In response to Israel’s air strikes on the Gaza Strip, the radical Islamic group Hamas has threatened to kill Israeli hostages. Israeli rescue workers have found 100 bodies in a kibbutz that was attacked by Hamas militants.
The radical Islamic group Hamas has threatened to kill Israeli hostages if Israel continues its air strikes on the Gaza Strip. Abu Obeida, spokesman for Hamas’ armed wing, said in an audio message that there had been heavy Israeli attacks on civilian areas in the past few hours, destroying houses. “We have decided to put an end to this immediately and we declare that any attack on our people in their homes without prior warning will regrettably result in the execution of one of the civilian hostages we are holding.”
During its major attack on Israel on Saturday, the radical Islamic group Hamas brutally took around 150 Israeli civilians hostage.
Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen condemned the threatened killing of abducted Israelis: “This war crime will not be forgiven,” he warned. Israel is determined to bring home the Israelis kidnapped in the Gaza Strip “in a spirit of mutual responsibility,” he said in a video message. “We demand that Hamas not harm any of the hostages.”
Netanyahu: Offensive has just begun
In response to Hamas terror, Israel is attacking targets in the Gaza Strip, where Hamas holds power. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a televised speech that the military’s offensive had only just begun. “What we do to our enemies in the days to come will reverberate within them for generations.”
At least 900 dead
According to Israeli media, the number of people killed in Hamas’ major attack on Israel on Saturday has risen to at least 900. There were more than 260 deaths at a music festival in southern Israel alone. The Israeli rescue service Zaka also reported that more than 100 bodies were recovered from the rural Kibbutz Beeri, the scene of a hostage crisis.
According to Israeli President Izchak Herzog, not since the Holocaust have as many Jews been killed in one day as in the Hamas terror attacks on Saturday. “Not since the Holocaust have we seen Jewish women and children, grandparents – even Holocaust survivors – being crammed into trucks and taken into captivity,” he said.
The Hamas supporters also tortured innocent Muslims and other believers. Entire families were murdered in cold blood, said Herzog. “We will act with full force and unwavering commitment to eliminate this threat to our people.”
Attacks in Israel, counterattacks in the Gaza Strip
Hamas continued firing rockets at Israel. Several people are said to have been injured in several rocket hits on towns in the surrounding area of Jerusalem. The Israeli newspaper Haaretz put the number of injured at ten, including two seriously injured.
Accordingly, a rocket hit Har Adar, 15 kilometers west of Jerusalem. Another hit the neighboring Arab town of Abu Gosh and another in the Israeli settlement of Betar Illit, around ten kilometers southwest of Jerusalem. “Haaretz” also reported another impact in the Israeli settlement block “Gush Etzion” southwest of Jerusalem with four people injured, one of them seriously.
At around the same time, Hamas said a rocket had been fired at Jerusalem in response to the bombing of civilians’ homes in Gaza. The sirens also sounded in Tel Aviv.
Fighting in northern Israel too
There had previously been further fighting in northern Israel when fighters crossed the border into Jerusalem from Lebanon. Israel’s army said it responded with helicopter gunships and attacked targets in Lebanon.
Israeli soldiers had previously shot several armed suspects who had advanced into Israel from its northern neighbor. Israeli television reported that residents in the north of the country had been ordered to stay in shelters.
According to military reports, Israel has attacked targets in Lebanon.
Islamic Jihad claims responsibility
Meanwhile, the Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement, has claimed responsibility for the attack on the Lebanese-Israeli border.
In southern Israel, the scene of the Hamas attack, Israel’s top military spokesman said troops had regained control of captured communities but that isolated clashes continued as some gunmen remained active.