Israel has officially announced its declaration of war, launching a series of intense airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, and engaging in fierce combat in an effort to remove Hamas militants from the region. This military initiative follows an unexpected assault that took place prior to these events.
Israeli soldiers continue to engage in combat with Hamas fighters on the streets of southern Israel on Sunday, one day after an unexpected and unprecedented attack launched by Hamas militants from the Gaza Strip. The clashes between the two sides have resulted in the deaths of hundreds of civilians. (Oct. 8) (AP video: Alon Bernstein, Najib Jobain, Paz Bar, Ami Bentov and Hassan Slayeh)
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — The Israeli government has officially declared war and authorized "significant military measures" in response to the surprise attack by Hamas. The Israeli military has been actively working to suppress the remaining fighters in southern towns and has escalated its bombardment of the Gaza Strip. The death toll has surpassed 1,100, with thousands of people injured on both sides.
Despite more than 40 hours passing since Hamas launched their unprecedented incursion from Gaza, Israeli forces are still engaged in battles with militants who have sought refuge in various locations. In Israel, the reported death toll of at least 700 is staggering and has not been witnessed on such a scale in decades. In Gaza, over 400 casualties have been reported.
In an effort to regain control of four Israeli sites captured by Hamas fighters, including two kibbutzim that were infiltrated during the initial attacks, Israel has deployed special forces. Footage released by Israeli police captures the exchange of fire between the forces and Hamas militants across an open field, with the Israeli forces taking cover in tall grass.
The formal declaration of war signifies the likelihood of further intense fighting in the days ahead. The question remains whether Israel will launch a ground assault into Gaza, a move that, in the past, has escalated casualties.
Meanwhile, Hamas and the smaller Islamic Jihad group have claimed responsibility for abducting over 130 individuals from within Israel, bringing them into Gaza with the intention of exchanging them for the release of thousands of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. Although unconfirmed, this announcement sheds light on the extent of the abductions.
The captives, consisting of soldiers and civilians, including women, children, and elderly individuals, mainly comprise Israelis but also include individuals of other nationalities. The Israeli military has acknowledged that the number of captives is substantial.
According to the Israeli military's estimate, approximately 1,000 Hamas fighters participated in the initial incursion on Saturday. This high number highlights the extensive planning undertaken by the ruling militant group in Gaza, who claim that the attack was in response to the escalating suffering faced by Palestinians under Israel's occupation and blockade of Gaza.
The gunmen continued their rampage for hours, indiscriminately targeting and killing civilians and kidnapping individuals in towns, along highways, and even at a techno music festival attended by thousands in the desert. The rescue service, Zaka, has already recovered approximately 260 bodies from the festival, with the possibility of the number rising. It is unclear how many of these bodies are already accounted for in Israel's overall death toll.
In retaliation, Israel has launched more than 800 attacks on targets in Gaza, including airstrikes that resulted in significant damage to the town of Beit Hanoun in the northeast corner of the enclave.
Israeli Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari informed reporters that Hamas had been using Beit Hanoun as a staging ground for their attacks. Though casualty details are not immediately available, it is believed that the majority of the town's population of tens of thousands had already fled prior to the strikes.
Hagari asserted that Israel would continue to execute attacks of this magnitude on all locations used by Hamas, stating, "We will continue to attack in this way, with this force, continuously, on all gathering (places) and routes."
Both Israeli and Palestinian civilians are already paying a heavy price for the ongoing conflict. The Israeli military has evacuated at least five towns in close proximity to Gaza.
In a somber scene outside a central Israel police station, a line of people has formed to provide DNA samples and other means of identifying missing family members.
Mayyan Zin, a divorced mother of two, recounted her discovery of her daughters' abduction when a relative sent her photos from a Telegram group that showed them held captive on mattresses. Zin later came across online videos revealing the distressing situation as gunmen, with her ex-husband bleeding from a leg wound, spoke to him in the living room near their terrified and weeping daughters, Dafna (15) and Ella (8). Another video depicted the father being taken across the border into Gaza. "Just bring my daughters home to their family, to all the people," pleaded Zin.
