At least 370 Palestinians, 600 Israelis killed as conflict enters 2nd day

GAZA/JERUSALEM, Oct. 8 (Xinhua) -- The death toll from Israeli airstrikes in Gaza has risen to 370, with 2,200 others injured, according to an update from the Gaza-based Health Ministry on Sunday.

Meanwhile, death toll from Hamas' surprise attack on Israel has reached 600, Israel's state-owned Kan TV news reported on Sunday.

On Saturday night, Israeli warplanes continued their attacks on military and civilian facilities in various locations in the coastal enclave, Palestinian security sources told Xinhua.

"Some of the Israeli strikes attacked residential places without any warning, and this is why the number of deaths has risen," Palestinian health ministry spokesperson Ashraf al-Qidra told Xinhua.

The Israeli military said it had struck 426 targets belonging to the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) by Sunday morning, including a compound belonging to the head of the group's intelligence department.

About ten residential towers in Gaza were among the civilian facilities the Israeli army completely destroyed.

Israel Defense Forces Spokesman Daniel Hagari told reporters that "most of the significant battles" in the communities near the Gaza Strip have concluded. Residents in the south were being evacuated to central Israel, he said.

The Israeli airstrikes were carried out in response to an earlier rocket attack by Hamas.

On Saturday, Palestinian militants showered Israel with thousands of rockets, and dozens of militants infiltrated southern Israel, igniting the conflict between Israel and Hamas.

Al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas' armed wing, announced that it launched at least 150 rockets toward Tel Aviv in Israel on Saturday evening in retaliation for an Israeli air strike that took down a high rise with more than 100 apartments.

More than 26 Israeli soldiers were killed in the battles, including the commander of the Nahal Brigade, a prominent infantry unit, according to a military statement.

Overnight, the Israeli Security Cabinet convened, deciding that the objective of Israel's counterattack is to destroy the military and governing capabilities of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, another armed Palestinian group that declared its militants had joined Hamas in the attack, according to a statement released by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office.

"We are embarking on a long and difficult war that was forced on us," Netanyahu said in the statement.