Palestinian militant group Hamas, which dragged off about 150 hostages in its surprise weekend assault on southern Israel, threatened to kill them if Israeli air strikes continue “targeting” Gaza residents without warning on Monday.
Israel continued bombing targets in response to the surprise Hamas assault it has likened to the 9/11 attacks.
Hamas – whose militants surged into Israeli towns on Saturday, spraying gunfire at civilians and dragging off captives – claimed on Monday that Israeli air strikes had killed four of the hostages.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier threatened that “What Hamas will experience will be difficult and terrible.”
“This is only the beginning,” he vowed. “We will defeat them with force, enormous force.”