Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to "change the Middle East" in the war with Palestinian resistance group Hamas, as the Israeli army carried out indiscriminate attacks against Gaza.
"What Hamas will experience will be difficult and terrible... we are going to change the Middle East," Netanyahu told officials visiting Jerusalem from the country's south.
"This is only the beginning... we are all with you and we will defeat them with force, enormous force."
Israel has retaliated by carrying out intense airstrikes on the Gaza Strip which is controlled by Hamas.
The Gaza-based resistance group Hamas launched Operation Al-Aqsa Flood against Israel early Saturday, firing a barrage of rockets. It said the surprise attack was in response to the storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem and increased settler violence.
The attack represented the biggest and deadliest incursion into Israel since Egypt and Syria launched a sudden assault in an effort to reclaim lost territory in the Yom Kippur war 50 years ago.
In retaliation, the Israeli army launched Operation Swords of Iron against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
The number of Palestinians killed by the Israeli forces in Gaza has risen to 560, the Gaza-based Health Ministry said on Monday amid ongoing fighting. It also said the number of injured people surged to 2,900.
The Interior Ministry in Gaza said the Israeli army has "intensified its aggression" on Gaza with hundreds of raids.
The Israeli army said it had struck over 500 targets in overnight raids on Gaza, which they claimed were targets belonging to the Hamas and Islamic Jihad groups.
At least 800 Israelis have been killed and over 2,300 others wounded in the fighting, according to the Israeli Health Ministry.
