US considers stepping in as Israel death toll climbs from Hamas ‘surprise attack’
Hundreds of Israelis have died after a large-scale attack by Palestinian group Hamas as the Israeli PM vows to reduce the group to “rubble”.
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Palestinian militant group Hamas has launched a large-scale surprise attack against Israel, which they infiltrated by air, sea and land, firing thousands of rockets from Gaza and sending fighters to kill and abduct people.
Israeli media have reported at least 250 deaths and more than 1500 wounded by the Palestinian military attack.
“Hamas opened the gates of hell on the Gaza Strip, Hamas made the decision and Hamas will bear the responsibility and pay the price,” Israel’s Major General Ghasan Alyan said in a chilling warning.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared on Saturday that the country is now “at war” with Hamas.
Netanyahu said Israel is “embarking on a long and difficult war”.
He said the fighting was “forced upon us by a murderous attack by Hamas” and now Israel will focus on “destroying most of the enemy forces”.
Israel has begun its attack on Gaza “and it will continue without hesitation and without respite – until the goals are achieved.”
“We will restore security to the citizens of Israel and we will win,” Netanyahu wrote on X.
World shows support for Israel
There has been widespread international support for Israel following the deadly Hamas attack this weekend.
As well as messages of solidarity from world leaders – including Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, and US President Joe Biden – landmarks around the world have donned Israel’s flag in solidarity with the besieged country.
In New York City, home to the largest Jewish population in the world outside of Israel, the Empire State Building and World Trade Centre memorial site are among major landmarks to be lit in the national colours.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul shared images of the blue and white lit buildings to X, writing: “New York stands with Israel – today and everyday.”
New York stands with Israel — today and everyday. pic.twitter.com/hV6u25zUda
— Governor Kathy Hochul (@GovKathyHochul) October 8, 2023
The Brandenburg Gate in Berlin has also lit up in blue and white, while a number of other European buildings in Austria, Czech Republic, and Italy have shone the Israeli colours or raised the flag after the attack.
brandenburg gate, berlin right now
— ian bremmer (@ianbremmer) October 7, 2023
quite a statement from the german government pic.twitter.com/gcowENJMMT
Meanwhile, the Zat al-Imad towers in Tripoli, Libya have been lit in the Palestinian colours and supporters in Turkiye held a rally to voice their support for the Palestinian cause.
Gal Gadot:‘My heart is aching’
Israeli actress Gal Gadot wrote a lengthy Instagram post about the Hamas attack on Israel.
“Starting early morning more than 3000 rockets were fired,” she wrote.
“Hamas is holding hostages, controlling bases and settlements in Israel.
“There have been more than 1500 injured and heavy fighting is still ongoing.
“I hear their voices and they are banging on the door. I am with my two little children.
“My heart is aching.”
Israeli student screams ‘Don’t kill me’
Hamas terrorists kidnapped a Israeli student while she was attending a rave near the Gaza Strip to celebrate the end of the Jewish holiday Sukkot, distressing video released by her family shows.
Noa Argamani, 25, was enjoying the trance music festival near Kibbutz Re’im before terrorists opened fire and launched rockets into the crowd.
Argamani is seen being carted away on a Palestinian gunman’s motorcycle as she screams “Don’t kill me! No, no, no,” while her boyfriend, Avi Nathan, is manhandled by terrorists, The Daily Mail reported.
Video of the brutal kidnapping circulated throughout social media.
Nathan’s brother Moshe Or reported him as missing, later emergency teams notified him of the video of his and Argamani’s kidnapping.
“We were worried and tried to call. His phone was unavailable and so was hers,” Israel National News reported.
“I can’t imagine what’s going through her mind – screaming in panic, when some scumbags are holding her and not letting her go,” Or said.
Israeli ambassador to UN calls Hamas attack on Israel ‘our 9/11’
Israeli Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan called Hamas’ attack on Israel “unprecedented.”
During an appearance on Fox News Live Erdan called Hamas terrorists “animals”.
“Babies, women, the elderly were dragged outside of their homes, were taken hostage,” Erdan said.
“Civilians were shot and most were massacred in cold blood walking on the streets. This is something that, I mean, is truly unprecedented.”
Erdan explained that due to Israel’s small population size, the attack is equivalent to the fatality number of the September 11 attacks.
