Israeli authorities have ordered a “complete siege” of Gaza as the Hamas militant group threatened to execute hostages.
Defence minister Yoav Gallant said he planned to cut off supplies of electricity, food and fuel to the Palestinian enclave.
“I ordered a full siege on the Gaza Strip,” Mr Gallant, a former IDF commander, said, according to the Times of Israel. “We are fighting human animals and we act accordingly.”
Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that air strikes in the besieged Gaza Strip were “just the beginning” and vowed to do “everything for Israelis held captive.”
This comes as Abu Obeida, the spokesman of Hamas’s military wing, Qassam Brigades, said the group is responding to heavy bombarding of Gaza’s residential areas which has seen homes collapse over civilians’ heads.
“We have decided to put an end to this and as of now and we declare that any targeting of our people in their homes without prior warning will be regrettably faced with the execution of one the hostages of civilians we are holding,” he said.
Local media reports that at least 900 people have been killed in Israel and almost 500 have been killed in Gaza, with thousands wounded.