Israel ‘at war’ as Hamas launches unprecedented attack from Gaza

1 / 9
Residents react near a fire after rockets were launched from the Gaza Strip to Ashkelon, Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. (Reuters)
2 / 9
The rocket fire comes during a period of heavy fighting in the West Bank, where nearly 200 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli military raids this year. Israel. (AFP)
3 / 9
A man works to put out a fire engulfing a van as rockets are launched from the Gaza Strip, in Ashkelon in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. (Reuters)
4 / 9
Palestinians walk away from the kibbutz of Kfar Azza Israel, near the fence with the Gaza strip on Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023. (AP)
5 / 9
A house is on fire in the kibbutz of Kfar Azza that Palestinians stormed from the Gaza Strip on Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023. (AP)
6 / 9
People mourn the death of Palestinians who were killed in the latest infiltration operation into Israel outside Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on Oct. 7, 2023. (AFP)
7 / 9
Mourners carry the body of a Palestinian killed in the latest infiltration operation into Israel, outside Aal-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on Oct. 7, 2023. (AFP)
8 / 9
9 / 9
Palestinians and militants from the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades run towards the Erez crossing between Israel and the northern Gaza Strip. (AFP)
Short Url
Updated 07 October 2023
Follow

Israel ‘at war’ as Hamas launches unprecedented attack from Gaza

  • Israeli military said it had responded with air strikes into Gaza
  • 232 Palestinians dead, 1,700 injured in Israeli retaliation

JERUSALEM/GAZA: After weeks of escalating tensions along the Gaza-Israel border and deadly confrontations in the occupied West Bank of Palestine, Palestinian resistance factions in Gaza, primarily led by Hamas, declared today morning a full-scale military operation into the towns and settlements located along the separation fence with Gaza.

Military confrontations along the borders were ongoing Saturday evening, with an Israel response of airstrikes across the Gaza Strip on multiple residential neighbourhoods. 

The latest barrage of rockets fired by Palestinian militants in Gaza Saturday evening has resulted in the collapse of a building in Tel Aviv, as reported by Israel's fire department according to Haaretz. The death toll among Palestinians has now reached 232, with 1,697 individuals wounded, including dozens in critical condition. The ongoing power cuts are anticipated to have severe health consequences, aggravated by the Israeli blockade and significant shortages of medical supplies.

An official report from the Palestinian news agency Wafa states that a complete power blackout has affected all regions of the besieged Gaza Strip. Israel's Energy Minister had previously announced plans to cut power to Gaza, a region that relies on Israel for about two-thirds of its electricity.

Mohamed Abu Silmiya, the director of Al-Shifa Hospital, has emphasized the critical situation faced by hospitals and medical facilities in the Gaza Strip due to Israel's power cuts. They are struggling to provide adequate care to the increasing number of casualties resulting from Israel's ongoing air assaults. Al-Shifa Hospital, the largest medical facility in the besieged enclave, is particularly strained as it receives the highest volume of casualties. The power outage has exacerbated the workload upon medical professionals working to treat the injured.

In a tragic development, Israeli forces have fatally shot a 13-year-old boy in the occupied West Bank city of Qalqilya, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. In the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, Palestinian medics report that three individuals have been killed and over 30 wounded.

Additionally, it has been announced by the spokesperson of Hamas's military wing, Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, that Palestinian fighters have captured "dozens" of Israeli soldiers and officers, and they are currently being held "in secure underground locations."

Netanyahu, as announced by his Likud party, has extended an invitation to opposition leaders Lapid and Gantz to collaborate in forming a unity government. Notably, Lapid had previously expressed his willingness to work alongside Netanyahu to demonstrate unity. Meanwhile, Gantz has indicated that he is considering this offer.

Furthermore, Israel has conducted airstrikes targeting multiple high-rise buildings in recent hours, with one of these strikes being captured on live coverage by Al Jazeera. The situation remains extremely volatile and fluid.

Meanwhile, at least 200 Israelis were killed in the Palestinian resistance attack, Israel’s ambulance service said. More than 1,100 Israelis had been wounded, the health ministry said, while dozens had been taken hostage, according to reports.

The attack marked an unprecedented infiltration into Israel by an unknown number of Hamas gunmen crossing from the Gaza Strip, and the heaviest blow for Israel in the conflict with Palestinians since the suicide bombings of the Second Intifada some two decades ago.

‘PLEASE SEND HELP’

Speaking to Israel N12 News by phone from Nir Oz, a kibbutz near Gaza, a woman identified as Dorin said militants had infiltrated her house and tried to open the bomb shelter where she was hiding.

“They just came in again, please send help,” she said. “There are a lot of homes harmed ... My husband is holding the door closed ... They are firing rounds of bullets.”

