GAZA/JERUSALEM, Oct 9 (NNN-WAFA/XINHUA) – The Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), on Saturday showered Israel with thousands of rockets, in a rare surprise attack that was responded with massive Israeli airstrikes on Gaza and punitive measures, including power outages.
According to statistics issued by the Gaza-based Health Ministry, at least 313 Palestinians were killed and 1,990 wounded by the Israeli strikes in Gaza.
At least 300 Israelis were killed and more than 1,800 injured during the Hamas attack that also featured infiltrating ground assaults onto southern Israel, figures released by the Israeli Health Ministry showed.
Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, held an emergency meeting attended by senior officials, who emphasised the right of the Palestinian people to defend themselves against Israeli forces and settlers.
Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, announced in a national address that Israel was “in a state of war” and ordered a full mobilisation of reservists.
Backed by the rockets, dozens of Hamas militants entered Israeli towns on Saturday, near the Gaza Strip, killing and kidnapping Israelis in a surprise morning attack. The Hamas rockets hit as far as Jerusalem, where air-raid sirens sounded.
A spokesman from the Israel Defence Forces, Daniel Hagari, confirmed that some Israeli civilians and soldiers had been taken as hostages by Hamas.
Hamas military commander, Mohammad Deif said, the attack was in response to Israel’s blockade of Gaza, its frequent raids on the West Bank over the past year, its storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound – a site holy to both Muslims and Jews – Israeli settler attacks on Palestinians and the expansion of Israeli settlements. He called on Palestinians to join the fight.
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement, another armed Palestinian group, declared that its militants had joined Hamas in the attack.
A spokesman from the Israeli army said on Saturday that, several Palestinian militants entered towns in southern Israel and clashed with the Israeli soldiers.
Israeli media reported that Palestinian militants had controlled at least three Jewish settlements near the Gaza Strip. Israeli authorities asked residents not to leave their homes.
In response to the attack, the Israeli military carried out dozens of airstrikes against Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip, destroying buildings, including a residential tower with about 100 apartments. As the main electricity supplier to the Palestinian enclave, Israel also cut off the power to the territory, plunging it into darkness after nightfall.
Residents in Gaza City rushed to the streets to buy daily necessities. In the north-eastern part of the Gaza Strip, hundreds of civilians fled their homes with blankets and food, out of fear of a military escalation.
The attack marks the most severe conflict between Hamas and Israel since May, 2021, during which the two sides fought for 11 days, resulting in the deaths of at least 256 Palestinians in Gaza, and 13 in Israel.
Analysts believe the current clash is unlikely to end anytime soon, as Hamas appears to be well-prepared to wage a protracted conflict.
Hours after the massive Hamas offensive, Netanyahu gave a televised address on Saturday night, vowing to “take revenge for this black day.” He said, the Israel Defence Forces would “immediately use all of its power to destroy Hamas’ capabilities,” warning of “challenging days still ahead of us.”
Egypt, a long-time broker of peace between Israel and Palestinian militant groups, discussed with France on Saturday solving the ongoing conflict.
In a phone conversation with his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, Egyptian President, Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi warned that further violence and escalation might drag the region into “a vicious circle of tension” and undermine regional stability and security.
The attack came on Simchat Torah, a Jewish holiday that marks the conclusion of the annual cycle of public Torah readings, and almost coincided with the 50th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War, which began on Oct 6, 1973, between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by Egypt and Syria.
The latest round of conflict followed frequent Israeli raids on the West Bank over the past year, often resulting in Palestinian casualties. Israel said, these actions were necessary to apprehend Palestinian militants involved in attacks against Israelis.
The military conflict also comes when Israel seeks to normalise its relations with Saudi Arabia. Brokered by the United States, Israel has been in touch with Saudi Arabia over a potential peace deal between the two countries. After meeting with U.S. President, Joe Biden, on Sept 20 in New York, Netanyahu said the normalisation of ties between his country and Saudi Arabia could be “within reach.”
For Israel, normalising relations with Arab countries has remained an important strategic goal for years, as it seeks to improve the geopolitical environment. So far, six Arab countries have normalised relations with Israel, including Egypt and Jordan, which established diplomatic ties with Israel in the 1970s and 1990s, respectively, as well as the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco, which agreed to normalise ties with Israel in 2020.
Hamas has repeatedly said that, it condemned any progress in normalising relations between Arab countries and Israel, saying that, normalising relations between Arab countries and Israel in all forms is unacceptable and is bound to harm the Palestinian cause.– NNN-WAFA/XINHUA
