Hundreds of rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip into Israel and gunmen infiltrated Israeli territory on Saturday morning in a large-scale Hamas offensive. Israel responded with a wave of air strikes on targets in Gaza, killing 198 people, according to Palestinian officials. Israeli Prime Minister declares Israel at war after Gaza attack kills 100.
By launching a major ground offensive in Israel itself on October 7, Hamas managed to take the Israeli army completely by surprise. Nobody, it’s true, expected such audacity, such recklessness, and even such efficiency from the Islamist movement that holds the Gaza Strip with an iron fist. The slap in the face for the Israeli army, the leadership of the Hebrew state and its secret services is enormous.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that Israel was “at war” and promised that Hamas, the militant group ruling Gaza, would “pay a price it has never known”.
An emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on the situation in the Middle East and the Palestinian question will be held on Sunday following the violence between Israel and Hamas, the UN announced in a statement.
Israel’s ambassador to France, Raphael Morav, acknowledged the possibility of a failure in the Israeli intelligence services, as well as his country’s inadequate preparation for the Hamas offensive, in interviews with French media.
Israel ordered its state electricity company to stop supplying power to the Gaza Strip on Saturday, following Hamas’s surprise attack on Israel.
The armed wing of Hamas confirmed that it had captured dozens of Israeli soldiers and officers during its surprise offensive against the Jewish state.
These hostages have been placed in “safe places” and tunnels, said Abu Obeida, a spokesman for the armed wing of the Palestinian Islamist movement.
This situation, if confirmed, could pave the way for negotiations on prisoner exchanges with Israel, which holds thousands of Palestinians in its prisons.
