Israel-Hamas war: Rockets fired towards Israeli city as 1,000 people now confirmed dead in militant assault

Israel pounded the Gaza Strip on Tuesday with the fiercest air strikes ever seen in the conflict’s 75-year history. It comes as Israel vowed “mighty revenge” on militants who rampaged through its towns.

Rockets have been fired towards Ashkelon by Hamas after its deadline expired warning people living in the Israeli city they had until 5pm local time (3pm UK time) to leave.

The warning was from the Palestinian militant group’s armed wing, known as the al Qassam Brigades, which said it was in response to the “crime of the enemy”.

Sky’s international affairs editor Dominic Waghorn, reporting from near the scene, said Israeli Iron Dome rockets were fired to intercept the incoming barrage.

He said: “Looking on the horizon… we can see smoke rising from Ashkelon. It looks like some of the rockets got through, but not many.”

It is not the huge barrage Hamas likely anticipated after threatening the entire city, said Waghorn.

“A lot of the city had evacuated already… there wasn’t, as far as we could see, a mass exodus from Ashkelon.”

As part of continued rocket attacks across Israel, the fighters claimed to have hit Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv, which the Israelis have denied.

Israel, in turn, has said its air force has killed two senior Hamas officials – its minister of economy, Jawad Abu Shamala, and Zakaria Abu Maamar, a member of Hamas’s political office.

Israel-Gaza latest: Israel warns its offensive ‘won’t be clean’

It comes as it was confirmed at least 1,000 people were killed in Israel following Saturday’s surprise Hamas attack, which officials have likened to its own 9/11 or Pearl Harbour.

Also, Israeli authorities said the bodies of about 1,500 militants have been found on their territory.

Israel says more than 150 of its civilians and soldiers were kidnapped and are being held hostage in Gaza.

Harrowing tales have emerged of families being taken away, with relatives left with no clue about their fate.

Hamas has warned it will kill a hostage every time Israel launches a retaliatory air strike without a pre-warning to enable civilians to reach safety.

Read more:
Foreign secretary calls on pro-Palestinian protesters to stay at home
Who is the mastermind behind Hamas’s attack on Israel?

Some 770 Palestinians have died in the Gaza Strip and 4,000 have been injured in strikes so far, say Palestinian health authorities.

Hamas sources in Lebanon have told Sky News the “operation” on Saturday was in the planning for more than a year.

The source also said if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expands the front, Hamas will too and their allies “will not leave Hamas in this battle alone”.

Gaza under siege

Israel has also announced a siege of Gaza, cutting off food, power and water as it hits back at Hamas targets in the thin coastal strip, which is home to 2.3 million people.

More than 180,000 Gazans have been made homeless, with many huddling on streets or in schools, the United Nations said, while bombardment shut roads to emergency crews.

Ahead of an expected ground assault, Israeli tanks have been gathering at the border to guard against further incursions – with Israel’s prime minister promising devastating revenge.

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) has now increased the number of reservists it has mobilised to 360,000, with at least 35 battalions being organised into four divisions.

Israel will respond in Gaza “very aggressively”, the IDF said, adding recent events are a “game changer”.

Their response comes as reports suggest the first tranche of US security assistance is on its way to Israel, with more to come.

MSNBC quotes White House spokesperson John Kirby as saying a package was en-route to Israel, but no further details about what was included have been shared.

Israel’s air force, meanwhile, said it is launching an “extensive attack against terror targets” in the Gaza Strip.

British-Israeli civilians among affected

The thousand people killed in Israel includes about 250 festival-goers slaughtered by gunmen who prowled the site shooting them dead for hours. Some of the hostages were paraded through the streets in Gaza.

One couple have told Sky News how they managed to escape the massacre by driving across a field.

In one of the worst cases, three generations of the same family are missing.

The abduction of the Bibas Silverman family in kibbutz Nir Oz was filmed by Palestinians and posted online.

In his flat in Tel Aviv, restaurateur and cousin Yosi told Sky News of his agony watching the footage of his relatives’ kidnapping.

“The first time I saw the pictures I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t comprehend what I saw, then I look at another picture and it was very clear that this is my cousin Shiri and the two little children.”

Among the civilians caught in the conflict are a “significant number” of British-Israeli dual nationals, according to James Cleverly, the foreign secretary.

He would not give an exact number due to the “fast-moving” situation, he told LBC, but many “have been in some way involved in the terrorist atrocities”.