More than 100 people have been taken hostage and 600 are dead following Hamas’s attack, Israel has said.

A graphic from the Israeli government posted on Facebook says there are “100+” captives -- more than Tel Aviv’s officials had previously feared. 

The official death toll in Israel has also risen to 600, while 370 have been killed in the IDF’s retaliatory air strikes in Gaza.

This morning the IDF said dozens of fighter jets had descended on the Gaza Strip in an apparent escalation of its operation against Hamas.

Israeli troops were also seen transporting 155mm artillery pieces toward the Gaza border .

“IDF fighter jets conducted an intensive aerial strike against targets used by Hamas,” the IDF said in a statement.

The news came as tensions cooled slightly on the Lebanese border after Israel fired an interceptor at a suspicious object approaching northern Israel. Upon inspection the IDF said that it was not a hostile aircraft and therefore they did not strike back.