October 8, 2023 Israel-Hamas war news

The Israeli government formally declared war on Hamas on Sunday, setting the stage for a massive response against the Islamist militant group.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu already said Saturday the country was at war — but that declaration was rhetorical. Sunday’s move by the Israeli cabinet is an official decision, tantamount to a declaration of war by Congress in the United States.

The war declaration was taken in accordance with Article 40 of Israel’s Basic Law, the Israeli government press office said. Israel does not have a written constitution, but its 13 Basic Laws serve a similar function.

Netanyahu said before Sunday’s declaration that Israel would “take mighty vengeance” for the attack by Palestinian militants, while the country’s top military official in charge of activities in the Palestinian territories said after the attacks that Hamas has "opened the gates of hell." Israel has been pounding Gaza with airstrikes, which have killed more than 300 people. 

Israel is opening a missing persons command center for friends and family members to register people who are unaccounted for.

The address for the command center is Negev 3 Road, Airport City, in central Israel, Dean Elsdunne, the international spokesperson for the Israel Police, said in a video message.

Elsdunne said those registering missing people should provide as much personal information as possible, including personal effects to help officials match DNA samples.

The US could announce additional aid to Israel as soon as today, Secretary of State Antony Blinken told CNN's Dana Bash.

"We're looking at specific additional requests that the Israelis have made. I think you're likely to hear more about that later today,” Blinken said on CNN’s "State of the Union."

Blinken said President Joe Biden’s direction was “to make sure that we're providing Israel everything it needs in this moment to deal with the attacks from Hamas.”

Blinken also told CNN the US has received reports of missing and dead Americans, and the administration is “working overtime” to verify the information.

In response to Republicans' accusations that the Biden administration has been appeasing Iran, and that the unfreezing of Iranian funds contributed to the situation in Israel, Blinken reiterated that no money has been spent from the unfrozen funds intended for humanitarian purposes.

“So people are either misinformed or they're misinforming. And either way, it's wrong,” he said.

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Israel is fighting to push Palestinian militants out of its territory a day after Hamas launched a deadly assault from Gaza, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowing retaliation and warning of “a long and difficult war” ahead.

Israel has responded to Saturday’s shock terror attack by launching airstrikes on what it said were Hamas targets in Gaza, while its forces clashed on the ground with Hamas fighters in villages, army bases and border crossings.

Israeli warplanes continued to pound Gaza on Sunday morning, with the Israel Defense Forces saying it had struck 426 targets in Gaza, including 10 towers used by Hamas. Israel said drones were used overnight Saturday to strike “a number of terrorist squads in the area surrounding the Gaza Strip.”

In Gaza, at least 313 Palestinians have died and nearly 1,990 wounded in the past 24 hours, the Palestinian health ministry said. The toll included 20 dead and 121 wounded children, the ministry added.

The Israeli leader said the “first phase” of the operation had ended with the “destruction of the majority of the enemy forces that penetrated our territory.”

Here's where the fighting has been reported since Saturday:

The Israeli Defense Forces said fighter jets have struck three military headquarters belonging to terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip on Sunday afternoon local time.

“Military headquarters belonging to the Hamas terrorist organization used for directing terror were struck, as well as military headquarters belonging to the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization that were used during recent operations, and additional military headquarters belonging to the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization that were used by the terrorist organization’s rocket forces,” the IDF said.

Live video feeds Sunday showed multiple explosions and large plumes of smoke rising from northern and eastern parts of Gaza, including in the area of Beit Hanoun. 

Israel has been pounding Gaza with airstrikes, which have killed more than 300 people, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

The number of people dead in Israel following the surprise attacks by Hamas on Saturday is likely to be over 500, CNN analysis suggests.

Zaka, an emergency rescue service that specializes in handling the bodies of the dead, told CNN Sunday that it had confirmed “around 500” people are dead.

That number does not include people who died or were declared dead in hospitals, and Zaka has not been able to reach every location where people are thought to have been killed, meaning the total number is almost certainly more than 500.

At least 2,156 people have been wounded since Hamas launched its surprise attacks Saturday, according to the Israeli health ministry.

See photos from the ground, as the conflict between Hamas and Israel enters its second day.

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More than 20 communities adjacent to the Gaza security fence are being evacuated, the Israeli military said.

Civilians living in these areas are being asked to leave their homes because of the ongoing attacks by Hamas and in anticipation of the Israeli response inside the enclave.

An Israel Defense Forces spokesman told CNN that severe strikes inside Gaza would be forthcoming. The Israeli government and military were, as of Sunday morning, still in the process of determining what the goals would be for its likely military response.

Saturday marked one of the darkest days in Israel's 75-year history, as the Islamist militant group Hamas launched a deadly surprise blitz, targeting civilians and soldiers alike.

Here's what you need to know:

The all-out assault: The attack began early Saturday, with Hamas firing rockets into Israel; sending militants across the border by land, air and sea; and calling on civilians to take up arms against Israel. Assailants were still wreaking havoc on Israeli soil more than a day later. As of Sunday afternoon thousands had been wounded, at least 350 people had been killed in Israel and "dozens" of civilians and soldiers had been taken hostage.

At the scene: Attacks, including one that sent concertgoers running for their lives, were caught on camera. One video showed an Israeli woman being kidnapped, hoisted onto the back of a motorcycle and driven away as her boyfriend was also abducted. Another showed the motionless body of a German-Israeli woman, identified by her dreadlocks and tattoos, being paraded through Gaza as onlookers shout "Allahu Akbar." One person was seen spitting on her head as the car drives off.

The response: Israel has responded with airstrikes targeting Hamas. Inside Gaza, at least 313 Palestinians have died and more than 1,900 were wounded, the Palestinian health ministry said.

The war to come: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed that the country will "take mighty vengeance." The top IDF official in charge of activities in the Palestinian territories said Hamas had "opened the gates of hell." What the exact response looks like remains to be seen, but a military spokesman's comments hinted that Israel may try to take full control of Gaza for the first time since it unilaterally withdrew from the territory in 2005.

The intelligence gap: Whether by design or by chance, Saturday's attack began 50 years and one day after another incursion Israel failed to predict, what's known in Israel as the Yom Kippur war. Israel has since spent billions of dollars to create one of the world's most formidable security services, and yet it is today still grappling with the kind of infiltration of military bases, towns and kibbutzim that marked its 1948 war of independence.