Israel-Hamas war: The latest conflict in maps

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has seen its bloodiest escalation in decades.

The militant group Hamas began its offensive - which it named "Operation Al Aqsa Storm" - on Saturday morning with a barrage of missiles from Gaza followed by militants crossing the border.

Israel-Gaza latest: Gunmen remain on Israeli territory - as more than 1,000 Palestinian targets hit

The intense barrage of rockets launched by Hamas reached targets as far away as Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and also Ashkelon.

Large plumes of black smoke were seen rising from a number of Israeli cities, towns and villages, including Rishon Lezion and Rohovot.

As the rockets rained down, Hamas militants crossed into Israel using trucks, cars, motorbikes, paragliders, boats and on foot.

Bands of gunmen overran army bases and invaded border areas - holding Israeli towns and military posts under siege for hours.

A dance music festival in the desert near Gaza attended by thousands was among those targeted by Hamas.

Social media footage showed people dancing late into Friday, before the attack in the early hours of Saturday.

Under the cover of a barrage of rockets, Palestinian militants opened fire on concertgoers, while some were abducted on motorbikes.

At least 260 people were killed at the Supernova festival near Re'im, in the south of the country.

Hamas has also claimed to have taken captive more than 130 people from inside Israel and brought them into Gaza since the start of its offensive, including women, children and the elderly - which is against international humanitarian law.

It could lead to a prolonged hostage crisis and complicates Israel's military response - its heaviest-ever bombardment of Gaza while it contemplates a ground assault on the territory it withdrew from nearly two decades ago after 38 years of occupation.

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What is Hamas - and why has it chosen now to strike?

Hamas controls the narrow Gaza Strip that is home to 2.3 million Palestinians.

It has said its assault is justified by the plight of Gaza under a 16-year blockade, an Israeli crackdown in the occupied West Bank that has been the deadliest in years, and a far-right Israeli government that talks of annexing Palestinian land.

Within hours of the Hamas strikes, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared "war", while Israel's military described the co-ordinated deadly rampage by Hamas which coincided with a major Jewish holiday as "our 9/11".

Around 48 hours on, the Israeli military said on Monday its forces had regained control of communities near Gaza but were still fighting Hamas militants in some areas.

Fierce fighting had been reported in southern Israel, including in a kibbutz (settlement) in Karmia and in the cities of Ashkelon and Sderot.

The Israeli Defence Force also said earlier that around 70 additional militants had infiltrated Be'eri kibbutz, which the military had been trying to wrest from Hamas overnight.

It was also reported an Israeli family was being held hostage by militants in Kfar Aza, a kibbutz near Gaza.

"It's taking more time than we expected to get things back into a defensive, security posture," Israeli Defence Forces spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Richard Hecht told reporters.

He also conceded Hamas militants may still be infiltrating Israeli territory.

The number of ongoing battles had dropped from "seven to eight" to "two last pockets of fighting", he said.

"We have more or less stabilised control in all communities around Gaza," he added.

The conflict has threatened to escalate to an even deadlier stage with Israel vowing greater retaliation for the weekend's unprecedented, surprise assault.

A "complete siege" of the Gaza Strip - leaving them with no food, electricity or fuel - has been ordered by Israel.

Israeli forces have moved to crush Hamas fighters still in southern towns and intensified their bombardment of the Gaza Strip with the number of dead reaching 1,200 and thousands wounded on both sides.

At least 700 people have reportedly been killed in Israel and around 500 have died in Gaza.

Tens of thousands of soldiers are now around Gaza. Israel has called up around 300,000 reservists.

Retired Israeli military spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus said: "Our job is to make sure that at the end of this war, Hamas will no longer have any military capabilities to threaten Israeli civilians with, and in addition to that we also need to make sure Hamas will not govern the Gaza Strip."