Gaza/Tel Aviv:
Israeli troops were still struggling Monday to expel Hamas fighters, more than two days after they crossed the Gaza fence, and the army said it would soon resume the offensive after the largest mobilization in Israeli history.
Fighting took place in several locations inside Israel, where fighters were still hiding after an attack that tarnished Israel’s reputation of invincibility.
The Israeli military said it struck hundreds of Hamas and Islamic Jihad targets in the Gaza Strip overnight and sent four combat divisions into the south, where it continued fighting Palestinian fighters two days after the bloody incursion.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said at least 493 people, including many children, have been killed and more than 2,751 injured so far in the Israeli bombardment.
Seven dead near Gaza, two days after Hamas fighters killed 700 Israelis and abducted dozens in the deadliest attack on Israeli territory since attacks by Egypt and Syria in the Yom Kippur War 50 years ago, a military spokesman said. Fighting was going on at eight places.
The spokesman said that Hamas fighters also continued to enter Israel from Gaza.
Warplanes, helicopters and artillery attacked more than 500 Hamas and Islamic Jihad targets in the Gaza Strip overnight, including the Hamas and Islamic Jihad command center and the residence of senior Hamas official Ruhi Mashta, who reportedly attacked Israel. Had helped direct the infiltration.
Medics in Gaza said at least seven Palestinians were killed in Israeli air strikes on two homes. Israeli aircraft launched dozens of airstrikes, most of which were on the northern town of Beit Hanoun.
Israeli airstrikes on Sunday targeted residential blocks, tunnels, a mosque and the homes of Hamas officials in Gaza.
“The price the Gaza Strip will have to pay will be very heavy and will change the reality for generations,” Defense Minister Yoav Galant said in the city of Ofakim.
Israeli military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus said the country had called up about 100,000 troops.
Israeli security personnel gather near a rifle at the site of a battle with Hamas fighters in Sderot, southern Israel. Photo: Reuters
“Our job is to ensure that at the end of this war, Hamas will have no military capability to threaten Israeli civilians, and in addition we must also ensure that Hamas will not rule the Gaza Strip,” he Said. Said.
Oil prices rose more than $3 a barrel in Asian trading on Monday as violence deepened political uncertainty across the Middle East and raised concerns about supplies from Iran.
Iran is an ally of Hamas and congratulated Hamas on the attack, but its mission to the United Nations said Tehran was not involved in the attacks.
Any sustained rise in oil prices would act as a tax on consumers and add to global inflationary pressures, which weighed on equities as S&P 500 futures fell 0.7% and Nasdaq futures fell 0.6%.
Several international air carriers have suspended flights to Tel Aviv in light of the Hamas attack and said they were waiting for conditions to improve before resuming.
Beyond blockaded Gaza, Israeli forces and Lebanon’s Hezbollah exchanged artillery and rocket fire on Sunday, while in Egypt, two israeli tourist Shot dead along with a guide.
Reading: Pakistan calls for immediate stop to violence by Israeli forces in Gaza
Appeals for restraint came from around the world, although Western countries largely stood with Israel.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry condemned it and called it a “barbaric campaign of death and destruction” by Israel.
“As an occupying power, Israel has no right or justification to target defenseless civilian populations in Gaza or anywhere else in Palestine,” Sunday said.
In southern Israel, Hamas fighters were still fighting Israeli security forces after a surprise attack with rocket barrages and gangs of gunmen who overran army positions and attacked border towns.
“It’s taking longer than we expected to get things back into a defensive, security posture,” Lt. Col. Richard Hecht said in a briefing with reporters.
Israel drafts 300,000
Israel has drafted a record 300,000 reserve troops and is “moving aggressively” in response to Hamas’ multi-front offensive from Gaza, the chief military spokesman said on Monday.
Since Saturday’s surprise attack, Israeli aircraft have been bombing Gaza targets, while its ground forces struggle to regain control of border villages and towns captured by Palestinian gunmen.
Chief military spokesman Rear-Admiral Daniel Hagari said control over those communities had been reestablished, but sporadic clashes continued with some gunmen remaining active.
“We are now conducting searches in all communities and evacuating the area,” he said in a televised briefing.
Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepts rockets launched from the Gaza Strip, as seen from the city of Ashkelon. Photo: Reuters
Israeli military officials had previously said their focus was on securing Israel’s border before making any large-scale escalation in retaliatory attacks in Gaza.
Hagari said the army had called up 300,000 reserve troops since Saturday, a number indicating preparations for a possible invasion – although no such plans have been officially confirmed.
“We have never drafted so many reservations on such a large scale,” he said. “We’re being aggressive.”
captive
Israel’s military, which faced a barrage of questions over not foiling the attack, claimed to have gained control of most of the infiltration points along with security barriers, killing hundreds of the attackers and capturing dozens.
Thousands of troops were surrounding Gaza, a narrow strip of land that is home to 2.3 million Palestinians, and the army was beginning to evacuate Israelis around the border.
Israel has not released an official toll but its media said Saturday’s attacks killed at least 700 people, including children. Military spokesman Daniel Hagari called it “the worst massacre of innocent civilians in Israeli history.”
A White House National Security Council spokesman confirmed that several Americans were killed by Hamas attackers. Thailand said 12 of its citizens were killed and 11 were abducted.
Palestinian fighters took dozens of people hostage, including soldiers and civilians, children and the elderly. Another Palestinian group, Islamic Jihad, said it was detaining more than 30 people.
About 30 missing Israelis who attended a dance party attacked by gunmen on Sunday have emerged from hiding, bringing the death toll from the outdoor gathering to 260, Israeli media reported.
Aaron David Miller, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said, “The brutal reality is that Hamas took the hostages as an insurance policy against Israeli retaliation, particularly large-scale ground attacks and the Palestinian prisoner trade. “
unrestrained violence
US President Joe Biden spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the second consecutive day on Sunday, saying in a post on the social media platform X that he expressed “his full support for the Israeli people in an unprecedented and catastrophic situation Is.” “Attack by Hamas terrorists.”
The United States led Western condemnation of the Hamas attack, with Biden issuing a warning to Iran and others that this is “not the moment for any party hostile to Israel to exploit these attacks.”
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said he launched the USS Gerald R. The Ford Carrier Strike Group was ordered to the eastern Mediterranean.
In Gaza, Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassim condemned the US announcement, calling it “de facto participation in aggression against our people.”
The violence could undermine U.S.-backed steps toward normalizing ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia — a security realignment that could threaten Palestinian hopes for self-determination and Hamas’ main backer, Iran.
Tehran’s second main regional ally is Lebanon HezbollahFought a war with Israel in 2006 and says its “guns and rockets” stand with Hamas.
The increase comes after increasing violence between Israel and Palestinian groups in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where the Palestinian Authority exercises limited self-rule.
Conditions in the West Bank have worsened under Netanyahu’s hard-right government, with more Israeli raids and attacks by Jewish settlers on Palestinian villages, and the Palestinian Authority calling an emergency Arab League meeting.
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said the attack would spread to the West Bank and Jerusalem. Gazans have been living under an Israeli-led blockade for 16 years after Hamas took over the territory in 2007.
“How many times have we warned you that the Palestinian people have been living in refugee camps for 75 years, and you refuse to recognize the rights of our people?” Haniyah said.
The United Nations appealed for the construction of humanitarian corridors to bring food to Gaza and said that at least 70,000 Palestinians in Gaza are seeking shelter in schools run by it.
