Hamas launches surprise attack on Israel with gunmen, rocket barrage
Updated October 7, 2023 — 8.29pm
Jerusalem: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declared war on Hamas, after the group launched the biggest attack on Israel in years, targeting Israeli cities with rockets and even infiltrating the south of the country and seizing a police station.
Air raid sirens went on across the country including Jerusalem yesterday morning local time after Hamas military leader Mohamed al-Deid announced a military operation that sent about 5000 missiles from the Gaza Strip towards Israel.
Cars are burning after a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip hit a parking lot and a residential building in Ashkelon, southern Israel.Credit: AP
In response, Netanyahu announced in a televised statement: “We are at war” and added: “We will bring the fight to them with might and scale which the enemy has not yet known.″
In an Israeli town close to the Gaza border, masked militants were caught on tape firing shots.A retaliatory Israeli air strike hit Gaza’s interior security building, destroying it.
Extraordinary scenes were reported across Gaza as a portion of a fence with Israel was seen smashed and a group of men crowded around an Israeli tank before they set it on fire.
The prime minister also ordered the military to clear the infiltrated towns of Hamas militants that remained locked in gunfights with Israeli soldiers.
As warning sirens wailed across southern and central Israel, including in Jerusalem, Israel’s military said it was on a war footing and the defence minister said the Iran-backed Hamas had made a “grave mistake” by declaring war on Israel.
Saturday’s incident marked an unprecedented infiltration by Hamas gunmen into Israel from Gaza, and was the most serious escalation since Israel and Hamas fought a 10-day war in 2021.
Israeli media reported gunbattles between bands of Palestinian fighters and security forces in towns in southern Israel. In Gaza, people rushed to buy supplies in anticipation of days of conflict ahead.
Hamas military commander Mohammad Deif announced the start of the operation in a broadcast on Hamas media, calling on Palestinians everywhere to fight.
“This is the day of the greatest battle to end the last occupation on earth,” he said, adding that 5000 rockets had been launched.
One Israeli woman was killed, according to emergency services, as ambulance crews were deployed in areas around the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli military said its forces were operating inside Gaza but gave no details.
“A number of terrorists have infiltrated into Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip,” the military said in a statement, adding that residents in the area surrounding the Gaza Strip had been told to stay in their homes.
Israeli media reported that gunmen had opened fire on passers-by in the town of Sderot, in southern Israel, and footage circulating on social media appeared to show clashes in city streets as well as gunmen in jeeps roaming the countryside.
Police officers evacuate a woman and a child from a site hit by a rocket in Ashkelon.Credit: AP
Israel began striking targets in Gaza in response, setting the stage for what was likely to be a new heavy round of fighting between the bitter enemies.
Videos posted on social media showed what appeared to be uniformed Palestinian gunmen inside the Israeli border town of Sderot. A video from Gaza showed what looked like the lifeless body of an Israeli soldier being trampled by an angry crowd shouting “God is great”. Another video appeared to show Palestinian militants dragging away a live Israeli soldier on a motorcycle. Other videos showed a crowd of Palestinian men dancing around and atop an Israeli tank that was on fire. The authenticity of the videos could not immediately be verified.
Palestinian media also reported that a number of Israelis had been taken captive by fighters and Hamas media circulated video footage apparently showing a destroyed Israeli tank.
The Israeli military was aware of reports of captives, a security source said, but provided no further details.
Rockets are fired from the Gaza Strip as Hamas announced a new operation against Israel.Credit: AP
Netanyahu’s office said he would meet top security officials in the coming hours and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant authorised the call-up of reservists.
In Gaza the roar of rocket launches could be heard and residents reported armed clashes along the separation fence with Israel, near the southern town of Khan Younis, and said they had seen significant movement of armed fighters.
Israel’s ambulance service said teams had been dispatched to areas in southern Israel near Gaza and residents were warned to stay inside.
Israeli firefighters extinguish fire after a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip hit a parking lot in Ashkelon.Credit: AP
A group representing military reservists who had planned to refuse to attend training over their objections to the government’s plans to overhaul the judiciary called on reservists to report for duty.
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad group said its fighters were joining Hamas in the attack.
“We are part of this battle, our fighters are side-by-side with their brothers in the Qassam Brigades until victory is achieved,” said Islamic Jihad armed wing spokesman Abu Hamza on a post on Telegram.
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The violence erupted a day after Hamas, which rules Gaza, said that the “people had to draw a line to end the occupation” and added that Israel continued to commit crimes across Palestinian land, and especially on the holy site of Al-Aqsa in Jerusalem.
Similar tension around the Al-Aqsa mosque started a round of confrontations earlier this year.
In Gaza the roar of launches could be heard and residents reported armed clashes along the separation fence with Israel, near the southern town of Khan Younis and said they had seen significant movement of armed fighters.
Israel’s ambulance service said teams had been dispatched to areas in southern Israel near Gaza, and residents were warned to stay inside.
Salah Arouri, an exiled Hamas leader, said the operation was a response “to the crimes of the occupation.” He said fighters were defending the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem and the thousands of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
New York Times, Reuters, AP
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