Israel said on Tuesday it had secured its border with Gaza four days after Hamas launched a surprise attack that killed at least 900 people, as the Israeli military hit more than 200 targets in the Gaza Strip overnight. The strikes continued despite a warning from Hamas’s armed wing that the group would start killing Israeli captives for every unannounced airstrike on Gaza civilians. The death toll in Gaza is now almost 690 people, with 187,000 people displaced according to the UN relief agency for Palestinian refugees. Israel has imposed a total siege on the Gaza Strip, cutting off food, water and electricity supplies, and has called up 300,000 reservists – including sending planes to Europe to fly back hundreds of Israelis, according to Reuters – indicating it could launch a ground offensive. Hat tip to Politico for spotting that the Hamas assault on Saturday took place on Vladimir Putin’s birthday – he won’t mind the West’s attention slipping away from his assault on Ukraine.