JERUSALEM/GAZA, Oct 7 (Reuters) – Palestinian Islamist group Hamas launched the biggest attack on Israel in years on Saturday, killing at least 100 people and saying it had taken dozens of hostages in a surprise assault that combined gunmen crossing into Israel and a barrage of rockets fired from Gaza.
Israel said the Iran-backed group had declared war when its army confirmed fighting with militants in several Israeli cities and military bases near Gaza, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to retaliate.
“Our enemy will pay a price it has never known,” he said. “We are in a war and we will win it.”
The Israeli newspaper N12 News reported that at least 100 Israelis were killed. A Reuters photographer saw multiple bodies lying in the streets of the southern city of Sderot.
The Israeli military said it had responded with airstrikes on Gaza, where witnesses reported hearing loud explosions and the transfer of multiple dead and wounded to hospitals. The Israeli military said naval forces killed dozens of Palestinian militants trying to infiltrate Israel by sea.
Hamas deputy head Saleh al-Arouri told Al Jazeera that the group was holding large numbers of Israelis captive, including senior officials. He said Hamas had enough captives for Israel to release all the Palestinians in its prisons.
Gaza health officials said 198 Palestinians had been killed in airstrikes as the strikes hit deep into Gaza City, sending clouds of black smoke spiraling into the sky.
Hamas said the attack was prompted by what it said were Israel’s intensified attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank, Jerusalem and on Palestinians in Israeli prisons.
“This is the day of the biggest battle to end the last occupation on Earth,” said Hamas military commander Mohammad Deif, announcing the start of the operation in a broadcast on Hamas media and calling Palestinians around the world to fight.
Hamas advocates the destruction of Israel.
The attack marked an unprecedented infiltration into Israel by an unknown number of Hamas gunmen crossing from the Gaza Strip, and the harshest blow to Israel in the conflict with the Palestinians since the suicide bombings of the Second World War. Intifada about two decades ago.
Israel and Hamas fought a 10-day war in 2021.
The bloodshed came a day after Israel marked the 50th anniversary of the 1973 war which brought the country to the brink of catastrophic defeat in a surprise attack by Syria and Egypt.
BATTLES IN ISRAELI CITIES
The Islamic Jihad militant group said it had joined in the attacks and was holding several Israeli soldiers captive.
Hamas images on its Telegram account showed its fighters pulling Israeli soldiers out of a tank.
The Israeli military declined to comment, saying it would address reports about Israeli captives later.
Israeli media reported gunfights between gangs of Palestinian fighters and security forces in cities in southern Israel. Israel’s police chief said there were “21 active scenes” in southern Israel.
In Gaza, people rushed to buy supplies in anticipation of days of conflict ahead. Some evacuated their homes and headed to shelters.
UN Middle East peace envoy Tor Wennesland condemned the attacks on Israel, warning in a statement: “This is a dangerous precipice, and I call on everyone to step back from the abyss.”
Violence too generated criticism Washington and other Western capitals.
“The United States unequivocally condemns the unprovoked attacks by Hamas terrorists against Israeli civilians. There is never any justification for terrorism,” said White House National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson.
‘PLEASE SEND HELP’
Speaking by telephone to Israel N12 News from Nir Oz, a kibbutz near Gaza, a woman identified as Dorin said militants had infiltrated her home and tried to open the bomb shelter where she was hiding.
“They just arrived again, please send help,” he said. “There are many damaged houses… My husband keeps the door closed… They are firing rounds.”
Israeli Defense Minister Gallant said that “troops are fighting the enemy in all places” and authorized the call-up of reservists.
Images circulating on social media appeared to show clashes on city streets, as well as armed men in jeeps roaming the countryside.
“They told us that there are terrorists inside the kibbutz, we can hear gunshots,” a young woman named Dvir, from the Beeri kibbutz, told Israeli army radio from her bomb shelter.
BACKGROUND OF THE GROWTH OF VIOLENCE
The escalation comes against a backdrop of growing violence between Israel and Palestinian militants in the West Bank, which along with the Gaza Strip is part of the territories where Palestinians have long sought to establish a state.
It also comes at a time of political turmoil in Israel, which has been riven by deep divisions over measures to reform the judiciary, and as Washington works to reach an agreement that normalize ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry called for an “immediate cessation of violence between Israelis and Palestinians,” the state news agency reported.
The Iranian-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah said the operation was a “decisive response to Israel’s continued occupation and a message to those seeking normalization with Israel.”
An adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei congratulated Palestinian fighters on the attack.
Hamas media showed videos of what they said were bodies of Israeli soldiers brought to Gaza by fighters, and of Palestinian gunmen inside Israeli homes and touring an Israeli city in jeeps that the attackers had reportedly driven into Israel.
Reuters could not immediately verify the images.
Hamas media also circulated video footage apparently showing a destroyed Israeli tank.
In Gaza, rocket fire roared and residents reported armed clashes along the separation fence with Israel near the southern town of Khan Younis, saying they had seen significant movement of armed fighters.
Palestinians in Gaza were preparing for Israel’s response.
“We are afraid,” Palestinian woman Amal Abu Daqqa told Reuters as she left her home in Khan Younis.
Additional reporting by Henriette Chacar and Dan Williams in Jerusalem, Ali Sawafta in Ramallah; written by James Mackenzie, Tom Perry and Michael Georgy; Editing by William Mallard, Robert Birsel, Alex Richardson and Nick Macfie
Our standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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