More than 1,100 dead as a result of the Hamas attack and Israeli retaliation, with more than 2,300 wounded. For its part, the bombardment of Gaza has caused 436 deaths. Hamas and Islamic Jihad claim to be holding 130 Israeli hostages

More than two days after the start of the Hamas offensive on Israel, Israeli soldiers are still fighting Palestinian militiamen in several towns in the south of the country. According to an army spokesman, there are seven towns where they are still barricaded, sometimes in homes. Meanwhile, during the night, the army has bombed hundreds of targets in the Gaza Strip.

The clashes have left more than 700 dead and 2,300 wounded on the Israeli side and at least 436 on the Palestinian side, according to the Palestinian Authority, which also reports 2,300 wounded. There are also at least 130 Israelis being held, 100 by Hamas and 30 by Islamic Jihad, according to both organizations. To these figures must be added the militiamen killed by Israeli forces, who number in the hundreds, according to the Israeli army.

Early Saturday morning, the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas surprised Israel with a ground and air attack. Israel responded by launching the first major waves of bombardment against hundreds of military and civilian targets of the Hamas fundamentalist group in the Gaza Strip.

The attack follows months of violence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with the highest death toll in the Israeli-occupied West Bank since 1967. Israeli attacks on Palestinian territories have intensified in recent months, with more than 200 Palestinians killed in attacks so far this year, a figure that exceeds the total for 2022. Particularly in Gaza the situation is very difficult, with Israeli restrictions on freedom of movement, health care and even electricity in this land of 2.2 million people.