“We already suffered 250 fatalities [which is] like having here, 7500 fatalities,” Erdan said. “We already have 1500 casualties. It’s like 50,000 casualties here in the United States.”
“This is our 9/11,” he added.
“We are committed to change the equation, to shatter the old paradigm.
“These animals will pay a heavy price and they will learn that these atrocities cannot be committed again against our civilians.”
‘Failure of leadership’: PM slammed
A war of words has broken out over Australia’s response to Hamas’ attacks on Israel.
Deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley labelled Anthony Albanese’s Sunday morning response a “failure of leadership”, saying Australians deserved to know where he stood on Saturday night.
“Israel’s Prime Minister has rightly described this as an act of war. I know that everyone in Australia who feels that closeness and friendship with the state of Israel will be waking up this morning and finding some of this hard to believe,” Ms Ley told Sky News’s Sunday Agenda program.
“I also want to call out the Prime Minister. It took him until 6am this morning to actually make a public statement about this. Now you don’t get nights off as world leader and across the globe we saw an immediate reaction from world leaders about this awful, awful event. And it took until this morning for Anthony Albanese to make that statement. I think he needs to be questioned about that today.”
The PM had waited till Sunday morning to respond on social media site X.
“Australia stands with our friend Israel in this time,” Albanese wrote.
“We recognise Israel’s right to defend itself.”
He later described the attack on ABC’s Insiders program as “abhorrent” and reiterated that Israel “has a right to defend itself and it will be doing so”.
Meanwhile Coalition frontbencher Michael Sukkar took a swipe at Foreign Minister Penny Wong’s call for restraint describing it as “unbelievable”.
“Australia unequivocally condemns the attacks on Israel by Hamas including indiscriminate rocket fire on cities and civilians,” Senator Wong posted on X on Saturday night.
“We call for these attacks to stop and recognise Israel’s right to defend itself. Australia urges the exercise of restraint and protection of civilian lives.”
Mr Sukkar, the opposition’s social services spokesman, responded: “Unbelievable, restraint? Israel has every right to defend itself with whatever force is required.”
Zelensky condemns attacks
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned Hamas’ attack on Israel in a message posted on the social media platform X.
“Terrorists humiliate women and men, detain even the elderly, and show no mercy,” the Ukrainian president wrote.
Today, the entire world saw horrifying videos from Israel. Terrorists humiliate women and men, detain even the elderly, and show no mercy.
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир ЗеленÑький (@ZelenskyyUa) October 7, 2023
In the face of such a terrorist strike, everyone who values life must stand in solidarity.
We in Ukraine have a special feeling about… pic.twitter.com/AnBgVO2X0J
Zelensky went on to say that Ukrainians have a “special feeling about what has happened.”
“Anyone who causes terror and death anywhere on the planet must be held accountable,” Zelensky demanded.
The Ukrainian president concluded his message by saying Israel “has the full right to defend itself against terror. As any other state.”
Saudi-Israel deal on ice
With its surprise attack against Israel, Hamas has violently shifted the world’s eyes back to the Palestinians and dealt a severe blow to momentum to secure a landmark US-brokered deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
#Statement | The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is closely following the developments of the unprecedented situation between a number of Palestinian factions and the Israeli occupation forces, which has resulted in a high level of violence on several fronts there. pic.twitter.com/KEFsNB5ZVb
— Foreign Ministry 🇸🇦 (@KSAmofaEN) October 7, 2023
Just weeks earlier Netanyahu had brushed aside the Palestinian issue during a speech at the United Nations and said normalization in 2020 with three other Arab nations in the so-called Abraham Accords had “heralded a new age of peace.”
Netanyahu also said Israel was on the cusp of a bigger prize -- recognition by Saudi Arabia, guardian of Islam’s two holiest sites.
President Joe Biden, eager before next year’s US election for a major diplomatic win, had pushed for a deal, and more talks were expected in coming weeks -- despite skepticism from some of Biden’s fellow Democrats about the proposed security guarantees to the conservative kingdom, whose rights record has long been under scrutiny.
“It was always a tough hill to climb, and that hill just got a lot steeper,” said Brian Katulis, vice president of policy at the Middle East Institute in Washington.
