Israel intensified airstrikes on Gaza as it prepared a ground operation in response to the biggest attack by Palestinian militants on the country in decades.
Here’s what to know:
The latest: Israeli airstrikes on Tuesday reduced parts of Gaza to rubble as the military massed troops on the border in response to the incursion by Hamas. Israel had earlier retaken control of southern towns and said it would impose a full siege of the Palestinian enclave.
Casualties: Some 1,200 Israelis have died since the assault began. The U.S. said that at least 14 of its citizens had died. Gaza officials say 900 people have been killed there by Israeli strikes. Israel said the bodies of around 1,500 Hamas fighters had been found inside Israel.
Hostages: Hamas said it abducted dozens of people, placing them inside Gaza to impede Israeli operations. Hamas has threatened to execute Israeli hostages if Israel continues to bombard civilian homes in Gaza without warning.
U.S. response: President Biden addressed the nation from the White House, calling Hamas’s attack on Israel “an act of sheer evil.” He said the U.S. was rushing more military aid including ammunition and gear to replenish Israel’s Iron Dome defense system. The USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier arrived in the region with its accompanying guided-missile destroyers, and the first plane carrying advanced U.S. weaponry landed at an airbase in southern Israel.
Iran: Iranian security officials helped plan the attack, senior members of Hamas and Hezbollah said. The Pentagon warned Iran and Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militia in Lebanon, against joining the fighting.
