Many people were killed in Israel in massive attacks from the Gaza Strip. Palestinian militants entered Israel by land, sea and air. Apparently there are hostage takings. Israel responds with air strikes.
Palestinian militants have been carrying out a massive attack on Israel since morning. Numerous militants advanced into Israel from the Gaza Strip. There were heavy fighting with Israeli soldiers and hostage-taking.
According to the Israeli army, 2,200 rockets have also been fired from the Gaza Strip at targets in Israel since early morning. Warning sirens wailed in various cities across the country, including Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. The military called on residents of the southern and central parts of the country to move to protected areas. ARD correspondent Sophie von der Tann said in the early afternoon of our time that the shelling was continuing but had become weaker.
At least 40 Israelis dead, hundreds injured
At least 40 people were killed, according to the Israeli emergency service, and at least 779 were injured, according to the Health Ministry. The authorities expect more victims.
The Israeli military responded by shelling targets in the Gaza Strip. A spokesman said dozens of fighter jets were involved in the attack. 17 military installations and four command centers of the Islamist Hamas, which rules in the Gaza Strip, were attacked. According to the AFP news agency, there were at least nine deaths. The Palestinian authorities report almost 200 deaths in the Gaza Strip.
Gaza Strip
Attack on Israel
Palestinians invade Israel
Israeli television showed armed terrorists from Gaza invading Israeli towns such as the 30,000-inhabitant city of Sderot. It is two kilometers from the border. A video shows fighters standing on a balcony. Terrorists ring doorbells, people lie shot dead on the ground at a bus stop. A woman reports in fear as she waits for help in the bunker with her husband and child.
Gal Naim, a resident of Sderot, sent the ARD this message from his house:
Our worst fears have come true. Terrorists who want to kill us walk our streets. It is reminiscent of the ISIS terrorists who drove their jeeps through the desert in Iraq and Afghanistan. They are at my door. We are under siege in our homes with our loved ones. We hear gunshots and explosions echoing through the streets. We are stressed, but we are Zionists and we are not afraid.
Reports of hostage taking
Images that ARDGaza workers show captured soldiers under a tarpaulin, terrorists driving around in an Israeli military jeep, and a crowd trampling on a dead soldier.
ARDCorrespondent von der Tann reports on numerous social media videos that are supposed to show kidnapped Israeli soldiers and civilians: “There are cruel, sometimes bloody scenes,” says von der Tann.
Hamas itself released a video showing three prisoners in civilian clothes. According to Hamas, these were three captured Israeli soldiers. The information cannot be independently verified.
Hamas were able to cross barriers
It is unclear how the militants were able to penetrate Israel despite strict border controls. Army spokesman Richard Hecht said that, among other things, gliders were used. He could not name the number of attackers.
Israel has built a massive fence along the border with Gaza to prevent infiltration. It also runs deep underground and is equipped with cameras, high-tech sensors and sensitive listening technology. The fact that Hamas has overcome the barriers is a great success for it.
“We are at war”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video message from military headquarters in Tel Aviv: “Citizens of Israel, we are at war.” The country was officially put on war alert. This enables the army, for example, to mobilize reservists, which Defense Minister Joav Galant has already approved. “Hamas made a big mistake this morning,” he said.
The attack came on the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah, the last in a series of festivals, and appears to have caught Israel by surprise, reminiscent of the start of the Yom Kippur War in 1973, when Egypt and Syria initially caught Israel by surprise.
Hamas speaks of “Military operation”
The militant Islamist Hamas, which rules in Gaza, declared the start of a “military operation” against Israel this morning. It was decided to put an end to Israeli “crimes,” said military chief Mohammed Deif. “So the enemy will understand that the time to rage without being held accountable is over. We announce the start of Operation ‘Al Aqsa Flood’.” He spoke of 5,000 rockets fired. Deif also called on Israeli Palestinians and Arab populations beyond Israel’s borders to take part in the attacks on Israel.
According to its own information, the Palestinian militia “Islamic Jihad” is also involved in the attacks.
Always clashes
The situation in the Palestinian territories, especially in the occupied West Bank, had recently become more dire again. Four Palestinians have been killed there since Thursday in their own attacks or in confrontations with the Israeli army.
There have been several violent protests at the Gaza border in the past month. Explosive devices were also thrown at soldiers and several Palestinians were injured by gunfire. The Israeli Air Force repeatedly attacked Hamas posts in the Gaza Strip in response to the incidents.
According to the UN, more than two million people live in very poor conditions in the Gaza Strip. Hamas, classified as a terrorist organization by the EU, USA and Israel, violently seized sole power in 2007. Israel then tightened a blockade of the coastal area, which Egypt supported.
With information from Jan-Christoph Kitzler and Bettina Meier, ARD Tel Aviv