Israeli forces battled holdout Hamas fighters and pounded targets in the Gaza Strip Sunday as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned of a “long and difficult” war ahead sparked by the Palestinian militant group’s massive surprise attack.

The Israeli army said, tens of thousands of soldiers were deployed to fight militants in southern desert regions near the coastal enclave, to rescue Israeli hostages and then evacuate the entire region within 24 hours.

“We’ll reach each and every community till we kill every terrorist in Israel,” vowed military spokesman Daniel Hagari, a day after hundreds of Hamas fighters crossed into Israel using vehicles, boats and even motorised paragliders.

“Our mission for the upcoming 24 hours is to evacuate all residents” from communities around the Gaza Strip, he told journalists amid the fighting that has left hundreds dead on both sides.

Israel also came under attack from the north on Sunday when Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement launched missiles and artillery shells “in solidarity” with the unprecedented Hamas offensive.

Israel was shocked when Gaza’s rulers Hamas launched a multi-pronged assault at dawn Saturday with thousands of rockets and ground, air and sea forces, attacking and infiltrating Israeli towns and kibbutz communities.

The worst fighting in decades has killed more than 200 Israelis and wounded over 1,000, leaving bodies of civilians strewn on roads, while on the Gaza side at least 313 have died and over 1,700 were reported wounded.

An unknown number of Israeli soldiers and civilians were abducted into Gaza as hostages, sparking dismay in Israel and massively complicating its military retaliation campaign.

According to the Israeli news website Ynet, “dozens of Israeli captives, including numerous women, children and elders, are believed to have been taken into the Gaza Strip”.

Gun battles raged Sunday between Israeli forces and hundreds of Hamas fighters in multiple locations, including at a police station in Sderot where police and special forces “neutralised 10 armed terrorists”, police said.

“A lot of people have been killed,” said another army spokesman, Richard Hecht, after the military released the names of 26 fallen soldiers. “We lost soldiers, lost commanders and lost a lot of civilians.

“We are completing efforts to retake full control of Israeli territory from Hamas,” he added, reporting that the army had struck 426 Hamas targets including Gaza tunnels, buildings and other infrastructure.