Israel will continue fighting in the Gaza Strip, "until all hostages return home", Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said several hours after launching massive airstrikes on the Palestinian territory, Agence France-Presse reported, BTA reported.
"We will not stop fighting until all hostages return home and all the goals of the war are achieved," Katz stressed in a press release.
In addition to the return of all living hostages, as well as the bodies of the dead hostages, these goals also include the destruction of "Hamas" as a military and political force in the Gaza Strip, AFP recalls.
Health authorities in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip announced that according to current data, the victims of the Israeli strikes are "at least 330".
"The Ministry of Health has registered more than 330 casualties, mostly Palestinian children and women, and hundreds of wounded, dozens of whom are in critical condition" after the strikes, according to Mohammed Zakut, head of a department at the ministry.
After the strikes, the Israeli army ordered Gaza residents to leave the eastern part of the strip and move to its central part, the Associated Press reported, noting that this indicates that the resumption of Israeli ground operations in the enclave is possible.