Israeli Defense Minister Gallant said “troops are fighting against the enemy at every location” and authorized the call-up of reservists.

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

“We were told there are terrorists inside the kibbutz, we can hear gunfire,” a young woman named Dvir, from Beeri Kibbutz, told Israeli Army Radio from her bomb shelter.

BACKDROP OF SURGING VIOLENCE

The escalation comes against a backdrop of surging violence between Israel and Palestinian militants in the West Bank, which together with the Gaza Strip is part of the territories where Palestinians have long sought to establish a state.

Hamas media displayed videos of what it said were bodies of Israeli soldiers brought into Gaza by fighters, and Palestinian gunmen inside Israeli homes and touring an Israeli town in jeeps reportedly been driven into Israel by the attackers.

Reuters was not immediately able to verify the footage.

Hamas media also circulated video footage apparently showing a destroyed Israeli tank.

In Gaza, the roar of rocket launches could be heard and residents reported armed clashes along the separation fence with Israel, near the southern town of Khan Younis, and said they had seen significant movement of armed fighters.

Palestinians in Gaza were bracing for Israel’s response.

“We are afraid,” Palestinian woman, Amal Abu Daqqa, said as she left her house in Khan Younis.

Others in Gaza expressed disbelief at the infiltration into Israel. “It is like a dream. I still can’t believe it,” said one Gaza shopkeeper.

The attack came a day after Israel marked the 50th anniversary of the 1973 war that brought the country to the verge of catastrophic defeat in a surprise attack by Syria and Egypt.

* With Agencies


Lebanon rocket fire kills two in Israel: first responders

Updated 5 sec ago
Follow

Lebanon rocket fire kills two in Israel: first responders

Emergency medic Dor Vakinin said “we had to determine the death of both of them“

JERUSALEM: Rocket fire from Lebanon killed two men in their 40s in the northern Israeli town of Nahariya on Tuesday, first responders said.
Emergency medic Dor Vakinin said a rocket hit a warehouse and after “medical examinations... we had to determine the death of both of them.” A barrage of 10 rockets had been fired from Lebanon into northern Israel, the Israeli military said in a statement.

UN force says Israeli work on so-called Alpha Line with Syria saw ‘severe violations’ of ceasefire

Updated 33 min 13 sec ago
Follow

UN force says Israeli work on so-called Alpha Line with Syria saw ‘severe violations’ of ceasefire

  • The Israel military also has begun demolishing villages in Lebanon, where other UN peacekeepers have come under fire
  • “Such severe violations of the (demilitarized zone) have the potential to increase tensions in the area and is being closely monitored by UNDOF,” it added
The Israel military also has begun demolishing villages in Lebanon, where other UN peacekeepers have come under fire
“Such severe violations of the (demilitarized zone) have the potential to increase tensions in the area and is being closely monitored by UNDOF,” it added

DUBAI: United Nations peacekeepers warned Tuesday that the Israeli military has committed “severe violations” of a ceasefire deal with Syria as its military continues a major construction project along the so-called Alpha Line that separates the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights from Syria.
The comments from the UN Disengagement Observer Force, which has patrolled the area since 1974, come after an Associated Press report Monday that published satellite imagery showing the extent of the works along the frontier.
The work, which UNDOF said began in July, follows the completion by the Israeli military of new roadways and what appears to be a buffer zone along the Gaza Strip’s frontier with Israel. The Israel military also has begun demolishing villages in Lebanon, where other UN peacekeepers have come under fire.
While such violence hasn’t broken out along the Alpha Line, UNDOF warned Tuesday the work risked further inflaming tensions in the region.
“Such severe violations of the (demilitarized zone) have the potential to increase tensions in the area and is being closely monitored by UNDOF,” it added.
The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Syrian officials have declined to comment on the construction, though UNDOF described Syrian officials as having “strongly protested” the work.
As Israel conducted the construction work, which UNDOF described as “extensive engineering groundwork activities,” it has protected earth-moving equipment with armored vehicles and main battle tanks, the peacekeepers said. Troops and earth-moving equipment have crossed the Alpha Line into the demilitarized zone in Syria, known to UNDOF as the “area of separation.”
“Violations of the 1974 Disengagement Agreement have occurred where engineering works have encroached into the AOS,” the peacekeepers said in a statement, using an acronym for the area. “There have been several violations by (Israel) in the form of their presence in the AoS because of these activities.”
UNDOF has repeatedly protested the work, which it described as violating the ceasefire deal over the months of construction so far.
“Based on the engagement, (Israel) has indicated that the current earthworks are being carried out for defensive purpose to prevent unauthorized crossing and violations by civilians,” the peacekeepers added.
Israel sent a 71-page letter in June to the UN outlining what it described as “Syrian violations of the Alpha Line and armed presence in the area of separation (that) occur daily.” The letter cited numerous Israeli-alleged violations by Syrian civilians crossing the line.
Syria has constantly accused Israel of launching attacks against it from territory it occupies in the Golan Heights. Israel has frequently struck Syria over the years, particularly after the start of the Mideast wars following Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, assault on Israel.
Israel seized control of the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war. The UN Secretary Council voted to create UNDOF to patrol a roughly 400-square-kilometer (155-square-mile) demilitarized zone and maintain the peace there after the 1973 Mideast war. A second demarcation, known as the Bravo Line, marks the limit of where the Syrian military can operate.
UNDOF has around 1,100 troops, mostly from Fiji, India, Kazakhstan, Nepal and Uruguay, who patrol the area.
Israel annexed the Golan Heights in 1981 — a move criticized by a UN resolution declaring Israel’s action as “null and void and without international legal effect.” The territory, some 1,200 square kilometers (460 square miles) in size, is a strategic high ground that overlooks both Israel and Syria.
Around 50,000 Jewish settlers and Arabs who are mostly members of the Druze sect of Shiite Islam live there.
In 2019, President Donald Trump unilaterally announced that the United States would “fully recognize” Israel’s control of the territory, a decision that has been unchanged by the Biden administration. However, it’s the only other country to do so, as the rest of the world views it as occupied Syrian territory.

