Israel’s military says it has successfully retaken control of the border fence and has recorded no further Hamas incursions over the past 24 hours. Elsewhere, the air force conducted another night of devastating and wide-sweeping airstrikes in the Gaza Strip.
In one of the most devastating stories of this bloody conflict, Hamas gunmen stormed Israel’s Supernova festival, killing hundreds of partygoers and kidnapping others.
Mark Austin reports on how the attack unfolded.
The Israeli military has told Palestinians in the Gaza Strip to flee to Egypt to avoid further risk from airstrikes.
The Israeli air force struck some 200 hundred targets overnight and this morning nearly 700 Palestinians have been confirmed as dead as a result of retaliatory strikes since Saturday.
“I am aware that the Rafah crossing is still open,” Lieutenant Colonel Richard Hecht, the Israeli Defence Force’s (IDF) international military spokesperson, said.
The crossing is situated on the Gaza-Egypt border.
“Anyone who can get out, I would advise them to get out,” he said.
A bit more detail on the wide-scale airstrikes we reported on in our 5.30 a.m. post.
The Israeli Air Force says it has conducted attacks on over 200 targets within the Gaza Strip, specifically in the Khan Yunis and the Rimal areas.
“In the last few hours, fighter jets of the Air Force have attacked many targets of the terrorist organizations throughout the Gaza Strip,” it said in a statement.
It shared a video of a building collapsing under a strike from one of its jets.
Among other targets, it destroyed a mosque which it said was “housing weapons” for Hamas.
Another mosque was struck, which the air force said was an “operational headquarters” for the militant group.
These claims have not been verified.
The Israel Defence Force (IDF) will dispatch officers today to inform over 100 Israeli families that their relatives are being held in Gaza by Hamas, The Times of Israel is reporting.
Its report quotes Israeli army radio.
Many Israeli families have been left in the dark after their loved ones went missing following Saturday’s armed incursion.
The number of hostages is disputed, with the IDF saying yesterday that around 30 people are being held. At the same time, UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan told CNN that the number is “between 100 and 150 people”.
Volleys of rockets have been launched at Israel, blazing fire through the sky. Airstrikes have rained down on the densely populated Gaza Strip. The threat of Israeli tanks rolling across the border in a ground invasion is very real.
The escalating and deadly conflict sees two sides with very different military capabilities clash in a struggle that has left more than a thousand dead.
Israel has a more conventional military comparable to that of America or Britain – with the notable difference that it operates conscription – while Hamas is a very well-armed guerrilla organization.
Sky News speaks to a military expert and looks at the different weapons and equipment each side has at its disposal.
Source- BBC
