ISRAEL at War Hamas attacks

https://melaniephillips.substack.com/p/the-barbaric-war-against-israel?
Behind the Hamas onslaught is Iran. But the west has this blood on its hands too
MELANIE PHILLIPS
OCT 7
Hamas forces with the body of an Israeli victim
I am in Jerusalem. At around a quarter past eight this morning, as observant Jews were celebrating the Sabbath and the holiday of Simchat Torah, an air raid siren started its wail, followed in short order by the boom of missiles being intercepted over the city. Many more sirens wailed for several hours. We watched the sky over the city fill with traces left by the missile defence system, Iron Dome. We held our breath in case Iron Dome failed.

And what was unfolding elsewhere was infinitely worse, a sickening disaster without parallel in Israel’s history.

Hundreds of Hamas gunmen had infiltrated into the south of the country, brazenly using jeeps and paragliders to overwhelm the border fence and Israel’s supposedly sophisticated border defences.

These Hamas forces attacked some 22 villages, towns and kibbutzim along the southern border, murdering civilians and soldiers while thousands of rockets were fired across the south and centre of the country.

The Hamas gunmen killed more than 250 Israeli civilians, in a toll that will surely rise yet further, and left more than 1,450 injured.

They murdered Israelis at bus stops, in their cars and in their homes. The gunmen went from house to house, killing them and burning down their houses. Dozens of young Israelis were slaughtered at an all-night nature party. An undisclosed number have been held hostage for hours inside the dining hall at Kibbutz Be’eri.

More sickeningly still, dozens of Israelis including elderly people, women and small children were abducted from their homes or dragged out of cars, forced into Hamas vehicles and are now being held as hostages in Gaza. This is unthinkable and unspeakable.

Social media has shown videos of Hamas gunmen parading what appeared to be stolen Israeli military vehicles, including a tank, through the streets; and at least one dead Israeli soldier within Gaza was shown being dragged and trampled by a crowd screaming “God is great”.

The hostages mean that the Israel Defence Forces will now have to go into Gaza with a major ground operation, with all the awful consequences that follow.

There are also fears that Hezbollah may now unleash its 150,000 missiles from Lebanon which are targeted at the whole of Israel.

This is the stuff of Israel's nightmares, and will almost certainly get worse. It is wrong to call this terrorism. It is all-out war against Israel. And all over this barbaric onslaught are the fingerprints of Hamas's genocidal paymasters, Iran.

Enough. Time to take out not just Hamas but the head of the snake, the regime in Tehran.

It is fifty years almost to the day since Israel was taken by surprise when Egypt and Syria attacked it on the holiest day of the Jewish year, Yom Kippur. That intelligence failure cost thousands of Israelis soldiers’ lives and created an enduring national trauma.

What happened today was far worse. This was not a war between armies, or a conflict between terrorists and soldiers. This was a lethal and overwhelming onslaught aimed at Israeli civilians. Every one of those attacks was therefore a war crime.

How could this possibly have happened? Clearly, there has been a massive Israeli intelligence failure. It’s hard not to see a connection with the enormous anti-government protests over the past nine months, which saw Israelis trying to undermine the economy and even refusing to do army reservists’ duty.

Such a paralysing internal battle may have taken official eyes off the security ball. What’s undeniable is that the ferocity and length of these internal convulsions sent a signal that Israel was weakened. Many Israelis have been wondering over these past difficult months just when Israel’s mortal enemies would seize this opportunity to take advantage of this weakness. Now we have the dreadful answer.

And this barbarism has been paid for by the US and EU. What did they think all the money they were channelling into Gaza for “humanitarian” purposes would actually be used for? Now we have the answer.

What did the Biden administration think would be the result of appeasing, grovelling to and funding Iran, the paymasters of Hamas and Hezbollah? Now it has its answer.

