Tel Aviv: Israeli soldiers battled Hamas fighters in the streets of southern Israel on Sunday and launched retaliation strikes that levelled buildings in Gaza, while in northern Israel a brief exchange of strikes with Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group raised fears of a broader conflict.
At least 600 people have reportedly been killed in Israel — a staggering toll on a scale the country has not experienced in decades — and more than 300 have been killed in Gaza.
There was still some fighting underway more than 24 hours after an unprecedented surprise attack from Gaza, in which Hamas militants, backed by a volley of thousands of rockets, broke through Israel's security barrier and rampaged through nearby communities.
Israel Defence Forces’ Spokesperson, Daniel Hagari At least 313 people, including 20 children, have been killed and close to close to 1,800 wounded across Gaza, as per the latest reports from the besieged territory Israel pummeled with airstrikes since Saturday shortly after Hamas fighters, backed by a volley of thousands of rockets, broke through barricades around Gaza early Saturday to rampage through nearby communities.
UNRWA, the United Nations agency for Palestinians, said more than 20,000 Palestinians left Gaza's border region to head further inside the territory and take refuge in UN schools. Meanwhile, Israeli soldiers battled Hamas fighters in the streets of Israel's south on Sunday and exchanged strikes with Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group in the north, while Israel's retaliation strikes levelled buildings in Gaza. The prospect of Hezbollah joining the fighting a day after an unprecedented surprise attack from Gaza raised the chances of a broader conflict.
Dr. Vrushal T Ghoble, expert, West Asia at JNU speaks on Palestine-Israel crisis and its impact on India On Saturday, Hamas fighters took captives back into the coastal enclave, including women, children and the elderly, while Israel's retaliation strikes levelled buildings in Gaza and its prime minister said the country was at war. Israeli media, citing rescue service officials, said at least 600 people were killed, including 26 soldiers. Israeli TV news aired a stream of accounts from the relatives of captive or missing Israelis, who wailed and begged for assistance amid a fog of uncertainty surrounding the fate of their loved ones. In Gaza, residents fled homes near the border to escape Israeli strikes, fleeing deeper inside the territory after warnings in Arabic from the Israeli military.
'Our 9/11'
IDF International Spokesperson Lt. Col. Richard Hecht recorded an update message on Sunday and said, "Very hard 24 hours. Unprecedented events. We were attacked by Hamas yesterday...We have been talking about Hamas for years who they are & what they want - the annihilation of our state...They attacked us on the ground, in the air and also through the sea. They did not go for military targets, they went for civilians...The numbers are unprecedented. We are going to respond to this very severely...We are going to do whatever is needed. The style of the attack is barbaric...In a way, this is our 9/11."
3 British men dead or missing, their families say
Three British men were said to either be dead or missing after the Hamas attack on Israel. Nathanel Young, 20, was killed while serving in the Israel Defense Forces, his sister, Gaby Shalev, said on Facebook. His death was later confirmed by the Israeli Embassy in London.
British photographer Danny Darlington, who lived in Berlin, and his German girlfriend, Carolin Bohl, had not been heard from after hiding out in a bunker at kibbutz Nir Oz, according to Sam Pasquesi, who is Bohl’s brother-in-law. Pasquesi said his family learned later Sunday from a man working at the kibbutz that the bodies of the two had been identified.
Jake Marlow, 26, had been providing security at a music festival near kibbutz Re’im when he called his mother, Lisa, before dawn to say rockets were flying overhead. He texted her an hour later but that was the last she heard from him, she told Jewish News. The Israeli Embassy in London did not know if Marlowe "is taken hostage or dead or in a hospital,” a spokesperson said. The U.K. Foreign Office did not immediately return messages seeking comment on the three.
Egypt intervenes over Israeli hostages
An Egyptian official says Israel has sought help from Cairo to ensure the safety of abducted Israelis, and Egypt’s intelligence chief had contacted Hamas and the Islamic Jihad militant group to seek information.
According to the official, Palestinian leaders claimed that they don’t yet have a “full picture” of hostages, but said those who were brought to Gaza were taken to “secure locations” across the territory. “It’s clear that they have a big number — several dozens,” said the official, who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to brief media. Egyptian intelligence also spoke with both sides about a potential cease-fire, he added, but Israel was not open to a truce “at this stage.”
Hundreds of Hamas 'terrorists' killed, says Israel
Israeli Rear Adm Daniel Hagari told reporters that hundreds of 'terrorists' have been killed and dozens captured. Previous conflicts between Israel and Gaza's Hamas rulers brought widespread destruction in Gaza and days of rocket fire on Israeli towns. The situation is potentially more volatile now, with Israel's far-right government stung by the security breach and Palestinians in despair over a never-ending occupation in the West Bank and suffocating blockade of Gaza.
The flare-up on Israel's northern border also threatened to draw into the battle Hezbollah, a fierce enemy of Israel which is backed by Iran and estimated to have tens of thousands of rockets at its disposal. Hezbollah struck Israeli positions in a disputed area along the border with Syria's Golan Heights, and Israel's military responded with armed drone strikes on Hezbollah targets in a disputed area where the borders of Israel, Lebanon and Syria meet.
