Gunmen from the Palestinian group Hamas rampaged through Israeli towns on Saturday killing and capturing scores of civilians and soldiers in a surprise assault, met by Israel with massive retaliatory air strikes that killed scores in the Gaza Strip. The worst attack on Israel for decades unleashed a war that both sides vowed to escalate. At least 200 Israelis were reported killed and 1,100 wounded by gunbattles raging in more than 20 locations inside Israel. In Gaza, health officials reported more than 230 people killed and 1,610 wounded.
The Associated Press has the story:
Hamas attack: ‘Sea of bodies’ in Israel, Scores Dead in Gaza
Newslooks- JERUSALEM (AP)
Gunmen from the Palestinian group Hamas rampaged through Israeli towns on Saturday killing and capturing scores of civilians and soldiers in a surprise assault, met by Israel with massive retaliatory air strikes that killed scores in the Gaza Strip.
The worst attack on Israel for decades unleashed a war that both sides vowed to escalate. At least 200 Israelis were reported killed and 1,100 wounded by gunbattles raging in more than 20 locations inside Israel. In Gaza, health officials reported more than 230 people killed and 1,600 wounded.
“Our enemy will pay a price the type of which it has never known,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. “We are in a war and we will win it”.
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said the assault that had begun in Gaza would spread to the West Bank and Jerusalem.
“This was the morning of defeat and humiliation upon our enemy, its soldiers and its settlers,” he said in a speech. “What happened reveals the greatness of our preparation. What happened today reveals the weakness of the enemy.”
In Sderot, in southern Israel near Gaza, bodies of Israeli civilians lay strewn across a highway, surrounded by broken glass. A woman and a man were sprawled out dead across the front seats of a car. A military vehicle drove past the bodies of another woman and a man in a pool of blood behind another car.
“I went out, I saw loads of bodies of terrorists, civilians, cars shot up. A sea of bodies, inside Sderot along the road, other places, loads of bodies,” said Shlomi from Sderot.
Terrified Israelis, barricaded into safe rooms, recounted their plight by phone on live TV.
“They just came in again, please send help,” a woman identified as Dorin told Israel’s N12 News from Nir Oz, a kibbutz near Gaza. “My husband is holding the door closed … They are firing rounds of bullets.”
Esther Borochov, who fled a dance rave party attacked by the gunmen, said she survived by playing dead in a car after the driver trying to help her escape was shot point blank.
“I couldn’t move my legs,” she told Reuters at the hospital. “Soldiers came and took us away to the bushes.”
In Gaza, black smoke and orange flames billowed into the evening sky from a high rise tower hit by an Israeli retaliatory strike. Crowds of mourners carried the bodies of freshly killed militants through the streets, wrapped in green Hamas flags.
Gaza’s dead and wounded were carried into crumbling and overcrowded hospitals with severe shortages of medical supplies and equipment. The health ministry said 232 people had been killed.
Streets were deserted apart from ambulances racing to the scenes of air strikes. Israel cut the power, plunging the city into darkness.
‘DAY OF THE GREATEST BATTLE’
By nightfall on Saturday in southern Israel, residents had yet to be given the all-clear to leave the shelters where they had hidden from the gunmen since the early hours.
“It’s not over because the (army) hasn’t said the kibbutz is clear of terrorists,” Dani Rahamim told Reuters by telephone from the shelter where he was still hiding in Nahal Oz, close to the Gaza fence. Gunfire had subsided but regular explosions could still be heard.
Hamas said it fired a volley of 150 rockets towards Tel Aviv on Saturday evening in retaliation for an Israeli air strike that took down a high rise building with more than 100 apartments.
Hamas deputy chief Saleh al-Arouri told Al Jazeera that the group was holding a big number of Israeli captives, including senior officials. He said Hamas had enough captives to make Israel free all Palestinians in its jails.
The Israeli military confirmed Israelis were being held in Gaza. A military spokesman said Israel could mobilize up to hundreds of thousands of reservists and was also prepared for war on its northern front against Lebanon’s Hezbollah group.
Hamas, which advocates Israel’s destruction, said the attack was driven by what it said were Israel’s escalated attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank, Jerusalem and against Palestinians in Israeli prisons.
“This is the day of the greatest battle to end the last occupation on earth,” Hamas military commander Mohammad Deif said, announcing the start of the operation in a broadcast on Hamas media and calling on Palestinians everywhere to fight.
Hamas has since fought four wars against Israel since seizing control of Gaza in 2007. But the scenes of violence inside Israel itself were unlike anything seen since the suicide bombings of the Palestinian Intifada uprising two decades ago.
That Israel was caught completely off guard was lamented as one of the worst intelligence failures in its history, a shock to a nation that boasts of its intensive infiltration and monitoring of militants.
In Gaza, a narrow strip where 2.3 million Palestinians have lived under an Israeli blockade for 16 years, residents rushed to buy supplies in anticipation of days of war ahead. Some evacuated their homes and headed for shelters.
