World

Airstrikes bombard Gaza for 8th day as Israel prepares ground offensive

Israeli airstrikes bombarded the Hamas-run Gaza Strip on Saturday morning for the eighth day, as more than one million Palestinians in northern Gaza faced an Israeli deadline to flee south.

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel had only just begun to retaliate for last week’s Hamas rampage across southern Israel.

Israel has since put the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, home to 2.3 million Palestinians, under a total siege and bombarded it with unprecedented air strikes.

Gaza authorities say 1,900 people have died.

Meanwhile, Hamas has vowed to fight to the last drop of blood and told residents to stay.