At least 700 Israelis dead, 2,200 wounded as IDF continues to battle last terrorist holdouts

The morning after the Hamas terror organization began its large-scale attack against Israel, the picture began to get a bit more clear but much still remains unknown.

The latest Israeli media reports counted at least 700 dead and 2,200 wounded.

The Israeli Health Ministry on Sunday morning reported 19 in critical and 326 still in serious condition after the brutal surprise attack on Saturday.

Magen David Adom added that 28 people were wounded by rocket impacts during the night, including two individuals in serious condition.

Hamas continued shooting rockets throughout the night, including heavy barrages against the greater Tel Aviv area, which it claimed was an act of revenge after the Israeli military destroyed a large residential tower in the Gaza Strip containing Hamas command structures.

The number of fatalities and wounded is expected to rise further as the IDF continues to neutralize all of the terrorists who infiltrated Israeli settlements along the Gaza border. In addition, rescue services are still recovering all the killed and wounded victims from the area.

Many residents of the area near Gaza remain holed up in their homes as the IDF continues to scan and secure the area.

Battles between IDF soldiers and terrorists were still ongoing in the various kibbutzim, including Be’eri, Kissufim, Kfar Azza and Yeted.

“The IDF forces worked all night to secure the area surrounding the Gaza Strip, kill terrorists and take control of all the battle sites,” IDF spokesman Brig.-Gen. Daniel Hagari said. On Saturday evening, he confirmed that Hamas terrorists had murdered a number of IDF soldiers and took “hostages and prisoners of war,” but did not give exact numbers.

“There are fighting and heroic battles to rescue hostages happening even now. Hundreds of terrorists have been killed, and dozens have been taken captive. There are forces fighting in Kfar Azza and ongoing searches in a large number of settlements – the IDF is in all the settlements.”

The total number of terrorists who infiltrated the border is still unclear. Hagari confirmed that around 400 terrorists have been eliminated so far, and many captured.

Hostage situations in Kibbutz Be’eri and the towns of Ofakim and Sderot continued late into the night but were confirmed to have ended with the hostages being released alive and the terrorists eliminated.

In the city of Sderot, Hamas terrorists had taken over the police headquarters and holed up there.

Israeli forces used heavy engineering equipment to break into the fortified building, with pictures from Sunday morning revealing its hollowed-out and blackened shell after the successful conclusion of the operation.