Scores of Palestinians were killed and hundreds wounded in clashes at the border into Israel, where fighters captured the crossing point and tore down fences. Some of those dead were civilians, among crowds that attempted to cross into Israel through the damaged gates.
“We are afraid,” Palestinian woman, Amal Abu Daqqa, told Reuters as she left her house in Khan Younis.
The militant Hamas rulers of the Gaza Strip have carried out an unprecedented, multifront attack on Israel, firing thousands of rockets as dozens of Hamas fighters infiltrated the heavily fortified border in several locations and catching the country off-guard on a major holiday.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared Israel was “at war” and called for a mass mobilization of army reserves. The invasion revived memories of the 1973 war practically 50 years to the day.
JEWISH FEDERATION ANNOUNCES FUND TO HELP ISRAEL
The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington announced the opening of an Israel Crisis Fund, saying it was ready to help meet the urgent needs of Israelis after “the largest terrorist attack on Israel since the Yom Kippur War.”
Gil Preuss, the federation’s chief executive officer, said in a statement that it had a responsibility to mobilize the Jewish community across the political spectrum to stand against the ongoing “deluge of terror” in Israel.
“At the holy time of Shabbat, Shemini Atzeret, and Simchat Torah, while Jews were immersed in celebration and spiritual contemplation, dozens of terrorist gunmen infiltrated communities near the Gaza border and Hamas launched a deluge of thousands of rockets at Israel cities,” he said.
“This is a terrifying moment for our family in Israel,” Preuss added, “and we fear the horror will be quite prolonged.”
Israeli rescue service Zaka said at least 200 Israelis were killed, making it the deadliest attack against Israel in decades. An equal number of Palestinians were also killed, officials in Gaza said, amid Israel’s response.
NYC, LOS ANGELES MAYORS, RABBIS CONDEMN HAMAS ATTACK
In New York City, a small squad of city police officers gathered outside Temple Emanu-El on Fifth Avenue during Saturday worship services.
Inside the synagogue, which has one of the city’s largest Jewish congregations, Rabbi Joshua M. Davidson began services by acknowledging, but not specifically mentioning, the attacks.
“In moments of fear, in moments of concern,” he said, “we know we draw strength from our being together.”
Later, he would put out a statement condemning the violence, noting how the surprise attack on Saturday by Hamas from Gaza into southern Israel was executed “in a fashion eerily reminiscent of the Yom Kippur War 50 years and one day ago.”
In Los Angeles, Rabbi Nolan Lebovitz urged congregants at Valley Beth Shalom during Saturday services to call their elected representatives to urge support for Israel, especially in the coming days as the country responds to the attack.
The mayors of their respective cities, New York Mayor Eric Adams and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, also condemned Saturday’s attack by Hamas. Those cities have the largest Jewish populations outside of Israel.
RESCUE SERVICE SAYS MORE THAN 200 ISRAELIS KILLED
An Israeli rescue service says the attack by Hamas in southern Israel has left at least 200 people dead.
Rescue Service Zaka says an additional 1,100 people were wounded in the attack Saturday that took Israel by surprise.
Hamas militants fired thousands of rockets and sent dozens of fighters into Israeli towns near the Gaza Strip in an unprecedented surprise early morning attack during a major Jewish holiday on Saturday.
It was the deadliest attack against Israel in decades.
At least 198 people in the Gaza Strip were killed and at least 1,610 wounded amid Israel’s retaliation.
UN CHIEF CONDEMNS HAMAS ATTACKS AGAINST ISRAEL
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the Hamas attacks “in the strongest terms,” urged maximum restraint and stressed that violence can’t solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Through his spokesman Stephane Dujarric, Guterres reiterated that “only through negotiation leading to a two-state solution can peace be achieved.”
The secretary-general said that “civilians must be respected and protected” at all times as required under international law, according to Dujarric.
The U.N. Security Council scheduled a closed emergency meeting on the Hamas attacks at 3 p.m. EDT on Sunday at the request of Malta and the United Arab Emirates, the Arab representative on the council.
Hamas militants fired thousands of rockets and sent dozens of fighters into Israeli towns near the Gaza Strip in an unprecedented surprise early morning attack during a major Jewish holiday on Saturday.
Israel said it is now at war with Hamas and launched airstrikes in Gaza.
ISRAELI OPPOSITION LEADER PROPOSES UNITY GOVERNMENT
Israel’s opposition leader says he has proposed forming an emergency government with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
In a statement, Yair Lapid said he had met Saturday with Netanyahu and suggested the prime minister replace his far-right coalition with a broad unity government of centrist parties.
He said Netanyahu knows he “can’t manage a war” with his current partners. “Israel needs to bed led by a professional, experienced and responsible government,” he said.
He said such a coalition would send a message to Israel’s enemies that the country is united against its enemies.
