Bodies of around 1,500 Hamas fighters found, Washington's threats against Hezbollah, 'total siege of Gaza': 11 a.m. situation report

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1 - Gaza has been under "total siege" since yesterday, as ordered by the Israeli defense minister. Electricity, water and food supplies to the area are now cut off. At a press conference today, the Israeli army spokesman asserted that the parliament and civilian ministries in Gaza are legitimate targets. This morning, Israel announced that it had regained control of the Gaza border fence, which Hamas fighters had crossed on Saturday.

2 - The border crossing between Gaza and Egypt is now closed, the Israeli army announced. "The Rafah crossing was open yesterday [Monday], but is now closed," said a spokesman. This followed movements of people fleeing the Gaza strikes toward Egypt, which borders the enclave.

3 - Around 1,500 bodies of Hamas fighters have been found by the Israeli army in Israeli territory since Saturday, a spokesman for the army said. He added that "infiltration may still happen," although he said that "no one has entered" Israeli territory from Gaza since early last night. At least 900 Israelis and over 700 Palestinians have been killed since the conflict began on Saturday.

4 - Washington threatened Hezbollah last night, warning it not to take "the wrong decision" by opening a second front against Israel on the border with Lebanon. The caution came via a senior US defense official. This morning, Israel fired a dozen flares over Mayss al-Jabal, in southern Lebanon, according to a report by a correspondent on Hezbollah's al-Manar channel. At this stage, Hezbollah has officially announced three deaths among its members, following yesterday's Israeli bombardments.

5 - Hamas issued a statement declaring Friday, Oct. 13 a day of general mobilization for Muslims and the Arab world, calling it "Al-Aqsa Flood Friday," and calling on all its supporters to mobilize and attack Israeli soldiers. Yesterday, the armed wing of Hamas announced that "any enemy operation targeting [its] people" would be followed by the execution of a civilian hostage among those it is holding.