PUBLISHED OCTOBER 8, 2023
Tel Aviv — Israeli soldiers continued battling Hamas militants in the streets of southern Israel Sunday, while in the north of the country they exchanged fire with Hezbollah militants launching rockets from Lebanon. Some Israeli communities along the Lebanon border were urged to evacuate.
At least 350 Israelis have been killed and 1,800 wounded since Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israel from Gaza early Saturday morning, with many Israelis, both civilians and security forces, reportedly taken hostage.
It was the deadliest day in decades in the long-running Israel-Palestinian conflict. More than 300 Palestinians have been killed in retaliatory Israeli airstrikes on Gaza, Palestinian health officials said Sunday.
“The people of Israel are under attack, orchestrated by a terrorist organization, Hamas,” President Biden said Saturday. “I want to say to them and to the world, and to terrorists everywhere, that the United States stands with Israel.”
“We’ll make sure that they have the help their citizens need, and they can continue to defend themselves,” Mr. Biden added.
Other U.S. politicians were quick to condemn the Hamas assault and pledge support for Israel.
Who attacked Israel?
Early Saturday morning, as Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip launched thousands of missiles from the small, blockaded Palestinian territory, dozens more broke through the heavily fortified border fence and crossed into Israeli communities on motorcycles, paragliders and pickup trucks, initiating an offensive that appeared to take Israel completely by surprise.
Hamas sent fighters storming into an estimated 22 separate locations in southern Israel, shooting people in the streets and abducting both civilians and Israel security forces and taking them back to Gaza.
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SOURCE: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/israel-hamas-war-netanyahu-vows-destroy-gaza-palestinian-group-death-toll-soars/
RELATED: What You Need to Know About the Israel-Hamas Violence
Israeli security forces and rescuers gather in front of a building in Tel Aviv after it was hit by a rocket fired by Palestinian militants from the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7. JACK GUEZ/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
PUBLISHED OCTOBER 7, 2023
On the morning of Oct. 7, the Palestinian militant group Hamas carried out a massive attack on Israel that was nearly unprecedented in its scale and scope. Hamas fired rockets from Gaza and infiltrated its operatives across the border, where they engaged in firefights at seven different locations in southern Israel, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). At least 250 Israelis have been killed, and that number is expected to rise, with over 1,400 more wounded, including at least 18 injured critically and 267 in serious condition. Hamas has also reportedly taken dozens of Israelis hostage, releasing video to support its claims.
Initial information suggests that the attack has no precedent in recent Israeli history. The IDF said approximately 2,200 rockets were launched in the initial barrages, making it the largest rocket attack against Israel since Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007. The number of rockets launched was an order of magnitude larger than the attacks at the beginning of the 2014 and 2021 crises. Hamas also appears to have been quite innovative, using paragliders among other means to enter Israel by surprise. The infiltration is particularly devastating for Israel due to the lives lost and the hostages taken.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared, “We are at war,” and launched Operation Iron Swords, conducting airstrikes in Gaza and calling up reservists. Al Jazeera reports that the Israeli response has already claimed 232 lives in Gaza, with many more deaths sure to come.
The situation is chaotic, and the fighting is ongoing—the ultimate numbers of dead, wounded, and hostages may be far greater than initial reports. Undoubtedly, early information is incomplete, exaggerated in some areas and understated in others, and in some cases plain wrong. But several observations stand out.
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SOURCE: https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/10/07/hamas-attack-israel-declares-war-gaza-why-explained/
RELATED: Israel attacked by Hamas live updates: Israeli forces clash with Hamas gunmen after surprise attack leaves over 500 dead
PUBLISHED OCTOBER 8, 2023
Most of the world reacted with outrage to the deadly surprise attack on Israel by the Islamist militant group Hamas on Saturday, as Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu declared that the country was at war.
Terrifying scenes have begun to emerge from the conflict, with one video – which has been verified by CNN – showing a woman being shoved into the backseat of a Jeep by Hamas militants with her hands zip-tied and arms bleeding.
Scores of Israelis have been injured in the fighting and over 250 were killed.
The attack on Israel was timed to a major celebratory Jewish holiday, Sichat Torah, and came on the 50th anniversary of the 1973 War in which Arab states bombed the country on the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur.
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SOURCE: https://nypost.com/2023/10/07/israeli-attacked-by-hamas-live-updates/
RELATED: Israel-Gaza latest: Netanyahu vows to turn parts of Gaza ‘into rubble’
PUBLISHED October 8, 2023
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