Netanyahu says #Israel ‘at war’ after #Hamas attack; air force kills nearly 200 in #Gaza air strikes
Israeli PM Benjamin #Netanyahu said “we are at war, & we will win it” Saturday after Hamas launched an assault & took captives following the 50th anniversary of the start of the #1973YomKippurWar.
#Palestine #MiddleEast #geopolitics #war
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/10/07/israel-gaza-rocket-attack-hamas/
#Militants infiltrated Israeli territory from the #Gaza Strip — incl’g by paraglider & over the sea — & launched >3k rockets, Israeli military ldrs said. The confrontation, which has killed ≥40 Israelis & injured ≥740, is one of the most serious in yrs after wks of rising tensions along the border. Israeli #AirForce strikes killed ≥200 people on the #GazaStrip & injured 1,600, acc/to the Palestinian MOH. Hamas said it had taken captives, including “senior officers.”
#Israel ordered residents in areas around #Gaza to remain inside after “infiltrations” by a number of #Hamas #militants, the #IDF said. The IAF began striking targets late Saturday morning, the military said, adding that gun battles were taking place in Israeli areas near the border.
In a rare statement, #Hamas military cmdr #MohammedDeif called on Palestinians inside Israel & Israel’s #Arab neighbors to join the fight.
Ldrs from the #Netherlands & #Croatia, as well as a snr EU ofcl, also condemned the attacks.
The #UnitedStates said it “unequivocally condemns the unprovoked attacks by #Hamas” on #Israel…. “There is never any justification for terrorism,” NSC spox Adrienne Watson said in a stmnt. “We stand firmly w/the Govt & people of Israel & extend our condolences for the Israeli lives lost in these attacks.”
Pres #Biden emphasized #US support for Israel in a call w/PM Benjamin Netanyahu, acc/to the Israeli ldr’s office. “Netanyahu thanked US President Biden for the unreserved support,” the PM’s office posted…. It said a “forceful, prolonged campaign — which Israel will win — is necessary.” Biden has not yet given public comment.
US DefSec #LloydAustin said…he was “closely monitoring” the situation in #Israel & that Washington’s “commitment to Israel’s right to defend itself remains unwavering.”
US DefSec #LloydAustin added, “Over the coming days the DOD will work to ensure that #Israel has what it needs to defend itself & protect civilians from indiscriminate violence & terrorism.”
#Ukraine’s Pres Volodymyr #Zelensky has condemned violence in Israel, calling it “horrible news.” #Russia’s MFA also issued a stmnt expressing “most serious concern about the sharp aggravation of the situation in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.”
#Russia called for a cease fire, adding there was “no solution” to be found by using force. (They seriously said that)
#Egypt appealed for restraint, warning of the dangers of escalation. In a stmnt, the MFA called on the int’l community to “intervene immediately to stop the current escalation.” It urged #Israel to “stop its attacks & provocative actions against the Palestinian people.” Egypt shares a border w/Israel & #Gaza, & has mediated between Israeli & Palestinian groups.
#Arab countries that had normalized relations w/ #Israel in recent yrs were glaringly silent as events unfolded in Israel & #Gaza, even as appeals from Gaza for support rang loud.
No declarations were issued by #Morocco or #Bahrain on the attacks. The #UAE later released a tempered statement calling for restraint & offering condolences to “all victims who fell as a result of the recent fighting.”
In contrast, #SaudiArabia & #Qatar, both of which remain resistant to normalization w/ Israel, released stmnts that blamed #Israel, saying its actions were a precursor to the coordinated attack.
#Iran has congratulated fighters after the attack by #Hamas…. “We congratulate the Palestinian fighters,” Yahya Rahim Safavi, an adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, said…. “We will stand by the Palestinian fighters until the liberation of #Palestine & #Jerusalem.”
Condemning #Hamas’s attack on #Israel on Saturday, President #Biden said in an official statement that he told Israeli PM Benjamin #Netanyahu that his admin’s support for Israeli security is “rock solid & unwavering.”
Biden also affirmed the #US govt’s support for Israel’s “right to defend itself & its people” & warned Israel’s enemies against trying to capitalize on the situation.
“Jill & I are keeping in our prayers all of the families who have been hurt by this #violence. We are heartbroken by the lives that have been tragically cut short & hope for a swift recovery for all those who have been wounded,” #Biden said.
Biden remains closely in touch w/ #Netanyahu. Despite the WH’s invitation to Netanyahu to visit this yr, the 2 have a frosty relationship, stemming in part from Biden’s concerns about Netanyahu’s far-reaching changes to Israel’s #judicial system, changes.
#US Ambassador to the #UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said in a statement she was “outraged & horrified by the appalling unprovoked, brutal attacks by #Hamas #terrorists against #Israel.”
She said she had spoken Saturday w/ Israeli ofcls, to whom she “extended the United States’ heartfelt condolences for the lives lost, & reaffirmed our ironclad support for Israel’s #security & right to self-defense.”
The Israeli death toll has risen to 250, w/ >1,000 wounded, acc/to Israeli emergency services.
The #UN #Security Council called an emergency meeting at 3PM Sunday to address the situation in the #MiddleEast. The announcement came after #Brazil, which holds presidency of the council, called for the meeting.
“I am extremely alarmed by the rapidly escalating events in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory,” said Martin Griffiths, UN undersecretary general for #humanitarian affairs.
Secretary of State #AntonyBlinken spoke w/ #PalestinianAuthority President #MahmoudAbbas on Saturday in a phone call, during which #Blinken “reiterated the #UnitedStates’ unequivocal condemnation” of the #Hamas attacks & urged him to “restore calm & stability in the #WestBank.”
Blinken also “called on all leadership in the region to condemn” the attacks, spox Matthew Miller said.
During the call, acc/to WAFA, the Palestinian news agency, #Abbas blamed the ongoing Israeli #occupation & escalations by #Israel, including a raid on the al-Aqsa Mosque. He told #Blinken that injustices against the Palestinian people, & the international community’s failure to hold Israel to account, have pushed the situation toward “an explosion.”
Blinken told Abbas that the #UnitedStates is working w/all parties involved to stop the escalation.
#UN High Commissioner for #HumanRights Volker Türk condemned #violence by both sides.
“I am shocked & appalled at reports this morning that hundreds, possibly thousands, of indiscriminate rockets have been fired by Palestinian armed groups towards #Israel,” Türk said in a statement. “... I note also that Israeli forces have responded w/ air strikes into the densely populated #Gaza Strip.”
#Hamas used explosives to storm #Erez crossing A video filmed, edited & released by Hamas on Telegram shows how members of the al-Qassam Brigades used a series of #coordinated but differentiated methods to enter the #ErezCrossing (#BeitHanoun Crossing) early in the morning.
The video, which contains graphic scenes, begins w/an explosion breaking a section of the border wall just adjacent to the entrance of the Erez Crossing as an armed man rushes toward it.
Catherine Russell, head of the #UN children’s agency #UNICEF, said she is “deeply concerned” for the well-being of #children in #Israel & the Palestinian territories following the Saturday attacks.
“With hundreds of #civilians reportedly killed or injured, we are closely monitoring the situation for reports of grave #rights violations committed against children,” Russell said in a statement.
The “overwhelming majority” of Israeli casualties have been from close-contact fighting, #IDF spox LtCol Jonathan Conricus said.
“Thanks to the #IronDome, we have not sustained tremendous casualties from the #rockets that have been fired,” he said referring to Israel’s air defense sys.
Israeli troops are still “going house to house” to clear communities after the assault. “…the situation in Israel is still not fully under control. There is still fighting ongoing in southern #Israel.”
Nonilex