Civilians are not warned about impending air strikes. Theres been International Condemnation of the taking of civilian hostages. Israel says some 100 civilians and soldiers have been kidnapped. But both israel and hamas have denied reports of a possible prisoner exchange. So far in this conflict, at least 900 people have been killed in israel, and almost 700 people have been killed in gaza following Israeli Military action. Right now lets look at some pictures of gaza city. You can see it is rather dark. That is where a barrage of rocket fire has been exchanged in the past hours. Meanwhile, israels army is calling up 300,000 reservists and moving tanks close to the gaza strip in preparation for a land incursion. In a televised address on monday, Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu called on israels Opposition Parties to form a National Unity government and said quote air strikes in gaza are only the beginning. Translation hamas have made a mistake of historic proportions. We will exact a price that will be remembered by them and israels other enemies for decades to come. Israels allies, including the us, have released a joint statement criticising the weekends surprise strikes by hamas, saying well, lets get the latest from the ground now. 0ur International Editor jeremy bowen is in the southern israeli city of ashkelon, just 13km or about eight miles north of the gaza strip, and has this report. Inside gaza, it looks every bit as if palestinians are feeling the full force of Israeli Military power. Israel says hamas is responsible for the suffering of gazas civilians. And its retaliation for the hamas attack has only just begun. Hamas has threatened to start killing its israeli hostages. The air strikes rolled on, hour after hour. Palestinian armed groups, undeterred, kept up their own barrage of israel. 0ur bbc team was in ashkelon in southern israel, not far from the gaza border when a salvo came in. Ashkelon is so close to gaza that there is no more than a ten second warning. Israel is moving in more firepower. The next stage of the offensive against hamas looks certain to be a Ground Offensive, much bigger than other incursions since hamas took over in gaza in 2007. Lines of cars outside a Military Base on the road to gaza were parked by reservists as they reported for duty, getting ready, saying their goodbyes. Parents came to the base for a few minutes with their sons. We are praying and hope for the best. Amidst tough times now. And we are telling him to try and concentrate on his mission, without thinking too much about other friends that got injured or killed. Israels Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu broadcast to his nation. He said hamas has made a mistake of historic proportions. We will, he said, be exacting a price that we be remembered by them and other enemies for decades. And now israelis are waiting for the government and army to act. Sderot, the israeli town close to gaza littered with the debris of war felt like the essence of israels trauma, almost deserted except for forces. Hamas has rocketed sderot for years but has never before stormed in. At the centre of the hamas Killing Ground was the police station. They broke in and used it as a fire base to shoot civilians as well as soldiers. Blood from israels dead and wounded smears the walls. Even here in what is always a front line town, for israelis, this was not supposed to happen. They expected their military, backed up by the intelligence services, to protect them. And the fact that that didnt happen means recriminations about who might be responsible have already started. But at the same time there is a strong sense of National Unity, with a country under attack, about what happens next. In the places that hamas attacked Israeli Military as well as the few civilians left are jumpy, still shocked. A Ground Offensive didnt feel imminent. And in gaza, a few miles away, casualties come into the main hospital. The first few hundred of many more. It will get worse. Palestinians and israelis once more caught on the anvil of war in a conflict a century old that is as deadly it has ever been. Jeremy bowen, bbc news, ashkelon. Earlier, i spoke with jeremy bowen on his reporting, from southern israel. I asked about the skill of the crisis for the middle east and what the significance would be for the region. What the significance would be forthe region. What the significance would be for the region. Scale. The for the region. Scale. The significance for the region. Scale. The significance is for the region. Scale. The significance is that for the region. Scale. The significance is that her forthe region. Scale. Tue significance is that her mass as inflicted a grievous blow on israel. Hamas. Israel is in the process of inflicting a series of massive blows against the palestinians in gaza and in abroad because this evening, Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister, said they hadnt reached full intensity on that and they would do things that would essentially deter their enemies for generations. There are also concerns, of course, that the scale of what is happening could lead to wider trouble between israelis and palestinians elsewhere and perhaps even a wider wall. There were some incursions, very small ones, from levin on earlier on today. So a variety of worries. Lebanon. Essentially this was an unprecedented attack and they are now into new territory. Things are not following the usual routines. This is unexpected. I think everybody is very worried about what is coming down the road. Tqm. Is very worried about what is coming down the