Israel's military relentlessly pounded the Gaza Strip early this morning as fighting raged with Hamas around the Gaza Strip and the number of deaths from the war against the Palestinian militants surged above 1,300.
Israel's Defence Minister ordered a "complete siege" on Gaza on Monday. "We are putting a complete siege on Gaza... No electricity, no food, no water, no gas -- it's all closed," Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said in a video message.
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 an massive attack that took Israel by surprise.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked the nation to prepare themselves for a "long and difficult" war a day after Hamas fired a barrage of thousands of rockets at Israel and sent a wave of fighters who gunned down civilians and took at least 100 hostages.
The US said several Americans were killed in the surprise land-sea-air attack on Israel and ordered the deployment of US warships and fighter jet squadrons to Israel. Thailand also claimed its 12 citizens were killed and 11 kidnapped. Besides, citizens of Brazil, Britain, France, Germany, Ireland, Mexico, Nepal, and Ukraine were either killed, kidnapped, or are missing.