In an assault of startling breadth, Hamas gunmen used explosives to break through the border fence enclosing Gaza, then crossed with motorcycles, pickup trucks, paragliders and speed boats on the coast. They rolled into as many as 22 locations outside the Gaza Strip early Saturday morning, including towns and other communities as far as 15 miles (24 km) from the Gaza border, while Hamas launched thousands of rockets at Israeli cities.
Israel is waking up this morning to a terrible morning, said Lt Col Richard Hecht, an Israeli military spokesman. There are a lot of people killed... children, grandmothers, families, bodies. On Sunday, the Israeli military said its forces were fighting Hamas incursions in eight places. An Israeli military spokesperson said that two hostage situations had been resolved, but did not say whether all the hostages had been rescued alive.
Israel struck over 400 targets in Gazan
In a televised address Saturday night, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the military will use all of its strength to destroy Hamas' capabilities. All the places that Hamas hides in, operates from, we will turn them into ruins, he added. Get out of there now, he told Gaza residents, who have no way to leave the tiny, overcrowded Mediterranean territory. Gaza's 2.3 million people have endured a border blockade, enforced to varying degrees by Israel and Egypt, since Hamas militants seized control in 2007.
Israel struck 426 targets in Gaza, its military said, flattening residential buildings in giant explosions. That included a 14-story tower that held dozens of apartments as well as Hamas offices in central Gaza City. Israeli forces fired a warning just before. Among the 313 killed in Gaza were 20 children, and close to 1,800 wounded, the Palestinian Health Ministry said. UNRWA, the United Nations agency for Palestinians, said more than 20,000 Palestinians left Gaza's border region to head further inside the territory and take refuge in UN schools.
In Gaza, much of the population was thrown into darkness Saturday night as Israel cut off electricity. Netanyahu's office said in a statement that Israel would stop supplying electricity, fuel and goods to Gaza. Israeli media said at least 300 people were killed and 1,500 wounded in Saturday's attack, making it the deadliest in Israel in decades. Hamas fighters took an unknown number of civilians and soldiers captive into Gaza and a line of Israelis with missing relatives snaked outside a police station in central Israel to supply investigators with DNA samples and other means that could help identify their family members.
Hezbollah fired dozens of rockets and shells on Sunday at three Israeli positions in the disputed area and Israel's military fired back using armed drones at the Lebanese areas. Israel and Hezbollah are archenemies and have fought several wars in the past, the most recent a 34-day conflict in 2006 that left 1,200 dead in Lebanon and 160 in Israeli. Tensions have been simmering along Israel's northern border for months.
“Operation Al-Aqsa Storm” in response to 16-year blockade of Gaza
The shadowy leader of Hamas’ military wing, Mohammed Deif, said the assault, named “Operation Al-Aqsa Storm,” was in response to the 16-year blockade of Gaza, and a series of recent incidents that have brought Israeli-Palestinian tensions to a fever pitch. Over the past year, Israel's far-right government has ramped up settlement construction in the occupied West Bank, Israeli settler violence has displaced hundreds of Palestinians there, and tensions have flared around the Al-Aqsa mosque, a flashpoint Jerusalem holy site.
Deif, who does not appear in public, said in a recorded message that the attack was only the start of what he called Operation Al-Aqsa Storm, and called on Palestinians from east Jerusalem to northern Israel to join the fight. Asked by reporters how Hamas had managed to catch the army off guard, Lt Col Richard Hecht, an Israeli army spokesman, replied, That's a good question.
The comparison sharpened criticism of Netanyahu and his far-right allies, who had campaigned on more aggressive action against threats from Gaza. Political commentators lambasted the government and military over its failure to anticipate what appeared to be a Hamas attack unprecedented in its level of planning and coordination.
The abduction of Israeli civilians and soldiers also raised a particularly thorny issue for Israel, which has a history of making heavily lopsided exchanges to bring captive Israelis home. Israel is holding thousands of Palestinians in its prisons. Hecht confirmed that a substantial number of Israelis were abducted on Saturday.
A major question now was whether Israel will launch a ground assault into Gaza, a move that in the past has brought intensified casualties. Netanyahu vowed that Hamas will pay an unprecedented price. But, he warned, This war will take time. It will be difficult. Israel's military was bringing four divisions of troops as well as tanks to the Gaza border, joining 31 battalions already in the area, a spokesperson said.
Hamas said it had planned for a potentially long fight. We are prepared for all options, including all-out war, the deputy head of the Hamas political bureau, Saleh al-Arouri, told Al-Jazeera TV. We are ready to do whatever is necessary for the dignity and freedom of our people.
US President Joe Biden said from the White House that he had spoken with Netanyahu to say the United States stands with the people of Israel in the face of these terrorist assaults. Israel has the right to defend itself and its people, full stop." (With inputs from AP)
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