A barrage of rockets launched from the Gaza strip were seen over Israel's Ashkelon on Sunday (October 8), as fierce fighting between Hamas and Israel reached its second day, killing over 1,100. On Saturday (October 7), Hamas fighters' rampage through Israeli towns was the deadliest such incursion since Egypt and Syria's attacks in the Yom Kippur war 50 years ago and has threatened to ignite another conflagration in the never-ending conflict. Israel pounded the Palestinian enclave of Gaza on Sunday, killing hundreds of people in retaliation for one of the bloodiest attacks in its history when Islamist group Hamas killed 700 Israelis and abducted dozens more. In response, Israeli air strikes hit housing blocks, tunnels, a mosque and homes of Hamas officials in Gaza, killing more than 400 people, including 20 children, in keeping with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's vow of "mighty vengeance".

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