Israel Hamas War

Calling the Hamas attack on Israel its “9/11” moment, the country’s Permanent Representative Gilad Erdan on Sunday said: "Now is the time to obliterate Hamas terrorist infrastructure, to completely erase it so that such horrors are never committed again."

Citing government officials, Israel's state-owned Kan TV news on Sunday night reported that at least 700 people were killed in Hamas' combined attack.

Officials estimated on Sunday that over 700 people were killed in the massive assault launched by Hamas terrorists in Israeli communities near Gaza and by the thousands of rockets fired into Israel, making it the bloodiest day in the nation’s history, according to reports, Times of Israel reported.

The shock terror attack led to the deadliest day in decades for Israel and came after months of surging violence between Palestinians and Israelis, with the long-running conflict now heading into uncharted and dangerous new territory. 

Many parents of youth who were attending the rave near Kibbutz Re’im in southern Israel have been desperately searching for news of their missing children since Saturday, The Times of Israel reported.

The idea was to prevent Abbas -- or anyone else in the Palestinian Authority’s West Bank government -- from advancing toward the establishment of a Palestinian state, the report said.

There are an estimated 100 Israelis held in Gaza after being abducted by Hamas terrorists on Saturday, among them women, young children, elderly men and women and members of the military including officers, Ynet reported.

"We have reports that several Americans may be among the dead," Blinken told NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday, adding he was verifying the reports and also stories that some have been taken hostage.

All those who died in the militant attacks were students who reached there on the "learn and earn" package of the Israeli government, he told Nepali media.

Details of Ebrahim Raisi's conversations with the two men were not disclosed, BBC reported.