The Palestinian militant group Hamas launched an unprecedented assault on Israel on Saturday, with hundreds of gunmen infiltrating communities near the Gaza Strip.
Gaza's health ministry says 830 Palestinians are known to have been killed in Israeli strikes since Saturday and 1000 Israelis have been killed in attacks led by Hamas.
Israel says it's continuing to bomb the Gaza Strip after hitting 200 targets overnight
In response, Hamas warned residents of the Israeli city of Ashkelon earlier - just to the north of the Gaza Strip - to leave by 17:00 local time (15:00 BST), threatening an attack. As the Hamas deadline passed at 17:00 local time, several loud explosions could be heard.
The horrific and escalating violence is one of the many extreme cases of fighting between Hamas and Israel.
Here is the map of attacks below:
Flights in and out of Israel
Securing direct flights from Israel to the UK has become increasingly difficult with more airlines cancelling flights after the Hamas attacks.
Virgin Atlantic has cancelled flights to and from Tel Aviv as a result of the intense ongoing conflict in Israel and British Airways has also made changes to its flight schedule.
EasyJet, Ryanair, Wizz Air as well as Air France, Lufthansa and Emirates have suspended all flights to the UK.
British Airways said it was continuing to monitor the situation in Israel “very closely” and had also introduced a flexible booking policy for customers, whilst flights over the coming days will operate with “adjusted departure times”.
Israel is at war.
— Benjamin Netanyahu - בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) October 9, 2023
We didn’t want this war.
It was forced upon us in the most brutal and savage way.
But though Israel didn’t start this war, Israel will finish it.
Once, the Jewish people were stateless.
Once, the Jewish people were defenseless.
No longer.
Hamas will… pic.twitter.com/eVECGnzLu3
'We will take mighty vengeance for this wicked day'
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: "What we will do to our enemies in the coming days will reverberate with them for generations."
"We have only started striking Hamas," Netanyahu, 73, said in a nationally televised address late last night.
"Hamas terrorists bound, burned and executed children. They are savages. Hamas is ISIS," Netanyahu concluded.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article