At least 198 people were killed in Gaza on Saturday, according to the health ministry in the Palestinian enclave, following a barrage of rockets fired into Israel by the Palestinian group Hamas, to which Israel responded with air strikes.
The ministry said up until 4:20 pm (1320 GMT) there were “232 martyrs and 1,610 wounded with different injuries” in the conflict.
On the other hand, the death toll in Israel from a surprise attack has risen to 80, the Magen David Adom emergency medical service said.
"As of now, we can update the toll to 80 killed and hundreds wounded seriously, moderately and lightly," it said in a statement.
As global concern grew and the UN Security Council called an emergency meeting for Sunday, President Joe Biden voiced "rock solid and unwavering" support for the US ally and warned "against any other party hostile to Israel seeking advantage in this situation".
As night fell, the Israeli army said its forces were still engaged in live gun battles in 22 Israel locations, in an ongoing operation labelled "Swords of Iron", as reservists were being called up.
"There are still 22 locations where we are engaging with terrorists that came into Israel, from the sea, from the land and from the air," said army spokesman Richard Hecht on what he labelled a "robust ground invasion".
Hamas earlier released images of several Israelis taken captive, and another Israeli army spokesman, Daniel Hagari, confirmed that "there are kidnapped soldiers and civilians.
"I can't give figures about them at the moment. It's a war crime committed by Hamas and they will pay the price."
Hecht said there was also a "severe hostage situation" in the Negev desert communities of Beeri and Ofakim east of Gaza.
Palestinian fighters belonging to Hamas group have launched the largest attack on Israel in years, infiltrating areas of southern Israel amid a barrage of rockets fired from the Gaza Strip.
Twenty-two people have been shot dead in Israel so far in fighting with Palestinian fighters on Saturday, the Magen David Adom emergency medical services said in a statement. "As of 13:00 (1000 GMT), Magen David Adom teams have pronounced 22 victims deceased. They have also treated hundreds of further victims," the statement said.
The rocket fire began from multiple locations in Gaza starting at 06:30am local time (03:30 GMT) on Saturday and continued for nearly half an hour, the Agence France-Presse news agency reported.
Mohammed Deif, a senior Hamas military commander, later announced the start of a military operation in a broadcast on Hamas media, calling on Palestinians everywhere to fight.
Deif said the rockets fired marked the start of “Operation Al-Aqsa Storm”, according to reports. “We’ve decided to say enough is enough,” Deif said as he urged all Palestinians to confront Israel. “This is the day of the greatest battle to end the last occupation on earth,” he said, adding that 5,000 rockets had been launched.
Israel’s military told Israelis living around the Gaza Strip to stay in their homes and warned that Hamas will pay a “heavy price for its actions”.
Israeli media reported that armed fighters had opened fire on passersby in the town of Sderot, in southern Israel, and footage circulating on social media appeared to show uniformed Palestinian fighters engaged in clashes in the border town. Another video on social media appeared to show a burning Israeli tank.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was meeting with his top security officials on Saturday morning.
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The “element of surprise” in the early morning attack which appeared to involve Palestinian fighters in trucks inside Israel and on paragliders, in addition to the rocket fire, will leave Israelis “shocked and stunned”.
The fighting on Saturday comes after weeks of growing tensions along Israel’s volatile border with Gaza, and clashes in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. At least 247 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces so far this year, while 32 Israelis and two foreign nationals have been killed in Palestinian attacks.
In a statement posted on Telegram, Hamas called on “the resistance fighters in the West Bank” as well as “our Arab and Islamic nations” to join the battle.
Saleh al-Arouri, an exiled Hamas leader, said the operation on Saturday was a response “to the crimes of the occupation”. He said Palestinian fighters were defending the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem and fighting for the thousands of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant approved the mobilisation of army reservists on Saturday in response to the Hamas operation, an Israeli defence ministry spokesperson said.
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Israel’s military declared “a state of war alert”, earlier in the day.
Israel's army said it was fighting Gaza militants who entered Israel by land, sea and air using paragliders on Saturday, after a barrage of rockets was fired at Israel from the Palestinian enclave.
"It was a combined ground raid which happened through paragliders, through the sea and through the ground," army spokesman Richard Hecht told reporters.
"Right now we're fighting. We're fighting in certain locations around the Gaza Strip... our forces are now fighting on the ground" in Israel, he added.
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Hecht confirmed there are casualties but would not be drawn on details, nor discuss reports that multiple Israelis had been captured by Palestinian militants.
Thousands of military reservists are set to be drawn up for Gaza, as well as northern Israel, near foes Lebanon and Syria, and the occupied West Bank.
"We're looking at all arenas... we understand this is something big," Hecht said.
At least 2,200 rockets were fired from Gaza by around 10:30 am (0730 GMT), the spokesman said, while Hamas militants put the figure at more than 5,000.
Israel imposed a crippling blockade of Gaza in 2007 after Hamas took control and there have been multiple cross-border wars since.