Extremists from the Hamas group began a major offensive against Israel with thousands of missiles and invasions by sea, land and air.
Saturday 7 October began with the Palestinian group named Hamas – which controls the Gaza Strip – carrying out an unprecedented attack against Israel. In the early hours of the morning, thousands of missiles were fired from Gaza towards Israeli territory.
Hamas is a Palestinian Islamist movement that has administered the Gaza Strip since 2007 and is supported by Iran. It is considered a terrorist organisation by Israel, the United Kingdom, the European Union and the United States.
This group does not recognise the State of Israel and advocates the creation of an independent Palestinian State throughout the territory of historic Palestine.
According to the Al-Qassam Brigades – the Hamas’ military wing – 7,000 missiles were fired towards Israel. A large number of these missiles were shot down by Israel’s sophisticated Iron Dome air defence system, but it was not enough. Missiles fell on residential areas in several cities, setting buildings and cars on fire.
While Israel was being bombed, Hamas militiamen invaded the country’s territory by land, air and sea. Sources told Al Jazeera television that around one thousand Palestinians managed to infiltrate Israel. A video published on X (formerly Twitter) shows a man in a motorised paraglider. Men were also seen breaking through the border fences on foot and in jeeps. Armed on Israeli soil, they captured civilians and soldiers. Bodies were seen on the streets of several cities.
The city of Sderot, located approximately one kilometre from the Gaza border, was one of the terrorists’ first targets. A local TV station reported that several people had been injured in clashes between Israeli forces and Hamas members inside and outside a police station in Sderot.
Early in the morning, a resident described the situation to KAN, Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation. “We woke up at 6:30 a.m. to alarms, we thought it was the usual rocket attacks but we started hearing gunshots on the street, sounded like it came from the parking of our building. Then we realized something was unusual. We then started seeing Hamas people in pickup trucks. They knocked on the homes of residents, who thought they were Israeli soldiers. They took them hostage,” said Shoval Kahlon, who was in an air raid shelter.
“Abandoned and destroyed cars, noise of explosions and the smell of fire smoke. Chaos on the southern roads,” journalist Bar Peleg wrote on X.
At around 12pm, clashes between the Army and Islamic radicals were still going on in 22 locations and there were hostage situations in Be’eri and Ofakim, according to the Israel Defence Forces.
Seven Palestinian extremists were caught in a stolen Israeli Army jeep in an area close to the border. A tank was also captured by another group. Missiles reached Tel Aviv, the country’s most populous city, where at least one residential building was hit.
Following the attacks on Saturday, the number of deaths in Israel has exceeded 600 according to the local press, citing the Zaka group as a source, which has been working to rescue bodies. Since last night, the latest update on injuries reported that 1,452 people have been hospitalised, whereby 18 are in critical condition and 267 are in a condition considered serious. The most recent data from Gaza reports 232 dead and 1,790 injured. This number is expected to rise further today, due to Israeli retaliation in the Palestinian territory in the last few hours.
Israel Defence Forces Spokesman, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, said the terrorist group took Israeli hostages to the Gaza Strip. Speaking to Al Jazeera, the Deputy Head of Hamas, Saleh al-Arouri, said that the group’s members have “enough” number of Israelis in their possession to release all the imprisoned Palestinians, including “high-ranking officials.”
“We managed to kill and capture many Israeli soldiers. The fight is still going on. As for our prisoners, I say their freedom is close. What we have in hand will see them freed. The longer the fighting continues, the greater the number of prisoners will be,” said Saleh al-Arouri.
In the Be’eri kibbutz, a settlement near Gaza’s western border, a resident told a TV station that she was in a safe shelter while Hamas members took hostages in the local cafeteria. Another Israeli citizen who lives in the south of the country said his wife and daughter were missing. He tracked their mobile phones and the location showed Khan Younis, in the south of the Gaza Strip. The man feared that his family had been kidnapped by Hamas.