In Gaza, a densely populated enclave of 2.3 million people that has been under an Israeli-Egyptian blockade for 16 years since Hamas took control, residents fear further escalation as Israeli airstrikes have already destroyed residential buildings.
Nasser Abu Quta, who experienced a tragedy in his family, reported that 19 members, including his wife, were killed when an airstrike struck their home while they sought shelter on the ground floor in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
Abu Quta insisted that there were no militants in his building, stating, "This is a safe house, with children and women." The Israeli military has yet to provide a response regarding the airstrike. Another strike in the same city early Monday resulted in the deaths of 11 individuals, including women and children.
As of late Sunday, the Israeli airstrikes in retaliation had demolished 159 housing units throughout Gaza and caused severe damage to 1,210 other units, according to the United Nations. The number of displaced Gazans has surged by tens of thousands, surpassing 123,000. The UNRWA, the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, reported that a school sheltering more than 225 individuals suffered a direct hit, without specifying the source.
According to various Israeli media outlets, citing rescue service officials, the death toll in Israel alone has reached a minimum of 700, including 44 soldiers. In the Gaza territory, the Ministry of Health reported that 413 individuals, including 78 children and 41 women, have lost their lives. Around 2,000 individuals on both sides have sustained injuries. An Israeli official confirmed that security forces have neutralized 400 militants and apprehended dozens more.
A brief exchange of strikes between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group in northern Israel has heightened fears of an escalation into a broader regional conflict. On Sunday, Hezbollah launched rockets and shells at Israeli positions along the disputed border area, prompting Israel to respond with armed drones. The Israeli military later stated that the situation had returned to calm after the exchange.
Yohanan Plesner, the director of Israel Democracy Institute, a think tank, described the declaration of war on Hamas by Israel's Security Cabinet as primarily symbolic. However, he emphasized that it signifies the government's belief that they are entering a more protracted, intense, and pivotal phase of warfare. Over the past four decades, Israel has undertaken significant military operations in Lebanon and Gaza, which it has portrayed as wars, albeit without a formal declaration.
In addition, the Security Cabinet has authorized unspecified "significant military steps." While the specific details remain undisclosed, this declaration seems to grant the military and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a broad mandate. Netanyahu's office released a statement affirming that their objective is to dismantle Hamas' military and governing capabilities to such an extent that it prevents them from posing a threat to Israelis for many years to come.
The Hamas assault has left Israelis stunned due to the breadth, intensity, and unexpected nature of the attack. Hamas fighters breached Israel's security fence encircling the Gaza Strip early on Saturday, employing motorcycles, pickup trucks, paragliders, and even speedboats along the coast to infiltrate as many as 22 neighboring Israeli communities.
The significant loss of life and the delayed response to the assault have exposed a major intelligence failure, undermining the long-standing perception that Israel has omnipresent surveillance in the small, densely populated territory it has governed for decades.
The presence of hostages in Gaza has complicated Israel's response. Historically, Israel has engaged in highly imbalanced prisoner exchanges to secure the release of captured Israelis. Israel has sought assistance from Cairo to ensure the safety of the hostages. Although Egypt has engaged in discussions with both sides about a potential ceasefire, Israel currently appears unwilling to entertain a truce at this stage, according to an unnamed Egyptian official.
Elsewhere, six Palestinians were killed on Sunday in clashes with Israeli soldiers in the West Bank. Over the past year, Israel's far-right government has intensified settlement construction in the occupied West Bank. Israeli settler violence has forcibly displaced hundreds of Palestinians in the region, leading to heightened tensions around the Al-Aqsa mosque, a significant holy site in Jerusalem.
Reporting from Gaza City, Shurafa. Contributions to this report were made by Associated Press writers Isabel DeBre, Julia Frankel, and Josef Federman in Jerusalem, Issam Adwan in Rafah, Gaza Strip, Bassem Mroue in Beirut, Samy Magdy in Cairo, and Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran.
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