After the Hamas attack, Israel declared a state of war. Hundreds of deaths have been reported and more than 100 people have been abducted from Israel. The USA wants to show its presence.
After the unprecedented attack on Israel by the Islamist Hamas, new, gruesome details continue to emerge. Emergency services found at least 260 bodies on a festival site in the Negev desert alone, as the news website Ynet reported, citing the Zaka rescue service.
According to consistent Israeli media reports on Sunday evening, at least 700 people died in the major attack on the Israeli side. Israel’s counterattacks have killed at least 413 people in the Gaza Strip, the Gaza Health Ministry said.
The Islamist Hamas launched surprise rocket attacks against Israel from Gaza on Saturday morning. At the same time, armed Palestinians advanced into Israel by land, sea and air. Hamas fighters took hostages in several Israeli towns and also abducted dozens of people to the Gaza Strip. Fighting and shelling continued on Sunday.
Israel declares a state of war
In response to the bloody attack by Hamas, Israel has declared a state of war. “The war that was forced on Israel by a murderous terrorist attack from the Gaza Strip began at 6 a.m. on October 7, 2023,” said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The state of war allows “far-reaching military steps”.
USA moves warships to the region
In response, the USA relocates the aircraft carrier “USS Gerald R. Ford” and other warships to the eastern Mediterranean. In addition, preparations have been made to relocate Air Force squadrons with their fighter jets to the region, the US Department of Defense said. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced that the US would also provide the Israeli armed forces with additional equipment and ammunition.
Videos show shots fired at festival participants
Hamas fighters also attacked participants in a music festival near the border with the Gaza Strip on Saturday and abducted numerous people. The media quoted eyewitnesses who spoke of a massacre. Videos are circulating online that show how the revelers flee from the attackers’ shots.
Israel completely surprised by attack
It was unclear why Israel was so surprised. Numerous residents of the attacked towns reported that they had waited in vain for help from security forces for hours. According to media reports, on Sunday the Israeli army managed to bring many places back under its control. More bodies of killed residents were repeatedly found.
According to the Israeli military on Sunday evening, Palestinian attackers were still in the country. Some of the intruders were killed, but some were still on site, a spokesman said.
Over 100 people kidnapped by Hamas
In its major attack, Hamas not only killed hundreds of Israelis but, according to official Israeli figures, also abducted more than 100 people to the Gaza Strip. Media reports even spoke of up to 170 kidnapped people.
The federal government assumes that there are also German citizens among them. The Foreign Office in Berlin assumes that these are people who all have Israeli and German citizenship.
Hundreds dead in Gaza counterattack
Israel continued to carry out attacks on Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip on Sunday in response to the attack. The airstrikes in the Gaza Strip killed at least 413 people and injured 2,300, the Ministry of Health there said. According to the Israeli military, Hamas often uses civilian buildings for its positions.
Scholz pledges unwavering solidarity to Israel
Chancellor Olaf Scholz has pledged Germany’s full solidarity with Israel in response to the large-scale attack by the Islamist Hamas. In a telephone conversation, he assured Prime Minister Netanyahu “that Germany stands firmly and unwaveringly by Israel’s side in the face of this terrible attack,” said Scholz. The Development Ministry announced it would review its entire commitment to the Palestinian territories.
Hamas’ surprise attack began almost exactly 50 years after the Yom Kippur War of 1973. The attack by hostile Arab states on Israel on the highest Jewish holiday is considered the worst national trauma to date.
Israel’s president points to Iran
Israeli President Izchak Herzog has blamed Iran for the major attack by Hamas. The “unforgivable sin” was not only “led by a murderous terrorist organization, but also by an evil axis whose base is in Iran,” he said in an address to the nation on Sunday evening. Iran’s proxies worked tirelessly to dismantle Israel.
The Shiite organization Hezbollah, which is closely allied with Iran, claimed responsibility for a rocket fire from southeast Lebanon into Israeli-occupied areas.
Netanyahu: Take revenge
“We will turn all the places where Hamas is organized and hides into islands of rubble,” Netanyahu said in a speech. He called on residents of the Gaza Strip to “flee from there now, because we will act everywhere and with all our strength.” Israel will take revenge.
Israel declared the “Iron Swords” defense operation and called up reservists. The aim is to destroy the military and political capacities 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, it said after a meeting of the security cabinet.
There are fears that Jews are also at risk outside of Israel
The President of the Central Council of Jews, Josef Schuster, pointed out the threat to Jewish life elsewhere: “The threat to Jewish institutions here in Germany shows that the terrorists are not just concerned with Israel, but that Jewish life is in question everywhere is provided.” Two Israeli tourists died in a suspected attack in Alexandria, Egypt, on Sunday when an attacker opened fire on a tour group.
Representatives of Muslims in Germany condemned the attacks by the Islamist Hamas and warned of their impact on Germany. “In view of the conflict in the Middle East, Jewish and Muslim places of worship and institutions in Germany must not become a projection surface for this violent conflict,” demanded the Coordination Council of Muslims, the umbrella organization of the largest Islamic organizations in Germany.