2023-10-09 13:53:44
Israeli troops were still fighting on Monday to remove Hamas gunmen, more than two days after they crossed the Gaza fence in a deadly operation, and the army said it would soon go on the offensive following the country’s biggest mobilization. history of Israel.
Fighting was taking place in several locations inside Israel, where fighters were still hiding after killing 700 Israelis and capturing dozens of hostages in an attack that shattered Israel’s reputation for invincibility.
In Hamas-controlled Gaza, Israel has carried out the most intense retaliatory strikes in history, killing around 500 people since Saturday. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Israel’s blockade would be tightened to prevent food and fuel from being brought to the site, where 2.3 million people live.
Israel’s top military spokesman said troops had reestablished control of communities that had been overrun, but that isolated clashes continued as some Palestinian snipers remained active.
“We are now carrying out searches in all communities and clearing the area,” said chief military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari.
Earlier, another spokesman, Lt. Col. Richard Hecht, acknowledged that it was “taking longer than we expected to get things back into a defensive and security posture.”
The shocking images of the bodies of hundreds of Israeli civilians strewn across city streets, shot dead at an outdoor party and kidnapped from their homes have never been seen before in the decades-long conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.
Hagari said 300,000 reservists had already been mobilized in just two days.
“We have never called up so many reservists on such a large scale,” declared Hagari. “We are going on the offensive.”
Palestinians reported receiving calls and audio messages from Israeli security agents, telling them to abandon areas mainly in Gaza’s northern and eastern territories, and warning that the army would operate there.
Hamas says the attack is justified by Gaza’s situation under a 16-year blockade, an Israeli crackdown in the occupied West Bank that has been the deadliest in years and a far-right Israeli government that talks of annexing Palestinian land. Israel and Western countries say nothing justifies the intentional killing of civilians.
The attackers shot and killed dozens of young Israelis – media reported that 260 were killed – at an open-air party in the desert. A day later, dozens of survivors were still leaving hiding places. The place was full of destroyed and abandoned cars.
“It was a massacre, a total massacre,” said Arik Nani, who was celebrating his 26th birthday and escaped by hiding for hours in a field.
Israel’s retaliation was also on a scale never seen before, despite four wars in Gaza since Hamas took control of the region 16 years ago. In images obtained by Reuters, dozens of people were seen climbing collapsed buildings in search of survivors, with the air still dusty from the impact. Sirens sounded as emergency crews pulled out cars that caught fire.
Egypt, which in the past was a mediator between Israel and Hamas in times of conflict, maintained close contact with both sides, trying to avoid further escalation, according to Egyptian security sources.
The violence also puts at risk US-backed moves to normalize relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia – a security realignment that could threaten Palestinian hopes for self-determination and encircle Hamas-backer Iran.
By Henriette Chacar and Nidal al-Mughrabi
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