JERUSALEM/GAZA, Oct 7 (Reuters) – Palestinian Islamist group Hamas launched the most important attack on Israel in years on Saturday, killing dozens of individuals and taking hostages in a surprise assault that mixed gunmen crossing into Israel with a barrage of rockets fired from the Gaza Strip.
Israel stated the Iran-backed group had declared conflict as its military confirmed preventing with militants in a number of Israeli cities and navy bases close to Gaza, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to retaliate.
“Our enemy will pay a price the type of which it has never known,” he stated. “We are in a war and we will win it”.
Israel’s N12 News reported that at the least 100 Israelis had been killed. A Reuters photographer noticed a number of our bodies mendacity in streets of the southern city of Sderot.
The Israeli navy stated it had responded with air strikes into Gaza, the place witnesses reported listening to heavy explosions and a number of useless and wounded being carried into hospitals. The Israeli navy stated navy forces killed dozens of Palestinian militants attempting to infiltrate Israel by sea.
Hamas deputy chief Saleh al-Arouri informed Al Jazeera that the group was holding a giant variety of Israeli captives, together with senior officers. He stated Hamas had sufficient captives to make Israel free all Palestinians in its jails.
The navy confirmed Israelis had been being held captive in Gaza and troopers have been killed, in line with N12 and Reshet 13 information retailers.
Gaza well being officers stated 198 Palestinians had been killed in air strikes as bombardments hit deep into Gaza City, sending clouds of black smoke spiralling into the sky.
Hamas stated the attack was pushed by what it stated had been Israel’s escalated assaults on Palestinians within the West Bank, Jerusalem and in opposition to Palestinians in Israeli prisons.
“This is the day of the greatest battle to end the last occupation on earth,” Hamas navy commander Mohammad Deif stated, saying the beginning of the operation in a broadcast on Hamas media and calling on Palestinians all over the place to combat.
Hamas advocates Israel’s destruction.
GUNBATTLES IN ISRAELI TOWNS
The attack marked an unprecedented infiltration into Israel by an unknown variety of Hamas gunmen crossing from the Gaza Strip, and the heaviest blow for Israel within the battle with Palestinians for the reason that suicide bombings of the Second Intifada some twenty years in the past.
Israel and Hamas fought a 10-day conflict in 2021.
The bloodshed got here a day after Israel marked the 50th anniversary of the 1973 conflict that introduced the nation to the verge of catastrophic defeat in a surprise attack by Syria and Egypt.
The militant Islamic Jihad group stated it had joined the assaults and was holding a number of Israeli troopers captive. Hamas footage on its Telegram account confirmed its fighters pulling Israeli troopers out of a tank.
Israeli media reported gunbattles between bands of Palestinian fighters and safety forces in cities in southern Israel. Israel’s police chief stated there have been “21 active scenes” in southern Israel.
In Gaza, folks rushed to purchase provides in anticipation of days of battle forward. Some evacuated their properties and headed for shelters.
U.N. Middle East peace envoy Tor Wennesland condemned the assaults on Israel, warning in a press release: “This is a dangerous precipice, and I appeal to all to pull back from the brink.”
The violence additionally drew criticism from Washington and different Western capitals.
“The United States unequivocally condemns the unprovoked attacks by Hamas terrorists against Israeli civilians. There is never any justification for terrorism,” stated White House National Security Council Spokesperson Adrienne Watson.
‘PLEASE SEND HELP’
Speaking to Israel N12 News by telephone from Nir Oz, a kibbutz close to Gaza, a lady recognized as Dorin stated militants had infiltrated her home and tried to open the bomb shelter the place she was hiding.
“They just came in again, please send help,” she stated. “There are a lot of homes harmed … My husband is holding the door closed … They are firing rounds of bullets.”
Israeli Defence Minister Gallant stated “troops are fighting against the enemy at every location” and authorised the call-up of reservists.
Footage circulating on social media appeared to indicate clashes in metropolis streets as effectively as gunmen in jeeps roaming the countryside.
“We were told there are terrorists inside the kibbutz, we can hear gunfire,” a younger girl named Dvir, from Beeri Kibbutz, informed Israeli Army Radio from her bomb shelter.
Hamas media displayed movies of what it stated had been our bodies of Israeli troopers introduced into Gaza by fighters, and Palestinian gunmen inside Israeli properties and touring an Israeli city in jeeps reportedly been pushed into Israel by the attackers.
Reuters was not instantly in a position to confirm the footage.
In Gaza, the roar of rocket launches might be heard and residents reported armed clashes alongside the separation fence with Israel, close to the southern city of Khan Younis, and stated they’d seen vital motion of armed fighters.
Palestinians in Gaza had been bracing for Israel’s response.
“We are afraid,” Palestinian girl, Amal Abu Daqqa, informed Reuters as she left her home in Khan Younis.
BACKDROP OF SURGING VIOLENCE
The escalation comes in opposition to a backdrop of surging violence between Israel and Palestinian militants within the West Bank, which along with the Gaza Strip is a part of the territories the place Palestinians have lengthy sought to ascertain a state.
It additionally comes at a time of political upheaval in Israel, which has been riven by deep divisions over strikes to overtake the judiciary, and as Washington works to strike a deal that might normalise ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia’s international ministry known as for an “immediate cessation of violence between Israeli and the Palestinians”, the state information company reported.
The Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah stated the operation was a “decisive response to Israel’s continued occupation and a message to those seeking normalisation with Israel”.
An adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei congratulated Palestinian fighters for the attack.
Additional reporting by Henriette Chacar and Dan Williams in Jerusalem, Ali Sawafta in Ramallah; writing by James Mackenzie, Tom Perry and Michael Georgy; Editing by William Mallard, Robert Birsel, Alex Richardson and Nick Macfie
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.