Netanyahu warns nation of a ‘long and difficult’ war

Iran-backed Hezbollah fires ‘large numbers of artillery shells and guided missiles’ at Israeli positions ‘in solidarity’ with Hamas.

A Palestinian stands in front of the rubble of Gaza City's Al-Watan Tower, destroyed by an Israeli airstrike early on Sunday. Picture: AFP

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday warned of a “long and difficult” war, as fighting with Hamas left hundreds dead on both sides after a surprise attack on ­Israel by the Palestinian militant group.

The conflict’s bloodiest escalation in decades saw Hamas carry out a massive rocket barrage and ground, air and sea offensive on Saturday that Israel’s army said had killed more than 200 Israelis and wounded 1000, while soldiers and civilians were taken hostage.

Gaza officials said intense Israeli airstrikes on the coastal enclave had brought the Palestinian death toll to at least 256, with nearly 1800 wounded.

As fighting raged on Sunday, Lebanon’s powerful Iran-backed Hezbollah movement said it had fired “large numbers of artillery shells and guided missiles” at Israeli positions in contested border areas “in solidarity” with Hamas.

Israeli military officials earlier said the army fired artillery on southern Lebanon in response to a shot from the area without identifying the ­attackers.

“We are embarking on a long and difficult war that was forced on us by a murderous Hamas attack,” Mr Netanyahu said on X early on Sunday.

“The first stage is ending at this time by the destruction of the vast majority of the enemy forces that infiltrated our territory,” he added, pledging “no respite” until victory.

Overnight, Israel battered the Gaza Strip with airstrikes as rockets from the blockaded Palestinian territory rained on Israel.

Sunday morning gun battles still raged between Israeli forces and hundreds of Hamas fighters in multiple locations, including at the Sderot police station across the border from Gaza. Police and Israeli army special forces “neutralised 10 armed terrorists” who had been holed up inside the station.

The bloody air, sea and land attack launched on Saturday by Hamas came 50 years after the outbreak of the 1973 Arab-Israeli war, taking Israel and the world by surprise.

The Israeli army said overnight its forces were still engaged in gun battles in a string of Israel locations, in an operation labelled “Swords of Iron”, as reservists were being called up.

Hamas earlier released images of several Israelis taken captive, and another army spokesman, Daniel Hagari, confirmed soldiers and civilians had been kidnapped.

“I can’t give figures about them at the moment,” he said late on Saturday, adding there was also a “severe hostage situation” in the Negev desert communities of Beeri and Ofakim, east of Gaza.

According to Ynet Israeli news website, “dozens of Israeli captives, including numerous women, children and elders, are believed to have been taken into the Gaza Strip”.

The fighting prompted Israel to cut off Gaza’s electricity, fuel and goods supplies, Mr Netanyahu said.

The Islamist group started the multi-pronged attack around 6.30am on Saturday with thousands of rockets aimed as far as Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, some bypassing the Iron Dome defence system and hitting buildings. Hamas fighters – travelling in ground vehicles, motorised paragliders and boats – breached Gaza’s security barrier and attacked nearby Israeli towns and military posts, opening fire on residents and passers-by.

Israeli army Major General Ghasan Alyan warned Hamas had “opened the gates of hell”.

An AFP journalist in Gaza saw clouds of dust from the remains of bombed residential towers, which Gaza’s interior ministry said contained 100 apartments. Israel’s military said it had warned residents to evacuate before targeting the buildings used by Hamas.

Hamas labelled its attack ­“Operation Al-Aqsa Flood” and called on “resistance fighters in the West Bank” as well as in “Arab and Islamic nations” to join the battle.

Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh said the group was on the “verge of a great victory”.

AFp