At least 700 Israelis have been killed by the attack launched by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas from the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory on Saturday morning, Israeli media reported late this afternoon, in the latest provisional estimates.

2,243 people in Israel were injured

Israel’s health ministry said 2,243 people in Israel were also injured in the Hamas attacks.

The last official count given earlier in the afternoon by the Israeli government spoke of more than 600 Israelis dead.

At least 413 Palestinians, including 78 children and 41 women, have been killed by Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip yesterday, the enclave’s Palestinian Ministry of Health said this evening.

Also, almost 2,300 people have been injured by the Israeli raids.

.The embassy of Israel in Greece issued a statement on Twitter in which it mentions the numbers of the dead.

“The absolute nightmare in numbers. Our thoughts are with the families of the victims and the injured,” the post reads.

  • More than 600 Israelis murdered
  • More than 2,000 wounded Israelis
  • More than 3,500 rockets were fired at Israel
  • and dozens of Israelis were kidnapped among them foreign nationals.

Israel has officially declared war on Hamas

Israel’s government has officially declared war on Hamas, paving the way for the planned large-scale ground operation. The Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu had announced since Saturday that his country is at war, while the military administration has already proceeded to mobilize tens of thousands of reservists.

“Every war is a defeat. Let us pray for peace in Israel and Palestine,” Pope Francis emphasized
Addressing the gathered crowd in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Francis today referred to the latest, tragic developments in the Middle East.

In more detail, the pontiff underlined:

“I am watching with pain and concern what is happening in Israel, where violence has exploded in an even more violent way. I am on the side of the families of the victims, I pray for them, and all those who are living hours of agony and terror. The attacks must stop and the guns must be silenced. Everyone must understand that terrorism and war do not lead to any solution, that war is defeat. War, any war, only causes hardship and the death of so many innocent people. Let us pray for peace in Israel and Palestine.”

Israel expected “stronger condemnation” of Hamas from Beijing

Israel expected “stronger condemnation” of Hamas from China, a country it considers friendly, Yuval Wachs, a senior official at the Israeli embassy in Beijing, said today.

“When people are being murdered, massacred in the streets, it’s not a good time to be calling for a two-state solution,” Wax told reporters.

Earlier today, the Chinese Foreign Ministry appealed to all parties involved to remain calm and immediately end hostilities to protect civilians, adding that “the fundamental way to resolve the conflict is to implement the two-state solution and establish an independent Palestinian State”.

Hezbollah tells armed Palestinians ‘its guns and rockets are with them’

Senior Hezbollah official Hashem Safieddin said his organization’s “weapons and rockets” are with the Palestinian Hamas gunmen who launched an attack on Israel yesterday.

“Our history, our weapons and our rockets are with you. Everything we have is with you,” Safieddin said at an event in the Hezbollah stronghold of Dahiyeh on the outskirts of Beirut in solidarity with the Palestinian militants.