The Palestinian group launched a surprise offensive early Saturday morning that included rocket fire and the infiltration of armed terrorists, who went on to massacre civilians. The attack caught Israeli forces off guard
Israel was taken by surprise on Saturday (07/10) by an unprecedented air, sea and land attack launched by the Palestinian group Hamas, which combined the infiltration of armed terrorists into Israeli territory, rocket launches and the taking of dozens of hostages. At the beginning of Saturday night, the Israelis counted hundreds of dead and more than 2,000 wounded – figures that are still provisional. Terrorists have massacred civilians and even taken control of Israeli communities near the border of the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian enclave controlled by Hamas.
Saturday’s attack, during the Jewish festival of Simchat Torah, took place 50 years and one day after the Yom Kippur War, considered the last major episode that threatened Israel’s existence. On that occasion, Egyptian and Syrian forces launched an offensive during the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, in an effort to recover territory that Israel had taken during the Six Day War, fought in 1967.
This Saturday’s attack marks the most ambitious offensive ever launched by a Palestinian group. Not even the bloody Second Intifada in the early 2000s, which left more than 1,000 Israelis dead in four years, was the scene of this kind of mass incursion into Israeli territory.
“We are at war and we will win,” said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a statement in the midst of the attack. The attack also drew widespread condemnation from the international community, but was welcomed by Hamas supporters such as Iran.
The leader of Hamas’ military arm, Mohammed Deif, said that the offensive, dubbed “Operation Al-Aqsa Storm”, was a response to the 16-year blockade of Gaza, Israeli attacks on West Bank cities last year, violence at Al Aqsa – Jerusalem’s holy site, also called the Temple Mount – increased attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians and the expansion of Israeli settlements in Palestinian territory.
The attack comes at a delicate time in Israel’s history, as it suffers heavy internal divisions over Netanyahu’s proposal to weaken the judiciary. Mass protests against the plan have brought hundreds of thousands of Israeli demonstrators onto the streets in recent months and caused hundreds of military reservists to avoid voluntary service.
The beginning: barrage of rockets
At around 6:30 a.m. (1:30 a.m. Brasília time), Hamas fired a huge barrage of rockets from the Gaza Strip, trying to hit Israeli cities. Sirens were heard as far away as Tel Aviv and Beersheba.
Hamas said it fired 5,000 rockets in a first offensive. Israel’s military said that 2,500 rockets were fired.
Smoke billowed over Israeli residential areas. At least one woman was killed by the rockets.
“We announce the start of Operation Al-Aqsa Storm, and we announce that the first attack, which targeted enemy positions, airports and military fortifications, exceeded 5,000 rockets and projectiles,” said Mohammed Deif, head of the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the military arm of Hamas.
Infiltration of terrorists into Israeli territory
The rocket barrage provided cover for an unprecedented infiltration of Hamas gunmen through at least 29 points on the border with the Gaza Strip. At 7.40am (2.40am Brasilia time), Israel’s security forces claimed that Palestinian gunmen had invaded Israel.
Most of the terrorists crossed through gaps in the land security barriers separating the Gaza Strip and Israel. At least one terrorist was filmed crossing the border using a paraglider, while a motorboat full of terrorists was filmed heading towards Zikim, an Israeli coastal town.
Videos released by Hamas showed terrorists breaking through security fences. The dim early-morning light suggests that the action took place in parallel with the launching of the rocket barrage.
One video showed at least six motorcycles carrying fighters going through a hole in a metal security barrier. In another episode, a backhoe was used to break down the fence.
Attacks on military bases
The Israeli military reported at 10 a.m. local time that Palestinian terrorists had penetrated at least three military installations around the border – the Erez border crossing, the Zikim base and the Gaza division headquarters in Reim. Videos and photographs also showed an Israeli tank destroyed and surrounded by Palestinians.
Videos released by Hamas showed terrorists running towards a burning building near a high concrete wall with a watchtower and fighters apparently storming part of an Israeli military installation and firing from behind a wall.
