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More than 48 hours after Saturday鈥檚 unprecedented assault, Hamas militants are thought to be holding more than 100 Israelis - soldiers and civilians.

Newsday was contacted by a woman anxious to know about the fate of her five relatives who had been taken from
a kibbutz in Nahal Oz, a few kilometres from Gaza.

Iordan said her family members, including two children, had also been taken to Gaza and that her aunt's partner had been shot. She no longer has any idea where they are. Her aunt's phone continues to ring but to no answer.

"Civilians should not be paying this price," she says.

Almost 500 people have died in Gaza, after Israel launched massive airstrikes in retaliation for gun and missile attacks by Hamas gunmen that the Israeli authorities say have killed at least 700

Photos shows Israeli soldiers on patrol in the southern city of Sderot, close to the Gaza border, Israel.