__

Story highlights

• 313 Palestinians have so far been killed; 200 Israelis have so far been killed
• Netanyahu invites opposition leaders to form a unity government
• Biden says US ‘will not ever fail’ to have Israel’s back

Fighting continued between Israeli forces and Hamas on Sunday as Israel pounded Gaza following a barrage of rockets into the country fired by Hamas militants. At least 313 people were killed and over 2,000 wounded in Gaza on Sunday, the health ministry in the Palestinian enclave said.

As fighting raged on Sunday, Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement said it had fired “large numbers of artillery shells and guided missiles” at Israeli positions in a contested border areas “in solidarity” with Hamas.

Israel’s army had earlier said it fired artillery on southern Lebanon in response to a shot from the area without identifying the attackers.

Two Israeli tourists, one Egyptian killed in Alexandria shooting

Two Israeli tourists and one Egyptian were killed Sunday by a policeman in Egypt, local media and Israeli authorities said, as war rages for a second day between the neighbouring country and Hamas.

The policeman fired “at random” at an Israeli tour group visiting Alexandria using “his personal weapon”, the state-affiliated private television Extra News said quoting a security source.

A fourth person was wounded and the policeman was “immediately arrested”, it added.

The Israeli foreign ministry confirmed the deaths in a statement.

“This morning during a visit of Israeli tourists in Alexandria, Egypt, a local opened fire at them, murdering two Israeli citizens and their Egyptian guide,” it reads.

“In addition, there is a wounded Israeli in moderate condition.”

The deaths come as fighting rages after Palestinian militants on Saturday launched a multi-pronged attack on Israel, which has declared war on Hamas and launched air strikes on Gaza.

Egypt was the first Arab country to forge a peace deal with Israel in 1979, and has long served as a key intermediary between Israel and the Palestinians.

However, despite the diplomatic relations, Israel remains largely unpopular among Egyptians.

On Saturday, Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi warned of a “vicious cycle of tensions threatening regional stability and security”.

Hundreds killed as fightings continue for second day

The number of Palestinians killed has reached 313 and 2,000 have been wounded, the ministry said up until 11 am.

“There are dozens of patients in critical condition,” Al Jazeera quoted the ministry as saying and warned that there would be serious health repercussions due to the power cuts. “The state of readiness remains limited due to the Israeli siege and the large shortages of medicines and other supplies.”

The death toll in Israel from a surprise attack by the Palestinian militant Hamas group on Saturday has risen to over 300, according to the latest figures provided by Israeli authorities.

It started following a barrage of more than 2,000 rockets fired from the Gaza Strip. The Palestinian militant group Hamas launched its most significant attack on Israel in years, infiltrating regions in the south of the country, according to local media and medical professionals.

US President Joe Biden has doubled down on Washington’s support for Israel, saying “Israel has the right to defend itself and its people, full stop”.

Biden said US support for Israel’s security is “rock solid and unwavering”.

Meanwhile, Israeli PM Netanyahu has invited opposition leaders Lapid and Gantz to form a unity government, according to his Likud party.

Fighting between Israeli troops and Palestinian militants who infiltrated from Gaza was ongoing at “22 locations’ inside Israel Saturday, the army said after Hamas launched a surprise dawn attack.

“There are still 22 locations where we are engaging with terrorists that came into Israel from the sea, from the land and from the air,” army spokesman Richard Hecht told journalists, adding the Hamas attack included a “robust ground invasion”.

He said there was a “severe hostage situation in Beeri and also in Ofakim”, two Israeli communities near the Gaza border.

Mohammed Deif, a senior Hamas military commander, said earlier that the rocket fire marked the start of “Operation Al-Aqsa Flood”, and he called on Palestinians everywhere to fight the Israeli occupation.

“We’ve decided to say enough is enough,” Deif said as he urged all Palestinians to confront Israel. “This is the day of the greatest battle to end the last occupation on Earth,” he said in an audio message

Israeli broadcaster Reshet 13 TV News said militants were holding Israelis hostage in the town of Ofakim, and that five Palestinian militants had been killed in the town of Sderot and homes had been set on fire.

“Citizens of Israel, we are at war,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video message from military headquarters in Tel Aviv.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said that the Palestinian people have the right to defend themselves against the “terror of settlers and occupation troops”.

Many world countries called for restrained while the US condemned the attacks and said it was standing with Israel.

Al Jazeera reported that an adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Hosseini Khamenei said that Iran supported the Palestinians’ attack. The Lebanese armed group Hezbollah has also said it was “in direct contact with the leadership of the Palestinian resistance”.

AFP journalists said Israel’s military began air strikes on Gaza, following the rocket barrage from inside the territory which is sealed off from Israel by a militarised border barrier.

Rockets had earlier streamed across the sky repeatedly after the first launches from multiple locations across the Palestinian territory from 6:30 am (0330 GMT), AFP journalists in Gaza City reported.

Hamas, a militant group which controls Gaza, said it was behind the aerial assault, saying its militants had launched thousands of rockets and its fighters seized an Israeli tank.

Israel’s army did not immediately comment on the tank claim when contacted by AFP.

Israeli security chiefs convened over the violence, which occurred on Shabbat and during a Jewish holiday.

Air raid sirens wailed across southern and central Israel, and the army urged people to stay near bomb shelters.

AFP journalists in Jerusalem heard multiple rockets being intercepted by Israeli air defence systems.

Sirens blared across the city on more occasions than in any Gaza conflict in the past three years.

“We decided to put an end to all the crimes of the occupation (Israel). Their time for rampaging without being held accountable is over,” the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades said.

“We announce Operation Al-Aqsa Flood and we fired, in the first strike of 20 minutes, more than 5,000 rockets.”

Israel’s military said Hamas launched “massive shooting of rockets”, while at the same time “terrorists infiltrated into Israeli territory in a number of different locations”.

Hamas “will face the consequences and responsibility for these events”, it said in a statement. In Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, some Palestinian residents cheered and blew their car horns as sirens blared.

A regional council for Israeli communities northeast of Gaza said its president was killed in an exchange of fire with attackers from Gaza.

Separately, a woman in her 60s was killed “due to a direct hit” in Israel, the Magen David Adom emergency services said.

Fifteen others were wounded, two of them seriously, medics said.

Hamas has launched a “war” against Israel, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said, after barrages of rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory.

“Hamas has made a grave mistake this morning and launched a war against the State of Israel,” Gallant said in a statement.

“IDF troops (Israeli army) are fighting against the enemy at every location.”

Israeli army launches ‘Operation Iron Swords’

Israeli army launched ‘Operation Iron Swords’ against the Hamas in the Gaza Strip, in response to attacks from the territory.

Israeli raids have started, as witnesses told Reuters that explosions are heard in the Gaza city.

Saudi Arabia, Israel moving towards ‘framework’ for deal: US

Saudi envoy seeks to reassure Palestinians amid talks with Israel

Saudi Arabia says no Israel deal without Palestinian peace

In a separate incident, medics said a 20-year-old man was hurt moderately from shrapnel.

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the premier will convene security chiefs over the violence.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the rocket fire.

With input from agencies…