The death toll from Hamas' attack in Israel has risen to 600 even as Tel Aviv continues to pound the Gaza Strip in a toughest-ever retaliatory move against the Palestinian militant organisation. The conflict that began on Saturday continued to inflict human casualties on the second day as well, with news of Hamas' brutality trickling in. Hamas has taken several Israelis as hostages and reports suggest that they have killed several of them in what many described as acts of barbarism.
Israel at war with Hamas: Latest updates
- Israel has been raining missiles in Gaza since Saturday. So far, at least 370 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 2,000 wounded, according to the health ministry in Gaza. Seven people have also been killed by Israeli army fire in the West Bank.
- On Sunday, a video surfaced showing an Israeli family being held hostage by armed members of Hamas. The footage shows the family struggling to free themselves from the Hamas terrorists after they seemingly execute one of the young girls in the family.
- Two Ukrainian citizens have been killed in Israel, Ukraine's foreign ministry told AFP news agency on Sunday. The foreign ministry spokesperson said that they have confirmed information about the deaths of two Ukrainian women in Israel.
- Thailand's Foreign Ministry said that 11 of its citizens were abducted amid the clashes in southern Israel. The Times of Israel reported that indications were they may have been transported to Gaza. "They are innocent and have nothing to do with any conflict," Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said.
- Israel-based Haaretz reported that a surface-to-air missile battery has been activated near the Israel-Lebanon border. Israel fired a Patriot surface-to-air missile near the border with Lebanon, not far from the Israeli city of Safed.
- Israel Defense Minister Gallant has ordered to prepare for evacuation of communities near the Lebanon border. Lebanon-based Hezbollah has backed Hamas and has offered its rockets and guns to fight Israel.
- US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday said there were reports that several Americans were killed and some were missing. "We have reports that several Americans were killed. We are working overtime to verify that,” Blinken told CNN's State of the Union. "There are reports of missing Americans."
- Israel's defense forces said that their fighter jets today struck Hamas terrorist targets in Gaza that were used to attack the country. Israel struck a concealed launch site and targeted two terrorists near it. "Terrorists attempting to infiltrate Israeli territory from the sea and through the security fence were targeted by IDF aircraft."
- Israel aircraft also struck two operational situation rooms, located inside mosques, used by Hamas in Gaza. They struck 10 Hamas targets, among them were intelligence headquarters and a military compound used by the group's aerial forces. The IDF also demolished an aerial weapons production site used by the aerial forces belonging to Hamas, and a building including units where the terrorist organization stored weapons and military equipment.
- Germany on Sunday said it was reviewing its hundreds of millions of euros of aid for Palestinians after the deadliest attack on Israel by Hamas. Development Minister Svenja Schulze said the government had always been careful to check that the money was only used for peaceful ends but these attacks on Israel marked a terrible fracture. "We will now review our entire engagement for the Palestinian territories."