In the Kfar Aza kibbutz, which is also close to the border, a baby was found alive with no signs of his parents. According to The Times of Israel, this is one of the several places where Hamas militiamen are still in circulation.
Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, declared that his country’s response to the attack is a “war”.
“We are at war, and we will win it”, he stated, highlighting that he ordered an extensive mobilisation of reservists and that he would return fire “with a magnitude that the enemy has not known.”
“The enemy will pay an unprecedented price,” he added.
At a Security Cabinet meeting, Netanyahu listed their three main current goals. “Our first objective is to clear out the hostile forces that infiltrated our territory and restore the security and quiet to the [Israeli] communities that have been attacked. The second objective is to ‘exact an immense price from the enemy, within the Gaza Strip as well’ and the third ‘to reinforce other fronts so that nobody should mistakenly join this war’.”
Israel’s counterattack began immediately with the Air Force and missiles. Gaza residents told Al Jazeera of a reaction of “unprecedented scale and intensity.”
“We are scared,” said Amal Abu Daqqa, a Palestinian woman who lives in Khan Younis, in the besieged Gaza Strip. Residents of the Palestinian enclaves rushed to buy supplies, knowing that the next few days would be full of conflict. According to the AFP news agency, the first bombings destroyed three 10-storey buildings that were part of a residential complex.
The Israeli Army reported that it bombed “two multi-story buildings” and accused Hamas of harbouring military infrastructure among the population living in the city. The Defence Forces also said that the population was warned about the operation and that residents were asked to “evacuate the site” before the bombings.
Hamas’ attack on Israel was followed by a series of speeches by international leaders. “The United States unequivocally condemns the unjustified attacks by Hamas terrorists against Israeli civilians,” told US National Security Council spokeswoman, Adrienne Watson, adding that “there is never justification for terrorism.”
US National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, spoke with Israeli National Security Advisor, Tzachi Hanegbi, and according to the statement, they will remain in close contact. “We firmly support the government and people of Israel and express our condolences for the Israeli lives lost in these attacks,” Watson added.
“Our commitment to Israel’s right to defence remains ‘unbreakable’,” US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement, adding that he will work “to ensure that Israel has the means to defend itself and protect civilians from violence and indiscriminate terrorism.”
On Saturday 7 October, American President Joe Biden said that the country is ready to offer “all appropriate means of support” to Israel after the attack and warned “any other party hostile to Israel” not to take advantage of the moment. The UN envoy for the Middle East peace process, Tor Wennesland, strongly condemned the Palestinian extremist group’s “atrocious attacks” against Israel and urged an immediate ceasefire. “This is a dangerous precipice, and I appeal to all to pull back from the brink,” he said in a statement, adding that he is “in close contact with all parties” to especially ask that “civilians are protected.”
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also spoke out. “I am shocked by this morning’s attacks by Hamas terrorists against Israeli citizens. Israel has an absolute right to defend itself. We’re in contact with Israeli authorities, and British nationals in Israel should follow travel advice,” he wrote on social media.
The president of the European Council, Charles Michel, expressed the bloc’s solidarity with Israel. “I strongly condemn the indiscriminate attacks launched against Israel and its people this morning, inflicting terror and violence on innocent citizens. My thoughts are with all the victims. The European Union shows solidarity with the Israeli people at this horrible time.”
Prayers for Israel
As Christians, it is important to pray for Israel. The following promise can be found in the Bible: “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: may they prosper who love you” (Psalm 122:6).
“God has such a special affection for Israel that He commands us to pray for its people. Whoever loves Israel prospers,” Bishop Edir Macedo taught during a visit by the then-Israeli ambassador, Yossi Shelley, to the Temple of Solomon in Brazil, on 28 January 2018.
“When we pray for Israel, we are praying for the people chosen by God, which we are also part of. Whoever prays for the peace of Jerusalem has God’s guarantee – they will prosper,” Bishop added.