The violence throws a spotlight on disputes between Israel and the Palestinians and “makes it harder to sweep those complicated issues under the rug the way the 2020 Abraham Accords did.”
US considers military aid, says ‘no doubt Hamas is funded by Iran’
Talks with Israel on providing US military assistance are “very much underway,” a White House senior official has confirmed.
The official indicated an announcement by Washington was possible, but noted that the situation in Congress - where the lower chamber currently lacks a leader - will complicate the matter.
There is “probably is a role for Congress here and without speaker of the House, that is a unique situation we’re going to have to work through,” he said.
The White House official also stated it was “too early to say” whether Israel’s arch foe Iran was “directly involved” in the large-scale attack but stated there is “no doubt Hamas is funded, equipped and armed by Iran and others.”
Hamas leader startling claim
A senior Hamas leader said that the Islamist militant group captured enough Israeli soldiers and civilian hostages during a shock attack to free all Palestinian prisoners in the country’s jails, according to the New York Post.
“We managed to kill and capture many Israeli soldiers. The fighting is still on,” said Saleh al-Arouri, deputy chief of Hamas’s political bureau, in an interview with Al Jazeera.
He claimed that senior officers were among those captured and killed during the early morning attack, the worst in 50 years.
Al-Arouri refused to provide the total number of hostages captured during the attack, but Izzedine al Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, claimed to have captured “dozens” of Israelis in a Telegram post, CNN reported.
“Our detainees in [Israeli] prisons, their freedom is looming large,” Al-Arouri said. “What we have in our hands will release all our prisoners. The longer fighting continues, the higher the number of prisoners will become.”
According to the latest figures by Addameer, a prisoners’ rights non-profit, nearly 5200 Palestinians are in Israeli jails, including 33 women and 170 minors.
The Israeli Defense Forces confirmed that a “substantial” number of soldiers and civilians were taken hostage, but did not release specifics.
It did say that “dozens” of hostages were being held by Hamas at a kibbutz in the southern part of the country while others had been taken into Gaza, the Jerusalem Post reported.
New Zealand Foreign Minister refuses to condemn attacks
New Zealand’s Foreign Minister has refused to condemn the Hamas attacks on Israel, instead calling for an “immediate cessation of violence.”
Nanaia Mahuta said on X this morning: “Aotearoa New Zealand is deeply concerned at the outbreak of conflict between Israel and Gaze.
Aotearoa New Zealand 🇳🇿is deeply concerned at the outbreak of conflict between Israel and Gaza. We call for the immediate cessation of violence. The protection of all civilians, and upholding of international humanitarian law is essential.
— Nanaia Mahuta MP (@NanaiaMahuta) October 7, 2023
“We call for the immediate cessation of violence. The protection of all civilians and upholding of international humanitarian law is essential.”
NZ doesn’t recognise Palestine as a state but supports a two state solution with Israel.
A planned visit by Ms Mahuta to Palestine and Israel in August was called off due to her “restricted flexibility” in her timetable.
‘Mighty vengeance for this black day’: Netanyahu
The Israeli PM said what has happened today has never been seen in Israel, and Israel will take “mighty vengeance for this black day” and “reach every place Hamas is hiding”.
Netanyahu told “Gaza’s people to leave those places now”.
Thank you to all of you around the world for your constant messages of support and solidarity.
— Israel ישר×ל 🇮🇱 (@Israel) October 7, 2023
This is a dark day for all of us here in Israel, but we can feel your love and warmth from miles away.
📸 Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate lit up in blue and white in solidarity with… pic.twitter.com/RNPDJ5C6Yg
“Israel will settle the score with anyone who harms them,” he added.
Israel’s army has accused the Palestinian militants of breaking into homes and “massacring civilians”.
“Terrorists rampaged and broke into homes, massacring civilians,” the army said.
Terrifying first hand account
An American woman living near the Gaza border says she has “never been so scared in my life”.
Speaking to the New York Post Adele Raemer said there had been an “infiltration near my community”.
“We have been told to lock doors, not leave saferoom. We’re not even turning on the air condition for fear it will signal a presence of people in the house”.
She said she is waiting to be evacuated.
“There are still terrorists outside, and community is being slowly moved to a safer place. We’re still locked in the saferoom.”
Raemer described the attack as “totally unprecedented”.
