The death toll in the Gaza Strip rose to 313 on Sunday, after a dawn assault on Israel by Hamas militants drew heavy reprisals, the territory's health ministry said, AFP reported.
Up to 313 palestinians were killed and nearly 2,000 wounded in Israeli airstrikes in Gaza since Saturday, the Health Ministy said on Sunday.
For his part, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to "take mighty vengeance for this wicked day."
"Hamas launched a cruel and wicked war. We will win this war but the price is too heavy to bear," Reuters quoted Netanyahu as saying.
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said the assault that had begun in Gaza would spread to the West Bank and Jerusalem. Gazans have lived under an Israeli blockade for 16 years.
In a speech, Haniyeh highlighted threats to Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque, the continuation of the blockade on Gaza and Israeli normalization with countries in the region. "How many times have we warned you that the Palestinian people have been living in refugee camps for 75 years, and you refuse to recognise the rights of our people?"
Israeli troops clashed with Hamas fighters throughout the night in some parts of southern Israel. In a briefing on social media, an Israeli army spokesperson said the situation was not fully under control.
The Israeli prime minister's office said the security cabinet had approved steps to destroy the military and governmental capabilities of Hamas and Islamic Jihad "for many years", including cutting electricity and fuel supplies and the entry of goods into Gaza.
In Gaza, black smoke, orange flashes and sparks lit the sky from explosions. Israeli drones could be heard overhead. Earlier, crowds of mourners had carried the bodies of militants through the streets, wrapped in green Hamas flags.
Gaza's dead and wounded were carried into crumbling and overcrowded hospitals with severe shortages of medical supplies and equipment.
Streets were deserted apart from ambulances racing to the scenes of air strikes. Israel cut the power, plunging the city into darkness.
