International

Israel's ambassador to the United Nations on Sunday accused Palestinian Islamist group Hamas of war crimes, vowing that it was time to "obliterate Hamas terror infrastructure," as the U.N. Security Council met to discuss the conflict.

In a dramatic assault launched from the Palestinian enclave of Gaza on Saturday, Hamas militants stormed into Israeli towns, killing more than 600 people and escaping with dozens of hostages, in the deadliest day for Israel since the 1973 war.

"These are war crimes, blatant documented war crimes," said Israeli U.N. Ambassador Gilad Erdan ahead of the closed-door meeting of the 15-member Security Council meeting.

"The era of reasoning with these savages is over," he told reporters. "Now is the time to obliterate Hamas terror infrastructure, to completely erase it, so that such horrors are never committed again."

Israel pounded Gaza on Sunday, killing hundreds of people in retaliation. Erdan appealed for the international community to fully support Israel and condemn the actions of Hamas.