Later, several captured Israeli military vehicles were photographed being taken to the Gaza Strip, where they were shown to the local population.
Seizure of Israeli communities
Terrorists also invaded the Israeli border town of Sderot. Raids were also reported in the border community of Be’eri and in the town of Ofakim, 30 kilometers east of Gaza.
A video showed several armed men in the back of a white pick-up truck driving through Sderot.
The presence of the terrorists led many residents of towns in southern Israel to barricade themselves inside their homes.
By mid-morning, Israel’s police chief Yaacov Shabtai said that forces were confronting armed men in 21 locations. At 1:30 p.m., the military said troops were still acting to expel the terrorists from the invaded communities.
Civilian massacres
Hundreds of Israelis were massacred by Hamas men, who fired indiscriminately at civilians.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry said that Hamas gunmen went from house to house killing civilians. In another episode, terrorists on motorcycles shot up a rave full of young people taking place in the desert. In another, they killed vehicle occupants on a highway. At least nine people were shot dead at a bus stop in the city of Sderot. Another video shows terrorists parading the corpse of a naked woman in the cargo compartment of a vehicle.
Hundreds of Israelis sought medical attention in hospitals across the country, many in critical condition.
Speaking to Israel N12 News by phone from Nir Oz, a kibbutz near Gaza, a woman identified as Dorin said that terrorists broke into her house and tried to open the door of the air-raid shelter where she was hiding. “They’ve just come in again, please send help,” she said. “There are a lot of damaged houses… My husband is holding the door shut… They’re shooting,” she said.
“I went out and saw many bodies of terrorists, civilians, cars shot up. A sea of bodies, inside Sderot, along the road, in other places, piles of bodies,” said a Sderot resident.
Esther Borochov, who fled a party attacked by the gunmen, said she survived by playing dead in a car after the driver who tried to help her escape was shot at point-blank range. “I couldn’t move my legs,” she said. “The soldiers came and took us into the bushes.”
Attacks on military bases
The Israeli military reported at 10 a.m. local time that Palestinian terrorists had penetrated at least three military installations around the border – the Erez border crossing, the Zikim base and the Gaza division headquarters in Reim. Videos and photographs also showed an Israeli tank destroyed and surrounded by Palestinians.
Videos released by Hamas showed terrorists running towards a burning building near a high concrete wall with a watchtower and fighters apparently storming part of an Israeli military installation and firing from behind a wall.
Later, several captured Israeli military vehicles were photographed being taken to the Gaza Strip, where they were shown to the local population.
Seizure of Israeli communities
Terrorists also invaded the Israeli border town of Sderot. Raids were also reported in the border community of Be’eri and in the town of Ofakim, 30 kilometers east of Gaza.
A video showed several armed men in the back of a white pick-up truck driving through Sderot.
The presence of the terrorists led many residents of towns in southern Israel to barricade themselves inside their homes.
By mid-morning, Israel’s police chief Yaacov Shabtai said that forces were confronting armed men in 21 locations. At 1:30 p.m., the military said troops were still acting to expel the terrorists from the invaded communities.
Hostage-taking
Alongside the shooting attacks on civilians, Hamas men also took dozens of hostages. Videos showed armed men capturing Israeli civilians and military personnel, including women, who were taken to the Gaza Strip.
One video showed terrorists dragging at least two Israeli soldiers from a military vehicle. Photos from the Associated Press showed a kidnapped elderly Israeli woman being taken to Gaza in a golf cart by Hamas gunmen and another woman squeezed between two fighters on a motorcycle.
Journalists saw four people taken from the Kfar Azza kibbutz, including two women. In Gaza, a black jeep stopped and, when the back door opened, a young Israeli woman staggered out, bleeding from the head and with her hands tied behind her back. A man waving a gun in the air grabbed her by the hair and pushed her into the back seat of the vehicle. Israeli TV reported that workers from Thailand and the Philippines were also taken.
Israel confirmed the hostage-taking. “There are hostages and prisoners of war that Hamas has taken. There are also deaths among Israel Defense Forces soldiers. We don’t have an exact number yet – we are at war,” said Israel Defense Forces spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari.
