More than 900 Israelis have been wounded in the Hamas attacks, Israel's health ministry says. The MDA ambulance service says about 70 people are dead.
A major investigation has been launched as to how Israeli intelligence failed to see the well-coordinated Hamas attack coming, Israeli government officials have told the BBC.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas - a political rival of Hamas - supported the right of the Palestinian people to defend themselves against the "terror of settlers and occupation troops".