road. 0k, and jeremy come coming down the road. 0k, and jeremy come up coming down the road. 0k, and jeremy come up briefly, coming down the road. 0k, and jeremy come up briefly, Given L Jeremy come up briefly, given the sophistication of the hamas attack, israels capability to respond. What you think is a way out of this . Respond. What you think is a way out of this . Im not sure there is a way out of this . Im not sure there is a possible way out of this . Im not sure there is a possible way way out of this . Im not sure there is a possible way out i way out of this . Im not sure| there is a possible way out of this. I think the logic of what has taken over, now. Once israel does what it is planning to do, there are massive political questions about what happens to gaza, what happens to the palestinians and the israelis, and questions about the fact that there has been no political process for ten years between them. Within gaza itself, our bbc teams are reporting that power cuts and infrastructure damage have severely impacted the area. Even still, our teams have been able to get some of their reporting out to us. Bbcjournalist Rushdi Abualouf has this update from inside a building on the gaza strip. This is by far the biggest ever israeli air strikes in gaza, on this scale, in this intensity. This is the biggest. In this building, its a Seven Storey Building where 20 to 30 families, they live in this building. I could hear the screaming of the kids, they were shouting. In the background, if you can see, its totally black. Most of the Electricity Supplies in gaza are not functioning, internet is down in every corner of this city. Many of the buildings housing internal company and today they destroyed the headquarters of the Palestinian Telecommunications company, closing the problem to be bigger and the internet to be down in more areas. Talking about the humanitarian situation, gaza has been suffering for three days without electricity. The crossings, most of the crossings are closed except the rafah crossing with egypt, and it only allows people to go in and out no goods. No fuel is coming, no medicine for hospitals. The Health Ministry issued a Statement Today warning that within 48 hours the essential medical supplies are running out in the hospital. Nearby explosion and they need urgent supplies to be able to provide services to many people. I could hear in the background israeli fighter jets are still flying overhead and targeting places between time to time and it seems that this night, the palestinians in gaza have never seen before. Michael singh is the former senior director for middle east affairs at the National Security council. Hes now Managing Director at the Washington Institute and hejoined me earlier. Thank you forjoining us, michael singh. Im interested in your thoughts on why this attack wasnt anticipated. Is this the biggest ever Israeli Intelligence failure . This this the biggest ever Israeli Intelligence failure . Intelligence failure . This is one of the Intelligence Failure . This is one of the most Intelligence Failure . This is one of the most significant| one of the most significant attacks or the most significant attacks or the most significant attack on israel in its history. 800 israeli civilians died in one day. That is more than died in the course of the second intifada. Do not have had any anything of it and you have been relatively of a bad or it is quite a significant failure of the Israeli Intelligence community and security establishment. I think somewhere down the road that will be addressed in a very serious way. It isnt the focus at the moment. The focus at the moment is the operation in gaza. , moment is the operation in gaza. ,. ,. , gaza. On that, what do you think might gaza. On that, what do you think might happen gaza. On that, what do you think might happen next . I gaza. On that, what do you i think might happen next . We have heard from Benjamin Netanyahu just today that this is just the beginning, netanyahu just today that this isjust the beginning, the israeli airspace in gaza are just the beginning, saying he will do everything for the israelis held captive in gaza. What anticipate happen next . T what anticipate happen next . I think you cant underestimate, really, just how traumatic an event this was for israelis. The targeting of civilians, children taken hostage, the brutality of the attacks. And i think the australian response will be commensurate. It wont be like past Israeli Operations in gaza. I think the israelis feel that this will have to be qualitatively more significant than that and it will have to leave hamas crippled or eradicated as an organisation, which requires a prolonged operation in gaza and are probably significant ground incursion. They have 300,000 reservists now called up and they look like they will be using them. Is they look like they will be using them. They look like they will be using them. They look like they will be usinathem. ,. ,. ,. , using them. Is there a role for the us . There using them. Is there a role for the us . There is. Using them. Is there a role for the us . There is. In using them. Is there a role for the us . There is. In the the us . There is. In the immediate the us . There is. In the immediate sense the us . There is. In the. Immediate Sense Support the us . There is. In the immediate Sense Support for israel will be the white houses priority. Wherever it is in the us ss Ronald Reagan move into the eastern mediterranean, announcements about aid, military aid to israel. I think more will be forthcoming. But if this is an operation that takes