Amidst escalating violence in Gaza, Israeli and Palestinian officials have reported over 450 casualties.
On Saturday morning, Palestinian militants, Hamas, launched a broad assault on southern Israel, infiltrating towns, army bases, and firing rockets as far as Jerusalem, prompting a major Israeli defensive effort.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, vowed to retaliate and reduce Hamas strongholds to rubble.
By Sunday evening, fighting persisted in multiple locations, with abductions of Israelis and heavy casualties reported. Israel responded with significant strikes on Gaza, resulting in heavy casualties.
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Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, condemned Hamas for war crimes, asserting the need to eradicate its terror infrastructure.
Erdan accused Hamas of committing “blatant, documented war crimes” and stressed that the “era of reasoning with these savages is over”.
“Now is the time to obliterate Hamas terror infrastructure, to completely erase it, so that such horrors are never committed again,” he said.
The US military has pledged support to Israel and is planning to move navy ships and aircraft closer to the country.