At least 700 people are believed to have been killed in Israel’s major attacks by Hamas. The fighting on Israeli soil continues. A massive Israeli operation in the Gaza Strip is expected in the coming days.
After the massive attacks by the terrorist organization Hamas, the number of deaths in Israel continues to rise. Israeli media are now reporting at least 700 deaths, citing medical circles. According to the latest data from the Ministry of Health, at least 2,243 people were injured. The government said the death toll was “not final.”
There are said to be many dead and missing after a terrorist attack by Hamas on a festival on the border with the Gaza Strip. According to consistent media reports, this is reported by a number of eyewitnesses. In addition, many people are searching on social media for their relatives who attended the festival.
Israel: Hamas holds more than a hundred people hostage
According to the Israeli government, Hamas is holding more than a hundred people hostage. The Israeli military had previously reported that it had ended two hostage takings. The fighting “to free hostages” was continuing, said army spokesman Daniel Hagarivor. According to the military, the liberation of soldiers and civilians will be difficult.
“There is no military way to go into the Gaza Strip and take the people out,” former Israeli army spokesman Avi Benayyahu said on Israeli television. “Even if the Gaza Strip were conquered, it is not certain that the hostages would still be alive,” said the brigadier general.
The federal government assumes that there are also German nationals among those abducted.
Situation is not yet under control
Meanwhile, the Israeli security cabinet has declared a state of war. This allows “far-reaching military steps,” said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office. A massive Israeli deployment in the Gaza Strip is expected in the coming days – possibly also with ground troops.
According to the Israeli military, Palestinian attackers remain on Israeli territory. “There are still hostile forces in Israel,” said military spokesman Daniel Hagari on Sunday evening – around 36 hours after the attack from the Gaza Strip began. Some of the intruders were killed, but some were still there, Hagari said.
Fighting in the border area continued throughout the day. In several cities, people again had to flee to safety from rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip. The military told residents of two towns in the border area not to leave their homes “due to the security situation” in the evening. “We are currently in the middle of a war,” Hagari said. The Israeli Air Force is fully deployed to attack targets in the Gaza Strip. More than 50 combat aircraft have destroyed around 120 Hamas targets in the past few hours.
The army evacuated the Israeli towns on the border with the Gaza Strip. Thousands of people were to be moved to other locations in Israel. Residents in northern Israel, near the border with Lebanon, were also asked to leave the area.
Hezbollah fires on Israel from Lebanon
In the morning, Israeli soldiers killed five Palestinian militants who were trying to cross the beach into Israel, according to Israeli radio. However, an army spokesman only confirmed that the men had been stopped.
Israel also reported shelling from neighboring Lebanon. The Hezbollah militia said it had attacked the Israeli-occupied Sheeba Farms area on the border with Lebanon with rockets and artillery. The Israeli army said it responded by shelling the area from which the shots were fired. The UN observer force in Lebanon called on Israel and Hezbollah to show restraint.
Hamas spokesman Ghazi Hamad told the BBC that the group received direct support for the attack from Iran.
According to the UN, the Shebaa Farms are part of the Syrian territories occupied by Israel in 1967. However, Syria and some parties in Lebanon view the area as Lebanese territory. Hezbollah had previously congratulated Hamas on its “heroic, large-scale” and “victorious” operation against Israel.
Netanyahu announces retaliation – many deaths in the Gaza Strip
At least 413 people have been killed and 2,300 injured in Israeli counterattacks on the Palestinian side in the Gaza Strip, the Ministry of Health there announced. Israel says it has attacked 426 targets in the Gaza Strip so far.
In response to the Palestinian attacks, Israel decided to, among other things, cut off imports of electricity, fuel and goods into the Gaza Strip. The aim is to destroy the military and administrative capabilities of Hamas and Islamic Jihad “so that they are no longer able and willing to threaten and attack the citizens of Israel for many years,” said Prime Minister Netanyahu’s office at a meeting of the security cabinet.
“We are beginning a long and difficult war, forced upon us by a murderous attack by Hamas,” Netanyahu was quoted as saying. The first phase now ends with the “destruction of the majority of the enemy forces that have invaded our territory,” it said after the Security Council meeting.
Hamas surprised Israel on Saturday with an unprecedented combination of major attacks. It fired thousands of rockets at Israel on the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah, and at the same time its fighters crossed the heavily secured border with Israel.
With information from Bettina Meier, ARD Studio Tel Aviv