civilians inside gaza in homes and schools, hospitals and mosques. hamas behaves like isis. i repeat, hamas behaves like isis. i repeat, hamas behaves like isis, it is the same strategy, to maximise civilian casualties in gaza and israel and make you all forget the massacre of hundreds of israelis that started this war in the first place. we will not forget. hamas target israeli civilians, israel will target hamas and islamichhad terrorists wherever they will be in gaza. we will do whatever it takes to protect our people and restore security to israel. we are also looking to the north as well. with full readiness. and we are fully coordinated. the general has just finished a conversation and will keep talking in the next hours again. whoever taxes all over the middle east will face a decisive attack back. —— whoever attacks us. -- whoever attacks us. 0k, -- whoever attacks us. ok, i think that press — -- whoever attacks us. ok, i think that press conference _ -- whoever attacks us. ok, i think that press conference has - -- whoever attacks us. ok, i think that press conference has come i -- whoever attacks us. ok, i think that press conference has come toj that press conference has come to quite an abrupt end. just to sum up what we were hearing from the idf. that is they believe hamas are hiding right now and amongst gazan civilians. they say in schools, hospitals. they also reiterate the fact they are going to find the hamas militants within gaza and do whatever it takes to make the security or restore security in israel. so that is the latest we are getting from the israeli defence. before we went to that, i was talking to you about the number of international people, the number of people from different countries who are in israel who have been impacted by the violence. and we can now confirm the french government has said one french national has died in israel in the hamas militant attack, two ukrainians have been confirmed as having died and a number of people from thailand, cambodia and we are also hearing ten people from the paul have died in the israeli violence. we are hearing from the nut poly and best in israel, who has told the bbc ten napoleon nationals, believed to have been students, have been killed in the ongoing violence. she says one is missing and four others are injured. she says the students came to israel on the ii students came to israel on the 11 month bilateral programme for agriculture. nine other students are hiding in a bunker unable to reach safety. to give you context, apparently, there are four and a half thousand nepali citizens living in israel, that is coming in to the bbc. let's get more detail about what is happening on the ground in the region. anna foster is in ashkelon in southern israel. bring is up—to—date with the latest in the ashkelon area. just is up-to-date with the latest in the ashkelon area.— ashkelon area. just in the last half hour, we ashkelon area. just in the last half hour. we have _ ashkelon area. just in the last half hour, we have had _ ashkelon area. just in the last half hour, we have had a _ ashkelon area. just in the last half hour, we have had a fairly - ashkelon area. just in the last half| hour, we have had a fairly constant barrage of rockets being fired out of gaza. well we are speaking, if you see points of light in the sky behind me, that is israel's iron dome missile defence system and you see the rockets, come in, you see them, they look like small circles of light rising into the air and when they intercept, there is a puff of grey smoke and a loud bang to make people on the ground jump. we have seen that for the last 30 or a0 minutes, notjust here around ashkelon in southern israel, but different points around the gaza strip. there is still clearly a lot of activity going on in this area. as we were driving toward ashkelon, we saw a group of three or four israeli army vehicles, police vehicles. we saw a man who looks like he had been arrested, he was stripped of his underwear. he was blindfolded and put into one of these vehicles by the police, which suggests there are still infiltrators as the israelis call them, still people in these areas around the gaza strip, around the southern communities of israel that they are still trying to find as they are still trying to find as they really try and push back and retake these communities that we saw were attached so dramatically yesterday morning. we were attached so dramatically yesterday morning.— were attached so dramatically yesterday morning. we saw the rockets that _ yesterday morning. we saw the rockets that have _ yesterday morning. we saw the rockets that have been - yesterday morning. we saw the rockets that have been fired - yesterday morning. we saw the i rockets that have been fired from gaza, from hamas militants are falling on ashkelon and those surrounding areas. what more do we know now about the potential next moves by the israeli defence force? we heard a few minutes ago from a representative saying that according to them, the enemy is still on the ground. to them, the enemy is still on the round. ~ , ., to them, the enemy is still on the round. ~ , . to them, the enemy is still on the i round, . , ., ,., , ground. well, they have said they are still working _ ground. well, they have said they are still working very _ ground. well, they have said they are still working very intensively l are still working very intensively in these areas in southern israel around these communities, they have said they have special forces in these areas and they are doing everything they can to find hamas militants who may be hiding here. in terms of the next move, israel said yesterday, only a few hours after this happened, that they would be taking some kind of significant and decisive action. 