After the astonishment, Israel is now on a war footing. Literally. The day after the unprecedented attack by Hamas on Israeli soil, Benjamin Netanyahu promised to reduce the hideouts of the Palestinian movement to “ruins”. At dawn Saturday morning, the terrorist group fired thousands of rockets into Israel while its fighters used explosives and bulldozers to breach the barrier that separates the Gaza Strip from Israeli territory. Assessment, hostages, counter-offensive… We take stock.
Already a thousand dead on both sides…
Although the toll is obviously far from being consolidated, there are already a thousand deaths on both sides in less than 48 hours. Colossal losses which bear witness not only to the violence of the attack but also to the failure of the intelligence services which failed to prevent it.
The fighting left “more than 600 dead” on the Israeli side, the government press office (GPO) said. He accused Hamas of having “massacred civilians” even in their homes. 2,000 injured were also recorded in the country, 200 are “in critical condition,” said a GPO official. Among these victims, there is a French woman, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Sunday, which also specifies that several nationals remain untraceable for the moment.
In the Gaza Strip, where the Israeli army has been carrying out dozens of retaliatory airstrikes since Saturday, Hamas has recorded 370 deaths and more than 2,200 injured.
At least a hundred hostages
According to the Israeli government, “more than 100” people were taken prisoner in the first hours of the conflict. Among them, soldiers, but especially civilians, including children, the elderly and women. Many hostages were taken prisoner while participating in a music festival on the night of Friday to Saturday, near the Gaza Strip. Others were kidnapped from their homes by Hamas members infiltrating the territory.
According to French MP Meyer Habib, a 26-year-old Franco-Israeli may have been kidnapped by Hamas while he was participating in the music festival. The elected official assures that his family has not heard from him since. This information has not been confirmed by the Quai d’Orsay. In a statement, however, the spokesperson denounced “the heinous hostage taking by Hamas of men, women and children” and called for their “immediate and unconditional release”.
What next for the conflict?
These hostages who are now in the Gaza Strip could slow down the Israeli counter-offensive. The army, which was taken by surprise, announced on Sunday its intention to evacuate all residents around the Gaza Strip within 24 hours. However, she did not wait to respond to the approximately 3,000 shots she counted. Airstrikes destroyed buildings billed as Hamas “command centers” in Gaza. According to army spokesman Richard Hecht, they targeted 426 targets, including tunnels and other infrastructure in Gaza.
Benjamin Netanyahu promised to reduce Hamas hideouts in Gaza to “ruins”, specifying that the war would be “long”. In the Gaza Strip, a cramped strip where 2.3 million people live, more than 20,000 residents have had to leave their homes, said the United Nations Agency for Palestinian Refugees.
What are the reactions?
The UN has called an emergency Security Council meeting on the Middle East on Sunday evening. The Hamas attack was widely condemned. The French Minister of Foreign Affairs increased the number of interviews after the “terrorist attack” perpetrated by Hamas, “to prevent the conflict from degenerating, via a conflagration” of the region, the ministry spokesperson said in a press release. The United States began sending military aid to Israel with new munitions on Sunday
Only Iran applauded the offensive. “We support this proud operation,” announced Revolutionary Guards General Yahya Rahim-Safavi, quoted by the ISNA agency.