JERUSALEM: Israel battled Hamas fighters still holed up in southern towns Monday and massed tens of thousands of troops near the Gaza Strip after vowing to defeat the Palestinian militant group whose surprise attack the shocked nation has likened to 9/11. Stunned by the unprecedented assault on its territory, a grieving Israel has counted over 700 dead and launched a withering barrage of strikes on Gaza that have raised the death toll there above 430. COUNTERATTACK A plume of smoke rises in the sky of Gaza City during an Israeli airstrike on Monday, Oct. 9, 2023. Israel relentlessly pounded the...