weeks, when previous gaza was were just days along, they will need significant diplomatic cover from the United States and President Biden himself. There will be pressure coming from other quarters for a ceasefire and what might be considered a premature ceasefire. D0 and what might be considered a premature ceasefire. Premature ceasefire. Do you think the premature ceasefire. Do you think the conflict premature ceasefire. Do you think the conflict has premature ceasefire. Do you | think the conflict has dropped down the priority for the us administrations recently . I think it hasnt a sense. I dont think that is that anyone has but it was important, but there was a sense that there was no way to address it in a meaningful way, so it was managed, ratherthan meaningful way, so it was managed, rather than working towards solutions. If you look at the israeli policy towards gaza, it had again been trying to allow palestinian workers into israel, trying to develop a bit of a modus to head off what we have seen, to have conflict. It seems a lot of what hamas was doing was ultimately deceptive, planning is attack while engaging in those discussions with israel. The us has brokered talks here before, can it do it again . Most of the talks in the past are taken through regional intermediaries, and eventually i think there will be a role of others in the region, and already we see israel reaching out to states in the region. Right now looking mainly for support and solidarity, but with the hostages, with the Military Operation that is to come, there is no doubt that states in the region will be drawn in. I think israels hope is that the conflict itself can be isolated to gaza, but the diplomacy may end up being a wider circle of regional states. ,. ,. ,. , states. You mentioned qatar, should the states. You mentioned qatar, should the us states. You mentioned qatar, should the us take states. You mentioned qatar, should the us take a states. You mentioned qatar, should the us take a lead states. You mentioned qatar, j should the us take a lead role in those negotiations . I should the us take a lead role in those negotiations . In those negotiations . I think there is going in those negotiations . I think there is going to in those negotiations . I think there is going to be in those negotiations . I think there is going to be a in those negotiations . I think there is going to be a new in those negotiations . I think. There is going to be a new look at states like qatar and others who have on the one hand been intermediaries between hamas and israel and on the other hand played some shelter for senior hamas officials, and i think there may be a bit of getting tough with doha and some other regional states that have been a little bit lenient towards hamas. fin have been a little bit lenient towards hamas. Have been a little bit lenient towards hamas. On the issue of hostages. Towards hamas. On the issue of hostages. We towards hamas. On the issue of hostages, we have towards hamas. On the issue of hostages, we have heard towards hamas. On the issue of hostages, we have heard from i hostages, we have heard from hamas, it is threatening to execute them. The Us State Department saying there are some americans missing and unaccounted for, could be taken advantage of. Watch the us do about that situation . I shudder to think what about that situation . I shudder to think what will about that situation . I shudder to think what will happen about that situation . I shudder to think what will happen over| to think what will happen over the next few days and weeks with regards to these hostages. Hamas has already shown just its absolute brutality in the way it treated civilians in israel itself, and of course now it is holding apparently over 100 israeli civilians hostage, and ifully expect that hamas will try to use them to pressure israel as pawns essentially and may put tremendous pressure on the hostages and via the hostages on israel, as i said in the coming days and weeks. Irate on israel, as i said in the coming days and weeks. We will leave it there coming days and weeks. We will leave it there for coming days and weeks. We will leave it there for the coming days and weeks. We will leave it there for the moment. L leave it there for the moment. Thank you forjoining us. Thank you for oining us. Thank ou. We have been looking at live pictures from gaza city where during that interview we could see a number of blasts on the skyline. Those are the live pictures we have been watching throughout the programme. Around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. Lets look at some other stories making news. In Afghanistans Herat province, recuers are searching for survivors of saturdays powerful earthquake there. It flattened nearby villages and killed more than 1000 people. Than 1,000 people. More than 500 people are missing, according to the united nations. Blocked routes and communication lines have delayed aid to the remote rural area dotted with mud brick homes. Environmental lawyer and anti vaccine activist Robert F Kenneder says hes now running for the white house as an independent. Its a reversal of his plans to run against President Biden as a democrat. The 69 year old is a member of one of the countrys most famous democratic families. Speaking in philadelphia, kennedy says he wants a new Declaration Of Independence from the media, corporations, and Major Political parties. This years Nobel Prize For Economics has gone to Claudia Goldin from the United States. The Royal Swedish Academy of sciences said the Harvard University professor had advanced the u