Israeli officials report a major escalation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as Palestinian militants launched a “war” against Israel. They executed a daring infiltration operation by air, sea, and land from the blockaded Gaza Strip on Saturday.
According to Israeli healthcare workers, the death toll stands at 22 people.
Responding to the surprise attack, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated, “We are at war,” and he has ordered a substantial mobilisation of army reserves. He issued a stern warning, pledging that the enemy would face an unparalleled price for their actions.
In a recently released video, Iran-backed Hamas, the governing authority in the Gaza Strip, exhibited their fighters detaining three individuals in civilian attire, referring to them as “enemy soldiers” in the video caption.
‘We decided to put an end to all the crimes of the occupation (Israel). Their time for rampaging without being held accountable is over,’ said the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the Hamas armed wing.
‘We announce Operation Al-Aqsa Flood and we fired, in the first strike of 20 minutes, more than 5,000 rockets.’
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Israel’s military has confirmed that its troops are on the ground, battling Palestinian militants in various locations near the Gaza Strip. The operation is codenamed “Swords of Iron.”
Army spokesman Richard Hecht said the militants conducted a combined raid ‘which happened through paragliders, through the sea and through the ground’.
He refrained from commenting on reports suggesting that Israelis may have been taken captive.
Unsubstantiated video clips on social media portray the bodies of multiple people donned in military gear, along with casualties among motorists and passengers on a highway.
According to Israeli media, a woman, accompanied by her two-year-old child, cried out for assistance as militants targeted her residence, firing shots, and attempting to breach their secure room.
Since Hamas gained control in 2007, militant infiltration from Gaza, a poverty-stricken region housing 2.3 million people, has been uncommon, contributing to Israel’s enduring blockade. Gaza remains sealed off from Israel by a heavily militarized border barrier.
Hecht’s assessment indicates that the Gaza rocket barrage, numbering no less than 2,200 projectiles, resulted in blazing vehicles underneath residential buildings in Ashkelon, an Israeli city located approximately 10 kilometers (six miles) to the north of Gaza.