Death toll from Hamas attack on Israel ‘rises to more than 1,000’

Smoke rises from an explosion caused by Israeli airstrikes on the border between Egypt and Rafah, Gaza Strip (Hatem Ali/AP/PA)

An Israeli military official says the death toll from Hamas’ surprise attack over the weekend has now risen above 1,000.

Brigadier Geneneral Dan Goldfus announced the figure during a briefing with reporters on Tuesday.

He spoke as Israel was pressing ahead with a fierce offensive of airstrikes in Gaza that has claimed 830 lives on the other side and caused widespread destruction.

“We are going to go on the offence and attack the Hamas terrorist group and any other group that is in Gaza,” he said.

“We will have to change the reality from within Gaza to prevent this from happening again.”

The Hamas incursion is by far the deadliest militant attack in Israeli history.

The announcement came as Israeli warplanes hammered the Gaza Strip neighbourhood by neighbourhood on Tuesday, reducing buildings to rubble and sending people scrambling to find safety in the tiny, sealed-off territory as Israel vowed a retaliation for Hamas’ attack that would “reverberate … for generations.”