by Sima Ella
A barrage of 3,000 rockets slammed into Israel Saturday morning as Hamas terrorists invaded the country by land, air, and sea and took over southern Israeli communities and military bases. Many hostages, including numerous women and children, were taken to Gaza.
According to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Hamas controlled seven communities and municipalities for hours.
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Mohammed Deif, the military commander of Hamas in Gaza, issued a statement announcing the start of a new operation to liberate Jerusalem’s sensitive al-Aqsa mosque compound, which has seen increased Jewish visitors in recent weeks due to the high holidays. He stated this is just the beginning of Hamas’ renewed endeavors against Israel.
“We warned the enemy not to continue their aggression against the al-Aqsa mosque … The age of the enemy’s aggression without a response is over. I call on Palestinians everywhere in the West Bank and within the Green Line [Israeli territory] to launch an attack without restraint. Go to all the streets. I call on Muslims everywhere to launch an attack,” Deif said.
The attacks appear to have caught the Israeli security services by surprise. Several IDF units, including special ones, have been dispatched to the Gaza periphery and are currently active in different combat zones to safeguard the inhabitants of the southern area. According to an IDF representative, numerous IDF fighter planes carried out airstrikes on 17 military facilities and four operational hubs owned by Hamas throughout the Gaza Strip.
Later in the day, when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared in a video statement, “We are at war, not in operation or rounds, but at war,” the IDF declared the opposite on an “operation” called ‘Iron Swords.’ According to Magen David Adom, some 22 people were already dead at that point.
200 Israelis have been confirmed dead so far and over 1,100 injured, Dozens of them are in critical condition.
The Gaza Health Ministry has reported that 198 people have been killed and 1,610 injured in IDF strikes on the Gaza Strip.
Following a conversation between President Biden and Netanyahu, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin confirmed in a statement that the United States would assist Israel in obtaining necessary defense resources. “Over the coming days the Department of Defense will work to ensure that Israel has what it needs to defend itself and protect civilians from indiscriminate violence and terrorism,” Austin said.
The European Union’s head of foreign affairs, Josep Borrell, said in a Tweet on X, “We follow with anguish the news coming from Israel. We unequivocally condemn the attacks by Hamas. This horrific violence must stop immediately. Terrorism and violence solve nothing. The EU expresses its solidarity with Israel in these difficult moments.”
