Nearly 200 Palestinians are martyred in Israeli air blitz on Gaza Strip.

ISLAMABAD -- At least 198people lost their lives, andanother 1,610 wounded inPalestinian enclave of Gazaas Israeli forces retaliatedfollowing a deadly multi pronged attack by Hamasforces into Israeli territoryon Saturday.

This alarming surge incasualties on Saturday camein the wake of an audaciousand large-scale attacklaunched by the Palestiniangroup governing the GazaStrip. This marked the mostsubstantial offensive againstIsrael in years, as Hamasfighters infiltrated southernIsraeli areas. The attack fol lowed a barrage of thou sands of rockets fired fromwithin the besieged Gazaterritory.

At least 40 Israelis werefatally shot as Hamas resist ance fighters executed anunprecedented multi-frontassault on Israel at daybreak.

The attack involved thelaunching of thousands ofrockets, with dozens ofHamas fighters infiltratingthe heavily fortified Israeliborder through air, land, andsea routes. The attack caughtthe country off-guard on amajor holiday.In response to the attack,Israel's military conductedair raids on Gaza later onSaturday.

The Israeli militaryreleased a statement, saying,"Dozens of [Israeli military]fighter jets are currentlystriking a number of targetsbelonging to the Hamas ter rorist organisation in theGaza Strip."

Meanwhile, MohammedDeif, a senior Hamas mili tary commander, announcedearlier that the rocket firemarked the commencementof "Operation Al-AqsaFlood." He called onPalestinians worldwide tojoin the fight against theIsraeli occupation.

"We've decided to sayenough is enough," Deifdeclared, urging allPalestinians to stand up toIsrael. In an audio message,he proclaimed, "This is theday of the greatest battle toend the last occupation onEarth."

Israel said the group haddeclared war as its army con firmed fighting with Hamasfighters in several Israelitowns and military basesnear Gaza and PrimeMinister BenjaminNetanyahu vowed to retali...