The radical group known as Hamas swarmed Israeli territory along the Gaza Strip and surrounding areas early Saturday morning -- this after launching countless rockets at civilian buildings and going around to wreak havoc on the streets thereafter in armed convoys.

There are several videos surfacing from Israel that capture the sheer brutality and horror of what's happening on the ground ... and most of them are far too graphic for publication.

What we can show, however, are key clips of Israelis being taken hostage in this hellish ordeal -- including lots of women and children who are being wrangled by Hamas members and thrown into the backs of their trucks ... getting tossed and thrashed and mistreated.

As of this writing, the official body count on Israel's side is upwards of 150 ... and it continues to soar as the government scours through the wreckage and aftermath. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel is "at war" following the Hamas incursion -- and promised to retaliate with everything in his power to send a message of deterrence.

Israel has already begun to do that ... firing its own rockets and destroying buildings that are believed to be affiliated with Hamas militants -- and there are aerial strikes happening as well.

The fighting has only escalated since the initial onslaught ... the latest reports say a new wave of rockets have been fired from the Gaza region and are headed toward central Israel, including Tel Aviv. The U.S. is already on its toes in the wake of all this ugly news.