By Kathleen Magramo, Jessie Yeung, Adam Renton, Ed Upright, Joshua Berlinger, Aditi Sangal, Dakin Andone, Steve Almasy, Tori B. Powell and Elise Hammond, CNN
From CNN's Lindsay Isaac and Richard Allen Greene
More than 1,000 people were killed in an attack by Hamas on Israel over the weekend, according to the Israeli Embassy in the US.
The death toll now stands at 1,008, with at least 3,418 injured, the embassy said on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
The Israel Defense Forces has said it "cannot confirm or deny" these reports from the embassy. An IDF spokesperson told CNN that it is aware of over 900 deaths.
From Lauren Izso in Ashdod
Israeli jets have struck more than 100 “targets” in the Al-Furqan area in Gaza on Tuesday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement.
Over the past day, the IDF has struck over 250 targets in the area, it added.
The defense forces said it also struck in the Rafah area, including an underground tunnel used for "smuggling weapons and equipment."
“The (Al-Furqan) area serves as a hub for the Hamas terrorist organization, from which operations against Israel were launched,” it claimed, adding that it will “continue to operate against Hamas infrastructure used to carry out attacks against” Israel.
From CNN’s Celine Alkhaldi in Jerusalem
The only border crossing between the Gaza strip and Egypt was struck on Tuesday, the spokesperson for the Palestinian Interior Ministry Eyad al-Bozom said Tuesday.
Israeli warplanes struck the gateway and teams working at the crossing were asked to evacuate “immediately due to threats of strikes of the crossing,” al-Bozom said Tuesday.
The order came from the management of the Rafah crossing on the Egyptian side, Bozom said.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) did not say that the border crossing was struck but said that an underground tunnel for smuggling weapons and equipment was struck in the Rafah area. It’s unclear where exactly the strike occurred.
The Rafah crossing was working normally on Tuesday, according to the Palestinian Border Crossing General Authority, adding that 75 names had been cleared for passage on Wednesday.
About the Gaza border crossings: The tightly controlled Rafah crossing with Egypt is the only crossing available to Gazans looking to flee following Hamas' attack on Israel. All crossings out of the territory are shut.
The IDF has urged civilians in Gaza to leave their residential areas immediately for their safety as Israeli military operations continue to target Hamas, and shut all crossings between Israel and Gaza, potentially setting the stage for a ground incursion into the enclave.
From CNN's Arlette Saenz
US President Joe Biden is expected to speak with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday, an administration official says.
The anticipated call would mark the third call between the two leaders since Hamas launched its attacks on Israel on Saturday and would come as the president is set to speak about the “terrorist attacks” Tuesday afternoon.
Netanyahu has been in “continuous contact with President Biden” as the crisis has unfolded, the Israeli prime minister said Monday.
From CNN’s Anna Chernova
Russian President Vladimir Putin has made his first comments on the conflict in Israeli, framing it as a “clear example” of the failure of the US policy.
"We see a sharp escalation of the situation in the Middle East. I think that many will agree with me that this is a clear example of the failure of the United States policy in the Middle East, which tried to monopolize any settlement (between the Israelis and the Palestinians)," Putin said at the Kremlin on Tuesday.
Putin went on to criticize the US approach for not prioritizing compromises acceptable to both sides, emphasizing that it often involved imposing ideas and pressure without considering the fundamental interests of the Palestinian people.
“Unfortunately, they (the US administration) were not concerned with finding compromises acceptable to both sides, but on the contrary, (they were) putting forward their own ideas about how this should be done, putting pressure on both sides,” Putin said.
“Without taking into account the fundamental interests of the Palestinian people. I mean, first of all, the need to implement the decision of the UN Security Council on the creation of an independent sovereign Palestinian state,” he added.
Putin also emphasized the need to minimize damage to the civilian population and called on all conflicting parties to prioritize this goal.
From CNN's Amil Tal
Two foreign workers were killed and another seriously injured in a rocket attack Tuesday in the Eshkol region in southern Israel, according to United Hatzalah, a volunteer Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) group.
"The two foreign workers were found lifeless as a result of the rocket hit. Unfortunately, their death had to be pronounced at the scene. We also provided initial treatment to an additional foreign worker who was seriously injured and are continuing to scan the area to look for additional casualties,” the medic group's volunteer David Ben Romano told CNN.
The nationalities of the foreign workers are not immediately clear.
From CNN's Ibrahim Dahman in Gaza
A Hamas spokesperson on Tuesday issued a warning to the residents of the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon to leave the city before 5 p.m. local time.
The warning is in response to the “crime of displacing our people and forcing them to flee their homes” in the Gaza strip, the spokesperson said.
No further details were provided in the statement, which was shared by Hamas on Telegram.
From CNN's Ivana Kottasová in Ashdod, Israel
Air raid sirens warning of a rocket attack have sounded throughout the area north of the Gaza Strip on Tuesday afternoon, prompting residents and visitors to rush to the shelters.
People here know that time is of essence — while those in Tel Aviv and areas further north have a bit more time to find a shelter, people near the Gaza Strip have mere seconds to run to safety.
Shortly after the sirens sounded, several loud bangs could be heard in Ashdod, as rockets fired from Gaza were being intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome defense system.
From CNN staff
It's the fourth day of fighting between Israel and Hamas since the Islamist militant group carried out one of the deadliest terror attacks in Israel's history, killing at least 900 people. Israel has responded with an overwhelming number of airstrikes on Gaza, the 140 square-mile densely populated territory controlled by Hamas, leaving at least 765 people dead, wounding 4,000 and displacing more than 137,000.
Israel's ambassador to the United Nations told CNN that the country’s priority is "to obliterate Hamas terrorist capabilities. Overnight, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched another 200 strikes targeting "terror hubs." Hamas is threatening to kill civilian hostages and broadcast the executions live should the aerial attacks continue without warning. The group claims to be holding more than 100 captives, including Israeli army officers. Israel's UN ambassador said the number of hostages could be as high as 150.
Here are the developments to get you up to speed:
Bloodbath at Be'eri: More than 100 bodies have been found in the Israeli kibbutz Be’eri, a self-sustaining farming community of 1,000 residents near Gaza. Be'eri was one of the first places targeted by militants who breached the border early Saturday morning, and among the hardest hit. Civilians there were killed and taken hostage, according to Israeli authorities and videos obtained and authenticated by CNN.
More foreign victims: More foreign nationals were reported dead on Tuesday, including citizens of France, Russia and Thailand.
Bodies of attackers: The IDF said it has recovered the bodies of about 1,500 Hamas militants since the group's surprise blitz early Saturday.
Control at the border: Hecht, the IDF spokesperson, said Tuesday that the Israeli military had "more or less" restored full control over the border fence with Gaza following the breach over the weekend. A huge buildup of tanks was apparent close to the border with Gaza, while Israel continued its barrage of airstrikes. Hecht said Israeli forces have secured communities around the border and have nearly completed evacuations in the area. He added that there were two small firefights overnight in a pair of communities. The focus is now on airstrikes and the forthcoming offensive in Gaza, Hecht said.
Fearing the worst: Some Israeli parents are being told to remove social media from their children's phones in case Hamas carries through with its threat to broadcast hostage videos.
On the ground: In a new season of CNN's "Tug of War" podcast, CNN International Diplomatic Editor Nic Robertson brings us the latest on the conflict from his position just two miles from the Israeli border with Gaza.
