The ruling Hamas militant group in the Gaza Strip carried out an unprecedented, multifront attack on Israel at daybreak Saturday, firing thousands of rockets as dozens of Hamas fighters infiltrated the heavily fortified border in several locations by air, land, and sea and catching the country off guard on a major holiday. Six hours after the invasion began, Hamas militants were still fighting gun battles inside several Israeli communities in a surprising show of strength that shook the country, per the AP. Israel's national rescue service said at least 22 people have been killed and hundreds wounded, making it the deadliest attack in Israel in years. The Soroka Medical Center in the southern Israeli city of Beersheba said it was treating at least 280 casualties, with 60 in serious condition.
There was no official comment on casualties in Gaza, but AP reporters witnessed the funerals of 15 people who were killed and saw another eight bodies arrive at a local hospital. It wasn't immediately clear if they were fighters or civilians. Social media was replete with videos of Hamas fighters parading what appeared to be stolen Israeli military vehicles through the streets and at least one dead Israeli soldier within Gaza being dragged and trampled by an angry crowd of Palestinians shouting "God is great!" Videos released by Hamas appeared to show at least three Israelis captured alive. The military declined to give details about casualties or kidnappings as it continued to battle the infiltrators.
"We are at war," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a televised address, declaring a mass mobilization of the country's army reserves. "Not an 'operation,' not a 'round,' but at war." "The enemy will pay an unprecedented price," he added, promising that Israel would "return fire of a magnitude that the enemy has not known." The serious invasion on Simchat Torah, a normally joyous day when Jews complete the annual cycle of reading the Torah scroll, revived painful memories of the 1973 Mideast war practically 50 years to the day, in which Israel's enemies launched a surprise attack on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar. Comparisons to one of the most traumatic moments in Israeli history sharpened criticism of Netanyahu and his far-right allies, who'd campaigned on more aggressive action against threats from Gaza.
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Political commentators lambasted the government over its failure to anticipate what appeared to be a Hamas attack unseen in its level of planning and coordination. It wasn't immediately clear what prompted Hamas to launch its attack, which came after weeks of simmering tensions along the Gaza frontier. The shadowy leader of Hamas' military wing, Mohammed Deif, announced the start of what he called "Operation Al-Aqsa Storm." "Enough is enough," Deif, who doesn't appear in public, said in his recorded message, as he called on Palestinians from east Jerusalem to northern Israel to join the fight. "Today the people are regaining their revolution." In a televised address, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant warned that Hamas had made "a grave mistake" and promised that "the state of Israel will win this war." More here.
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