“We never had anything like this before,” she said.
“The sheer number of rockets that are being shot at the same time is overwhelming...so I don’t know where we’re going from here, but this is war. There is no getting around that.”
France steps up security at Jewish sites
Germany and France on Saturday moved to reinforce security around Jewish temples, schools and monuments after the surprise attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas against Israel.
Germany tightened police protection of Jewish and Israeli institutions, as some supporters of the Palestinians took to the streets of Berlin to celebrate the attack.
France focused on Jewish temples and schools in cities across the country, as one Jewish leader expressed concern at the possibility the conflict might be imported there.
“In Berlin, police protection has been immediately stepped up,” Germany’s Interior Minister Nancy Faeser told Bild newspaper. “The federal government and the regions are closely coordinating their actions.”
Germany’s authorities were also closely watching “potential supporters of Hamas in the Islamist sphere”, she added.
Berlin police posted photos on social media showing “people celebrating the attacks on Israel by passing out pastries” on Sonnenallee, the main avenue in city’s Neukoelln district.
Police had in some cases carried out identity checks and filed complaints, they added.
Australian leaders condemn attacks
Anthony Albanese has condemned the “indiscriminate and abhorrent” attacks after Palestinian militants launched the biggest attack in Israel in years.
“Australia stands with our friend Israel in this time,” the Prime Minister said on X, formerly Twitter.
“We recognise Israel’s right to defend itself.”
Australia stands with our friend Israel in this time.
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) October 7, 2023
We condemn the indiscriminate and abhorrent attacks by Hamas on Israel, its cities and civilians.
We recognise Israel’s right to defend itself.
Opposition leader Peter Dutton also condemned the attacks described it as an “unprovoked and abhorrent attack by militant Hamas on Israel”.
“It is yet another example of a deliberate act of violence intended to inflict maximum harm on innocent civilians,” he wrote on X.
“The attack is a provocation. Israel has every right to defend itself in response and to deter future attacks and other acts of aggression, coercion and interference.”
Alex Ryvchin, co-CEO of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, a peak body representing the Australian Jewish community, strongly denounced the recent attack on Israeli territory by Hamas terrorists.
He stated, “We condemn in the strongest terms the premeditated, unprovoked attack from the air and on the ground on sovereign Israeli territory by Hamas terrorists.”
Ryvchin claimed, “These acts constitute egregious war crimes in their targeting of civilians and are an armed attack against a sovereign state. We expect the State of Israel to take all necessary measures to defend itself and to defeat the terror forces of Hamas and restore peace for Israel’s citizens.”
Airlines cancel Tel Aviv flights
Major airlines have cancelled flights to Tel Aviv this weekend due to the escalating violence.
On the arrivals board at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport Air France, Lufthansa, Emirates, Ryanair, Aegan Airlines and some US companies were all pulling flights.
However airport authorities did not stop commercial air links with Eilat, Israel’s second international airport and tourist destination on the Red Sea.
“Given the current security situation in Tel Aviv,” Lufthansa maintained a single flight back to Frankfurt, said a spokesman for the German carrier, but “all other Lufthansa flights to and from Tel Aviv have been cancelled for this Saturday”.
Air France said it had halted Tel Aviv flights “until further notice”. Air France-KLM group’s low-cost carrier Transavia also cancelled a flight from Paris to Tel Aviv on Saturday evening.
Troops still battling ‘hundreds’ of Palestinian militants
Israeli troops were still battling “hundreds” of Palestinian militants at 22 locations inside Israel on Saturday after they infiltrated from Gaza during a massive dawn rocket barrage, the army said.
“There are still 22 locations where we are engaging with terrorists that came into Israel from the sea, from the land and from the air,” army spokesman Richard Hecht told journalists, adding the Hamas attack included a “robust ground invasion”.
Asked by journalists how many militants had entered Israel, Hecht said “hundreds” had “invaded” the country, adding that “hundreds” were still fighting troops inside Israel.
He said there was a “severe hostage situation in Beeri and also in Ofakim”, two Israeli communities in the Negev Desert, the latter 20 kilometres from the Gaza border.
Hecht said more than 3000 rockets had been fired from the Gaza Strip into Israel.
“There will be a severe response to this inhumane attack, it’s unprecedented,” he said.
