Gun battles raged Sunday between Hamas militants and Israeli forces a day after the Islamist group launched a surprise attack on Israel from Gaza, in a dramatic escalation of the Israel-Palestinian conflict.
Hundreds of people have been killed on both sides since the Iran-backed Hamas launched the multi-pronged assault at dawn on Saturday, with Israeli forces fighting holdout militants and pounding the Gaza Strip with air strikes.
The army said hundreds of Hamas militants attacked Israel from around 6:30 am (0330 GMT) on Saturday, the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah, in an assault that also came 50 years after the outbreak of the 1973 Arab-Israeli war.
The Islamist group fired thousands of rockets into Israel from Gaza as its militants used explosives and bulldozers to break through the fence surrounding the blockaded Palestinian enclave, multiple sources said.
Using motorbikes, pickup trucks, motorised gliders and speed boats, the militants streamed into Israeli urban areas including Ashkelon, Sderot and Ofakim, which is about 22 kilometres (13 miles) from Gaza.
The gunmen attacked a rave party attended by hundreds of young Israelis near Kibbutz Reim, close to Gaza, Israeli media reported.
The militants overran several locations inside Israel , including a Sderot police station where they were engaged in a shootout with Israeli forces on Sunday.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to reduce to "rubble" Hamas hideouts in Gaza, an impoverished enclave of 2.3 million people hemmed in by an Israeli blockade for more than 15 years.
The army said it has deployed tens of thousands of soldiers to fight the militants in southern desert regions of Israel near Gaza.
It has also carried out air strikes on Hamas positions inside Gaza, in an operation it has dubbed "Sword of Iron".
Army spokesman Richard Hecht said the air raids had struck 426 targets including Gaza tunnels, buildings and other infrastructure.
The military said it aims to rescue Israeli hostages and then evacuate the entire region within 24 hours.
Israel says Hamas gunmen have killed more than 600 people and wounded over 2,000 in Israeli cities, towns and kibbutz communities.
AFP journalists have seen the bullet-riddled bodies of civilians lying on the streets in at least three locations in Israel : the city of Sderot, the nearby kibbutz of Gevim and Zikim beach north of the Palestinian coastal enclave.
On the Gaza side, at least 370 people have been killed and more than 2,200 wounded, taking the combined toll to almost 1,000 dead.
A British man who had been serving in Israel 's army was among those who died in the Hamas attack, his family said.
Two Ukrainian women who had been living in Israel were also killed, Ukraine's foreign ministry said.
Thailand has said two of its citizens were killed in the violence, while Cambodia confirmed the death of a Cambodian student in Israel during Hamas' attack.
What Hamas says about the offensive
Hamas said it fired 5,000 rockets in an offensive it has branded "Operation Al-Aqsa Flood".
Its chief Ismail Haniyeh on Saturday vowed to press ahead with "the battle to liberate our land and our prisoners languishing in occupation prisons".
Hamas has called on "resistance fighters in the West Bank" as well as in "Arab and Islamic nations" to join the battle.
Early on Sunday, Lebanon's Iran-backed Shiite militant group Hezbollah said it launched missiles and artillery shells into northern Israel "in solidarity" with the Hamas offensive.
Elsewhere, media outlets in Egypt said a policeman opened fire randomly at an Israeli tour group in the northern city of Alexandria on Sunday, killing two Israelis and one Egyptian.
How the world has reacted
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned "in the strongest terms" Hamas' attack on Israel and called for "diplomatic efforts to avoid a wider conflagration".
The West, much of which has designated Hamas a "terrorist" organisation, have also condemned the Islamist group's assault on Israel .
President Joe Biden said the United States' support for its key ally Israel was "rock solid and unwavering". Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States was likely to give details on new military assistance for Israel later on Sunday.
The European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen said: "I unequivocally condemn the attack carried out by Hamas terrorists against Israel ."
Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi said the Islamic republic supported the Palestinians' right to self-defence and accused arch-foe Israel of being "responsible for endangering the security of nations in the region".
Saudi Arabia appealed for an "immediate halt to the escalation between the two sides, protection of civilians, and self-control".
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who strongly supports the Palestinian cause, urged both sides to "stay away from impulsive steps that raise tensions".
