Tel Aviv,9 October 2023 (dpa/MIA) - Israel's response to attacks from Gaza by the Islamist militant group Hamas "will change the Middle East," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday.

"What Hamas will face will be harsh and terrible," Netanyahu told officials from towns in southern Israel, according to a statement. "We are only at the beginning."

Israeli airstrikes have pounded targets in the Gaza Strip in response to attacks launched by Hamas on Saturday that left more than 700 Israelis dead. Another 2,400 were injured, and Hamas militants took more than 100 captive Israelis back to the Gaza Strip.

More than 558 people in Gaza have been killed and more than 2,800 injured in Israeli strikes, according to the Ministry of Health there.

Hamas is classified as a terrorist organization in Israel, the European Union and the United States.

Photo: archive