JERUSALEM, unidentified — Israel was taken by surprise when hundreds of Hamas militants stormed across the border from Gaza on Saturday and killed hundreds while abducting around another 150.
Fighting in some communities lasted for several days, with Israeli officials only confirming that they had "more or less" regained control of the area on Tuesday.
Israel said on Wednesday the death toll from the Hamas attacks had reached 1,200 people.
This figure includes civilians and security forces, and a breakdown by place of death was not available.
The toll is likely to rise because bodies were still being retrieved and identified, and many people remain missing, said an army spokesman.
In the Gaza Strip, health officials said 1,055 people had been killed during retaliatory strikes by Israel.
The Israeli army said the bodies of more than 1,500 Hamas militants had been found in recaptured areas.
Supernova festival
In the deadliest single assault on civilians in Israel's history, 270 revellers were gunned down or burnt in their cars by Hamas gunmen at the Supernova music festival in the Negev desert.
Most of the victims were young people, who had dressed to party and danced through the night on what was the end of the Jewish holiday of Sukkot.
Some were under the influence of hallucinogenic substances as the festival came under attack from the air and on the ground, survivors told Israeli media.
Spraying gunfire, the militants "butchered people in cold blood", said Moti Bukjin, a volunteer who recovers bodies, adding that many victims had been shot in the head at close range.
Multiple festival-goers remain unaccounted for, while some have been identified in videos of hostages abducted to Gaza.
Beeri
In Beeri, a kibbutz of about 1,200 residents five kilometres (three miles) from Gaza, Hamas gunmen killed more than 100 people, Bukjin of the charity Zaka told AFP.
Dozens more are missing, with at least some of them believed to have been captured and taken across the border, and much of the community was burnt to the ground.
Army spokesman Daniel Hagari told Israeli media that "about 70 terrorists infiltrated Kibbutz Beeri".
He said "most of them were killed following exchanges of fire" after forcing their way into homes, setting them on fire and shooting residents.
One group of gunmen held dozens of civilians hostage for hours before security forces freed the Israelis, officials and media reports said.
"This is a 9/11-type tragedy," Alon Pauker, 57, told AFP. "The place I live in will never be the same."
Nir Oz
The Gaza border community lost some 50 residents, including children, killed by Hamas, and about 50 more are believed to be held in Gaza, a kibbutz representative said in comments published by Israeli media.
As in other communities targeted by the Palestinian militants, survivors recounted hiding in shelters for hours before Israeli forces finally took back control of the kibbutz.
Kfar Aza
Dozens of civilians including toddlers were killed when Hamas militants stormed the farming community of some 400 residents, located just two kilometres from Gaza.
Retired Israeli major general Itai Veruv said 70 Palestinian gunmen took part in the raid.
Army officer Omar Barak, 24, who was among the Israeli forces who fought the assailants for two days to regain control of the kibbutz, told AFP he "had never seen anything worse".
The militants set homes and cars ablaze and local media reported some were decapitated.
The Israeli government said it could not confirm the number of babies killed in the attack, following reports that the figure was as high as 40.
While authorities have not provided a confirmed death toll, several Israeli soldiers questioned by AFP said more than 100 civilians had been killed.
Ofir Libstein, head of the regional council of Gaza border communities, was killed fighting the gunmen in Kfar Aza, his office said.
Other border communities
Israeli media and officials reported smaller-scale attacks on other border communities or attempts that had been thwarted by armed guards of security forces.
Thirteen residents of Holit including two migrant workers were shot dead, a kibbutz statement carried by Israeli media said.
A smaller number of deaths were reported in Nahal Oz, Yakhini and Kerem Shalom. AFP journalists saw the bullet-riddled bodies of civilians in Gevim and Zikim beach, north of the Palestinian enclave.
There were no confirmed tolls for these areas.