around 1,000 Palestinian militants had participated in Hamas’s assault on Saturday, which he called “by far the worst day in Israeli history”.

“Never before have so many Israelis been killed by one single thing, let alone enemy activity in one day,” he said.

He likened it to “a 9/11 and a Pearl Harbour wrapped into one”.

Conricus said around 100,000 reserve troops were deployed to the south as the army battles to expel Hamas fighters from Israeli territory.

A “very large number” of Israeli civilians and soldiers were being held inside Gaza, he said.

AFP