JERUSALEM/GAZA, Oct 7 (Reuters) – The Palestinian Islamist group Hamas launched its biggest attack on Israel in years on Saturday, killing dozens and taking hostages in a surprise attack by gunmen who entered Israel together. Fired with rockets. Gaza Strip.
Israel said the Iran-backed group had declared war as its army confirmed fighting with militants in several Israeli towns and military bases near Gaza, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened retaliation. Has shown determination.
He said that our enemy will pay a price which he will never know. “We are at war and we will win it”.
Israel’s N12 News reported that at least 100 Israelis were killed. A Reuters photographer saw several bodies lying in the streets of the southern town of Sderot.
The Israeli military said it responded to airstrikes in Gaza, where witnesses heard loud explosions and scores of dead and injured were taken to hospitals. The Israeli army said the navy shot down dozens of Palestinian militants who were trying to infiltrate Israel by sea.
Saleh al-Aruri, the deputy head of Hamas, told Al Jazeera that the group is holding a large number of Israeli prisoners, including senior officials. He said that Hamas has enough prisoners that Israel can release all the Palestinians in its prisons.
According to the N12 and Reshet 13 news outlets, the army confirmed that Israelis were being held captive in Gaza and that the soldiers had been killed.
Gaza health officials said 198 Palestinians were killed in the airstrikes as the bombardment hit deep into Gaza City, sending clouds of black smoke into the sky.
Hamas said the attack was due to what it said were escalating Israeli attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank, Jerusalem, and against Palestinians in Israeli prisons.
Hamas military commander Mohammad Daef announced the start of the operation broadcast on Hamas media and called on Palestinians everywhere to fight, saying it was the day of the biggest battle to end the last occupation of the land.
Hamas advocates the destruction of Israel.
Bullets in Israeli towns
The attack marked a rare incursion into Israel by an unknown number of Hamas gunmen from the Gaza Strip, and the worst for Israel in its conflict with the Palestinians since the second intifada’s suicide bombings nearly two decades ago. Big blow.
Israel and Hamas fought a 10-day war in 2021.
The bloodshed came on the 50th anniversary of Israel’s 1973 war that brought the country to the brink of a catastrophic defeat in a surprise attack by Syria and Egypt.
The militant Islamic Jihad group said it had joined the attacks and held several Israeli soldiers captive. Hamas footage on its Telegram account showed its fighters pulling Israeli soldiers out of tanks.
Israeli media reported gun battles between Palestinian fighters and security forces in towns in southern Israel. Israel’s police chief said there were “21 active scenes” in southern Israel.
In Gaza, people rushed to buy supplies in anticipation of the coming days of conflict. Some evacuated their homes and turned to shelters.
The UN’s Middle East peace envoy Tor Wenzland condemned the attacks on Israel, warning in a statement: “This is a dangerous current, and I urge everyone to step back from the brink.”
This violence was also criticized by Washington and other Western capitals.
[1/28]Smoke and flames rise after Israeli forces attacked a high-rise tower in Gaza City on October 7, 2023. REUTERS/Muhammad Salem obtained licensing rights
White House National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said, “The United States condemns the unprovoked attacks by Hamas terrorists against Israeli citizens. Terrorism is never justified.”
‘Please send help’
Speaking to Israel’s N12 News by phone from Nir Oz, a kibbutz near Gaza, a woman identified as Doreen said militants had entered her home and tried to open a bomb shelter. where she was hiding.
“They’ve just come in again, please send help,” she said. “Many houses have been damaged… My husband has locked the door… They are shooting.”
Israeli Defense Minister Gallant said “soldiers are fighting the enemy at every point” and allowed reservists to call.
Footage circulating on social media shows clashes in city streets as well as armed men in jeeps roaming the countryside.
“We were told there were terrorists inside the kibbutz, we could hear gunshots,” a young woman from the Beri kibbutz named Dever told Israeli Army Radio from her bomb shelter.
Hamas media showed videos of bodies of Israeli soldiers being carried into Gaza by fighters, and Palestinian gunmen inside Israeli homes and in jeeps touring an Israeli town that the attackers allegedly attacked. I was taken away.
Reuters was not immediately able to verify the footage.
In Gaza, the roar of rocket launches could be heard and residents reported armed clashes along the separation fence with Israel, near the southern town of Khan Yunis, and said they had seen significant movement of armed fighters.
The Palestinians in Gaza were ready to respond to Israel.
“We are scared,” Palestinian woman Amal Abu Daqqa told Reuters as she left her home in Khan Yunis.
A background of escalating violence
The tensions come amid escalating violence between Israel and Palestinian militants in the West Bank, which, along with the Gaza Strip, is part of areas where Palestinians have long sought statehood. .
It also comes at a time of political upheaval in Israel, which is deeply divided over measures to restore the judiciary, and as Washington works on a deal that would normalize relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia. will bring
Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry called for an “immediate cessation of violence between Israel and the Palestinians,” according to the state-run news agency.
The Iranian-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah said the action was a “decisive response to Israel’s continued occupation and a message to people seeking normalization with Israel.”
An adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei congratulated the Palestinian fighters for the attack.
Additional reporting by Henriette Chakar and Dean Williams in Jerusalem, Ali Suftah in Ramallah; Written by James McKenzie, Tom Perry and Michael Giorgi; Edited by William Mallard, Robert Brussell, Alex Richardson and Nick McPhee
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