After the massive attacks by Hamas, fighting continues on Israeli soil. The number of deaths is increasing on both sides: a total of more than 600 victims were reported. Two Israeli hostages are said to have been freed.
The Israeli army still does not have the situation around the Gaza Strip completely under control. There are still militant Palestinians on Israeli territory. The military said there were fighting in eight locations. 26 soldiers were killed. Hundreds of attackers from the terrorist organization Hamas have been killed and dozens of attackers have been arrested.
The army said the barrier to the Gaza Strip had been breached in 29 places and that these were now all under control. Israel had built a massive fence along the border with Gaza to prevent infiltration. It also runs deep underground and is equipped with complex technology.
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.
Hundreds of deaths
According to official figures, a total of around 300 Israelis were killed in the attack by Palestinian terrorists. Around 1,600 people were injured.
On the Palestinian side in the Gaza Strip, more than 300 people were killed and nearly 2,000 injured in Israeli counterattacks, the health ministry there announced. Israel said it attacked 426 targets in the Gaza Strip.
Hezbollah fires on Israel from Lebanon
In the morning, Israeli soldiers killed five more 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.
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.
Hamas spokesman Ghazi Hamad told the BBC that the group received direct support for the attack from Iran. Iran is committed to “supporting the Palestinian struggle until the liberation of Palestine and Jerusalem.”
Military: Two hostages freed
The Israeli military also reported that it had ended two hostage takings. It is unclear whether all of the hostages survived. Hamas attackers had taken an unknown number of hostages since Saturday morning.
According to a report in the “Bild” newspaper, Germans are among the hostages: two people recognized their relatives on Hamas videos. The Foreign Office said it was in contact with the Israeli authorities to find out whether there were also German hostages.
Netanyahu announces retaliation
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 Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced after 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. At the same time, an offensive phase was initiated, which will continue without restrictions until the goals are achieved. He called on the residents of the Gaza Strip: “Flee from there now, because we will act everywhere and with all our strength.”
Discussions about forming an emergency government were also taking place in the background in the evening. Netanyahu has offered the two opposition leaders Jair Lapid and Benny Gantz to join an emergency government, a spokesman for Netanyahu’s Likud party said.
Major attack on Jewish holiday
Hamas surprised Israel on Saturday with an unprecedented combination of major attacks. It fired thousands of rockets at Israel, and at the same time its fighters crossed the heavily secured border with Israel. A massive Israeli deployment in the Gaza Strip is expected in the coming days – possibly also with ground troops.
Yesterday’s attack took place on the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah, the last in a series of festivals. He apparently took Israel by surprise, reminiscent of the beginning of the Yom Kippur War in 1973, when Egypt and Syria initially took Israel by surprise.
With information from Jan-Christoph Kitzler, Tel Aviv