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Israel 'at war' as Hamas gunmen launch surprise attack from Gaza
By Nidal Al-Mughrabi and Maayan Lubell
October 7, 20237:35 AM PDTUpdated 13 min ago

Summary
Companies
Hamas gunmen enter Israel in unprecedented attack
At least 100 Israelis reported dead, 740 wounded
Israel says Hamas declares war, commits 'grave mistake'
Barrage of rockets launched into Israel from Gaza
Reports of gunbattles in towns in southern Israel
JERUSALEM/GAZA, Oct 7 (Reuters) - Palestinian Islamist group Hamas
launched the biggest attack on Israel in years on Saturday, killing at
least 100 people and claiming it had taken dozens of hostages in a
surprise assault combining gunmen crossing into Israel and a barrage of
rockets fired from Gaza.

Israel said the Iran-backed group had declared war as its army confirmed
fighting with militants in several Israeli towns and military bases near
Gaza, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to retaliate.

"Our enemy will pay a price the type of which it has never known," he
said. "We are in a war and we will win it".

Israel's N12 News reported that at least 100 Israelis were killed. A
Reuters photographer saw multiple bodies lying in streets of the
southern town of Sderot.

The Israeli military said it had responded with air strikes into Gaza,
where witnesses reported hearing heavy explosions and multiple dead and
wounded being carried into hospitals. The Israeli military said navy
forces killed dozens of Palestinian militants trying to infiltrate
Israel by sea.

Hamas deputy chief Saleh al-Arouri told Al Jazeera that the group was
holding a big number of Israeli captives, including senior officials. He
said Hamas had enough captives to make Israel free all Palestinians in
its jails.

Gaza health officials said 198 Palestinians had been killed in air
strikes as bombardments hit deep into Gaza City, sending clouds of black
smoke spiralling into the sky.

Hamas said the attack was driven by what it said were Israel's escalated
attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank, Jerusalem and against
Palestinians in Israeli prisons.

"This is the day of the greatest battle to end the last occupation on
earth," Hamas military commander Mohammad Deif said, announcing the
start of the operation in a broadcast on Hamas media and calling on
Palestinians everywhere to fight.

Hamas advocates Israel's destruction.

The attack marked an unprecedented infiltration into Israel by an
unknown number of Hamas gunmen crossing from the Gaza Strip, and the
heaviest blow for Israel in the conflict with Palestinians since the
suicide bombings of the Second Intifada some two decades ago.

Israel and Hamas fought a 10-day war in 2021.

The bloodshed came a day after Israel marked the 50th anniversary of the
1973 war that brought the country to the verge of catastrophic defeat in
a surprise attack by Syria and Egypt.

GUNBATTLES IN ISRAELI TOWNS
The militant Islamic Jihad group said it had joined the attacks and was
holding several Israeli soldiers captive.

Hamas footage on its Telegram account showed its fighters pulling
Israeli soldiers out of a tank.

The Israeli military has declined to comment, saying it would address
the reports of Israeli captives later.

Israeli media reported gunbattles between bands of Palestinian fighters
and security forces in towns in southern Israel. Israel's police chief
said there were "21 active scenes" in southern Israel.

In Gaza, people rushed to buy supplies in anticipation of days of
conflict ahead. Some evacuated their homes and headed for shelters.

U.N. Middle East peace envoy Tor Wennesland condemned the attacks on
Israel, warning in a statement: "This is a dangerous precipice, and I
appeal to all to pull back from the brink."

The violence also drew criticism from Washington and other Western capitals.

[1/26]Smoke rises following Israeli strikes in Gaza, October 7, 2023.
REUTERS/Mohammed Salem Acquire Licensing Rights

"The United States unequivocally condemns the unprovoked attacks by
Hamas terrorists against Israeli civilians. There is never any
justification for terrorism," said White House National Security Council
Spokesperson Adrienne Watson.

Reuters Graphics Reuters Graphics
'PLEASE SEND HELP'
Speaking to Israel N12 News by phone from Nir Oz, a kibbutz near Gaza, a
woman identified as Dorin said militants had infiltrated her house and
tried to open the bomb shelter where she was hiding.

"They just came in again, please send help," she said. "There are a lot
of homes harmed ... My husband is holding the door closed ... They are
firing rounds of bullets."

Israeli Defence Minister Gallant said "troops are fighting against the
enemy at every location" and authorised the call-up of reservists.

Footage circulating on social media appeared to show clashes in city
streets as well as gunmen in jeeps roaming the countryside.

"We were told there are terrorists inside the kibbutz, we can hear
gunfire," a young woman named Dvir, from Beeri Kibbutz, told Israeli
Army Radio from her bomb shelter.

BACKDROP OF SURGING VIOLENCE
The escalation comes against a backdrop of surging violence between
Israel and Palestinian militants in the West Bank, which together with
the Gaza Strip is part of the territories where Palestinians have long
sought to establish a state.

It also comes at a time of political upheaval in Israel, which has been
riven by deep divisions over moves to overhaul the judiciary, and as
Washington works to strike a deal that would normalise ties between
Israel and Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia's foreign ministry called for an "immediate cessation of
violence between Israeli and the Palestinians", the state news agency
reported.

The Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah said the operation was a
"decisive response to Israel's continued occupation and a message to
those seeking normalisation with Israel".

An adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei congratulated
Palestinian fighters for the attack.

Hamas media displayed videos of what it said were bodies of Israeli
soldiers brought into Gaza by fighters, and Palestinian gunmen inside
Israeli homes and touring an Israeli town in jeeps reportedly been
driven into Israel by the attackers.

Reuters was not immediately able to verify the footage.

Hamas media also circulated video footage apparently showing a destroyed
Israeli tank.

In Gaza, the roar of rocket launches could be heard and residents
reported armed clashes along the separation fence with Israel, near the
southern town of Khan Younis, and said they had seen significant
movement of armed fighters.

Palestinians in Gaza were bracing for Israel's response.

"We are afraid," Palestinian woman, Amal Abu Daqqa, told Reuters as she
left her house in Khan Younis.

Additional reporting by Henriette Chacar and Dan Williams in Jerusalem,
Ali Sawafta in Ramallah; writing by James Mackenzie, Tom Perry and
Michael Georgy; Editing by William Mallard, Robert Birsel, Alex
Richardson and Nick Macfie

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Nidal Al-Mughrabi
Thomson Reuters

A senior correspondent with nearly 25 years’ experience covering the
Palestinian-Israeli conflict including several wars and the signing of
the first historic peace accord between the two sides.