Israel's military says it fully controls communities on Gaza border

Israel's military said its forces were continuing to carry out searches in southern border communities

Israel's military says troops are in full control of all communities along the border with Gaza, two days after Hamas's unprecedented assault.

Fighting between troops and Palestinian militants in several areas on Monday morning had become "isolated", a spokesman told reporters. But he warned that militants might still be at large.

At least 700 people in Israel are reported to have been killed.

Another 560 people have been killed in Gaza in retaliatory Israeli strikes.

A Hamas spokesman claimed that four Israelis taken hostage during Saturday's attack were among those killed in the latest strikes, but there was no independent confirmation.

Israel's defence minister meanwhile ordered a "complete siege" of Gaza.

The two million Palestinians in the Hamas-ruled territory are also bracing themselves for a possible ground operation, with Israeli forces massing nearby.

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At the start of Monday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said there were seven or eight areas in southern Israel where troops were still fighting gunmen.

The included Be'eri, a kibbutz that was infiltrated by about 70 militants overnight, possibly using a cross-border tunnel, it added.

A tunnel exit was also reportedly found near Kfar Aza, another kibbutz where a family was being held hostage.

But a few hours later, the IDF's chief spokesman, Rear Adm Daniel Hagari, declared that security forces had regained control of border communities and killed a number of militants.

"We are now carrying out searches in all of the communities and clearing the area," he said, adding that "it is possible there are still terrorists".

Adm Hagari said the IDF planned to secure breaches in the Gaza perimeter fence with tanks and aircraft and that it had mobilised a record 300,000 reservists.

He also said that about 4,400 rockets had been fired from Gaza towards Israel since Saturday morning, when hundreds of Hamas militants used them as cover to infiltrate Israel.

Not long after the briefing, rocket sirens sounded in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem as fresh barrages were launched. Several people were reportedly injured in the southern cities of Ashkelon and Ashdod.

For Israelis collectively traumatised by the assault from Gaza, the scale of the number of casualties continues to shock.

Israel's health ministry has not confirmed how many people have been killed, but Israeli TV channels report that the death toll exceeds 700. Almost 2,400 people have been wounded.

The BBC has learnt that "more than 10" British citizens are feared dead or missing in Israel, according to an official UK source.

A volunteer group called Zaka, which helps to recover human remains, said more than 250 bodies had been taken from the scene of an all-night rave party and that more were still to be recovered.

The IDF is also focused on rescuing the dozens of Israeli soldiers and civilians, including women and children, being held as hostages by Hamas in Gaza.

"The hostages and their possible locations are being taken into account as we decide what our next step is. Israel is a state that holds human life sacred and we will do everything in our power to ensure that they're coming back home safe," spokeswoman Masha Michelson told the BBC.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked mayors of border towns to "stand steadfast because we are going to change the Middle East".

"What Hamas will experience will be difficult and terrible," he said. "We are already in the campaign and we are just getting started."

The Jabalia refugee camp, north of Gaza City, was reportedly targeted in an Israeli strike on Monday

Israeli warplanes, helicopters and artillery struck more than 500 targets in Gaza overnight that the IDF said belonged to Hamas and the smaller militant group Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

They included eight command centres, several multi-storey buildings, including the home of senior Hamas official Ruhi Mashtaa, and three "terror tunnels", it added.

At least 560 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza and 2,900 injured since Israel began its retaliatory strikes, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

On Monday, health officials said at least 15 people were killed in an attack in the densely populated Jabalia refugee camp, north of Gaza City.

Hamas spokesman Abdul Latif claimed that Israel was "still in a state of shock, losing its mind, and committing crimes against humanity by targeting and killing dozens of innocent civilians".

The United Nations said more than 123,000 people had been displaced in Gaza, mostly because of fear or the destruction of their homes. The majority are seeking shelter in schools.

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, meanwhile, said he had "ordered a full siege on the Gaza Strip. No power, no food, no gas, everything is closed."

"We are fighting human animals and we act accordingly," he declared.

Israel's infrastructure minister later said the water supply would also be cut.

Palestinian officials warned that Gaza would run out of fuel, food and medicine within 24 to 72 hours. Its power station and water and sewerage systems would have to shut down without fuel.

Gaza has been under a tight Israeli-Egyptian blockade since the Hamas takeover 16 years ago. The two countries say it is for security reasons.

Tensions are also running high in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, where Palestinian health officials say 16 Palestinians have been killed in clashes with Israeli forces since Saturday.

Also on Monday, the IDF said its soldiers had killed a number of armed suspects who had crossed the frontier from Lebanon into Israeli territory.

Palestinian Islamic Jihad claimed it was behind the attack and that seven Israeli soldiers were injured.

It comes a day after Lebanon's Hezbollah movement fired rockets at Israeli positions in the disputed Shebaa Farms/Mount Dov area and Israeli forces responded with artillery fire and a drone strike.