Jerusalem Correspondent News Today

Noya hid in darkness at her grandmother Carmelas home, texting each other in silence as explosions erupted around the kibbutz of Nir Oz on Saturday morning.

Omer Wenkert, 22, a restaurant manager from Israel, was among the crowd at the Tribe of Nova festival in Reim when Hamas gunmen stormed the site and opened fire, killing at least 260 people.

The four-day-old war has already claimed at least 1,600 lives, as Israel saw gun battles in the streets of its own towns for the first time in decades and neighbourhoods in Gaza were reduced to rubble.

Hamas today told Israeli civilians to get out of the port city of Ashkelon now in response to the air strikes that are relentlessly pounding the Gaza strip, in a sinister warning.

May Hayat, 30, was among the crowd at the Tribe of Nova festival in Reim when Hamas militants opened fire, killing more than 260.

Hamas today launched a barrage of rockets at the port city of Ashkelon - hours after the terrorists warned Israeli civilians living there to leave before 5pm or die.

Amit Bar and her partner Nir were among those attending the Tribe of Nova festival in Reim when Hamas militants opened fire, killing more than 260.

Hamas armed wing said on Monday it will begin executing an Israeli civilian captive in return for any new Israeli bombing of civilian houses without pre-warning.

Hamas gunmen have kidnapped Israeli grandmothers and have taken them into the Gaza Strip on golf carts and motorcycles, amid reports that they have snatched more than 50 civilians.

Palestinian Islamist group Hamas took Israel by surprise with the biggest attack in decades as gunmen killed scores of people and brought hostages back into the Gaza Strip.