Gun battles raged Sunday between Hamas militants and Israeli forces a day after the Islamist group launched a shock assault on Israel from Gaza, in a dramatic escalation of the Israel-Palestinian battle.
Tons of of individuals have been killed on either side for the reason that Iran-backed Hamas launched the multi-pronged assault at daybreak on Saturday, with Israeli forces preventing holdout militants and pounding the Gaza Strip with air strikes.
That is what we all know in regards to the battle thus far:
The way it unfolded
The military stated a whole lot of Hamas militants attacked Israel from round 6:30 am (0330 GMT) on Saturday, the Jewish vacation of Simchat Torah, in an assault that additionally got here 50 years after the outbreak of the 1973 Arab-Israeli conflict.
The Islamist group fired 1000’s of rockets into Israel from Gaza as its militants used explosives and bulldozers to interrupt via the fence surrounding the blockaded Palestinian enclave, a number of sources stated.
Utilizing motorbikes, pickup vehicles, motorised gliders and velocity boats, the militants streamed into Israeli city areas together with Ashkelon, Sderot and Ofakim, which is about 22 kilometres (13 miles) from Gaza.
The gunmen attacked a rave occasion attended by a whole lot of younger Israelis close to Kibbutz Reim, near Gaza, Israeli media reported.
Hamas seized Israeli army tools and took an unknown variety of Israelis and civilians hostage. Israeli information web site Ynet stated there have been “dozens of Israeli captives, including numerous women, children and elders”.
The militants overran a number of areas inside Israel, together with a Sderot police station the place they had been engaged in a shootout with Israeli forces on Sunday.
How Israel is responding
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to scale back to “rubble” Hamas hideouts in Gaza, an impoverished enclave of two.3 million folks hemmed in by an Israeli blockade for greater than 15 years.
The military stated it has deployed tens of 1000’s of troopers to struggle the militants in southern desert areas of Israel close to Gaza.
It has additionally carried out air strikes on Hamas positions inside Gaza, in an operation it has dubbed “Sword of Iron”.
Military spokesman Richard Hecht stated the air raids had struck 426 targets together with Gaza tunnels, buildings and different infrastructure.
The army stated it goals to rescue Israeli hostages after which evacuate your entire area inside 24 hours.
Analysts say Israel was caught off-guard by the assault.
Tons of killed
Israel says Hamas gunmen have killed greater than 200 folks and wounded over 1,000 in Israeli cities, cities and kibbutz communities.
The army has launched the names of 26 fallen troopers.
AFP journalists have seen the bullet-riddled our bodies of civilians mendacity on the streets in a minimum of three areas in Israel: the town of Sderot, the close by kibbutz of Gevim and Zikim seashore north of the Palestinian coastal enclave.
An unknown variety of folks had been reportedly killed on the rave.
On the Gaza aspect, a minimum of 313 folks have been killed and greater than 1,700 had been reported wounded.
Thailand stated on Sunday that two of its residents had been killed within the violence. Cambodia has confirmed the dying of a Cambodian pupil who had been in Israel when Hamas attacked.
What Hamas says in regards to the offensive
Hamas stated it fired 5,000 rockets in an offensive it has branded “Operation Al-Aqsa Flood”.
Its chief Ismail Haniyeh on Saturday vowed to press forward with “the battle to liberate our land and our prisoners languishing in occupation prisons”.
Hamas has referred to as on “resistance fighters in the West Bank” in addition to in “Arab and Islamic nations” to hitch the battle.
Early on Sunday, Lebanon’s Iran-backed Shiite militant group Hezbollah stated it launched missiles and artillery shells into northern Israel “in solidarity” with the Hamas offensive.
The Israeli military stated it retaliated with artillery fireplace.
Elsewhere, media shops in Egypt stated a policeman opened fireplace randomly at an Israeli tour group within the northern metropolis of Alexandria on Sunday, killing two Israelis and one Egyptian.
How the world has reacted
United Nations Secretary-Basic Antonio Guterres condemned “in the strongest terms” Hamas’ assault on Israel and referred to as for “diplomatic efforts to avoid a wider conflagration”.
The West, a lot of which has designated Hamas a “terrorist” organisation, have additionally condemned the Islamist group’s assault on Israel.
President Joe Biden stated the USA’ assist for its key ally Israel was “rock solid and unwavering”. A White Home official stated talks with Israel on army assist had been “very much underway”.
The European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen stated: “I unequivocally condemn the attack carried out by Hamas terrorists against Israel.”
Russia referred to as for an “immediate ceasefire”.
In Iran, a senior adviser to supreme chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei expressed assist for the Hamas assault, calling it a “proud operation”.
Saudi Arabia referred to as for an “immediate halt to the escalation between the two sides, protection of civilians, and self-control”.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who strongly helps the Palestinian trigger, urged either side to “stay away from impulsive steps that raise tensions”.