Troops into israel, but pledged support for it as it fights back against hamas, the us releasing a statement along with four other nations condemning the attacks and calling for peace in the middle east. In other developments, the armed wing of hamas has threatened to kill israeli hostages if Palestinian 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 were looking at a live pictures of gaza city, where weve seen flashes of explosions in the past hour or so. Israels allies, including the us, germany, italy, france and the uk have released a joint statement criticising the weekends surprise strikes by hamas, saying so 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 attacks 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 fire power. 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. A little earlier, i spoke Withjeremy Bowen and began by asking him about the scale of the this crisis for the middle east and what the signficance would be for the region. Well, the significance of whats happening is that hamas has inflicted a grievous blow on israel. And israel is in the process of inflicting a series of massive blows against the palestinians in gaza. And in a broadcast 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 whats happening could lead to wider trouble between israelis and palestinians elsewhere and perhaps even a wider war. There were some incursions, very small ones, from lebanon earlier on today. So a variety of worries. Because essentially, this was an unprecedented attack, and theyre now into new territory. Things are not following the usual routines. This is unexpected. And i think that everybody is very worried about what is coming down the road. 0k, and jeremy, just briefly, given the sophistication of the hamas attack, the capability of israel to respond what you think is a way out of this . Im not sure there is a possible way out of this. I think the logic of war has taken over, now. 0nce 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 already severely impacted the area. Nevertheless, they 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, in this scale, in this intensity. This is the biggest. In this building, Its A 7 Storey Building where, like, 20 to 30 families, they live in this building. I could hear the screaming of the kids, the they were shouting. In the background, if you can see, its total black. Most of the Electricity Supplies in gaza are not functioning, internet is down in every corner of this city. Because many of the buildings that Housing Internet providing company and today they destroyed the headquarters of the Palestinian Telecommunications company, causing ever 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. 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. They said, we are struggling to cope with the situation, we are struggling to cope with the number of injuries, people who are arriving to the hospital from different places. The Us Defense Department has described the weekends actions by hamas as isis level savagery. In a briefing to reporters, a Senior Defense official added that the us is working to working to expedite israels requests for more munitions and air defence. The official added that planes have already taken off to deliver some of the support requested. Additionally, the uss Ford Strike Group is expected to arrive in the area very soon, they said, with capabilities ranging from intelligence gathering to long range strikes. That includes the carrier and accompanying cruisers and destroyers. The Defense Department is also working with israel and other partners to contain the conflict to gaza. Us officials also say they have not seen corroboration of iran being directly involved in the planning of saturdays attack. Well, a short time ago, i spoke to retired Us Army Lieutenant general mark schwartz. He last served as the us Security Coordinator for israel and the palestinian authority. Thanks so much forjoining us. This attack wasnt anticipated by israel. How could hamas have put together what appears to be quite a sophisticated and brutal offensive and seemingly go undetected by Israeli Intelligence . Caitriona, thank you for having me. I would first like to express my sincere condolences for the excess of 900 lives lost israeli lives lost in the Terrorist Attack, and over 11 us citizens who have also been killed. And obviously thousands more have been wounded to date, as well as innocent palestinians who have been caught, you know, in the midst of this tragedy that has been ongoing since saturday. I think what the assessment is now, after 72 hours post attack, the level of discipline that the hamas exercised in surveying of Technical Communications to plan this operation, this raid that they conducted, and incursion into israel, and the terroristic acts that followed, i think that was the key is that they are an enemy and a Terrorist Organisation that learns notjust from other Terrorist Organisations in the region, but also from their own experiences, and they knew that by communicating and planning using any type of technical means that the operation would have been compromised. So i think that, in my assessment, based on what ive heard, in open source reporting, that that is the most likely way they were able to successfully this off. A man with a Nom De Guerre of the guest, mohammed deif, is the commander of the military wing of hamas, is purported to behind the attack. Given your expertise in the region, what do you know about him . Are i know he has been wanted by the state of israel and certainly by the us and israeli allies for in excess of a decade and a half. Im sure he is taking full credit for the planning and orchestration of the attack as it bolsters his prestige among hamas and other Terrorist Organisations in the region. His whereabouts are unknown. If they were known he would no longer be on this earth. Us department of defence has announced a big tranche of Military Support going to israel, including moving the uss Ford Strike Group into position. What impact will that have . Firstly, it will assist with strategic deterrence. Our president was clear that he wanted to send a strong signal of support to Prime Minister netanyahu and the citizens of israel but as important to other Terrorist Organisations in the region, specifically State Sponsors of terrorism such, as iran and hezbollah, that any involvement of piling onto the atrocity that took place over the weekend would, you know, the United States would be able to respond and support its allies. Deterrence is number one. Numbertwo, israel runs out of targets. They have been doing target Development Since the largest ever exchange of indirect fire imprecision munitions in the gaza strip. Eventually they will run out of targets, so Target Development to continue to go after hamas infrastructure and hamas leadership that still resides inside of gaza, their logistics and weaponry, the United States and the capabilities are being brought forward into the mediterranean will assist with that. 0k, and if we look to the hostage situation, there are reports of about 100 hostages. As a retired member of the special ops forces and with many tours in the middle east, what do you know about what the International Community can do to rescue those hostages, if anything . It is an extremely complex problem. You have reported certainly since the start of the crisis the complexity of the environment of the gaza strip, in excess of 2 Million People in a tightly constrained and urban environment, makes it very hard to locate where the hostages are, let alone conduct an operation where you can, you know, mitigate not only the loss of civilian casualties, palestinians in the area, but also bring the raid force or Assault Force in and come out successfully with the hostages coming out unharmed. I have heard reports today there is ongoing inaudible 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 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 Kennedyjunior 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 understanding of how women impact labour markets. Youre live with bbc news. We were speaking earlier about washingtons military commitment to israel, and lets dig a bit deeper now. The us already provides about 3. 3 billion in military aid to israel. Much of the 3. 3 billion is said to be in the pipeline, according to us officials. Separately, military Officials Say there are stockpiles of american ammunition and arms throughout israel, worth 2 billion. Both countries must sign off for them to be used. Mike lawler is a republican congressman from new york and member of the House Committee on foreign affairs. He spoke to me earlier. Congressman mike lawlor, thanks indeed forjoining us. A number of your constituents are in israel at the moment and they have been in touch with you. What do they need, what can you do for them . Well, certainly i represent one of the largest jewish communities in the United States in my congressional district, the 17th District of new york, and at any given point, hundreds of my constituents are in israel, and many were there this past weekend for the holidays and they are stranded there, and so we have been in touch with many of them as well as the State Department at the white house, the embassy, and israeli officials, to try to help them through this. A lot of people are obviously concerned and fearful, given the circumstances on the ground, so we are working to try to expeditiously help people get home to safety and security. Now, we know hamas has taken a significant number of people hostage. The Us State Department has said there are some Americans Still missing and unaccounted for. What should the us be doing in that situation . Obviously we dont fully yet know the extent of those being held hostage, but with hamas threatening to murder these hostages and execute them, on television, obviously the situation is perilous, and so i think the United States needs to do everything we can in cooperation with the Israeli Government to get these hostages back safely, and the bottom line is hamas is a Terrorist Organisation, and they have shown their true colours and the savage brutality with which they displayed Killing Hundreds and injuring thousands, and they need to be held accountable, they need to be taken out, period. And so i think the United States needs to do everything we can to support israel in this war, both in terms of Military Support, equipment, personnel, intelligence, funding, to help ensure israel successfully wins and defends its right to exist, and defends t