Israel is experiecing difficult moments after Hamas launched a surprise attack on Saturday morning and killed hundreds of people.
Since the morning, sirens have been sounding continuously throughout Tel Aviv and the rest of the country, with people running to hide in the shelters.
According to Proto Thema, the radio producer Yannis Iatrou, who, with his wife and their children, lives permanently in the centre of Tel Aviv, everything is closed. At the same time, only a few supermarkets remain open, and those with many their shelves are empty.
"The situation is difficult, God help. The sirens have been sounding here in Tel Aviv since morning, and we don't know what to do. Luckily, the house I live in has its shelter, so when we see the hard times, I take my wife and kids and sit there," he said.
"We are completely trapped because there is nothing we can do. The next few days will be even more difficult, unfortunately. In the last hour, countless rockets have been fired from the Gaza area towards many areas.
"They hit everywhere, and there were explosions. Now I see in the news that they even threw rockets at the airport."
According to him, the next few hours will be even more dramatic as Israel's 300,000 soldiers are on standby.
"What we are experiencing now is only the beginning because Israel has not yet responded with its operation. Mobilisation has been done, and at this moment, about 300,000 soldiers are ready. The army is waiting for an order to start the process from the Israeli side.
"Times are difficult in all of our lives. We have never seen such violence. Nothing compares to this evil. So many massacres and so many human lives were lost like this. They enter people's houses and take women and children as if they were their own."
Although Yannis Iatrou had experienced other similar attacks in the past, this is the worst:
"Everything is closed, only some supermarkets are open, and they are starting to have shortages. I went into one or two yesterday, and they had empty shelves.
"While we have experienced other attacks that lasted three to four days and then went back to everyday life, now everything is different, and this will not end easily. The army must take a stand and close this story; we are talking about 800 dead.
"Israel can't help but strike Gaza hard to teach a lesson and ensure peace for the time to come. No one expected this evil; our army was unprepared. I believe they are preparing the plan, and once it is completed, we will experience the worst."
Meanwhile,
Israel has announced a “total” blockade of Gaza, including a ban on food and water, after Hamas carried out the biggest attack on the country in decades.
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said on Monday authorities would cut electricity and block the entry of food and fuel as part of “a complete siege” on Hamas-run Gaza.
Gallant described the move as part of a war against “beastly people”.
“We are putting a complete siege on Gaza … No electricity, no food, no water, no gas – it’s all closed,” Gallant said in a video statement.
Israel and Egypt have imposed various levels of blockade on Gaza since Hamas seized power from rival Palestinian forces in 2007.
Israel’s chief military spokesperson, Daniel Hagari, told reporters on Monday that Israel has “control” of its border communities following Saturday’s mass incursion of Hamas fighters into its territory.
Hagari said there had been some isolated incidents on Monday morning, but that “at this stage, there is no fighting in the communities”.
He added that "there might still be terrorists in the region."
Israeli tanks and drones were guarding openings in the border fence to prevent more infiltrations, Hagari said, adding that 15 of 24 border communities had been evacuated, with the rest expected to be evacuated over the next 24 hours.
Earlier, Hamas spokesperson Abdel-Latif al-Qanoua told The Associated Press that the group’s fighters continued to battle outside Gaza and had captured more Israelis as recently as Monday morning.
He said the group aims to free all Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, which in the past has agreed to lopsided exchange deals in which it released large numbers of prisoners for individual captives or even the remains of soldiers.
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