0ne taking some kind of significant and decisive action. one of the things that that might take the form of would be to launch a ground operation into gaza. that is not without risks to israeli forces and civilians. it is something under consideration and benjamin netanyahu to the israeli coach mike i was saying last night people living in gaza should be aware they should be moving away from a potential attack —— the israeli prime minister. it is very small and densely populated and people who live there don't have the choice to leave gaza altogether. so there were questions about how civilians there might be protected. but certainly, israel at this stage know that they need to make some kind of decisive statement. even as i was preparing to talk to you, there are still rocket attacks going on. it is unclear how much firepower hamas have, how many more rockets and missiles they have in reserve ready to fire. so israel will be taking all of these things into account as they decide what to do next and how to contain what has happened here. but we talk about containing this but in many ways, it is such a large escalation that what we see potentially in the next few days could be larger and more serious than what we have seen already. serious than what we have seen alread . �* . ., , ., , ., already. and clearly for the israeli government _ already. and clearly for the israeli government and _ already. and clearly for the israeli government and the _ already. and clearly for the israeli government and the intelligence | government and the intelligence services, this is seen as a huge failure, is it not? and in many ways, they have perhaps that feeling they have so much more to prove now. it is a failing because the israeli security forces, they have extremely sophisticated operations to watch what is going on in gaza, to keep our eyes on what hamas and palestinian islamichhad are doing there and to launch an attack of this size and the scale that really takes israel completely by surprise is unprecedented in recent times. you probably have to look back to 1973 and the start of the yom kippur warfor something as out 1973 and the start of the yom kippur war for something as out of the blue as this. that is not to say that tensions haven't been significant in this area over the last few months. they have. but the attack that we saw launched by hamas, where we saw them breaking through the fence from gaza into southern israel, the way they used paragliders to get their militants into israeli territory is something we really haven't seen the like of before. it is something that israel and notjust israel, israel's security partners like the us, it is notjust israel on its own, they have a lot of international backing and nobody saw this coming. i think you see that reflected here in israel because you have a population who are frightened, who are shocked, he was stunned and who are really now starting to try and work out what happens next for them. because people here in these southern israeli communities, they are now being evacuated, people will be taken on bosses to safer parts of israel. so really, everything for them just in the last a8 hours or so has been upended. and it is an enormously difficult to predict what will happen here next. 50 enormously difficult to predict what will happen here next.— will happen here next. so difficult to redict will happen here next. so difficult to predict what — will happen here next. so difficult to predict what will _ will happen here next. so difficult to predict what will happen - will happen here next. so difficult to predict what will happen next. | will happen here next. so difficult i to predict what will happen next. -- to predict what will happen next. —— to predict what will happen next. —— to predict. i get the feeling that what has happened in many ways has galvanised people to come together, particularly given the unrest we saw in the months leading up to this against the right—wing israeli government, that seems to have been part to one side as people galvanised together against what they see as a common enemy. you're riuht. they see as a common enemy. you're right- here _ they see as a common enemy. you're right- here in — they see as a common enemy. you're right. here in israel— they see as a common enemy. you're right. here in israel in _ they see as a common enemy. you're right. here in israel in the _ they see as a common enemy. you're right. here in israel in the last - right. here in israel in the last few months, the country really has been split, the impact of that very right—wing, nationalist israeli government. we have seen protests on the streets for weeks and weeks at proposals by benjamin netanyahu's government to do things like week on the role of thejudiciary committee give lawmakers even more powers. that had caused real concern and it had caused a split in israeli society. you are absolutely right to say something which has been so large and so significant, such a huge part of israeli life over the last weeks and months now is being i think for the moment put to one side because the focus here and certainly the government's focus, the focus of opposition politicians, people like the former prime minister himself, they are coming out now and showing this united front which is incredibly important at a moment like this. potentially down the line, those issues will be returned to, but you're right to say that right now, for all israelis who have witnessed what has happened over the last two days, it is a question of coming