Israel's Ambassador to Ireland has said Saturday's "integrated, orchestrated attack" by Hamas was well-funded and well organised and "was in the making for some time."
Dana Elrich also said it is not yet known how many civilians and military personnel have been taken hostage by Hamas.
She said "at the beginning, we thought it was dozens, but we're not sure about the final numbers," adding, "a lot of people are still missing."
Speaking on RTÉ's This Week, the ambassador said: "We see their families calling out for them, so we don't have the exact numbers, we just see the horrified families reporting."
She also said the death toll from the attacks keeps rising and that fighting is continuing in the south of the country, with rockets still being fired.
Asked how the attacks were allowed to happen, the ambassador said "it is something obviously we are all asking," but for now Israel is "focusing on what we are doing to defend our people."
Ms Elrich said Israel is "headed for a rough time" and insisted the authorities are "going above and beyond" not to hurt civilians in the retaliatory strikes in Gaza.
"We did not declare war on the Palestinians in Gaza, we declared war on Hamas.
"This is only Hamas thinking about itself and not the benefit of its people," she added.
The ambassador also thanked Ireland for its "clear and very firm" condemnation of the attacks.
Minister urges 'proportionate' response from Israel
Minister of State Thomas Byrne has urged a "proportionate" response from Israel to an "outrageous" attack by Hamas militants.
It comes after a surprise attack against Israel yesterday by Hamas.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin have both condemned the attack, stating that the violence needed to stop and a peace process needed to take place.
Mr Martin said yesterday that Ireland supported Israel's right to defend itself, but said its response needed to be proportionate.
Read More:
Conflict in Israel spreads, with hundreds killed as Hamas takes dozens hostage
Lebanon's Hezbollah fires shells, missiles at Israel
Asked whether the response had been proportionate, Mr Martin said that more "hard information" was needed to make that assessment.
Speaking on RTÉ's The Week in Politics, Mr Byrne said that the attack from Hamas was "absolutely wrong" and "outrageous".
"Israel is entitled to defend itself, that's clear. However, it has to be proportionate. They cannot go in and do the same thing, they need to watch what they're doing as well," he said.
"We certainly believe that the ultimate answer to this is what we've been advocating for decades, in Fianna Fáil and the Irish Government, which is a two-state solution. And we've been working to that, and it is time that I suppose the world gets serious about that."
Sinn Féin has written to the Ceann Comhairle and the parliamentary business committee to request that the Dáil reconvenes as soon as possible to discuss hostilities in Gaza and Israel.
Asked whether Sinn Féin condemns the attack by Hamas, TD Mairead Farrell said "of course we condemn... any targeting of civilians".
Asked about a tweet sent by her parliamentary party colleague Chris Andrews who said the attack was "a direct result of years of apartheid" in Palestine, as well as Ireland and the EU not holding Israel to account, Ms Farrell said said Ireland and the EU did need "to speak out loudly in relation to any breaking of international law".
Speaking on the same programe, Labour TD Ged Nash said there is a need for "de-escalation" in response to what happened in Israel.
He said: "I have rarely been as depressed as I have this weekend as to the future" in the region.
Mr Nash said while the United Nations Security Council is meeting on the violence this evening, "unfortunately I have little confidence that meaningful" action will come from this and said he fears for ordinary people living in the region.
Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín said "what happened yesterday is absolutely wrong" and the "the world is bracing itself for what is likely to be a disproportionate response" by Israel.
He said that in his view "the world has been turning a blind eye for a long time" in terms of the region.
He added that "the international community needs to take this seriously" and said in his view "Hamas may have done this to de-stabilise relationship building between Israel and Saudi Arabia".
Separately, several hundred people have attended a pro-Palestinian rally in Belfast this afternoon.
They gathered at the City Hall and were addressed by Palestinian activists who criticised media coverage of events in Israel.
Additional reporting PA
