Israel's Ashkelon Port Shut Down

Israel's port of Ashkelon and its oil terminal have been shut in the wake of the conflict between Israel and Islamist group Hamas, shipping and trade sources said on Monday.

The port is located just over 10 kilometers (sox miles) from the border with the Gaza Strip. Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel on Saturday, rampaging through towns killing hundreds of people and kidnapping others.

The Israeli military said it had called up an unprecedented 300,000 reservists and was imposing a total blockade of the Gaza Strip, signs it could be planning a ground assault there to defeat Hamas.

Israel's state-owned Europe Asia Pipeline Company (EAPC), which runs a major terminal in Ashkelon, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Haifa and Ashdod ports remained open, the sources said.

(Reuters - Reporting by Julia Payne and Robert Harvey; additional reporting by Ari Rabinovitch in Jerusalem; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Susan Fenton)