Israel amasses 100,000 troops on Gaza border

Israel has amassed 100,000 troops plus tanks and armoured personnel carriers near the border with Gaza as it seeks to obliterate the militant Hamas group’s bases and governing facilities in retaliation for a series of shock attacks and hostage takings.

As the Israeli death toll grew to at least 700 and the Palestinian death toll exceeded 400 on latest estimates, the Israel Defence Forces said the military had targeted 500 sites in the Gaza Strip through the use of jets, helicopters and other aircraft.

Israel, which has declared it is at war against Hamas, on Monday vowed to lay total siege to the Gaza Strip as its military scoured the country’s south for militants, guarded breaches in its border fence and pounded the impoverished Hamas-ruled territory in the wake of an unprecedented weekend incursion.