Israel declares war on the Palestinian militant group

Israel has declared war on the Palestinian militant group Hamas after it carried out an unprecedented attack by air, sea and land on Saturday.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the country is at war Saturday after Palestinian militants in Gaza fired a deadly barrage of rockets and sent gunmen into Israeli territory in a major escalation of the long-running conflict between the two sides.

Israel launched air strikes on Gaza in response to the attack as Netanyahu vowed to "exact a huge price from the enemy."

The early-morning surprise assault is unprecedented in recent history in its scale and scope. It comes on the 50th anniversary of the 1973 War in which Arab states blitzed Israel on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar.

The large-scale surprise assault has left at least 900 dead in Israel, prompting a lethal volley of retaliatory Israeli airstrikes on Gaza that killed at least 687 people.

As they retreated into Gaza, the militants claimed to have taken at least 100 hostages with them and have threatened to kill them if airstrikes target Gaza without warning. Israel has pledged that Hamas will pay a heavy price.