Israeli jets begin massive airstrikes on Gaza in retaliation for terror attacks that killed at least 300 as Netanyahu vows to wage a ‘long and difficult war’

Israel launched a counter-offensive against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip in the south, and pounded Lebanon with artillery in the north, following an unprecedented sneak attack that left at least 300 Israelis dead.

As the sun rose on Sunday after the deadliest day of violence in Israel in 50 years, the Jewish nation’s warplanes bombarded densely populated Gaza City in retaliatory strikes.

Heavy smoke and flames were seen rising from Gaza’s Burc Vatan mall, after the Palestine Tower in the Al-Rimal neighborhood, one of the tallest buildings in the strip, was reduced to rubble.

In the north, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it was carrying out artillery strikes in Lebanon following “shooting” aimed at Israeli territory.

Columns of heavy weaponry, including tanks and armored personnel carriers, were also seen moving north towards Israel’s border with Lebanon and Syria, amid fears Iran-backed Hezbollah militants are preparing to open a second front.

“We are beginning a long and difficult war forced upon us by a murderous Hamas attack,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said early Sunday, adding that the “offensive phase” of the IDF response had begun.

More than 300 Israelis have been killed and 1,590 injured since Hamas launched its blitzkrieg on Saturday morning with rockets and up to 1,000 armed militants moving in gangs, attacking civilians and soldiers in dozens of locations.

At least 26 Israeli soldiers have been killed in an attack by the Hamas militant group in the country’s south, Israel’s military has confirmed.

Israel was still fighting off Hamas incursions in eight locations on Sunday morning, the Israeli military said.

In other developments on Israel’s darkest day for decades:

Hamas fighters began their attack at dawn on Saturday with a huge volley of rockets into southern Israel, providing cover for an unprecedented, multi-pronged infiltration of fighters into Israel from Gaza.

Hamas fighters killed hundreds of Israelis in clashes throughout the day and escaped back to Gaza with at least dozens of hostages, including women, children and disabled elderly Israelis.

An Israeli army spokesman said on Sunday morning that two hostage situations had been ‘resolved’, but did not say whether these hostages had been rescued alive.

Israeli airstrikes in Gaza intensified after nightfall, flattening residential buildings in giant explosions, including a 14-story tower that held dozens of apartments as well as Hamas offices in central Gaza City. Israeli forces had issued a warning just before.

Around 3 a.m., a loudspeaker atop a mosque in Gaza City sounded a stark warning to residents of nearby apartment buildings: Evacuate immediately. Just minutes later, an Israeli airstrike reduced one nearby five-story building to ashes.

After one Israeli strike, a Hamas rocket barrage hit four cities, including Tel Aviv and a nearby suburb. Hamas fired more than 3,500 rockets throughout the day, the Israeli military said.

Israeli officials said that operations to eliminate the armed intruders ended early Sunday.

“The first phase ends at this time with the destruction of the vast majority of the enemy forces that have entered our territory,” Netanyahu said after an early morning meeting of the Security Cabinet.

“At the same time, we have started the offensive phase, which will continue with no restrictions or delays until the objectives are achieved. We will restore security to the citizens of Israel and we will win,’ he added.

The prime minister’s office said the Security Cabinet had decided to halt the supply of electricity, fuel and goods to Gaza, a narrow strip home to 2.3 million Palestinians. Guest residents have been living under an Israeli blockade for 16 years.

Netanyahu’s office said his security cabinet had approved steps to destroy the military and government capabilities of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, another militant group, “for years.”

Israeli troops battled Hamas gunmen in parts of southern Israel through the night. A spokesman for the Israeli army said on social media that the situation was not fully under control.

Bodies of Israeli civilians surrounded by broken glass were strewn across the streets of Sderot in southern Israel near Gaza. The bodies of a man and woman lay across the front seats of a car.

Terrified Israelis, barricaded in secure rooms, recounted their plight by phone on live television.

Senior military officers were among those killed in fighting near Gaza, the Israeli army said.

In Gaza, black smoke, orange flashes and sparks lit up the sky from explosions. Israeli drones could be heard overhead.

Gaza’s dead and wounded were taken to crumbling and overcrowded hospitals with severe shortages of medical supplies and equipment. The health ministry said 232 people were killed and at least 1,700 wounded.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh claimed the assault, which the group called Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, would spread to the West Bank and Jerusalem.

In a speech, Haniyeh highlighted threats to Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque, the continuation of an Israeli blockade on Gaza and Israeli normalization with countries in the region.

“How many times have we warned you that the Palestinian people have been living in refugee camps for 75 years, and you refuse to recognize the rights of our people?”

Western countries, led by the United States, condemned the attack

At the White House, President Joe Biden said on national television that Israel had the right to defend itself, and issued a blunt warning to Iran and other countries: ‘This is not a moment for any party hostile to Israel to call for these attacks to exploit to seek advantage. The world is watching.’

The United States has sought a deal to normalize ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia, seen by Israelis as the biggest prize yet in their decades-long quest for Arab recognition.

Palestinians fear such a deal could sell out their dreams of an independent state.

Osama Hamdan, the leader of Hamas in Lebanon, told Reuters that Saturday’s operation should make Arab states realize that accepting Israeli security demands will not bring peace.

Across the Middle East, there were demonstrations in support of Hamas, with Israeli and American flags set on fire and marchers waving Palestinian flags in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and Yemen. Iran and Hezbollah, Iran’s Lebanese allies, praised the Hamas attack.

Saleh al-Arouri, deputy head of Hamas, told Al Jazeera that the group is holding a large number of Israeli prisoners, including senior officials.

He said Hamas had enough prisoners to make Israel free all Palestinians in its prisons.

Hamas said the attack was prompted by what it called escalated Israeli attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank, Jerusalem and against Palestinians in Israeli prisons.

That Israel was caught completely off guard was lamented as one of the worst intelligence failures in its history, a shock to a nation that prides itself on its intensive infiltration and monitoring of militants.