together, supporting each other, particularly as we were saying in these southern communities. fora saying in these southern communities. for a long time, they have lived so close to gaza. i have beenin have lived so close to gaza. i have been in these communities before and talked to families who are used to these rocket launches we were talking about, barrages of rocket launchers, families and children are used to going into bomb shelters and taking shelter, protecting themselves at a moment's notice. but what they have never really experienced before and what i think they didn't really consider that they didn't really consider that they would experience was militants coming through the fence, attacks on the scale we saw yesterday morning. and you really see particularly people in these communities coming together and supporting each other in the face of what may come next. thank you very much indeed for that. anna foster, our correspondent who is in ashkelon in southern israel. live now to muhannad ayyash, policy analyst at al—shabaka, the palestinian policy network and professor of sociology at mount royal university in calgary. thank you forjoining us here on bbc news. i want to ask first, there are some huge political questions facing the palestinian authorities now, given what has happened. where do palestinian authorities go next, given that many people now are saying that this really underlines the weakness within the authorities in terms of their future? yes. the weakness within the authorities in terms of their future?— in terms of their future? yes, and we have to _ in terms of their future? yes, and we have to understand, _ in terms of their future? yes, and we have to understand, why - in terms of their future? yes, and we have to understand, why is - in terms of their future? yes, and | we have to understand, why is the authority week to begin with? and the authority is weak to begin with precisely because of the oslo accords. the 0slo accords, people have to understand this, were not a real peace process. they were a cementation of israeli control over the entire land from the river to the entire land from the river to the sea and they viewed the palestinian authority in those accords as an arm and extension of the israeli state and its colonial project on palestinian lands. so the palestinian people have for many years now been seen this and have been opposed to the direction the palestinian authority has taken in the national struggle for liberation, the palestinian struggle for liberation, and events like the cement that. i think what is really important about the political context is you can't really understand internal palestinian politics without understanding the larger geopolitical and global politics in which all of this takes place. the interests of the international community have never been aligned with the aspirations of the palestinian people for liberation and sovereignty, to exist as sovereign beings living as sovereign people on their sovereign lands. that has been their desire and aspiration for over 100 years, and aspiration for over 100 years, and aspiration for over 100 years, and aspiration that has been denied by the international community. and they refuse to let go of that aspiration. so as long as the international community does not understand palestinian people will not give up their inherent sovereign rights to these lands. so the story will continue to go on. and the palestinians have attempted all sorts of resistance to the israeli annexation of their lands. they tried labour strikes and political advocacy, they tried to go down the legal route, to international systems ofjustice. they tried everything. they have had a sanctions campaign, they have tried armed resistance is well throughout their history and we are no closer today to achieving our aspirations than we were 100 years ago, in fact, things are worse. you than we were 100 years ago, in fact, things are worse.— than we were 100 years ago, in fact, things are worse. you say you are no closer. things are worse. you say you are no closer- where _ things are worse. you say you are no closer. where are _ things are worse. you say you are no closer. where are we _ things are worse. you say you are no closer. where are we now, _ things are worse. you say you are no closer. where are we now, given - things are worse. you say you are no| closer. where are we now, given this latest incursion by hamas into israel, given the seriousness of it and the unprecedented nature of what has happened, where does this leave the palestinian desire for everything that you have described there? surely this is a setback, surely? there? surely this is a setback, surel ? ., , ., there? surely this is a setback, surel ? . , ., ., , there? surely this is a setback, surel ? . , ., ., surely? that is what i was going into. because _ surely? that is what i was going into. because the _ surely? that is what i was going into. because the setbacks - surely? that is what i was going j into. because the setbacks have already been accumulating intensely over the last decades. as we see the normalisation with arab states increase, people in the international community are increasingly talking about palestine as if it is already erased from the map and there is no such thing as the palestinian people, whose aspirations don't figure into the future of the region. i see these operations is an attempt to say, we are not going away. and if we are going to go away, we are not going to go quietly into the night. so people talk about these operations is causing the setback. that is completely misplaced analysis. the setbacks have been ongoing. thea;r