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Palestinian militants on Saturday launched the biggest attack on Israel in years, sending fighters over the border from Gaza, taking hostages and firing thousands of rockets in an ongoing assault.
Israel’s prime minister said the country was “at war” as the military launched retaliatory strikes against Hamas targets in Gaza.
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In an attack that also caught the Biden administration by surprise, the militant group Hamas launched a sustained barrage of thousands of rockets in a coordinated assault by land, sea and air and its forces crossed the Gaza border.
Israel declared war on Hamas and said it launched retaliatory strikes against 17 military compounds and locations connected to Hamas’s leadership in Gaza. Israel Defense Forces are going house to house in the southern part of the country near Gaza, in an effort to clear the area of Hamas militants.
Around 300 Israelis, mostly civilians, were confirmed dead and 1,590 wounded. At least 232 Palestinians have been killed so far and more than 1,697 injured.
Israeli soldiers and civilians had been captured and taken into Gaza, the Israeli military said. Israeli hostages were also being held by militants in at least two Israeli towns.
Hamas says that the attacks are only the beginning and that it is preparing for a long battle. Iran praised Palestinian militants for the assault.
Israel’s failure to anticipate the attack left the world questioning what went wrong.