‘Up to 700’ Israelis dead in Hamas attacks as ‘dozens’ of warplanes strike Gaza Strip

Up to 700 Israelis have reportedly died in attacks by Hamas militants as fighting continues and dozens of warplanes attack the Gaza Strip.

At least 413 Palestinians are confirmed dead, with a further 2,300 injured, according to the health ministry.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned people living in Gaza to leave as he vowed to turn parts of the territory “into rubble” in revenge for a “black day”.

Netanyahu says war will ‘take time’ – follow live updates

The US military confirmed on Sunday it plans to move Navy ships and military aircraft closer to Israel in a show of support.

It is also sending additional support for the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), which will increase in the coming days, President Joe Biden told Mr Netanyahu in a phone call.

Israel-Hamas War – watch special programme on Sky News tonight at 9pm

A huge barrage of rockets was launched into southern Israel on Saturday morning before Hamas gunmen crossed into the country in a surprise incursion.

One Briton confirmed dead and two missing

Corporal Nathanel Young, a 20-year-old British man serving in the Israeli army, was among those killed as tributes were paid by his “heartbroken” family.

Another British citizen, 26-year-old Jake Marlowe, is “missing near Gaza”, the country’s embassy in the UK has told Sky News.

Dan Darlington, who is originally from the UK but has been living in Germany, is also missing on a trip to Israel.

It is understood that the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is in contact with and assisting the families of several people in the region.

The FCDO has updated its travel advice to advise against all but essential travel to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. It warns against all travel to Gaza and areas close to the border including southwest of Ashkelon and west of Be’er Sheva among others.

Several airlines, including United, Delta, American and Air France have suspended flights to Tel Aviv until the situation improves.

800 Hamas targets struck by Israeli forces

Up to 700 Israelis have been killed so far, according to Israeli media, while the health ministry said at least 1,590 people had been injured.

According to the Israeli rescue service Zaka, 260 bodies were found after one of the Hamas strikes hit a music festival.

An Israeli military official said “hundreds” of Hamas militants have been killed and dozens captured.

The IDF began an intense air strike in the Gaza Strip using dozens of fighter jets on Sunday.

It says it struck 800 targets, including a compound housing the Hamas intelligence department and a 14-storey tower that held dozens of apartments as well as Hamas offices in central Gaza City.

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Fighting continued overnight with the IDF still conducting operations around eight areas near the Gaza Strip, according to an IDF spokesman, while Hamas armed wing said on Sunday its fighters are still engaged in fierce clashes in several sites inside Israel.

More than 100 kidnapped

The Israeli embassy to the United States said women and children were among more than 100 soldiers and civilians kidnapped by Hamas fighters and that active hostage situations are “ongoing”.

Two hostage situations had been “resolved”, according to the IDF spokesman, who did not say whether all the hostages had been rescued alive.

The Lebanon-based Hezbollah militant group – one of the first to openly support the Hamas incursion – struck Israeli positions in a disputed area along the border with Syria’s Golan Heights and Israel responded with drone strikes on Hezbollah targets.

On Sunday, IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari accused Hamas of being “more brutal than ISIS”.

“Israeli intelligence indicates that Hamas are hiding among Gazan civilians inside Gazan homes, in schools, hospitals and mosques. Hamas behaves like ISIS. I repeat, Hamas behaves like ISIS,” he said.

In Egypt, a policeman opened fire on Israeli tourists in Alexandria killing at least two Israelis and one Egyptian on Sunday, according to Egypt’s Interior Ministry as local media reported the suspect was detained.

Netanyahu threatens to ‘turn Hamas to rubble’

Mr Netanyahu has said Israel is at war with Palestinian militants from Hamas and in a televised address said the country’s military would “take revenge for this black day”.

But he warned: “This war will take time. It will be difficult.”

In a statement on X, he wrote: “All of the places which Hamas is deployed, hiding and operating in, that wicked city, we will turn them into rubble.

“I say to the residents of Gaza: Leave now because we will operate forcefully everywhere.”

Rockets were seen landing on Gaza hours after Mr Netanyahu issued the threat, while much of the territory was thrown into darkness by nightfall after electricity from Israel was cut off earlier in the day.

Palestine’s representative to the UN, Riyad Mansour, said late on Sunday that messaging about Israel’s right to defend itself will be interpreted as a “licence to kill”.

While his Israeli counterpart, UN ambassador Gilad Erdan, told reporters at its headquarters in New York that it is the time to “obliterate Hamas terror infrastructure… so that such horrors are never committed again”.

Leaders around the world have expressed their countries’ support for Israel.

Speaking on Sunday, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak condemned Hamas for its “appalling act of terror” and confirmed he had spoken to his Israeli counterpart again by phone.

“I want to express my absolute solidarity for the people of Israel. Now is not a time for equivocation and I am unequivocal,” he said.

“Hamas and the people who support Hamas are fully responsible for this appalling act of terror, for the murder of civilians and for the kidnapping of innocent people including children.”

More than 300 UK politicians, including serving cabinet ministers, wrote a letter of support to Israeli President Isaac Herzog on behalf of the all-party parliamentary group on Britain and Israel.

The government has also asked that all its buildings fly the Israeli flag in a show of solidarity.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey would ramp up diplomatic efforts to restore peace between the two sides.

Qatar’s ministry of foreign affairs said it was observing violence in the region with “grave concern”, particularly between Hezbollah in Lebanon and Israeli forces over the border.

Its counterpart in the United Arab Emirates urged that the international community “remain resolute in the face of these violent attempts to derail ongoing regional efforts aimed at dialogue, cooperation, and co-existence, and must not allow nihilistic destruction”.

‘Record year for Palestinians deaths’

Hamas gunmen targeted up to 22 locations in the initial assault, with gun battles continuing well after nightfall.

Militants held hostages in two towns and occupied a police station in a third.

Hamas’ military wing claimed it was holding dozens of Israeli soldiers captive in “safe places” and tunnels in Gaza.

The Israeli military confirmed that a number of Israelis were abducted but would not give a figure.

Palestinian activist Nour Odeh, a former Palestinian Authority spokesperson, told NBC News that the attack comes after a record year for the number of Palestinians killed by Israel.

He said Saturday’s incursion was not the “beginning of the story” and that Israeli forces have occupied Palestinian territories for over 50 years.

Mr Odeh said: “It’s a record-setting year for the number of Palestinians killed, the number of Palestinian children killed, the number of homes demolished, the number of attacks by armed settlers that, you know, burned down homes and attack people and wounded and killed Palestinian civilians.”