Israel Is At War - Here is what to know about the surprise attack on Israel.
Israel battled on Saturday to repel one of the broadest invasions of its territory in 50 years after Palestinian militants from Gaza launched an enormous and coordinated early-morning assault on southern Israel, infiltrating several Israeli towns and army bases, kidnapping Israeli civilians and soldiers, and firing thousands of rockets toward cities as far away as Jerusalem.
By early evening, the Israeli military said fighting continued in at least five places in southern Israel, at least 100 Israelis had been reported dead by emergency medical groups, and Israel had retaliated with huge strikes on Gazan cities. At least 198 Palestinians were killed in either gun battles or airstrikes, the Gazan Health Ministry said.
The Hamas militants behind the attack also took Israelis hostage, the chief spokesman for the Israeli military, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said.
In an assault without recent precedent in its complexity and scale, the militants crossed into Israel by land, sea and air, according to the Israeli military, leading to some of the first pitched battles between large groups of Israeli and Arab forces on Israeli soil in decades. As of early evening there were the two main battles taking place, near the towns of Ofakim and Beeri, Admiral Hagai said.
All told, the Israeli military said that the militants had entered at least 22 Israeli towns, abducting soldiers and civilians, including an older grandmother. Residents of Israeli border towns told broadcasters that gunmen were moving door to door, looking for civilians. Unverified footage appeared to show Palestinian fighters transporting captured Israeli civilians and bodies through the strip.
“We are at war and we will win it,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said in a televised statement, announcing a call-up of Israeli military reservists.
The timing of the assault was striking, hitting Israel at one of the most difficult moments in its history. It followed months of profound anxiety about the cohesion of Israeli society and the readiness of its military, a crisis set off by the government’s efforts to reduce the power of the judiciary. And the violence came 50 years and a day after the Yom Kippur War of 1973, when Israel was also surprised by a complex Arab attack, leading to huge Israeli losses and soul-searching about the state of the country.
The poor coastal enclave of Gaza has been under blockade by Israel and neighboring Egypt for 16 years. Muhammad Deif, the leader of Hamas’s military wing, said in a recorded message that the group had decided to launch an “operation” so that “the enemy will understand that the time of their rampaging without accountability has ended.”
Here is the latest:
President Biden called the attack on Israel an “appalling assault” and said that the United States stands “ready to offer all appropriate means of support” to Israel. The attacks also drew condemnation from several other Western powers, with Hamas singled out for criticism.
The military wing of Hamas, Al Qassam Brigades, described Saturday’s surprise assault on Israel as an operation against the Israeli blockade and “in defense of the Aqsa Mosque,” invoking a dispute around a site that is sacred to both Muslims and Jews and that is among the most deeply contested in the holy land.
Show less
Farnaz Fassihi
Oct. 7, 2023, 12:32 p.m. ET4 minutes ago
4 minutes ago
Farnaz Fassihi
The United Nations Security Council has scheduled an emergency meeting on Sunday afternoon to discuss the Israel-Gaza conflict. Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. ambassador to U.N., said she was in close contact with her Israeli counterpart. “I am outraged and horrified by the appalling unprovoked, brutal attacks by Hamas terrorists against Israel,” she said in a statement.
Farnaz Fassihi
Oct. 7, 2023, 12:21 p.m. ET15 minutes ago
15 minutes ago
Farnaz Fassihi
Salih al-Arouri, the deputy head of Hamas's political bureau, said in an interview with Al Jazeera television that the conflict is its early stages and that Hamas had organized the attack and infiltration into Israel with “precision and detail.” He said there were efforts from many sides to mediate an immediate ceasefire but that “for now we will speak in the battlefield.”
Israel Is At War - Here is what to know about the surprise attack on Israel.
Israel battled on Saturday to repel one of the broadest invasions of its territory in 50 years after Palestinian militants from Gaza launched an enormous and coordinated early-morning assault on southern Israel, infiltrating several Israeli towns and army bases, kidnapping Israeli civilians and soldiers, and firing thousands of rockets toward cities as far away as Jerusalem.
By early evening, the Israeli military said fighting continued in at least five places in southern Israel, at least 100 Israelis had been reported dead by emergency medical groups, and Israel had retaliated with huge strikes on Gazan cities. At least 198 Palestinians were killed in either gun battles or airstrikes, the Gazan Health Ministry said.
The Hamas militants behind the attack also took Israelis hostage, the chief spokesman for the Israeli military, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said.
In an assault without recent precedent in its complexity and scale, the militants crossed into Israel by land, sea and air, according to the Israeli military, leading to some of the first pitched battles between large groups of Israeli and Arab forces on Israeli soil in decades. As of early evening there were the two main battles taking place, near the towns of Ofakim and Beeri, Admiral Hagai said.
All told, the Israeli military said that the militants had entered at least 22 Israeli towns, abducting soldiers and civilians, including an older grandmother. Residents of Israeli border towns told broadcasters that gunmen were moving door to door, looking for civilians. Unverified footage appeared to show Palestinian fighters transporting captured Israeli civilians and bodies through the strip.
“We are at war and we will win it,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said in a televised statement, announcing a call-up of Israeli military reservists.
The timing of the assault was striking, hitting Israel at one of the most difficult moments in its history. It followed months of profound anxiety about the cohesion of Israeli society and the readiness of its military, a crisis set off by the government’s efforts to reduce the power of the judiciary. And the violence came 50 years and a day after the Yom Kippur War of 1973, when Israel was also surprised by a complex Arab attack, leading to huge Israeli losses and soul-searching about the state of the country.
The poor coastal enclave of Gaza has been under blockade by Israel and neighboring Egypt for 16 years. Muhammad Deif, the leader of Hamas’s military wing, said in a recorded message that the group had decided to launch an “operation” so that “the enemy will understand that the time of their rampaging without accountability has ended.”
Here is the latest:
President Biden called the attack on Israel an “appalling assault” and said that the United States stands “ready to offer all appropriate means of support” to Israel. The attacks also drew condemnation from several other Western powers, with Hamas singled out for criticism.
The military wing of Hamas, Al Qassam Brigades, described Saturday’s surprise assault on Israel as an operation against the Israeli blockade and “in defense of the Aqsa Mosque,” invoking a dispute around a site that is sacred to both Muslims and Jews and that is among the most deeply contested in the holy land.
Show less
Farnaz Fassihi
Oct. 7, 2023, 12:32 p.m. ET4 minutes ago
4 minutes ago
Farnaz Fassihi
The United Nations Security Council has scheduled an emergency meeting on Sunday afternoon to discuss the Israel-Gaza conflict. Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. ambassador to U.N., said she was in close contact with her Israeli counterpart. “I am outraged and horrified by the appalling unprovoked, brutal attacks by Hamas terrorists against Israel,” she said in a statement.
Farnaz Fassihi
Oct. 7, 2023, 12:21 p.m. ET15 minutes ago
15 minutes ago
Farnaz Fassihi
Salih al-Arouri, the deputy head of Hamas's political bureau, said in an interview with Al Jazeera television that the conflict is its early stages and that Hamas had organized the attack and infiltration into Israel with “precision and detail.” He said there were efforts from many sides to mediate an immediate ceasefire but that “for now we will speak in the battlefield.”