On Sunday, the Israeli government formally declared war on Hamas and authorised “significant military steps” in retaliation for the group’s unexpected attack from the Gaza Strip. This portended more fighting was to come as the conflict’s death toll surpassed 900 and thousands of people were injured on both sides.
More than 24 hours after Hamas launched its unprecedented foray out of Gaza, Israeli soldiers were still working to exterminate the final pockets of militant gunmen camped out in a number of southern Israeli communities. More than 300 people have also reportedly died in Gaza as a result of Israeli airstrikes, which have claimed at least 600 lives in Israel, a catastrophic toll the nation has not seen in decades.
Authorities were still attempting to ascertain how many citizens and troops were abducted and taken back to Gaza by Hamas fighters during the chaos. The prisoners are known to include women, children, and the elderly based on recordings and eyewitness accounts.
U.S. Secretary of State Andrew Blinken stated on ABC’s ‘This Week’ that up to 1,000 Hamas fighters were participating in the assault; this large number highlighted the depth of planning by the militant group in charge of Gaza. While civilians on both sides were already paying a heavy price, the gunmen went on an hour-long rampage, shooting at residents in towns, along highways, and at a techno music festival taking place in a desert area close to Gaza.
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Several Israeli media outlets reported that at least 600 individuals, including 44 soldiers, have died in Israel, citing rescue service personnel. According to the Gaza Health Ministry, 313 people, including 20 children, died there. On each side, there have been about 2,000 injuries. According to a senior Israeli official, security forces have killed 400 militants and taken dozens more prisoners.
Fears of the violence spreading increased following a gunfight in northern Israel with the Lebanese militant organisation Hezbollah. The Israeli military responded with armed drones after Hezbollah launched dozens of rockets and mortars Sunday at three Israeli positions in a contested area near the border. According to the adjacent Marjayoun, two children on the Lebanese side were lightly hurt by glass.
There are said to be tens of thousands of rockets available to Hezbollah, which is sponsored by Iran. Hezbollah has avoided prior outbreaks of Israeli-Hamas conflict since its deadly 2006 battle with Israel. But if the destruction in Gaza worsens, it might feel under pressure to step in.
The possibility of an Israeli ground invasion into Gaza, which in the past has increased casualties, was a key question.
According to Yohanan Plesner, the chairman of the Israel Democracy Institute, a local think tank, the declaration of war made by Israel’s Security Cabinet was mostly symbolic. However, it “shows that the government thinks we are entering a more protracted, intense, and significant period of war,” according to the article.
Israel has conducted significant military operations in Lebanon and Gaza over the past 40 years that it has depicted as wars, but without making a formal declaration of war.
“Significant military steps” were also approved by the Security Cabinet. The actions were not specified, but it appears that the military and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have a broad mandate given by the declaration.
During a national television address on Saturday, Netanyahu pledged that Hamas “will pay an unprecedented price.” He added, “This conflict will last a long time. It will be challenging.
His office stated in a statement that the goal is to destroy Hamas’ “military and governing capabilities” to the point where it can no longer pose a threat to Israelis “for many years.”
The depth, fury, and surprise of the Hamas attack were still jarring Israelis. Early on Saturday, the group’s fighters breached Israel’s security fence enclosing the Gaza Strip. They entered surrounding Israeli communities in as many as 22 spots, using motorcycles, pickup trucks, paragliders, and speedboats on the coast.
It was long believed that Israel had eyes and ears everywhere in the small, densely populated zone it has ruled for decades. However, the high death toll and tardy response to the onslaught revealed a serious intelligence failure.
According to Hamas, it kept deploying troops and equipment into southern Israel over the course of the night. Israeli Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari told reporters on Sunday that fighting was still going on in some areas of the south and that hostages were still being held there. At least five towns near to Gaza are being evacuated, according to the Israeli military.
Hagari declared, “We will go through every neighbourhood until we murder every terrorist who is on Israeli territory. Every terrorist in Gaza who is found inside a house, as well as any commanders, will come under Israeli fire. The situation will worsen over the next few hours.
Israel’s military reported on Sunday that it had so far targeted 426 sites in Gaza. On Saturday night, Israel turned off a large portion of the territory’s population, leaving them in the dark.
One woman seeking refuge at a UNWRA school in the Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood of Gaza City recalled fleeing her home in fear in the middle of the night. The Israeli soldiers issued loudspeaker announcements ordering residents to go.
“We didn’t know where to go,” she admitted. “There was no transport, so it was a miracle that we made it to the schools.”
