Anti-aircraft alarms could be heard in cities in central and southern Israel at 6:35 a.m. Saturday. They warned of the first of many rockets that would reach Tel Aviv or Jerusalem, two cities usually far from Hamas attacks, within two days.
The Palestinian militants therefore launched an attack that included small bombardments with drones, attacks from the sea and land incursions through the wall that separates the Gaza Strip from Israel.
Once they reached Israeli territory, Hamas men advanced and killed and kidnapped civilians, police officers and soldiers. They recorded videos and captured dozens of images that quickly spread across social networks. Many of them come from the attack on hundreds of young people who were at the Tribe of Nova festival a few kilometers from the border wall and who also documented what was happening around them.
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Hundreds of rockets have been fired from Gaza since the escalation began. The map below shows the locations of unusual heat (mainly caused by explosions) detected by Sentinel II, the European Space Agency’s mission. Israel responded immediately, bombing several areas in the Gaza Strip between Sunday night and Monday, including at least two refugee camps.
The number of victims and injuries is still preliminary, but it makes it clear that the escalation of these days is by far the largest and most serious in the last 15 years in a conflict that has already lasted more than half a century.
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