2023-10-07 10:51:56
Israel and Gaza are at war this Saturday, following the terrorist group Hamas launched a surprise attack with hundreds of missiles on Jewish territory, while groups of fighters had also infiltrated different places on the border with Israel, and clashed with the army. “We are in war”declared the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.
“This is not a simple operation (…) the enemy will pay an unprecedented price,” the president assured in a video message to the population, pointing out that Hamas, which governs the Gaza enclave, launched “a criminal surprise attack.”
Netanyahu ordered “an extensive mobilization of reservists” to respond to the Hamas offensive, and in several places in Israeli territory columns of smoke rose this Saturday due to the impact of the missiles, which began to fall at 6:30 in the morning.
The armed arm of Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack and assured that they launched “thousands” of projectiles. Israeli forces responded by carrying out air strikes once morest Hamas targets, and assured that they were also fighting on land, near the Palestinian enclave, once morest militants infiltrated from Gaza by land, sea and air.
“There was a combined attack with the help of paragliders”Israeli army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Richard Hecht told reporters, warning that “something big” was happening.
At least two people died in IsraelAccording to the authorities: a woman in her 60s, in the south of the country, and an Israeli representative in the northeast of the Gaza Strip in a shootout with infiltrated militiamen.
Violence broke out once more in Israel, with bombings in Gaza and southern Lebanon
Hamas also released a video showing three men it said were captured by its fighters.
“Operation Deluge”
The Israeli armed forces reported the activation of sirens in the south of the countrywhile the police asked the population to stay near the bomb shelters.
Sirens were also activated in Jerusalem, according to AFP journalists, who saw rockets being intercepted in the sky shortly following the alarms were sounded.
The armed wing of Hamas claimed responsibility for the projectile attack and assured that More than 5,000 rockets were launched.
“We decided to put an end to all the crimes of the (Israeli) occupation; its time of rampaging without accountability is over,” the group declared. “We announced Operation Al Aqsa Deluge and fired, in the first 20-minute attack, more than 5,000 rockets.”
Israel bombed the Gaza Strip: 11 Palestinians killed
The Israeli army reported firing at least 2,200 rockets from Gaza as of 10:30 local time.
Hundreds of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip left their homes to move away from border areas with Israel. Men, women and children fled with blankets and foodmost of them from the northeastern part of the Palestinian enclave, an AFP journalist noted.
The escalation of violence sparked numerous international reactions.
Russia called for calm, and said it was “in contact with the whole world right now, with the Israelis, the Palestinians and the Arabs”, according to Mikhail Bogdanov, deputy foreign minister and Kremlin emissary to the Middle East and Africa. Turkey also urged Israelis and Palestinians to “act reasonably.”
The European Union “unequivocally” condemned the attacks “by Hamas terrorists” and expressed its “solidarity with Israel”, which has the “right to defend itself”said the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.
France, the United Kingdom, Germany and Spain condemned the Hamas attacks and both Italy and Ukraine supported Israel’s right to defend itself.
Border protests
Israel maintains a harsh blockade once morest the Gaza Stripan impoverished and overpopulated Palestinian territory, since Hamas assumed full power in 2007.
Since then there have been several devastating wars between Palestinian fighters and Israeli forces. The two sides experienced tensions in September, when Israel closed the border to Palestinian workers for two weeks.
The border closure was criticized as collective punishment that harmed thousands of Palestinian workers, who can earn more money working in Israel than in Gaza, where unemployment is very high.
The Border reopening sparked hope for an improvement in the situation in Gaza, where 2.3 million people live. In May, an exchange of Israeli airstrikes and rockets from Gaza left 34 Palestinians and one Israeli dead.
AFP/HB
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