Following an incursion by Hamas, which has threatened to execute hostages

In retribution for a brutal invasion by Hamas militants, Israel boosted bombings on Gaza and cut it off from food, fuel, and other supplies Monday, bringing the war's death toll to nearly 1,600 on both sides. Hamas also escalated the battle, threatening to execute captured Israelis if strikes on civilians occurred without notice.

On the third day of the battle, Israel was still uncovering fatalities from Hamas' spectacular weekend raid on southern Israeli communities. After a long hostage crisis with terrorists, rescue teams discovered 100 bodies in the tiny rural village of Be'eri - roughly 10% of its population. Tens of thousands fled their homes in Gaza as airstrikes devastated buildings.

The Israeli military said it had largely regained control of the south after the onslaught caught its renowned military and intelligence infrastructure completely off guard, resulting in deadly street clashes for the first time in decades. Hamas and other terrorists in Gaza claim to be holding more than 130 captured Israeli troops and civilians.

To prevent future invasions, Israeli tanks and drones were sent to watch breaches in the Gaza border line. Thousands of Israelis were evacuated from more than a dozen villages near Gaza, and the military called up 300,000 reservists in a quick mobilization.

The efforts, combined with Israel's formal declaration of war on Hamas on Sunday, indicated that Israel was gradually going to the offensive against Hamas, predicting further devastation in the densely populated, impoverished Gaza Strip.

"We have only started striking Hamas," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated in a nationally televised speech. "What we will do to our enemies in the coming days will reverberate with them for generations."

A big issue as the Israeli military moved closer to the border was whether it would launch a ground attack into the little Mediterranean coastal region. The most recent ground assault occurred in 2014.

According to the Israeli military, almost 900 individuals have already been slain in Israel. According to Gaza authorities, more than 680 individuals have been killed; Israel claims hundreds of Hamas fighters are among them. Thousands of people have been injured on both sides.

In reaction to Israel's airstrikes, Abu Obeida, the spokesman for Hamas' armed wing, threatened Monday night that the group will kill one Israeli civilian captive every time Israel bombs civilians in their homes in Gaza "without prior warning."

Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen warned Hamas that "this war crime will not be forgiven." Netanyahu tasked a veteran military officer with overseeing the hostage and missing persons problem.

Israel and Hamas have had numerous skirmishes in recent years, frequently prompted by tensions over a holy site in Jerusalem. This time, the situation is potentially more explosive. Both parties have spoken of using violence to break the years-long Israeli-Palestinian deadlock created by the dormant peace process.

The death toll from Hamas's surprise weekend onslaught was unprecedented since the 1973 conflict with Egypt and Syria. This fueled calls to defeat Hamas at any cost, rather than continuing to try to contain it in Gaza. Israel is being led by its most right-wing administration in history, with ministers who vehemently oppose Palestinian statehood.

In turn, Hamas says it is prepared to fight a lengthy campaign to eliminate an Israeli occupation that it claims is no longer tolerable. Desperation has developed among Palestinians, many of whom see nothing to lose from Israel's perpetual dominance and escalating settlement depredations in the West Bank, the blockade of Gaza, and what they see to be the world's apathy.

Israeli counterattack is fierce in response to Hamas strikes.

On Monday, both sides launched attacks, resulting in much more carnage. A man with a crutch in one hand and an older son in the other joined evacuees being shepherded from a street after a rocket ripped out the front of a house in Israel's southern coastal city of Ashkelon.

In Gaza, Palestinians passed the bodies of the dead in the debris of the Jebaliya refugee camp through dense throngs of men.

The sound of explosions boomed over Jerusalem early Monday evening as a salvo of rockets fired from Gaza hit two neighborhoods, demonstrating Hamas's reach. According to Israeli media, seven people were injured.

After giving evacuation warnings, Israeli airplanes launched a heavy bombardment of Rimal, a residential and commercial sector in central Gaza City. The building housing the Palestinian Telecommunications Company's headquarters was demolished amid incessant bombings.

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Israeli airstrikes on Gaza have destroyed 790 homes and badly damaged 5,330 others. Damage to three water and sanitation sites has resulted in the loss of services for 400,000 people.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant declared a "complete siege" on Gaza, threatening to shut off electricity and restrict the entry of food and fuel.

The Norwegian Refugee Council's secretary general, Jan Egeland, warned that Israel's siege would be a "utter disaster" for Gazans.

"There is no doubt that collective punishment is a violation of international law," he said to The Associated Press. "If and when it would lead to wounded children dying in hospitals because of lack of energy, electricity and supplies, it could amount to war crimes."

The Israeli blockade will force Gaza to rely almost solely on its border crossing into neighboring Egypt at Rafah, whose transport capabilities are lower than at other Israeli crossings.

An Egyptian military officer, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press, said the Egyptian Red Crescent had transferred more than 2 tons of medical supplies to Gaza, and that attempts were underway to organize food and other deliveries.

Tens of thousands of Gaza residents have fled. According to the United Nations, more than 187,000 of Gaza's 2.3 million Palestinians have fled their homes, the highest number since Israel's air and ground offensive in 2014.

UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees, is sheltering over 137,000 people in schools around the region. 41,000 people have been taken in by families.

An Israeli bombardment on the southern Gaza city of Rafah early Monday killed 19 people, including women and children, according to Talat Barhoum, a doctor at the local Al-Najjar Hospital.

According to Israeli Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, hundreds of Hamas fighters have been buried beneath the debris of buildings destroyed by Israel in the last 48 hours. His assertions could not be verified.

New clashes on Israel's northern border on Monday raised fears that the conflict will move to a new front.

Palestinian militants from the Islamic Jihad group crossed into Israel, prompting Israeli bombing of southern Lebanon. Lebanon's Hezbollah terrorist group said five of its members were killed, and it reacted across the border with a barrage of rockets and mortars on two Israeli army outposts.

After breaching Israeli defenses with explosives before dawn Saturday, an estimated 1,000 Hamas terrorists went on a rampage for hours, killing murdered civilians and kidnapping individuals in cities, along highways, and at a desert techno music festival attended by thousands. According to the military, Palestinian militants have also launched around 4,400 rockets at Israel.

According to Hamas spokesman Abdel-Latif al-Qanoua, the group's members are still fighting beyond Gaza and have seized more Israelis as recently as Monday morning.

He stated that the group's goal is to free all Palestinian detainees held by Israel, which has previously agreed to imbalanced exchange arrangements in which it released huge numbers of prisoners in exchange for individual captives or even soldier remains.

Soldiers and civilians, including women, children, and the elderly, are among the hostages, who are predominantly Israelis but also include some citizens of other nations.

Since pushing out forces loyal to the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority in 2007, Hamas has administered Gaza unopposed, despite the blockade and four prior conflicts with Israel.

Meanwhile, Palestinians in the West Bank have entered the fourth day of tight movement restrictions. Israeli authorities have blocked checkpoints and closed crossings to the occupied territory, impeding transportation between cities and towns. Clashes in the region between rock-throwing Palestinians and Israeli soldiers have killed 15 Palestinians, according to the United Nations.

Adwan contributed reporting from Rafah, Gaza. This report was contributed to by AP journalists Isabel DeBre and Julia Frankel in Jerusalem, Wafaa Shurafa in Gaza City, Tia Goldenberg in Tel Aviv, Israel, Bassem Mroue and Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut, Samy Magdy in Cairo, and Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran.

Following an incursion by Hamas, which has threatened to execute hostages

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