Israel relentlessly pounded the Gaza Strip 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.
It 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 a massive attack that took Israel by surprise.
The government officially declared war on the Palestinian militant group that controls Gaza and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned Israel to prepare for a “long and difficult” conflict.
More than 700 Israelis have been killed since Hamas launched its large-scale attack, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said on Monday. 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.
In a statement by the military “Overnight IDF fighter jets, helicopters, aircraft and artillery struck over 500 Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorist targets in the Gaza Strip.”
Military spokesman Richard Hecht told newsmen “We’re still fighting. There are between seven to eight open places around Gaza, we still have warriors fighting terrorists.”
“We thought by on Sunday we would have full control. I hope we will by the end of the day,” he added.
