Gaza officials said Israeli air strikes brought the Palestinian death toll to at least 256
Several buildings in the Gaza strip have been hit by Israeli precision munitions following the terror attack by the Hamas group.
In one such attack, the Israeli Air Force destroyed a shopping in the Gaza strip on Saturday. Visuals of the bombing show the building blanketed by thick smoke after being hit multiple times by what appears to be rockets or laser-guided bombs.
The Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Hamas group, announced on Saturday it launched "Operation Al-Aqsa" to launch thousands of rockets on Israeli civilian infrastructure, air bases and military sites.
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) launched a counterattack within hours since the attack on Saturday morning in an operation called "Swords of Iron".
It is a "large-scale operation to defend Israeli civilians against the combined attack launched against by Hamas," the Israeli army said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today warned of a "long and difficult" war, as fighting with the Hamas group left hundreds dead on both sides after the surprise attack.
Gaza officials said intense Israeli air strikes on the coastal enclave had brought the Palestinian death toll to at least 256, with nearly 1,788 wounded, news agency AFP reported.
As fighting raged Sunday, Lebanon's powerful Iran-backed Hezbollah movement said it had fired "large numbers of artillery shells and guided missiles" at Israeli positions in contested border areas "in solidarity" with Hamas.
Israel's army had earlier said it fired artillery on southern Lebanon in response to a shot from the area without identifying the attackers.
"We are embarking on a long and difficult war that was forced on us by a murderous Hamas attack," Netanyahu said on X, formerly Twitter, today.
"The first stage is ending at this time by the destruction of the vast majority of the enemy forces that infiltrated our territory," he added, pledging no "respite" until victory.
Overnight, Israel battered the Gaza Strip with air strikes as rockets from the blockaded Palestinians territory rained on Israel.
With inputs from AFP
