Israel pounded the Gaza Strip on Tuesday with the fiercest airstrikes in the 75-year history of its conflict with the Palestinians, razing whole districts to dust despite a Hamas threat to execute a captive for each home hit.
Israel has vowed "mighty revenge" since Islamist gunmen rampaged through its towns, leaving streets strewn with bodies in by far the deadliest attack in its history.
It has called up hundreds of thousands of reservists and placed Gaza, crowded home to 2.3 million people, under total siege.