setbacks have been ongoing. they haven't stopped. _ setbacks have been ongoing. they haven't stopped. going into israeli territory, killing israeli citizens, taking hostages, they are not actions that are going to make things better. as difficult as that is? ., , ., �* things better. as difficult as that is? ., , .,�* ., things better. as difficult as that is? ., , ., ,. is? no, they won't come and expect the israeli reaction _ is? no, they won't come and expect the israeli reaction to _ is? no, they won't come and expect the israeli reaction to be _ is? no, they won't come and expect the israeli reaction to be extreme i the israeli reaction to be extreme and i expect the international community to double down on their efforts to raise palestine from the map, i expect that to be the next steps. but what choice do the palestinian people have? if we are going to be killed anyway. they are saying, i might as well die raising my voice. but the really important point that i want to say here is that what these events also show is that what these events also show is that there is widespread people support for the palestinian cause because they do see it as a just cause. people across the region are not buying into this normalisation. antony blinken gets a lot of things wrong, but the most he got wrong in his comments yesterday or today or both was that the only hamas and iran and hezbollah are against the normalisation rule. no, people across the region are against it. look at the protests in morocco and yemen and across the middle east. in turkey and across the world even that are saying that we don't accept these normalisation deals because they see israel for what it's doing and for its brutal occupation and colonisation of palestinians and the elimination of their desire to exist. so there are no good answers open to the palestinians. palestinians don't wake up in the morning thinking, i want to go and kill civilians today. of course it breaks my heart to see anybody suffer. so it is not something that palestinians want to do because that is what they want to do. they are doing it out of complete desperation because they see themselves as being completely erased from the international consensus and completely, the ignoring of their aspirations for freedom. completely, the ignoring of their aspirations forfreedom. and i don't have faith in governments to change it and i am speaking directly to your viewers as people. people power is the only way to cause change and create an actual dialogue, a real dialogue for a peaceful coexistence where everybody has a place to call home on these lands. it where everybody has a place to call home on these lands.— home on these lands. it has been really interesting _ home on these lands. it has been really interesting to _ home on these lands. it has been really interesting to talk - home on these lands. it has been really interesting to talk to - home on these lands. it has been really interesting to talk to you i really interesting to talk to you and i do appreciate you taking the time to speak to us on bbc news. thank you. thank you, i appreciate it. so as we know, dozens of israelis have been taken hostage. let me bring you these pictures, which some viewers might find distressing, showing a woman in her 20s begging for her life, as she was abducted and driven away by armed men on a motorbike. an israeli man, thought to be her partner, is also seized by palestinian militants. the pair had been at an outdoor music festival near the gaza border. other video shows partygoers fleeing across the desert. some in their cars and some are running on foot. a short time ago, i spoke to amit parpara, from tel aviv. he's a friend of noa argamani — an israeli woman who was at the same music festival near gaza with her boyfriend, avinatan 0r. she was seen in videos circulating on social media being kidnapped by hamas fighters. they are both missing. mr parpara told me about his last contact with noa. my first contact with noa was around 6:30, when the missiles started. there were missiles all over israel. that's what woke us up, all of us. and then we started messaging all the people that are still now in the music festival, which happens to be all morning. and what did she say in those messages? we're seeing them now, but they're obviously all in hebrew. can you explain what she's saying to you? yes, she's sending a live location and asking for someone to save her, save her boyfriend. she was hiding in a hole near the festival. they were searching for some place to hide because they didn't have any car, that's also what she wrote, she doesn't have any car. and they came in a group, i guess. so they hid when the terrorists came. at 8:30pm to 9pm, the terrorists broke through the gaza borders and they came in, that's when we started hearing about the horrors going on in the festival. and that's when we started to really get nervous about noa and her boyfriend. of course, for other people as well that are still missing. and around 8:30pm was the last message that i got from her, saying that she doesn't have any car. i tried to tell her to stay low. try to maybe contact the police and the military, so that they'll know their location. maybe they'll find them. about half an hour after, i found that video that was seen here before of her on a motorcycle, taken away from her boyfriend avinatan. you can see clearly the terror going into the gaza strip. you must be really, really worried, amit. yes. really. really bad. you know, this is the largest event that we can remember in our lifetime. we have been through a few operations, but a surprise attack of this scale and magnitude on israel, i