Lebanon security official says Israel strikes house east of Beirut

Updated 12 November 2024
Follow

Lebanon security official says Israel strikes house east of Beirut

  • Israeli warplanes hit a house between Baalshamieh and Dhour Al-Abadiyah

BEIRUT: A Lebanese security official said an Israeli strike hit a villa east of Beirut on Tuesday, with state media confirming the rare attack outside Hezbollah’s traditional strongholds.

The security official, who requested anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, said the “Israeli strike caused an unspecified number of casualties.” The National News Agency later said Israeli warplanes hit a house between Baalshamieh and Dhour Al-Abadiyah

At least five people were killed and two were injured in the strike, health ministry said.


Iranian capital builds ‘defensive tunnel’ after Israeli strikes

Updated 12 November 2024
Follow

Iranian capital builds ‘defensive tunnel’ after Israeli strikes

DUBAI: Iran is building a “defensive tunnel” in the capital Tehran, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported on Tuesday, following strikes by Israel on targets in the country.
The tunnel, located near the city center, will link a station on the Tehran metro to the Imam Khomeini hospital, thus allowing direct underground access to the medical facility.
“For the first time in the country, a tunnel with defensive applications is being built in Tehran,” the head of transport for Tehran City Council told Tasnim.
Last month, Israel carried out its first officially-recognized strikes in Iran, hitting missile factories and other sites near Tehran and in the country’s west, as a response to Iran’s Oct.1 attack on Israeli territory.


Wave of Israeli strikes hit south Beirut after evacuation warning

Updated 24 min 57 sec ago
Follow

Wave of Israeli strikes hit south Beirut after evacuation warning

  • Since September 23, Israel has intensified its air campaign, mainly targeting Hezbollah strongholds

BEIRUT: Israel launched at least 10 air strikes on south Beirut Tuesday morning, Lebanese state media said, shortly after Israel’s army urged residents of several neighborhoods to evacuate the Hezbollah bastion.
“Israeli warplanes launched a very violent tenth strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs,” the official National News Agency reported.
AFPTV footage showed grey smoke covering the area, with big plumes rising after each strike.
Earlier Tuesday, the Israeli army told residents of four south Beirut neighborhoods to leave immediately, warning it would strike Hezbollah targets there.
“You are located near facilities and interests affiliated with Hezbollah, against which the Israel Defense Forces will act in the near future,” military spokesman Avichay Adraee said in a post on X.
The post included a map showing the buildings it would target in the Lebanese capital’s south.
Witnesses told AFP they heard gunfire in the area ahead of the strikes — warning shots by residents for people to leave following the evacuation call.
NNA also reported Israeli strikes across Lebanon’s south that destroyed a building in the main southern city of Nabatiyeh and also targeted the eastern city of Hermel.
Last month, Israeli strikes razed Nabatiyeh’s historic marketplace, with another wave of attacks also hitting its municipality building and killing several including the mayor.
Since September 23, Israel has intensified its air campaign, mainly targeting Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon’s east and south and in southern Beirut. A week later, it sent in ground troops.
It came after nearly a year of cross-border exchanges of fire, launched by Hezbollah in support of its Palestinian ally Hamas following their October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that triggered the Gaza war.
More than 3,240 people have been killed in Lebanon since the clashes began last year, according to the health ministry, the majority of them since late September.