Tens of thousands of Israeli soldiers continued their deployment in desert regions near the Gaza Strip on Monday to try to regain control from Hamas militants, on the third day of the deadliest clashes on Israeli territory since its founding.
A total of more than 1,100 people have been killed on both sides in the fighting since Saturday.
The Israeli army is working to rescue Israeli hostages still in the Gaza Strip and evacuate all residents of the region as oil prices soared on Monday.
To regain control after this large-scale surprise attack – by land, air and sea – in the middle of Shabbat, the weekly Jewish rest period, Israeli forces continued their hunt for Hamas members in southern Israel, where, according to one Army 10,000 reservists gathered speakers. They also continued airstrikes against targets in Gaza, where more buildings were destroyed.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned of a “long and difficult” war.
More than 700 Israelis have been killed and 2,150 injured since the attack began, the Israeli army said in a new report released Monday morning.
“The enemy is still on the ground” in Israel, “we are strengthening our forces, especially near Gaza, and clearing the area,” the Israeli army spokesman said on Sunday evening, promising to “track down terrorists wherever they may be “.
Civilian and military hostages
In the Gaza Strip, which has been under Hamas control since 2007, 413 Palestinians, including 78 children and 41 women, were killed and 2,300 injured, local authorities said on Sunday.
The Israeli army estimates that around 1,000 Hamas fighters were involved in the “invasion of Israel,” a spokesman said on X (formerly Twitter).
The Israeli army is also working to rescue the Israeli hostages still in Gaza “in large numbers,” including “women, children, babies, the elderly and the disabled,” he said.
According to the Government Press Office (GPO), Hamas has taken “more than 100 prisoners.”
“Civilians and soldiers are in the hands of the enemy, it is time for war,” said Israeli army chief Herzi Halevi.
A 37-year-old Israeli woman said she was horrified to see several members of her family kidnapped in videos from Gaza, including her cousin and her children aged nine months and three years. “This is the only confirmation we have,” Yifat Zailer told AFP by phone, his voice broken.
According to an American official, “several” Americans were killed in the Hamas offensive, as well as 10 Nepalese and nationals of other countries, including a French woman. The Canadian Foreign Ministry reported “the death of a Canadian and the disappearance of two others.”
Comparison with 9/11
Israel continued to come under attack on its northern border with Lebanon. Lebanon’s Hezbollah, an ally of Hamas and Iran, fired shells into a contested border area, triggering an Israeli drone strike on a Hezbollah position.
Two Israeli tourists were killed in Egypt by a police officer who shot at them in Alexandria, according to the Israeli Foreign Ministry.
Hamas and Islamic Jihad, another Palestinian armed group, said they had captured “numerous soldiers.”
“What happened is unprecedented in Israel,” Mr. Netanyahu admitted.
Jonathan Panikoff, director of the Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative, also said that “Israel was caught off guard by this unprecedented attack” and “many Israelis are struggling to understand how this could have happened.”
For Yaakov Shoshani, 70, a resident of Sderot, “all systems have failed here, whether military intelligence, civilian intelligence, detection systems, the border fence (with Gaza), everything has failed.”
“This is by far the worst day in Israel’s history. “Never before have so many Israelis been killed at once,” an Israeli army spokesman said, adding that it could be “both a 9/11 and a Pearl Harbor.”
A former Israeli soldier said the 1973 Arab-Israeli war, still a national trauma in Israel, was “minor” compared to Saturday’s Hamas attack, adding that it was a “very serious failure “ act. The Hamas offensive was launched 50 years and one day after that war, which took Israel by surprise and left 2,600 Israeli dead in three weeks of fighting.
“Self-defense”
The Al-Qassam Brigades, the military branch of Hamas, announced that it had launched this operation and fired more than 5,000 rockets into Israel to “put an end to the crimes of the occupation.” Israel has occupied the West Bank, a Palestinian territory, and the eastern part of Jerusalem since 1967 and has imposed a blockade on Gaza since 2007.
Israel has stopped deliveries of electricity, food and goods to the Palestinian territory.
Oil prices rose sharply at the start of trading on Asian markets on Monday morning. Brent rose 4.7% to $86.65 and West Texas Intermediate rose 4.5% to $88.39.
The Israeli Ministry of Education announced that schools would be closed until at least Tuesday.
The Hamas attack was condemned by the West. On Sunday, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Israel had “the right to defend itself” against Hamas’ “barbaric” attacks. The United States on Sunday began sending military aid to Israel with new ammunition and moving its carrier strike group closer to the aircraft carrier USS Gerald Ford in the Mediterranean.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak assured his Israeli counterpart of the United Kingdom’s “unwavering support,” while Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on Israel and Hamas to “support peace” and spare civilians.
France “is also active to prevent the conflict from degenerating into a conflagration in the West Bank, Lebanon or the region,” said the French Foreign Ministry spokesman.
“Iran, for its part, supports the legitimate defense of the Palestinian nation,” Iranian President Ebrahim Raïssi said on Sunday.
Several members of the UN Security Council condemned the Hamas offensive on Sunday, even as the US regretted the lack of unanimity at the emergency meeting.