cannot recall. the exact number of people who were kidnapped is yet to be exact, that means we don't know. maybe near 100. they are most of them civilians. young people. friends, children, women, elderly. they were kidnapped from their homes and the music festival. so it's notjust about what happened to noa and avinatan, it's about everyone that is kidnapped right there to gaza at this time, which hasn't been something like this in the whole history. amit, what have the government or officials been telling you about their ongoing search or how they are going to try and get these hostages back? there was no official contact from the government with us. we contacted noa's family and avinatan�*s family. there has been no official contact that something is ongoing. and that's most of our purpose here, to make use of the network, to understand that there might be a chance to get them out safely right now. time is of the essence, and this is our main priority right now, getting the people back home safely as soon as possible, before it's too late. all of the acting up that is now happening is from civilians. private groups that are combined together to help the people get back together. and this is the most, there's no contact and it's all what we do. we right now have authorities in the government that we are in contact with to help all of the people that are kidnapped. but it has to happen now. and someone can still save the situation. we must act fast and with the back—up from other nations. this reality cannot be tolerated in any other country. amit, what do you think has happened to noa? i hope to think that she's waiting. waiting with other people, waiting for her to be saved. she was taken to the gaza strip. we hope that it's not too late until they separate them, or hide them in other places. we really don't know. there's no official update. there's no videos, nothing that we can maybe get a leak or something. it's just us waiting and hoping, really hoping and praying that everything is good, that she will come back home safely, her and her boyfriend and everyone that is in captivity now. amit parpara. a friend of noa, the woman you saw in that video allegedly been kidnapped by hamas militants. more on that story on our website with a full expiration of those pictures and what they mean. we had more pictures of that festival come to the bbc. these are pictures of cars lining the road alongside where the festival is taking place and you can see many of these cars have been completely destroyed. some of them have been burnt out, you can see a burnt out car on the right—hand side. and earlier, we showed you a video of people who are attending that festival. we know now there were hundreds and hundreds of people attending the festival running away from the hamas militants. some of them getting into their cars, some of them running away on foot, but you can see the trail of destruction along the road near that festival, near the border with gaza city where hamas militants, according to eyewitnesses, arrived at the festival at about half past eight in the morning and opened fire on the festivalgoers. sojust the morning and opened fire on the festivalgoers. so just one the morning and opened fire on the festivalgoers. sojust one more the morning and opened fire on the festivalgoers. so just one more time if we could see those pictures, these are fresh pictures coming in of those damaged cars on the road alongside the festival. let's bring you up—to—date with the latest we have been getting here on bbc news, and we now know more than 600 israelis have died in those attacks by hamas militants. we are also being told over 370 palestinians have been killed in israeli defence full is a tax. we believe as many as 100 people, israelis, have been kidnapped, taken hostage by hamas militants, although some are believed to have been freed. we will bring you all the very latest on this developing story at the top of the hour. if you want more information or you want to step away from the tv, you are more than welcome to go to our website. you can also look at the very latest on our live page. for now, stay with us on bbc news. live from london. this is bbc news. israel's strike back on gaza continues as death toll rises to more than 1,000. we to more than 1,000. have paid a heavy price, buty will we have paid a heavy price, but we will restore security to the people of israel. let me repeat, we will restore security to the people of israel. ~ , .,. .,, , israel. we will be live across the re . ion israel. we will be live across the region with _ israel. we will be live across the region with our _ israel. we will be live across the region with our reporters - israel. we will be live across the region with our reporters and i region with our reporters and correspondents. we also hear from a friend of an israeli woman, who believes she was kidnapped by hamas fighters at a festival near gaza. about half an hour after, ifound that video that was seen here before her on a motorcycle, taken away from her on a motorcycle, taken away from her boyfriend. inaudible and i am here at the united states of the your, looking at the total of... inaudible hello and welcome. i'm maryam moshiri. the total number of dead from the conflict between israel and the palestinians has risen to more than a thousand, a day after hamas militants stormed into israeli territory from gaza. the israeli military says the country is "still at war in its efforts to take full control of israeli territory and communities from hamas". here are the key developments this hour. israeli tv is now putting the number of israeli civilians dead at more than 600.