“We are starting a long and difficult war that was forced on us by a murderous attack by Hamas,” said Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. According to the Israeli government, Hamas kidnapped at least 100 people to the Gaza Strip. The US sends an aircraft carrier to the Eastern Mediterranean.
After the major attack by radical Islamist Hamas, Israel is preparing for “a long and difficult war”. There will be “no breathing room” until Israel wins, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday. Tens of thousands of Israeli soldiers fought Palestinian militants at home, while the air force bombed hundreds of targets in the Gaza Strip.
According to information, at least 700 deaths were recorded on the Israeli side as of Sunday night. At least 2,243 other people were injured, 200 of them in critical condition. According to Hamas, 370 people were killed and 2,200 injured in the Gaza Strip during the same period. Army spokesman Hagari spoke of “hundreds of terrorists” who had been killed in the fighting in Israel and dozens taken prisoner.
Meanwhile, Hamas militants continued to hold Israeli hostages. “We are beginning a long and difficult war, forced on us by a murderous attack by Hamas,” Netanyahu said. After Saturday morning’s major attack, which apparently surprised Israel and its secret services, the army launched the “Iron Swords” offensive.
Tens of thousands of Israeli soldiers are deployed in southern Israel, in the area around the Gaza Strip, to fight “terrorists” and achieve the “release of hostages”, said army spokesman Daniel Hagari. All Israeli residents near the Gaza Strip must be evacuated within 24 hours.
At least 100 people kidnapped in Israel
Infiltrated Hamas fighters entered kibbutzes and cities, killed residents in the streets and in their homes, and abducted civilians and soldiers. The attackers also broke into a rave festival and shot attendees.
According to Israeli media reports, the hostages were released in the towns of Beeri and Ofakim, although the army did not initially confirm this. According to the Israeli government, Hamas kidnapped at least a hundred people from Israel to the Gaza Strip. According to a Spiegel report, this may have included a 22-year-old man who lives in Israel and has German citizenship. An Israeli man also told Channel 12 News that his German wife, his two young children and his grandmother were missing.
Hezbollah militia fires at Israel from southern Lebanon
Israel was also attacked from the north on Sunday: the Hezbollah militia, which is an ally of Hamas, said it had fired rockets and artillery at the country from southern Lebanon – “in solidarity” with Hamas, as the Iranian-backed militia explained. The Israeli army responded with artillery fire against positions in southern Lebanon.
After the major Hamas attack, Netanyahu announced retaliation and called on all Palestinians to leave Gaza City. Israel has stopped supplying electricity, fuel and goods to the Gaza Strip. Since Saturday, the army has attacked around 500 Hamas targets in the Palestinian territory, including “military infrastructures, commanders’ homes and symbols of the Hamas regime,” a spokesman said.
Hundreds of people fled their homes in northern Gaza with food and blankets, an AFP reporter said. There was also violence in the West Bank, including annexed East Jerusalem. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, six Palestinians were killed and another 120 injured.
Arab League emergency meeting requested
The Palestinian Authority has requested an emergency meeting of Arab League foreign ministers. This was reported by the Palestinian news agency WAFA. The reason is “Israel’s brutal and persistent aggression against the Palestinian people, including the attack on the Al-Aqsa Mosque by thousands of settlers”, the agency quotes the Palestinian ambassador to the Arab League, Muhannad al-Akluk.
Observers warn of a conflagration if other enemies of Israel, such as Iran or Hezbollah in Lebanon, openly support the fight. On Saturday, Hezbollah said it was in contact with Palestinian leaders. It was unclear whether the attack on Sheeba Farms represented a further escalation and expansion of the conflict. Israel has claimed Sheeba Farms, a 15-square-kilometer area on the border with Lebanon, since 1967. Syria and Lebanon consider the area Lebanese.
The Palestinian ambassador in Vienna, Salah Abdel Shafi, said in a written statement that events in and around Gaza “must be seen as the result of many years of Israeli oppression and occupation.” “I am shocked that European politicians have not found a word of regret for the more than 300 people killed in the recent attacks on Gaza,” said the ambassador – who, on the contrary, did not express a word of regret about the Hamas violence.
US sends aircraft carriers to the region
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced that Washington would provide the Israeli army with additional equipment and ammunition. A first delivery will be dispatched on Sunday and will arrive in Israel in the coming days.
According to Austin, the aircraft carrier “USS Gerald R. Ford” and its escort ships will also be relocated to the eastern Mediterranean. The number of combat aircraft squadrons in the region will also be increased.
US President Joe Biden assured Israel of his country’s “solid and unwavering” support. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on “all leaders in the region” to condemn the attacks on Israel. However, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said, according to state television, that his country supports “the legitimate right of the Palestinian nation to defend itself.”
Numerous expressions of solidarity from Western countries
Declarations of solidarity with Israel came from many Western countries. At the same time, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) warned of a “conflagration” in the region and announced that he would support mediation efforts between Israel and the Palestinians. Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) spoke of a “breaking point” given the extent of the violence.
The President of the Jewish Community of Salzburg and the Jewish Community of Graz, Elie Rosen, held the EU partly responsible for the development: The EU alone has transferred more than eight billion euros to the Palestinian territories since the Oslo Agreement, thus inevitably supporting Hamas . Due to the constantly deteriorating security situation, the funds did not contribute to improving the peace process, but promoted terrorist mobilization. (APA/Portal/R)