London- In an unprecedented development Palestinian resistance factions, led by Hamas, launched a massive offensive against Israel in the wee hours of Saturday taking the right wing government in the Jewish state by surprise.
The offensive code named “Operation Al-Aqsa Flood” began at dawn Saturday with a barrage of rockets falling into central and southern Israel followed by Palestinian fighters crossing over into the occupied territories from land, sea, and air.
Videos purportedly showed Palestinian fighters inside an Israeli military base as bodies of dead soldiers lay on the ground. Israel’s N12 News quoting ambulance services reported at least 150 Israelis dead and over 1500 wounded. The report said over 30 Israeli soldiers have been taken hostage.
In retaliation Israeli Air Force bombarded densely populated Gaza Strip leaving at least 198 people dead and 1,610 wounded by the nightfall Saturday, the Palestinian health ministry said.
Scores of residential buildings were reduced to rubble, media reports said.
Earlier hundreds of Palestinian fighters infiltrated into Israel in the morning, crossing at multiple points, overwhelming what the IDF considered to be the highly sophisticated border fence.
Thirteen hours after the start of the attacks, there are reported to still be 22 “active” areas in southern Israel, where gunmen are still active or feared to be in the field, Times of Israel reported.
Israel said the Iran-backed group had declared war as its army confirmed fighting with militants in several Israeli towns and military bases near Gaza and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to retaliate.
Reports said armed fighters breached the military border and blasted their way into Israel in SUVs, motorcycles and paragliders.
The attack marked an unprecedented infiltration by an unknown number of Palestinian fighters into Israel from Gaza, and one of the most serious escalations in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since 1948.
The massive surprise attack on Israel by Hamas on Saturday is a “Pearl Harbor type of moment” for the country, former Israel Defense Forces international spokesperson Jonathan Conricus told CNN.
“The entire system failed. It’s not just one component. It’s the entire defense architecture that evidently failed to provide the necessary defense for Israeli civilians,” he said of the early morning attack. “This is a Pearl Harbor type of moment for Israel, where there was reality up until today, and then there will be reality after today.”
The attack, in which Palestinian fighters entered Israel and infiltrated military bases, towns and farms and took hostages, is unprecedented in Israeli history since town-by-town fighting in the 1948 war of independence.
Israeli broadcaster Reshet 13 TV News said fighters were holding Israelis hostage in the town of Ofakim, and that five Palestinian militants had been killed in the town of Sderot and homes had been set on fire.
Israeli media reported gunbattles between bands of Palestinian fighters and security forces in towns in southern Israel. Israel’s police chief said there were “21 active scenes” in southern Israel, indicating the extent of the attack.
Red alert warning sirens were activated in Tel Aviv, Sde Boker, Arad, and Dimona in the south as explosions were heard by residents on Saturday. In Jerusalem, rocket sirens sounded followed by the sound of explosions.
Cars were seen on fire after a rocket landed in Ashkelon, southern Israel.
Hamas military commander Mohammad Deif announced the start of the operation in a broadcast, 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 5,000 rockets had been launched.
Later Hamas’ armed wing said more than 7,000 rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip into Israel on Saturday, declaring it had started “Operation al-Aqsa Storm”.
“We decided to put an end to all the crimes of the occupation, their time for rampaging without being held accountable is over,” Hamas said.
Al-Quds Brigades military wing of Islamic Jihad, another major Palestinian faction also declared that its fighters have joined the operation as Hamas called on Palestinians everywhere to fight.
“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.
“This storm which started from Gaza will spread to the West Bank and outside the country and all the places where our people and nation are present,” Hamas politburo chief Ismail Haniyeh said.
“The enemy besieging Gaza has planned to surprise it and escalate the aggression against our people in the Gaza Strip, in addition to the settlement and aggression that continues every moment in the West Bank, which seeks to uproot our people and expel them from their land, and the crimes of the occupation against our people in the 1948s, as it stands behind all the killing and assassination operations there, and the occupation’s continuation of detaining our prisoners for decades, and reneging on agreements when he re-arrested those liberated from the swap deal,” Haniyeh said.
For its part, Hezbollah issued a statement congratulating the Gaza resistance for the “heroic operation,” calling it “a decisive response to the continuing crimes of the occupation … and a [clear reminder] that the will of the Palestinian people and the rifle of resistance are the only options in the face of aggression and occupation and a message to the Arab and Islamic world and the entire international community, especially those seeking normalization.”
The escalation comes against a backdrop of surging violence between Israel and Palestinians in the West Bank, which together with the Gaza Strip is part of the territories where Palestinians have long sought to establish a state.
It also comes at a time of political upheaval in Israel, which has been riven by deep divisions over moves to overhaul the judiciary, and as Washington works to strike a deal that would normalise ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
REPORTS OF ISRAELIS TAKEN CAPTIVE
Palestinian media displayed videos of what it said were bodies of Israeli soldiers brought into Gaza by fighters, and Palestinian gunmen inside Israeli homes and touring an Israeli town in jeeps reportedly driven into Israel by the fighters.
Palestinians in Gaza and West Bank expressed disbelief at the infiltration into Israel. “It is like a dream. I still can’t believe it,” said one Gaza shopkeeper.
The attack came a day after Israel marked the 50th anniversary of the 1973 war that brought the country to the verge of catastrophic defeat in a surprise attack by Syria and Egypt.
Meanwhile, in the Israeli settlements near Gaza, settlers have communicated with media outlets saying many have barricaded themselves inside their homes and are begging Tel Aviv to “send troops.”
“There are wounded here … There are burning houses,” a resident of the illegal Kibbutz Beeri settlement told Israel Channel 12 news, adding that the feeling among settlers is that the have been “abandoned.”
“Hamas made a grave mistake this morning and started a war against the State of Israel. [Army] soldiers are fighting the enemy at all the infiltration sites,” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said earlier on Saturday in remarks provided by his office.
“The State of Israel will win this war,” he added.
The US embassy in Israel says it is “closely monitoring” the security situation.
“US citizens are reminded to remain vigilant and take appropriate steps to increase their security awareness as security incidents, including mortar and rocket fire, often take place without warning,” an embassy statement reads.
Israel cuts power supply to Gaza
Israeli Energy Minister Yisrael Katz signed an order that would disconnect the Gaza Strip from the Israeli electricity grid on Saturday evening.
Israel supplies about two-thirds of the Strip’s electricity needs, and the remaining third is produced at the Gaza power plant. Gaza has an energy shortage even when supplied with electricity from Israel, and now the shortage is expected to worsen greatly.
Follow this link to join our WhatsApp group: Join Now
Be Part of Quality Journalism |
Quality journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce and despite all the hardships we still do it. Our reporters and editors are working overtime in Kashmir and beyond to cover what you care about, break big stories, and expose injustices that can change lives. Today more people are reading Kashmir Observer than ever, but only a handful are paying while advertising revenues are falling fast. |
| ACT NOW |
| MONTHLY | Rs 100 |  |
| YEARLY | Rs 1000 | |
| LIFETIME | Rs 10000 | |
