Israel strikes Hamas as over 3,600 Israelis killed, injured, 1,500 bodies of militants recovered

Israel continued striking back against Hamas on Tuesday as its war entered its fourth day, while more than 3,600 Israelis have been killed or injured in the vicious onslaught from the Gaza Strip and the bodies of about 1,500 Hamas militants have been recovered in Israel.

In addition to responding to the more than 4,500 rockets that have been fired from Gaza, Israeli Defence Forces and Border Police arrested 40 people suspected of being involved in terrorist activities in the West Bank, which is biblical Judea and Samaria, according to Israeli military officials. 

Israel also expanded its mobilization of reservists to 360,000 on Tuesday, according to the "Jerusalem Post." The military had previously called up 300,000 reservists in response to the aggression from Gaza.

In total, more than 900 Israelis were killed, including at least 11 Americans, and 2,740 were injured as of 11 a.m. local time Tuesday, according to the IDF. Additionally, Israel said it struck more than 1,350 targets in response to the invasion.

Hamas claims that it has more than 100 Israelis in captivity, including women, children and the elderly, Israel Channel 7 News reported.

"We have not seen the atrocities committed by Hamas since the atrocities of the Islamic State. Forced children who were executed with the rest of their families. Young men and women who were shot in the back, executed, and other atrocities that I will not describe here," Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu said in an address to the nation, as translated.

"Hamas is ISIS - and we will defeat it just as the enlightened world defeated ISIS. This bitter enemy wanted war - and he would get war," he also said.

Footage of Israel's air strikes on Gaza shows heavy damage inflicted upon the area, which is under the control of Hamas, a U.S. State Department-designated foreign terrorist organization. 

Additionally, the IDF clarified that it is not calling for residents of Gaza to flee to Egypt.

"In recent days, the IDF has been instructing the population inside of the Gaza Strip to distance themselves from designated areas. We emphasize that there is no official call by Israel for residents of the Gaza Strip to exit into Egypt," the Israeli military wrote on Twitter, formerly X, Tuesday morning.

Israel also said it recovered the bodies of about 1,500 Hamas militants on its soil, per Fox News.

The attack began Saturday on the Jewish holiday of Shemini Atzeret when Hamas infiltrated into Israeli territory, killing more than 260 people at a music festival and 100 in a border town.

Israel has allowed more citizens to carry firearms in response and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir announced Tuesday that his agency is purchasing 10,000 rifles for civilians to arm themselves.

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