Israeli warplanes on Saturday bombed positions for the Palestinian movement Hamas west and north of Gaza City inflicting scores of casualties, witnesses said.

The Israeli air attacks came after Hamas launched a wide-scale operation, employing anti-armor rockets, motorized gliders and boats, bursting into several Israeli outposts, killing and wounding a number of Israelis and capturing others. The ground operation coincided with launching rocket salvos in the direction of Israeli targets.

Ashraf Al-Qudra, spokesman of the Palestinian health authority, said in a statement that the Israelis hit an ambulance vehicle in front of the emergency ward at Nasser medical center, wounding a large number of people and medics.

The Israeli forces also targeted the Indonesian Hospital in the north of Gaza strip killing a worker, wounding a number of employees and damaging oxygen devices.

Palestinian factions affirmed in a statement that several Israeli soldiers were captured during the wide-scale operation.

Israeli officials, according to media reports, declared "mobilization for war" and warned Hamas it would pay heavy price for the "grave blunder" it perpetrated by assaulting the settlements. Media have also reported that Tel Aviv employed special commandos to engage the gunmen who infiltrated into the settlements and that the authorities called up the reserves.

Source: Kuwait News Agency