Biden: US support for Israel is rock solid
President Joe Biden said Saturday that US support for Israel was “rock solid and unwavering” after Palestinian militant group Hamas launched a large-scale surprise attack. “The United States stands with Israel. We will not ever fail to have their back,” Biden said in a televised statement at the White House, flanked by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
How it happened
The Israeli military rapidly mobilised tens of thousands of reservists and said fighter jets are carrying out air strikes on Hamas sites in Gaza, and that it has already hit 17 Hamas military compounds.
“I have ordered an extensive mobilisation of reserves and that we return fire of a magnitude that the enemy has not known. The enemy will pay an unprecedented price,” Netanyahu said.
Netanyahu has invited opposition leaders Yair Lapid and Benny Gantz to form an emergency national government, according to a statement from his party Likud.
“A short while ago, I met with Prime Minister Netanyahu,” Lapid said in a statement.
“I told him that in this emergency situation I’m willing to form an emergency, narrow, professional government with him. Netanyahu knows that with the current extreme and dysfunctional security cabinet, he can’t manage a war.”
Leaders around the world condemned the brutal Hamas attacks, but also called for calm and restraint as the violence between the two countries escalated. US President Joe Biden spoke to Netanyahu and offered “all appropriate means of support.”
Israeli Energy Minister Yisrael Katz has signed an order to disconnect the Gaza Strip from Israel’s electricity grid, Haaretz reported. Israel supplies two-thirds of Gaza’s electricity, the outlet explained.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu:
— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) October 7, 2023
"Citizens of Israel,
We are at war, not in an operation or in rounds, but at war. This morning, Hamas launched a murderous surprise attack against the State of Israel and its citizens. We have been in this since the early morning hours. pic.twitter.com/C7YQUviItR
Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-CEO Alex Ryvchin told news.com.au that “these acts constitute egregious war crimes in their targeting of civilians and are an armed attack against a sovereign state”.
“We expect the State of Israel to take all necessary measures to defend itself and to defeat the terror forces of Hamas and restore peace for Israel’s citizens.”
In terrifying scenes, Hamas released images of several Israelis taken captive, and Israel army spokesman Daniel Hagari confirmed that “there are kidnapped soldiers and civilians. I can’t give figures about them at the moment. It’s a war crime committed by Hamas and they will pay the price.”
Israeli military forces have launched operation “Iron Swords” in response to the deadly invasion after thousands of rockets rained down in the cities of Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Sderot surprise dawn attack from the blockaded Gaza Strip. The death toll is expected to drastically rise.
Just landed at Tel Aviv airport, was disembarking when sirens went off followed by the sound of multiple explosions… passengers told to lay flat on the ground pic.twitter.com/urjokXt5sY
— Secunder Kermani (@SecKermani) October 7, 2023
Violence between Israel and the Palestinians has been surging for almost two years, with fatalities in the occupied West Bank hitting a scale not seen in years.
“As of 13:00 (9pm AEDT), Magen David Adom teams have pronounced 22 victims deceased. They have also treated hundreds of further victims,” the Magen David Adom emergency medical services said in a statement.
Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant also said earlier Hamas had launched a “war” against Israel.
“Hamas has made a grave mistake this morning and launched a war against the State of Israel,” Gallant said in a statement.
“IDF troops (Israeli army) are fighting against the enemy at every location.”
The armed wing of Hamas claimed its militants had launched more than 5000 rockets.
“We decided to put an end to all the crimes of the occupation (Israel), their time for rampaging without being held accountable is over,” the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades said.
“We announce Operation Al-Aqsa Flood and we fired, in the first strike of 20 minutes, more than 5000 rockets.”
Israel’s army spokesman Richard Hecht said the militants conducted a combined raid “which happened through paragliders, through the sea and through the ground.”
“They are shooting at our house. They are trying to break down the door of the safe room,” said one woman sheltering with her two-year-old child while her husband and other residents fought the militants in the streets of Kibbutz Sufa, according to Israeli media.
“Send help, please,” she cried, according to the reports.
Hamas later released a video showing three men captured by its fighters.
Militant infiltration from Gaza, an impoverished enclave home to 2.3 million people, have been rare since Hamas took control in 2007, leading to Israel’s crippling blockade.
Gaza is sealed off from Israel by a militarised border barrier.