The total number of captives is unknown.
The European Union’s chief diplomat condemned the hostage-taking, “The news of civilians taken hostage in their homes or in Gaza is appalling. This is against international law. The hostages must be released immediately,” said Josep Borrell.
Palestinian groups have previously used hostages as bargaining chips to demand the release of militants held by Israel. In 2011, Israel agreed to release more than a thousand Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who was held for five years by different militant groups in the Gaza Strip.
Israeli retaliation
At 9.45am (local time), Israel began bombing targets in the Gaza Strip. Explosions were heard in central Gaza. At 10am, Israel’s military spokesman confirmed that the country’s air force was carrying out attacks. Gaza health services said that Israeli counter-attacks had left more than 200 Palestinians dead.
In reaction, tens of thousands of Israeli reservists were called up on an emergency basis. Several divisions began preparing for a possible ground invasion of Gaza. In the late afternoon, Israel cut off the electricity supply to Gaza and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned the Palestinian population of the enclave to leave Hamas-held areas, promising to “avenge” the attack on his country.
“Hamas has started a cruel and evil war. We will hit them until the end and we will resolutely avenge this black day for Israel and its people,” Netanyahu said in a televised speech. “Israel will reach all the places where Hamas is hiding,” Netanyahu said. “I say to the residents of Gaza: get out of there now, because we will act everywhere and with all our might.”
Fighting continued into the night
After more than 15 hours of fighting and Hamas incursions, the Israel Defense Forces announced that they had retaken most of the Israeli communities near the Gaza border, but fighting still continued into the night in some areas of Israel. In Sderot, security forces were still hunting for a terrorist who had taken refuge inside a police station.
In the southern town of Ofakim, negotiations were underway with Hamas men holding hostages, while gunfire was exchanged in the communities of Be’eri and Re’im. In Kfar Aza, Israeli soldiers were conducting house-to-house searches for terrorists in hiding. The Israeli army indicated on Saturday night that it was still fighting in “22 places”. During the night, Hamas also fired rockets into Israeli territory again. Buildings were hit in Tel Aviv.
Iran denies involvement in Hamas attack on Israel
Iran’s mission to the UN denied on Sunday (08/10) the country’s involvement in the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel. The regime in Tehran said it “emphatically and unequivocally supports the Palestinian cause”, but rejected involvement in the attack.
Hours earlier, the American The Wall Street Journal had claimed that Tehran had helped plan the attack since August and gave the green light for it to begin at a meeting held in Beirut on Monday, October 2, citing as sources high-ranking members of Hamas and the Lebanese Shiite militia Hisbollah, which is also supported by Iran.
On Sunday, Iranian President Ebrahim Raïssi called on “Muslim governments” to also declare support for Hamas. The Iranian leader made the statement after speaking separately on the phone with the leaders of the Palestinian armed movements Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, and Islamic Jihad, Ziad al-Nakhala, whom he had received separately in June in Tehran.
Iran maintains close relations with both Palestinian movements and was one of the first countries to welcome the Hamas offensive launched on Saturday.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told NBC News that the United States has no evidence that Iran was directly involved in the attack, either in the planning or the execution. But he added that Hamas “would not be Hamas without the support it has received for many years from Iran”.
Israel in a state of declared war
Classified by the US and the European Union as terrorists, the Islamic group Hamas began a surprise attack on Israeli territory on Saturday, launching thousands of rockets and incursions by armed terrorists.
On Sunday, Hisbollah, which is supported by Iran, fired rockets and artillery at three positions in the Shebaa Farms, in northern Israel, “in solidarity” with the Palestinian people.
The Shebaa Farms, a 39-square-kilometer piece of land, have been under Israeli control since 1967. Both Syria and Lebanon claim that the farms are Lebanese.
In response to the surprise attack, Israel bombed several Hamas installations in the Gaza Strip from the air. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that Israel is at war with Hamas. The death toll on both sides of the confrontation has passed 1,100 as of Monday.