‘We are at war’, Netanyahu declares after Hamas launches surprise attack on Israel

Israel has declared it is at war after Hamas, the ruling militant group in Gaza, conducted an unprecedented, multi-front attack, firing thousands of rockets across the border in a deadly attack carried out by fighters over land, air and sea.

At least 70 people were killed and hundreds seriously injured in the surprise attack that caught the country and intelligence services off-guard on a major holiday early on Saturday morning (local time). The death toll is expected to rise.

Police officers evacuate a woman and a child from a site hit by a rocket in Ashkelon.Credit: AP

Less than 12 hours into the conflict, Israeli officials reported at least 3000 rockets had been fired from Gaza towards Israel, while local media and witnesses described infiltrating militants, including some who entered using paragliders, and others who captured soldiers and civilians as hostages.

Israel launched “Operation Sword of Iron” in retaliation to the deadliest attack on its soil in years, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declaring in a televised statement: “We are at war.”

“We will bring the fight to them with might and scale which the enemy has not yet known,” he said.

Announcing a mass army mobilisation, Netanyahu insisted it was “not an operation, not a round, but at war. The enemy will pay an unprecedented price,” he said.

Israeli emergency services on Saturday said at least 70 people had been killed, with more than 900 taken to Israeli hospitals with injuries. Palestinian health authorities said 198 Palestinians had been killed and more than 1600 wounded in Gaza by early Saturday evening (local time).

It was not immediately clear what prompted Hamas to launch the attack; however, it followed weeks of simmering tensions along the Gaza frontier and heavy fighting in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

The violence on Saturday forced millions of Israelis to hunker down in safe rooms, sheltering from rocket explosions and ongoing gun battles with Hamas fighters. Political commentators have lambasted the Israeli government over its failure to anticipate an attack apparently unseen in its level of planning and co-ordination.

Addressing Israel’s Security Cabinet, Netanyahu said the first objective in responding was “to clear out the hostile forces that infiltrated our territory” and restore security.

“The second objective...is to exact an immense price from the enemy, within the Gaza Strip as well. The third objective is to reinforce other fronts so that nobody should mistakenly join this war.”

A man runs past cars damaged during a rocket attack in Ashqelon, Israel.Credit: Bloomberg

The leader of Hamas’ military wing, Mohammed Deif, on Saturday announced the start of what he called “Operation Al-Aqsa Storm.”

“Enough is enough,” Deif, who does not appear in public, said in the recorded message, as he called on Palestinians from east Jerusalem to northern Israel to join the fight.

“Today the people are regaining their revolution. This is the day of the greatest battle to end the last occupation on earth,” he said, claiming that 5000 rockets had been launched.

The incident marks the most serious escalation since Israel and Hamas fought a 10-day war in 2021, when 4300 rockets were fired over the course of 11 days. Within 10 hours of the start of the conflict on Saturday, officials on both sides claimed the attack was close to, or had surpassed, that number.

Extraordinary scenes were reported across Gaza as a portion of a fence with Israel was smashed and a group of men crowded around an Israeli tank before they set it on fire.

Netanyahu ordered the military to clear the infiltrated towns of Hamas militants that remained locked in gunfights with Israeli soldiers.

Cars on fire after they were hit by rockets in Ashkelon, Israel.Credit: AP

The Israeli military said it had launched air strikes into the territory, where witnesses reported hearing heavy explosions. They said at least two people had been killed. Other unconfirmed local media reports said at least two army bases had been infiltrated by militants.

US President Joe Biden released a statement condemning the attack after speaking with Netanyahu on Saturday, describing the incident as an “appalling assault against Israel by Hamas terrorists from Gaza.”

Biden said the US stood ready to offer all appropriate support to the government and people of Israel.

“Terrorism is never justified. Israel has a right to defend itself and its people. The United States warns against any other party hostile to Israel seeking advantage in this situation,” he said.

The surprise assault almost 50 years to the day of the 1973 Yom Kippur war has shaken the country, catching intelligence services unawares. The attack on Simchat Torah, a normally joyous day when Jews complete the annual cycle of reading the Torah scroll, revived painful memories of the 1973 attack on the holiest day of the Jewish calendar.

As warning sirens wailed across southern and central Israel, including in Jerusalem, Israel’s military said it was on a war footing and the defence minister said the Iran-backed Hamas had made a “grave mistake” by declaring war on Israel.

In an Israeli town close to the Gaza border, masked militants were caught on tape firing shots.
A retaliatory Israeli air strike hit Gaza’s interior security building, destroying it. No official figures were immediately available on casualties in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli firefighters extinguish fire after a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip hit a parking lot in Ashkelon.Credit: AP

Chaos as gun battles erupt

Israeli media reported gun battles between bands of Palestinian fighters and security forces in towns in southern Israel. In Gaza, people rushed to buy supplies in anticipation of days of conflict ahead, while others fled their homes.

Several rounds of sirens and rockets were heard across Israel, including in Jerusalem, while cities and towns emptied as the military closed roads near Gaza. Israel’s rescue service and the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza appealed to the public to donate blood.

The attack comes at a time of historic division within Israel over Netanyahu’s proposal to overhaul the judiciary. Mass protests over the plan have prompted hundreds of military reservists to avoid volunteer duty, raising fears over the military’s battlefield readiness.

Reports of Israelis taken captive

Israeli media reported that gunmen had opened fire on passers-by in the border town of Sderot, in southern Israel, and footage circulating on social media appeared to show clashes in city streets as well as gunmen in jeeps roaming the countryside.

A video from Gaza showed what looked like the lifeless body of an Israeli soldier being trampled by an angry crowd shouting “God is great”. Another video appeared to show Palestinian militants dragging away a live Israeli soldier on a motorcycle. The authenticity of the videos could not immediately be verified.

Palestinian media also reported that a number of Israelis had been taken captive by fighters and Hamas media circulated video footage apparently showing a destroyed Israeli tank.

The aftermath or a retaliatory Israeli air strike on Gaza City.Credit: AP

Salah Arouri, an exiled Hamas leader, said the operation was a response “to the crimes of the occupation.” He said fighters were defending the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem and the thousands of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

In the kibbutz of Nahal Oz, four kilometres from the Gaza Strip, residents who were huddled indoors said they could hear constant gunfire echoing off the buildings as firefights continued hours after the initial attack.

“With rockets we somehow feel safer, knowing that we have the Iron Dome (missile defence system) and our safe rooms,” said Mirjam Reijnen, a 42-year-old volunteer firefighter and mother of three in Nahal Oz.

Israel has maintained a blockade over Gaza since Hamas seized control of the territory in 2007. The bitter enemies have fought four wars since then.

The blockade, which restricts the movement of people and goods in and out of Gaza, has devastated the territory’s economy. Israel says the blockade is needed to keep militant groups from building up their arsenals. The Palestinians say the closure amounts to collective punishment.

Heavy fighting in the West Bank has seen nearly 200 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli military raids this year.

with Bloomberg, Reuters, AP

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