‘100 killed in one kibbutz’ as Israelis told to prepare to spend days in bomb shelters

Hamas has said it will execute an Israeli hostage in response to any new Gaza Strip bombings that come without a pre-warning – moments after a senior figure from the group told Sky News civilian captives would be treated “humanely”.

The warning was issued by Hamas before at least 100 bodies were recovered from Be’eri, a community in southern Israel that was seized by militants from the group.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement on Monday evening that his country’s response to Saturday’s incursion has “only started”, adding: “What we will do to our enemies in the coming days will reverberate with them for generations.”

He repeated an earlier warning that anywhere Hamas is based will be turned into “rubble” after the Israeli military said it had hit 1,000 targets inside Gaza.

Mr Netanyahu added that a number of Palestinian gunmen are still inside the country and accused them of killing handcuffed children.

A spokesman for the Israeli embassy in London said the military has told Israelis to “prepare for a three-day stay in bomb shelters/secure rooms”.

People have also been told to ensure their supply of food, water and battery-run devices in case power goes down.

More than 1,000 Palestinian targets hit – follow live updates

Meanwhile, Israel has also ordered a “complete siege” of the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian territory governed by Hamas, leaving it with no food, electricity or fuel.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres later said he was “deeply distressed” by Israel’s decision to impose the siege.

The two days of violence between Israel and Hamas has reportedly left at least 900 Israelis and 687 Palestinians dead so far.

In other key developments:
• More than 10 Britons are feared dead or missing in Israel, Sky News understands
• Rishi Sunak attends prayer service for Israeli victims
• PM earlier chaired emergency COBRA meeting to discuss situation in Israel
• At least 11 Americans have been confirmed dead
• US president says Hamas is likely to have American hostages
• President Biden adds flights are available for US citizens who wish to leave Israel
• Hamas open to discussing truce with Israel
• Hundreds attend Jewish community vigil in London
• Israel claims it killed ‘infiltrators’ crossing from Lebanon
• Qatar mediating between sides for exchange of civilian hostages, Sky News understands
• Israeli military striking targets inside Lebanese territory
• Netanyahu says US is supporting Israel in ‘every way’
• Israeli PM also compared Hamas to ISIS
• British foreign secretary says UK will ‘continue to support Israel’

Hamas’s careful and devastating attack caught Israel completely off guard, as the militants used bulldozers, hang gliders and motorbikes against the Middle East’s most powerful army.

The militant group moved Israeli hostages into Gaza as part of the operation.

Asked how many hostages the militant group had taken, Dr Basem Naim, Hamas’s head of political and international relations, told Sky News he couldn’t confirm the exact number.

However, he insisted they would be treated in a “humane way, a proper way”.

He said he could “100% guarantee” they will be safe and orders have been given to fighters to not kill or harm elderly people, women or children.

Read more:
How Hamas misled Israel for months to pull off attack
Grandmother taken by Hamas ‘suffering every minute’
Mother fears for her life in Gaza as bombs crash nearby

However, moments later another Hamas official said it would begin executing Israeli civilian captives in return for any Gaza bombings that come without a pre-warning.

Earlier on Monday, rescuers said they had recovered at least 260 bodies from the site of a music festival in Israel that was attacked by Hamas during its incursion.

However, despite the scenes in Be’eri and the festival near Re’im, Dr Naim claimed the group has not “killed any civilians” during its operation.

He added that he did not consider anyone “carrying guns” as a civilian.

Dr Naim said: “We have responded to 75 years of occupation, we have responded to 17 years of a suffocating siege, the silent killing of 2.3 million Palestinians.”

He says people in the Gaza Strip, controlled by Hamas, are “always under attack” and “never safe”.

“We are living in the biggest open-air prison. You have to choose either to die by F-35 or F-16 or to die silently of malnutrition,” he added.

Meanwhile, Mr Netanyahu said the Hamas attack would “change the Middle East”.

“I know you have been through terrible and difficult things,” he told authorities from the south of the country. “What Hamas will go through will be difficult and terrible.

“We have only just begun.”

It comes as Israeli forces continue to fight Hamas militants in two locations inside Israel after formally declaring war on the Palestinian militant group.

Around 300,000 reservists have been called up by the Israeli military as defence minister Yoav Gallant said his country was “battling beastly people” after Hamas launched its surprise attack from Gaza on Saturday.

Israeli authorities said a “huge rocket barrage” was fired at the country on Monday, with media in the country reporting that it came from Hamas-controlled areas.

Doron Spielman, a spokesperson for the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), said there is still active fighting with Hamas militants “constantly trying to cross over” the border.

“We expect this to continue because there’s a massive number of jihadis that have been trained to do this,” he told NBC.

This is despite Israeli troops having regained control in some areas of southern Israel.

The IDF has also said it is conducting strikes inside Lebanese territory. It said details would follow but provided no more information.

The strikes come after a number of reports of firefights on the border with Lebanon, with the IDF claiming it had killed “a number” of “infiltrators”.

The Lebanon-based Hezbollah group, which is backed by Iran, said it had not attempted any incursion.