The Israeli occupation forces conducted extensive air raids on the Gaza Strip amid retaliation from the Palestinian Resistance, who fired more than 100 rockets at the occupied city of Askalan.

The shelling from the Palestinian side comes as part of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood and the Israeli occupation's bombardment of residential buildings.

The Israeli occupation's indiscriminate shelling has led to numerous casualties among civilians, with reports putting the death toll at nearly 250 Palestinians in the Israeli onslaught since its beginning.

The Israeli air raids targeted separate areas of the northern Gaza Strip and the center of Gaza City.

The Palestinian Health Ministry said its medical crews were working non-stop in order to rescue all those wounded and in need of urgent care, stressing that they are working in full capacity and have initiated code red.

National Security and Interior Ministry spokesperson Iyad Al-Bazm said the Israeli occupation air force destroyed two civilian homes in the city of Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip, which martyred several people.

Civil defense crews, medical personnel, and police officers were making great efforts to evacuate a number of martyrs and wounded, including women and children, from the Abu Qouta family home, after the occupation destroyed it over the heads of its residents, in the city of Rafah.

The Israeli occupation forces have bombed various civilian homes, with the latest being on Beit Hanoun, where strikes on a home martyred at least 8 people from one family.

What you need to know 

Earlier on Saturday, Mohammad Deif, Commander-in-Chief of al-Qassam Brigades announced the launching of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood following a barrage of rockets fired and an infiltration operation into Gaza Envelope settlements.

The leader said the operation comes in response to the Israeli occupation's desecration of al-Aqsa Mosque and multiple assaults against women in its yards. 

Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Hamas movement, issued a military statement regarding the operation.

Earlier, Israeli occupation Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that "Israel is at war" after Hamas fighters initiated a large-scale surprise attack on settlements in the Gaza envelope. 

In a filmed statement published several hours after the Palestinian Resistance launched Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, Netanyahu confirmed that he convened the heads of the Israeli security establishment and directed that Palestinian Resistance fighters who crossed into Gaza envelope settlements be neutralized.

Towns and cities quickly fell into complete control of the Resistance units as Israeli occupation military and police forces collapsed within the first hour of the attack.

The Resistance's operation comes in the context of continued and unchecked Israeli aggression against Palestinians in the West Bank and occupied al-Quds, as well as a suffocating siege on the Gaza Strip.