Around 1,500 bodies of Hamas militants have been found in Israel around the Gaza Strip, the army said Tuesday, as it pummeled the Palestinian enclave with air strikes.

“Approximately 1,500 bodies of Hamas (fighters) were found in Israel around the Gaza Strip,” military spokesman Richard Hecht told reporters, adding that security forces had “more or less restored control over the border” with Gaza.

“Since last night we know that no one came in… but infiltrations can still happen.”

The army had “nearly completed” evacuation of all the communities around the border, he added.

Hecht said the military had deployed 35 battalions to the border area.

“We are building infrastructure for future operations,” he said.

Israel is reeling under a deadly attack by Hamas militants who stormed the border fence under a barrage of rocket fire on Saturday morning and killed more than 900 people inside Israel.

In response, Israel is carrying out a massive air and artillery bombardment of Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip that has so far killed at least 687 people in the coastal enclave.

Before dawn on Tuesday, the Israeli military struck what it said were Hamas targets in Gaza, especially in the Rimal neighbourhood and in the southern city of Khan Yunis. (AFP)

•Israeli Soldiers walk in front of an Israeli police station that was damaged during battles to dislodge Hamas militants who were stationed inside, on October 8, 2023. (Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP)