Israel on Saturday declared war against Palestine’s Hamas, vowing to avenge a fierce rocket attack that has killed 40 Israelis and which the militants claimed was their “first strike”. Israel has launched air strikes on the blockaded Gaza Strip.

Hamas, the largest Palestinian militant Islamist group and one of the two major political parties in the region, said its surprise operation was in response to the desecration of Al-Aqsa Mosque and increased settler violence.

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Palestinian fighters say they have captured Israelis after crossing into Israel from the Gaza Strip in a large-scale attack.

Israel has launched air raids on Gaza, where witnesses reported heavy explosions, after Hamas fired thousands of rockets and sent fighters into Israel.

The operation comes after thousands of settlers in recent days carried out provocative tours of the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex in occupied East Jerusalem during the Jewish holiday of Sukkot.

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Footages of the war are widely circulated on social media.

Israeli police informed that the fight might probably last longer and continue in the days ahead.

The Israeli Haaretz newspaper informs that rocket sirens continue to sound in Israeli areas close to the border fence and in the southern city of Sderot. (Al Jazeera Report)

The Israeli–Palestinian conflict is one of the world’s most enduring conflicts, beginning in the mid-20th century. Various attempts have been made to resolve the conflict but nothing became helpful.