Israel and Gaza at war: what you need to know

The long conflict between Palestine and Israel escalated to another level this weekend, after the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas launched the biggest attack on the Jewish state in 50 years.

The unexpected and overwhelming attack by Hamas caught Israel off guard and caused chaos that did not take long to have a response.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an official statement that the country was “at war” and would exact “a heavy price” from its enemies. Hamas leaders said they were prepared for further escalation.

Throughout the weekend, the exchange of fire has been a constant, with missiles launched from the Gaza Strip being responded to with Israeli bombings seeking key Hamas points.

At least 700 Israelis have been killed, including 44 soldiers, and more than 2,000 wounded, Israeli media reported.

And at least 400 Palestinians have been killed, including 20 children, and 2,200 wounded as a result of airstrikes in Gaza since Saturday, according to Palestinian authorities.

Israeli military said a “substantial” number of civilians and soldiers had been taken to Gaza and were being held hostage.

Several videos circulating on social media show what appear to be Hamas fighters kidnapping Israelis at a concert in the city of Ofakim in Israel's south, not far from Gaza.

Both soldiers and civilians have been taken to Gaza where Hamas has already confirmed that it will use them as payment to free Palestinian prisoners, ‘Al Jazeera’ reported.

Richard Hecht, international spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces, acknowledged, in statements reported by 'The Times of Israel', that Hamas "went after grandmothers, children, babies... The numbers are unprecedented," he added.

Added to the death and captured are hundreds of missing people, according to several media. Citizens who may be dead under the rubble, hidden or captured but about whom nothing is known.

Numerous Israeli families went to the police this Sunday, with photographs and DNA samples, in case their missing family members appear at some point, ‘Reuters’ reported.

Meanwhile, the war is expected to escalate, as Netanyahu threatened: "We will destroy and avenge them with force. It will be a long and difficult war, but without respite until the objectives are achieved."

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Sunday he has ordered the Ford carrier strike group to sail to the Eastern Mediterranean to be ready to assist Israel, AP News reported.

The USS Gerald R. Ford (pictured), the Navy’s newest and most advanced aircraft carrier, and its approximately 5,000 sailors and deck of warplanes, will be accompanied by cruisers and destroyers.

But while the large deployment may reflect a US desire to deter any regional expansion of the conflict, the Israeli government’s posture to take “significant military steps” to retaliate against Hamas, might further escalate things.

The first two days of this war has left overwhelming images; cities illuminated at night by missiles launched and the fire caused by them…

Neighborhoods, houses and towns completely destroyed, in which it is impossible to search for the remains of a life that is trapped forever under the rubble.

And the military mobilizing with a frightening normality, while the citizens can only sit and watch as the war destroys everything they built over generations.