The rocket barrage from Gaza – which Hecht said numbered at least 2200 – left cars burning beneath residential buildings in the Israeli city of Ashkelon, about 10 kilometres north of Gaza.
AFP journalists said Israel’s military began air strikes on Gaza, following the rocket barrage from inside the territory which is sealed off from Israel by a militarised border barrier.
“Dozens of IDF fighter jets are currently striking a number of targets belonging to the Hamas terrorist organisation in the Gaza Strip,” the military said.
Rockets had earlier streamed across the sky repeatedly after the first launches from multiple locations across the Palestinian territory from 6.30am (2.30pm AEDT), AFP journalists in Gaza City reported.
The armed wing of Hamas, which controls Gaza, said it was behind the aerial assault, saying its militants had launched thousands of rockets and its fighters seized an Israeli tank.
Israel’s army did not immediately comment on the tank claim when contacted by AFP.
Israeli security chiefs convened over the violence, which occurred on Shabbat and during a Jewish holiday.
Air raid sirens wailed across southern and central Israel, and the army urged people to stay near bomb shelters.
AFP journalists in Jerusalem heard multiple rockets being intercepted by Israeli air defence systems.
Sirens blared across the city on more occasions than in any Gaza conflict in the past three years.
Hundreds of Gazans flee
Hundreds of residents fled their homes in eastern Gaza to move away from the border with Israel, an AFP correspondent said.
Men, women and children carrying blankets and food left their homes, mostly in the northeastern part of the territory, the reporter said.
In Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, some Palestinian residents cheered and blew their car horns as sirens blared.
A regional council for Israeli communities northeast of Gaza said its president was killed in an exchange of fire with attackers from Gaza.
Separately, a woman in her 60s was killed “due to a direct hit” in Israel, the Magen David Adom emergency services said.
Fifteen others were wounded, two of them seriously, medics said.
An AFP photographer in the coastal city of Tel Aviv saw a gaping hole in a building, with residents gathered outside.
Hamas calls to ‘join battle’
Hamas called on “the resistance fighters in the West Bank” as well as “our Arab and Islamic nations” to join the battle, in a statement posted on Telegram.
The United States condemned the Hamas fire and urged “all sides to refrain from violence and retaliatory attacks.”
“Terror and violence solve nothing,” the US Office of Palestinian Affairs wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Meanwhile, Lebanon’s powerful Iran-backed Hezbollah praised Hamas for its “heroic operation”.
“Hezbollah congratulates the resisting Palestinian people,” the Lebanese Shiite movement said in a statement, hailing Hamas and its armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, for the “large-scale, heroic operation”. Hezbollah said its leadership was following the developments and “in direct contact with the leadership of the Palestinian resistance at home and abroad”.
Israel has imposed a crippling blockade on Gaza since 2007 after Hamas took power.
Palestinian militants and Israel have fought several devastating wars since.
The latest violence follows heightened tensions in September, when Israel closed the border to Gazan workers for two weeks.
The shutdown of the crossing came as Palestinian demonstrators along the border burned tyres and threw rocks and petrol bombs at Israeli troops, who responded with tear gas and live bullets.
Critics had slammed the border closure as collective punishment against thousands of Palestinian workers, who have far greater earning potential in Israel than Gaza, where unemployment is rife.
Resuming workers’ passage on September 28 had raised hopes of calming the situation in impoverished Gaza, home to 2.3 million people.
In May, an exchange of Israeli air strikes and Gaza rocket fire killed 34 Palestinians and one Israeli.
So far this year at least 247 Palestinians, 32 Israelis and two foreigners have been killed in the conflict, including combatants and civilians on both sides, according to Israeli and Palestinian officials.
The vast majority of fatalities have occurred in the West Bank, which has been occupied by Israel since the 1967 Arab-Israeli War.
There has been a rise in army raids, Palestinian attacks targeting Israelis and Israeli settler violence against Palestinians and their property.
The rising violence this year came against the backdrop of divisive judicial reforms introduced by the hard-right government of President Benjamin Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption charges he denies.
Several far-right ministers in Netanyahu’s cabinet live in West Bank settlements deemed illegal under international law.
\- With AFP
Originally published as US considers stepping in as Israel death toll climbs from Hamas ‘surprise attack’
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