\n<\/p>\n
Israel ordered a \u201ccomplete siege\u201d of the Gaza Strip on Monday as it retaliated for the largest and deadliest incursion into its territory in decades, while Hamas threatened to respond to the Israeli bombing campaign by executing civilians its fighters took hostage in Israel.<\/p>\n
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant of Israel said that \u201cno electricity, no food, no water, no fuel\u201d would be allowed into Gaza, the crowded and impoverished coastal territory that is already under a 16-year blockade<\/a> by Israel and Egypt. Israeli warplanes struck hundreds of sites in Gaza, which is controlled by the militant group Hamas, including mosques and a marketplace, while Israeli troops battled to regain control of towns overrun on Saturday by Hamas gunmen.<\/p>\n At least 800 people have been killed in Israel and more than 2,600 wounded since the incursion began early Saturday, and Hamas gunmen were holding about 150 hostages, the Israeli government said<\/a>. The spokesman for Hamas\u2019s military wing, Abu Obeida, said the group would execute a civilian hostage every time an airstrike hit \u201cour civilians in their homes without warning.\u201d<\/p>\n At least 687 Palestinians were killed and at least 3,726 injured, the authorities in Gaza said. The death toll is believed to include not only the casualties in Gaza, but also some of the assailants who were killed in the attack on Israel, though it was not immediately clear how many.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Israel mobilized 300,000 military reservists<\/a>, an enormous number for a country of 9 million people, amid signs that it could be preparing for a major ground invasion of Gaza and the possible opening of another front against the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah in the north.<\/p>\n In a televised address on Monday night, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, who has warned of a long war ahead, vowed to \u201celiminate\u201d Hamas. Mr. Netanyahu, who leads the most right-wing government in his nation\u2019s history, called on the opposition to \u201cimmediately establish a national emergency government without preconditions.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Lt. Col. Richard Hecht of the Israel Defense Forces told reporters on Monday that the next phase of fighting would not resemble recent conflicts with Gaza, in which Palestinian groups fired rockets but claimed relatively few casualties, and Israel would respond primarily with airstrikes. \u201cWe are in a different game here,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are at war with Hamas.\u201d<\/p>\n A stunned disbelief enveloped Israel, which appeared to have been caught entirely by surprise by the attack and had gone 50 years without enduring an assault on this scale or with so many casualties. Adding to the shock were the mass hostage-takings and the fact that fighting on Israeli soil continued into a third day. Families were watching men and women who had finished their mandatory military service being called back to duty, while the names of the dead scrolled across television screens.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n An Israeli airstrike on Monday devastated a busy open-air marketplace in northern Gaza\u2019s Jabaliya refugee camp, where Gazans anticipating a long fight had flocked to stock up on food and other supplies. A Red Crescent paramedic, who was not authorized to speak to the media and requested anonymity, said 60 people were killed there.<\/p>\n Videos shared on social media and distributed by Palestinian news agencies showed bodies strewn amid the debris of what moments earlier had been stands selling produce and other goods. Broken concrete and twisted metal from the surrounding buildings filled the square, and people made their way through the debris, smoke and dust, looking for survivors.<\/p>\n \u201cIs he dead? Is he dead?\u201d a man was heard yelling in one video.<\/p>\n Israeli strikes also hit four mosques in the Shati refugee camp on Monday, according to Gaza authorities, toppling their domes and killing worshipers inside. Neighbors picked through the rubble of the Sousi mosque, where witnesses said boys had been playing soccer just outside when it was destroyed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Israel\u2019s military said it had carried out more than 500 airstrikes overnight, targeting operations centers of Hamas and another group, Islamic Jihad. It confirmed hitting several mosques, saying that they contained Hamas infrastructure or fighters.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The United Nations and Palestinian officials said that at least two hospitals and multiple homes had also been hit, and many Gazans said they had nowhere to go<\/a> to escape the Israeli strikes.<\/p>\n President Biden said at least 11 U.S. citizens were confirmed killed in the Hamas attack, and an unknown number were unaccounted for. \u201cWhile we are still working to confirm, we believe it is likely that American citizens may be among those being held by Hamas,\u201d he said in a written statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n He vowed to work with Israel \u201con every aspect of the hostage crisis,\u201d including sharing intelligence and deploying experts.<\/p>\n Many other foreign nationals were reported dead, wounded or missing, including 12 Thais killed, 11 kidnapped and nine wounded, according to their government. France said two of its nationals were killed and 14 were unaccounted for.<\/p>\n Israel has asked the United States to supply it with more precision-guided munitions for its warplanes and more missiles for its Iron Dome air defense system, requests the Biden administration is working on, according to a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. A senior Pentagon official said the United States was already accelerating shipments of such weapons.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n