The Israeli government promised Monday to hunt down Hamas fighters and to punish the Gaza Strip after a surprise weekend attack killed more than 700 people in Israel, including at least 260 at a crowded music festival that became the scene of one of the country’s worst civilian massacres.
A day after formally declaring war, Israel’s military was pursuing Hamas fighters who might remain in southern towns and intensified its bombardment of Gaza, where almost 500 people have died since Saturday’s unprecedented incursion.
The militants blew through a fortified border fence and gunned down civilians and soldiers in Israeli communities along the Gaza frontier during a Jewish holiday. Israel struck back with airstrikes, including one that flattened a 14-story tower that held Hamas offices.
Israeli Tanks move into position as the military stage and guard its positions near Mavki’im, Israel.
(Marcus Yam/Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
A ball of fire and smoke rises above a building in Gaza City as people on a nearby rooftop watch, left, during an Israeli airstrike that hit the Palestine Tower building.
(Mahmud Hams / AFP/Getty Images)
A Palestinian boy walks past the Sousi mosque after it was leveled by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City on Monday.
(Majdi Fathi/Associated Press)
More rockets are fired toward Israel from the Gaza Strip on Sunday, a day after Hamas fighters carried out a multifront attack on Israel.
(Fatima Shbair/Associated Press)
Palestinian relatives mourn over the body of Ahmad Awawda, 19, who was killed in clashes between Hamas militants and Israeli troops near the city of Nablus.
(Majdi Mohammed / Associated Press)
A plume of smoke rises from an Israeli airstrike on the Gaza Strip on Monday as Israel relentlessly pounded the enclave.
(Anadolu Agency / Getty Images)
A woman cries during the funeral of Israeli Col. Roi Levy at the Mount Herzl cemetery in Jerusalem. Levy was killed in fighting with Hamas militants who stormed from the blockaded Gaza Strip into nearby Israeli towns.
(Maya Alleruzzo/AP)
Palestinians celebrate after an Israeli tank was destroyed in an attack by Hamas fighters at the Gaza Strip boundary east of Khan Younis on Saturday.
(Hassan Eslaiah / Associated Press)