A rocket is fired into the sky above Gaza City. Sirens starting sounding across Israel and as far north as the contested city of Jerusalem on Saturday morning after volleys of what Hamas said were thousands of rockets were launched from the blockaded enclave A man runs away from a fire in Ashkelon after rockets were launched from the Gaza Strip. Mohammad Deif, Hamas’s military commander in Gaza, announced the start of a new operation to free Jerusalem’s sensitive al-Aqsa mosque compound Palestinians celebrate as an Israeli tank burns after it was hit by Palestinian gunmen who infiltrated areas of southern Israel. There also appeared to be a ground infiltration by Hamas gunmen towards Israeli towns and villages Smoke rises after rockets and shells fired from Gaza towards Israel hit the city of Ashkelon. Israel and Hamas appear to be headed to war once again after the Palestinian militant group launched a massive aerial and ground surprise attack from the Gaza Strip Palestinians cross the border fence at Khan Yunis Israeli soldiers head south near Ashkelon. ‘The Israel Defence Forces will defend Israeli civilians and the Hamas terrorist organisation will pay heavy price for its actions,’ said the Israeli military A Palestinian gunman holds his weapon after infiltrating the Israeli side of the border. Inside Gaza, civilians reported significant movement of armed factions as people braced for what is likely to be a major new escalation A rocket is fired from Gaza City towards Israel. In response to the attacks, which appear to have caught the Israeli forces by surprise, Israel has declared a state of war People look at the wreckage of destroyed vehicles in Ashkelon. The dramatic developments are the most serious flare-up in the volatile region since Israel and Hamas fought a bloody 10-day battle in 2021 Israeli security forces take cover during a rocket attack warning in Ashkelon Residents in the Gaza Strip flee their homes to move away from the border with Israel Smoke rises after a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip hit a house in Ashkelon Palestinians take control of an Israeli tank after crossing the border fence with Israel from Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip Palestinian militants of the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades move towards the Erez check point between Israel and the northern Gaza Strip Members of Israeli security forces carry an injured person on a stretcher in Ashkelon Emergency workers put out a fire in Ashkelon Gazan citizens wave an Israeli licence plate Israeli police officers evacuate a woman and a child from a site in Ashkelon hit by a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip Residents in the Gaza Strip flee their homes to move away from the border with Israel Rockets are launched from the coastal Gaza Strip towards Israel Palestinians return to Gaza driving an Israeli military vehicle seized after militants crossed the border by land A building in Gaza City destroyed by an Israeli airstrike Relatives mourn Palestinian militants killed in the raid into Israel at the mortuary of a hospital in Gaza City Smoke rises after Israeli strikes in Gaza Israeli soldiers deploy in an area where civilians were killed in the southern city of Sderot Palestinians ride an Israeli military Jeep in the streets of Gaza after the storming of Israeli settlements by the Ezz al-Din al-Qassam militia Palestinians transport a captured Israeli civilian from Kibbutz Kfar Azza into the Gaza Strip Israeli forces take security measures in Sderot People on a rooftop watch as a ball of fire and smoke rises above a building in Gaza City during an Israeli airstrike People assess the destruction caused by Israeli air strikes in Gaza City A woman reacts as she speaks to Israeli rescuers in Tel Aviv, after it was hit by a rocket. Residents assess the damage caused by Israeli air strikes in Gaza City. The aftermath of an Israeli air strike in Gaza City.