Israeli forces are actively working to reclaim control of the desert region surrounding the Gaza Strip and evacuate residents from the conflict-ridden border area. The death toll from the ongoing war with Hamas has surpassed 1,100 casualties as of Monday, marking the third day of intense clashes.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has cautioned Israel to brace for an extended and challenging conflict. This comes after the Palestinian group Hamas initiated a sudden assault from Gaza over the weekend.
Hamas during the attack unleashed a barrage of rockets and deployed fighters who targeted civilians and holds over 100 hostages.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reported that over 700 Israelis have lost their lives since Hamas initiated its large-scale attack. Additionally, more than 1,200 individuals have been wounded, with many in critical condition.
In response, Israeli airstrikes relentlessly targeted approximately 800 locations in the impoverished and blockaded Gaza Strip, home to 2.3 million residents. Palestinian officials have reported a minimum of 413 deaths in the area.
IDF spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus estimated that approximately 1,000 Palestinians took part in Hamas’s assault on Saturday, which he described as “by far the worst day in Israeli history.”
“Never before have so many Israelis been killed by one single thing, let alone enemy activity in one day,” he said.
“This could be a 9/11 and a Pearl Harbour wrapped into one.”
Around 100,000 reserve troops have been mobilized to the southern region as the IDF strives to remove Hamas fighters from Israeli territory, according to Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus. He also noted that a significant number of Israeli civilians and soldiers were currently held captive inside Gaza.
US President Joe Biden ordered “additional support for Israel in the face of this unprecedented terrorist assault by Hamas”.
US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer revealed that at least four US citizens had lost their lives in the attack, and he acknowledged that the death toll was expected to increase following a briefing on the situation.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Washington “will be rapidly providing the Israel Defense Forces with additional equipment and resources, including munitions”.
Austin directed the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier and a group of accompanying warships to the eastern Mediterranean. He also stated that Washington was bolstering fighter aircraft squadrons in the region.
Hamas has said the US aid amounts to “aggression” against Palestinians.
Kidnapped civilians
Israel was caught off guard when Hamas initiated its multi-faceted offensive on Saturday, even during the Jewish Sabbath, with over 3,000 rockets showering down. Simultaneously, fighters infiltrated towns and kibbutz communities and attacked an outdoor rave event, resulting in the tragic loss of life as many partygoers were shot dead.
Frightened Israelis, taking shelter in their homes, informed journalists that Hamas fighters were conducting door-to-door searches, shooting at civilians, or forcibly abducting them.
Hamas captured and abducted at least 100 civilians into Gaza, and distressing images of bloodied hostages have been circulating on social media.
Yifat Zailer, 37, expressed horror as she watched video footage from Gaza that showed her cousin and the woman’s children, aged nine months and three years.
“That’s the only confirmation we have,” she told media, her voice breaking with emotion, and adding there was no information on her cousin’s husband or her elderly parents.
“After the army took control of the kibbutz, they weren’t at home,” she said. “We assume they were kidnapped … We want to know what their condition is, we want them to return safe. They’re innocent civilians.”
Israel also faced an attack from the north when Lebanon’s Hezbollah launched guided missiles and artillery shells on Sunday “in solidarity” with the unprecedented Hamas offensive, without causing any casualties.
Israel responded with artillery strikes across the UN-patrolled border.
“We recommend Hezbollah not to come into this,” said army spokesman Richard Hecht. “If they come, we are ready.”
‘Situation is unbearable’
Netanyahu, who leads a hard-right coalition government but has received pledges of support from political opponents, has vowed to target Hamas hideouts and urged Palestinians in the area to evacuate.
Since then, Israeli attacks have flattened several residential towers in Gaza and demolished a mosque in Khan Yunis, in addition to striking the central bank.
Over 20,000 people in the Palestinian territory have been forced to leave their homes due to the ongoing conflict, according to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).
Amal Al-Sarsawi, a 37-year-old resident of Gaza City, shared that she had been awake all night comforting her frightened children from a classroom shelter.
“The situation is unbearable psychologically and economically,” she said.
Impact felt worldwide
Western capitals have strongly denounced the Hamas attack, with both Washington and Brussels categorizing Hamas as a terrorist organization.
The conflict has had a global impact, with numerous countries reporting their nationals killed, abducted, or missing. These countries include Brazil, Britain, France, Germany, Ireland, Mexico, Nepal, Thailand, Ukraine, and the United States.
Oil prices surged by over four percent on Monday, raising concerns about potential disruptions in the supply of crude oil from the oil-rich region.
Israel’s adversaries have lauded the attack, with Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi expressing support during his conversations with the leaders of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad group.
Pro-Palestinian demonstrations occurred in the United States, Iraq, Pakistan, and other countries, while Germany and France were among the nations increasing security measures around Jewish temples and schools.
In the Egyptian city of Alexandria, a police officer opened fire “at random” on Israeli tourists on Sunday, resulting in the deaths of two Israeli tourists and their Egyptian guide before the officer was arrested.
Israel’s 9/11
Describing its attack as “Operation Al-Aqsa Flood,” Hamas has called on “resistance fighters in the West Bank” and “Arab and Islamic nations” to join the battle.
Its attack comes half a century after the 1973 invasion by Egyptian and Syrian forces, a conflict known in Israel as the Yom Kippur War, and has sparked bitter recriminations for what was widely seen as an intelligence failure.
“There was a very bad failure here,” said Sderot resident Yaakov Shoshani, 70. “The Yom Kippur War was small compared to it, and I was a soldier in the Yom Kippur War.”
He recalled the terror in their town near Gaza.
“I held a kitchen knife and a large screwdriver, and I told my wife that, if something happens, to make sure to read the Kaddish (prayer) over me, if you stay alive,” he said. “And so we stayed close to each other at home, shut everything and turned off the lights.”
Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh has predicted “victory” and vowed to press ahead with “the battle to liberate our land and our prisoners languishing in occupation prisons”.
An Israeli survivor of the attack on Sderot, Yitzhak, 67, said he now expected the army to “conquer Gaza house by house, clean the area there properly, and not leave Gaza until they get the very last rocket out of the ground.”
Many Gaza residents voiced defiance.
“We will not give up, and we are here to stay,” said Mohammed Saq Allah, 23. “This is our land, and we will not abandon our land.”