Hamas militants fired thousands of rockets and sent dozens of fighters into Israeli towns near the Gaza Strip in an unprecedented surprise early morning attack during a major Jewish holiday Saturday.
Israel said it is now at war with Hamas and launched airstrikes in Gaza.
HAMAS SAYS IT CAPTURED DOZENS OF ISRAELI SOLDIERS
The Hamas militant group says it is holding “dozens” of Israeli soldiers captive in the Gaza Strip.
A spokesman for the group’s military wing said the soldiers — including some officers — were captured during a surprise infiltration into southern Israel on Saturday.
Abu Obedia says the captives were being held in “safe places” and militant tunnels.
Hamas militants fired thousands of rockets and sent dozens of fighters into Israeli towns near the Gaza Strip in an unprecedented surprise early morning attack during a major Jewish holiday Saturday.
Israel said it is now at war with Hamas and launched airstrikes in Gaza.
Separately, the U.N. Security Council scheduled a closed emergency meeting on the Hamas attacks at 3 pm EDT on Sunday at the request of Malta and the United Arab Emirates, the Arab representative on the council.
NEW YORK MAYOR CONDEMNS HAMAS ATTACK
New York Mayor Eric Adams, whose city is home to the largest Jewish population outside Israel, called the attack a “cowardly action by a terrorist organization.”
The mayor said city authorities are monitoring the situation for any possible threats.
“While there is no credible threat to New York City at this time, our administration is in touch with Jewish leaders across the five boroughs, and we have directed the NYPD to deploy additional resources to Jewish communities and houses of worship citywide to ensure that our communities have the resources they need to make sure everyone feels safe,” he said in a statement.
“We extend our sincerest condolences for all the innocent lives lost in these attacks, and hope that not another family has to experience the pain of losing a loved one.”
FIGHTING IN 22 LOCATIONS IN SOUTHERN ISRAEL
An Israeli army spokesman says fighting is continuing in 22 locations in southern Israel some 12 hours after Hamas militants launched a surprise attack from the Gaza Strip.
Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari also said that Israel was striking targets in Gaza from the air and that ground operations were imminent.
Hagari confirmed ongoing hostage situations in the towns of Ofakim and Beeri. Earlier, both the Israeli military and Hamas confirmed that some Israelis had been captured and taken hostage.
Hamas militants fired thousands of rockets and sent dozens of fighters into Israeli towns near the Gaza on Saturday, the day of a major Jewish holiday.
BIDEN CONDEMNS ATTACK BY HAMAS AGAINST ISRAEL
President Joe Biden has condemning the “appalling assault against Israel by Hamas terrorists from Gaza” and says he’s spoken with Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Biden says in a statement released by the White House that he told the Israeli leader that “we stand ready to offer all appropriate means of support” to the Israeli government and the Israeli people.
Biden says that the Jewish state “has a right to defend itself and its people. The United States warns against any other party hostile to Israel seeking advantage in this situation.”
The president also says his administration’s support for Israel’s security is “rock solid and unwavering.”
Other Western leaders condemned the Hamas attack and expressed support for Israel.
The head of the European Union’s executive commission, Ursula von der Leyen, wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Saturday that the attack “is terrorism in its most despicable form.” She said that “Israel has the right to defend itself against such heinous attacks.”
The Israeli flag was raised at the Austrian chancellor’s office and Foreign Ministry in a gesture of solidarity, and Chancellor Karl Nehammer said in a post on X on Saturday: “We stand with Israel in the fight against terrorism. Our thoughts are with the victims and their families.”
UN PEACEKEEPERS CLOSELY MONITORING LEBANON-ISRAEL BORDER
The U.N. peacekeeping force deployed along the Lebanon-Israel border says it is closely monitoring the situation in Israel.
In a statement, the force said that peacekeepers are present along the border line to maintain stability and help avoid escalation.
“We have also adapted and enhanced our presence throughout our area of operations, including counter rocket-launching operations,” said the force known as UNIFIL.
It has been months since rockets were fired from Lebanon into northern Israel. The border area has been relatively calm since a monthlong war between Israel and Hezbollah ended in August 2006.
UNIFIL said its leader is in contact with all sides since the violence began in southern Israel “to ensure effective coordination and avoid misunderstandings.”
The force said its primary goal is to preserve stability along the Blue Line and avoid any escalation “that could have disastrous consequences for people living in the area.”I
ISRAELI SOLDIERS, CIVILIANS CAPTURED AS HOSTAGES
The Israeli military has confirmed that Hamas militants are holding Israeli civilians and soldiers hostage in Gaza. The military did not say how many hostages were seized, but their capture marks a major escalation in the fighting.
The military confirmed Hamas claims that its fighters had kidnapped a number of Israelis after infiltrating Israel’s highly fortified separation fence and storming into Israeli communities in the country’s south.
The army did not offer further details Saturday. Social media has been filled with videos showing Hamas fighters dragging lifeless Israeli soldiers on the ground and parading captured civilians through the streets of Gaza.
