Hamas claimed to have fired 5,000 rockets into Israel from the occupied Gaza Strip, setting off air raid sirens in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to defeat the Hamas militant group after its deadly incursion into southern Israel which has seen them snatch grandparents, children and women off the streets but says the war will ‘take time.’
Hamas gunmen have taken dozens of hostages off the streets of Israel as the war takes a darker turn and the death toll reached 450 after less than one day.
Horrifying footage showed women being marched into vehicles, bloodied and bruised, often with their hands bound behind their backs. Earlier pictures showed Israeli pensioners taken into the Gaza Strip on golf carts and families forced into trucks.
At least 250 people have died and 1,100 wounded in the conflict in Israel alone, and it’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced his country is ‘at war’ with the Palestinians militants and his country will ‘settle the score’ with anyone who harms captives.
Meanwhile Hamas has called for Arab and Islamic nations to join its attack, and has seen 198 people die in the Gaza Strip with another 1,610 wounded amid Israel’s retaliation.
The UN has announced an emergency Security Council meeting will be held tomorrow.
Speaking on Saturday night, PM Netanyahu issued a dire warning to Hamas militants: ‘I tell Hamas, you are responsible for the wellbeing of captives, Israel will settle the score with anyone who harms them.’
He vowed to defeat the group, but said the war would ‘take time’, continuing: ‘What happened today has never been seen in Israel, we will take mighty vengeance for this black day.’
Promising ‘mighty vengeance’, he promised to reduce Gaza to ‘rubble’, telling innocent Palestinians to leave immediately.
Soon after, a convey of tanks were reported to be heading towards the border with Gaza.
Thomas Helm, Jerusalem Correspondent at The National spoke to MailOnline from Jerusalem today. He said the hostage situation set a dangerous tone for how the conflict – which was launched on a Jewish holiday – could develop.
‘There are reports that [the Palestinians] have taken an Israeli General hostage, entire families have been taken, point blank killings… wars have been started where one Israeli hostage was taken and now it seems like there could be about 60.
Sitting on the back of a terrorist’s motorcycle, her outstretched arms pointing towards her helpless boyfriend, student Noa Argamani pleads for her life
Sitting on the back of a terrorist’s motorcycle, her outstretched arms pointing towards her helpless boyfriend, student Noa Argamani pleads for her life
‘So it couldn’t be worse. Every Israeli I have spoken to, their voices have been quivering.’
The militants have claimed to have taken dozens of soldiers captive, but this does not include the number of civilians who have reportedly been detained.
An Israeli army spokesman says fighting is continuing in 22 locations in southern Israel some 12 hours after Hamas militants launched a surprise attack from the Gaza Strip.
Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari also said that Israel was striking targets in Gaza from the air and that ground operations were imminent.
Hagari confirmed ongoing hostage situations in the towns of Ofakim and Beeri. Earlier, both the Israeli military and Hamas confirmed that some Israelis had been captured and taken hostage.
For Israelis working and living within range of Gaza, the sight of Hamas militants roaming outside their homes marked a terrifying turn of events unlike anything residents had experienced before.
‘This was always the nightmare. We told ourselves that one day, the terrorists will come inside here,’ said Jehan Berman, a 42-year-old in the small community of Avshalom, just a few kilometers from Gaza.
He added that it took eight hours for the Israeli military to arrive to his kibbutz and start fending off the Hamas fighters. ‘We cannot live like this.’
Mr Berman – who suffers from multiple wounds and disabilities inflicted by the past four wars and countless other skirmishes between Israel and Hamas over the years – said that Israeli authorities had notified him that Hamas had kidnapped his 75-year-old mother-in-law, along with several friends in their 30s and their small children.
The last time he heard from his mother-in-law was at 10.30am, he said, when she called him, panicked and distraught, to say that Hamas militants had shot and killed her husband.
Iran have been accused of encouraging the latest round of fighting by sources in government, the Times reports.
A Whitehall source told the paper: ‘The Revolutionary Guards have their fingerprints all over this multifaceted attack. Hamas is just another tool in Iran’s campaign against the West.’
Videos shared online appear to show Iranians celebrating news of the conflict, with state television airing a clip of Parliament members chanting: ‘Palestine will be victorious, Israel will be destroyed.’
Hamas, the de facto governing authority of the Gaza Strip, claims to have fired 5,000 rockets into Israel today, setting off air raid sirens in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, before invading by ground and air, reportedly using paragliders.
The coordinated attack has seen border fences broken down, tanks immobilised, dozens of hostages reportedly taken and residential buildings targeted by airstrikes.
Emerging footage shows horrific scenes, including Palestinian groups celebrating as they paraded the naked body of a female IDF soldier on a truck through Gaza.
The Palestinians appear to have the upper hand, continuing to launch strikes across Israel. With little incentive to de-escalate, onlookers worry the clashes could go on.
But Israel has hit back, firing its own rockets into Gaza in retaliation, and both sides are continuing fighting late into the night.
Tel Aviv appears to have been struck by multiple missiles, with footage showing damaged buildings and large fires.
Meanwhile the Israeli Minister of Energy and Infrastructure has ordered the immediate suspension of power to the Gaza Strip.
‘I have signed an order instructing Israel’s electric company to stop the electricity supply to Gaza,’ Katz said in a statement.
Gaza’s power authority says 80 percent of Gaza electricity supplies have been shut following Israel’s announcement.
The Gaza Strip is one of the most densely populated places in the world, with around two million people packed into 140 square miles. But it depends on Israel for water, electricity, telecommunications, and other utilities, and imports are carefully controlled by the occupying country.
On the outlook for the conflict, Thomas Helm told MailOnline today: ‘It really depends what Hamas wants out of this. I’ve heard comments from Hamas officials saying ‘we now have enough hostages to free every single Palestinian prisoner in prisoner exchanges.’