Police help a woman and child flee the site of a rocket attack in southern Israel. Photo: APTOPIX Israel Palestinians
Israel was at war on Saturday after Hamas terrorists killed at least 250 civilians and took dozens of hostages in the Gaza Strip in a major surprise attack that left the country reeling.
Fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas still raged in Israel. by evening, several hours after the Islamist group crossed into the south of the country and moved from house to house, shooting civilians.
That same day, more rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip toward Israel after an initial attack on 3,000 people sent crowds of Israelis into bomb shelters near the border and in Tel Aviv.
Hamas fighters dragged away dozens of Israelis civilian and military hostages, and some marched through the streets of Gaza in front of crowds of cheering Palestinians. The naked body of a woman was seen being transported in the back of a pickup truck. Video footage too graphic to publish shows men and boys spitting on her body.
At least two elderly women were also abducted and taken to the Gaza Strip.
Israel said the number of hostages taken was «significant», but did not provide specific figures. Children were among the hostages.
“We will avenge this evil day,” said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, warning Hamas not to harm “even one hair” of civilians held captive.
Scenes of horrific violence unfolded as Hamas terrorists indiscriminately killed civilians in about a dozen towns, including the major border town of Sderot. One particularly disturbing video shows gunmen firing machine guns at bodies piled up in a room, apparently to kill anyone playing dead.
By late Saturday, analysts were calling the attack Israel's «9/11» moment. said one former head of the Israeli military expressed surprise that the attack took his country by surprise.
There have been calls in Israel for a major ground invasion of the Gaza Strip in retaliation for the combined missile attack and hostage taking.
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Unconfirmed Arab media reports indicate that Hamas has taken about 50 Israeli hostages, which could complicate Israel's military response.
The stunningly brutal attack, the worst ever carried out by Hamas, could quickly escalate into a regional war. if other pro-Iranian groups such as Hezbollah join the fight in the coming days.
“As of this morning, the state of Israel has been at war,” Mr. Netanyahu said in an address to the nation. . He vowed to demand a «huge» price from Hamas, the Islamist group that has controlled the Gaza Strip since 2007.
On Saturday night, Mr Netanyahu invited opposition leaders to form a government of national unity with their coalition, while the state mounts a major armed response to the attack.
Rishi Sunak said he was shocked by the violence and backed the right Israel for self-defense. The Prime Minister was expected to tell his Israeli counterpart that Britain was ready to offer assistance at the earliest opportunity.
In the US, Joe Biden warned other hostile groups in the region not to join the attack on Israel. He was also due to speak with Mr Netanyahu on Saturday.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Sameh Shoukry, Egypt's foreign minister, to push for an immediate end to the militant offensive. . Cairo is considered a key mediator between Israel and Hamas.
Israel responded with air strikes on the Gaza Strip, which Hamas said killed at least 232 people.
Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of Hamas, said the group was on the verge of a «great victory» and threatened further violence in the West Bank.
Gunmen armed with machine guns
In southern Israel, Sophie Berzon McKee, a mother of two, told The Telegraph how she took refuge in her home on Kibbutz Beeri around 6:30 a.m. when she heard explosions outside.
«We jumped out of bed, grabbed my daughter, went into the safe room and closed the door,» Ms Berzon McKee said.
A British-Israeli family with a 10-day-old baby was also injured. Caught in a horrific attack, they spent nine hours hiding in a safe room in Nirim before being rescued by troops.
Most Hamas fighters appear to have entered Israel by breaking through border fences, although they have also carried out naval attacks on speedboats and even tried to fly in on motorized hang gliders.
It is unclear how Israel, which has one of the most advanced security services in the world, was taken by surprise by the attack on the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah.
A combined ground and air attack on the Gaza Strip may be Israel's chosen form of retaliation, perhaps modeled on the 2014 Operation Protective Edge, in which 2,300 Palestinians were killed.
Iran, Israel's arch-enemy in the region and a key supporter of Hamas, is suspected of involvement in the behind-the-scenes attack. Tensions between Israel and Iran have risen sharply in recent months over Tehran's nuclear program, which Israel views as an existential threat.
There were fears on Saturday that a second front could open on Israel's northern border with Lebanon, where the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia, which has far more powerful weapons than Hamas, is based, including long-range missiles. Hezbollah warned Israel that a ground attack on Gaza would entail a «major ground operation» by its forces.
Israeli army officials said Saturday afternoon that Lebanese militants tried to invade from the north on motorcycles but were driven off by artillery fire. The army was prepared for any further escalation but was concentrating its efforts on the Gaza Strip, the spokesman said.
UN peacekeeping forces in southern Lebanon said they had increased their presence in areas of operation near Lebanon's southern border with Israel, including » operations to counter missile launches.»
Israeli families left their homes in tears Photo: AP/Tsafrir Abaev
Donald Trump, who is running against Biden in next year's election, criticized him for allowing «American taxpayer dollars» to help fund Hamas, which he called a «disgrace.»
Isaac Herzog, President of Israel, said Saturday's attack was the moment Hamas, designated a terrorist group by the UK, EU and US, showed its «true colours».
“Today we saw the true face of Hamas, a terrorist army whose sole purpose is the cold-blooded murder of innocent men, women and children,” Mr. Herzog said. «Innocent civilians were killed and wounded, and many are still being attacked today.»
Israel's latest conflict has been described as the biggest since the 1973 Yom Kippur War, when Egyptian and Syrian troops launched a surprise attack on Israel. Jewish state.
Thousands of rockets were fired at Israel in an unprecedented bombing campaign. Photo: MOHAMMED SALEM/REUTERS
Wars between Hamas and other Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip have occurred every year since 2021, but the scale of the Hamas incursion and the number of hostages taken are unprecedented.
On Saturday evening, Turkey said it was «ready to provide all possible assistance to ensure that the events in question will not develop further.»
Saudi Arabia, which is holding talks to normalize relations that could be derailed by the outbreak of war, called for «an immediate end to the escalation between the two sides.»
< p>In an apparent rebuke of Israel, Riyadh added that it had “repeatedly warned of the danger of the situation exploding as a result of the ongoing occupation, depriving the Palestinian people of their legitimate rights and repeating systematic provocations against their holy sites.”
Hamas raids could was launched with the aim of undermining normalization negotiations, which appeared to be nearing an agreement, although the complex and multifaceted nature of the invasion suggests that it was carefully planned over a long period of time.
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