The Israeli government promised Monday to hunt down Hamas fighters and to punish the Gaza Strip following a surprise weekend attack killed more than 700 people in Israel, including at least 260 at a crowded music festival that became the scene of one of the country’s worst civilian massacres.
A day after formally declaring war, Israel’s military worked to crush Hamas fighters who might remain in southern towns and intensified its bombardment of Gaza, where almost 500 people have died since Saturday’s unprecedented incursion.
The militants blew through a fortified border fence and gunned down civilians and soldiers in Israeli communities along the Gaza frontier during a Jewish holiday. Israel struck back with airstrikes, including one that flattened a 14-story tower that held Hamas offices.
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