America, the EU and Britain have consistently undermined Israel’s attempt to defend itself against attack. For the past century, the west has incentivised exterminatory Palestinian Arab terror against Israel by rewarding it with the promise of statehood — which the Palestinians always made plain they wanted only as a staging post towards Israel’s destruction — and punishing Israel for objecting to this existential threat.

For decades, the US, EU and UK have forced Israel to fight Palestinian Arab aggression with one hand tied behind its back. Time and again, they have pressured Israel to pull its forces back before they have been able to wipe out the infrastructure of terrorism. Even as the Biden administration now mouths its pious platitudes about standing with Israel in its defence against “terror”, the State Department has said:

We urged all sides to refrain from violence and retaliatory attacks. Terror and violence solve nothing.

All sides? Does the US believe therefore that Israel and Hamas are morally equivalent? So Israel must “refrain” from destroying the forces which have murdered hundreds of civilians in one day — which the US disapprovingly says would be a “retaliatory attack”? Should America have refrained from attacking the Taliban in Afghanistan after 9/11 because this was likewise a “retaliatory attack”?

Whenever Israel has launched military operations in Gaza — which it does only when attacks from there have become intolerable — western “progressives” complain that its response is “disproportionate”. What they mean, in their disgusting way, is that not enough Israelis have been killed.

So will today’s horrific toll now give them pause? Don’t hold your breath. If Israel goes in hard into Gaza — which it must, as a moral imperative — the usual suspects in the media and “progressive” classes will be screaming “disproportionate” before you can say “keffiyeh”.

That’s because the Palestinian agenda is the cause of causes for western “progressives”. Supporting the Palestinians is the default position for all liberals.

So these are the people they have been supporting (warning: these videos are deeply upsetting):

people who parade and desecrate the bodies of those they’ve killed;

people who kidnapped a teenage Israeli girl into Gaza and paraded her around the streets;

people who murdered an Israeli woman, loaded her onto a van and stripped and humiliated her;

children in Gaza tormenting an Israeli child kidnapped today.

A very great evil was done in Israel today. It was perpetrated by the Palestinian Arabs and their Iranian backers. But the US, EU and UK have this blood on their hands too.

https://www.israel365news.com/376271/israel-at-war-at-least-100-jews-murdered-by-hamas/?
Israel at war: at least 240 Jews murdered by Hamas
At least 250 Israelis were killed and over 900 wounded as Palestinian terrorists wandered the streets of two Israeli towns and 2,200 rockets were fired from Gaza.
Palestinian terrorists launched a massive rocket barrage from Gaza targeting cities in south and central Israel at 6:30 Saturday morning. Hundreds of Palestinian terrorists infiltrated into Israel crossing at multiple points, and carrying out a murderous rampage in the streets of Sderot. At least 250 Israelis were killed and over 1,104 wounded. Footage shows Palestinian terrorists driving around Sderot and murdering Jewish civilians in the streets. There are also reports of terrorists in the streets of Kibbutz Beeri. Hamas claimed to have captured at least 52 Israelis, including both IDF soldiers and civilians.


There are reported to still be 22 “active” areas in southern Israel, where gunmen are still active or feared to be in the field.


Unverified footage from the Gaza Strip purported to show Hamas terrorists with the body of an IDF soldier taken from Israel during the attack. Another video appeared to show Palestinian terrorists dragging away a live Israeli soldier on a motorcycle.

Other images showed terrorists atop an IDF tank.
Palestinians stand next to a burning tank inside the border fence with Israel in the city of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip. October 7, 2023. Photo by Yousef Mohammed/FLASH90
IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari told reporters that more than 2,200 rockets fired into Israel since 6:30 AM. Red Alert warning sirens were sounded as far away as Tel Aviv. Direct hits on buildings were reported in Ashkelon, the Gederot region and Tel Aviv.


Two hours later, the IDF launched the operation “Swords of Iron” in response to Hamas’s surprise attack on Israel.

A massive call-up of reservists went out as the IDF said it was moving to a “state of war”. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant declared an emergency situation within a range of 80 kilometers from the Gaza Strip.

School was canceled across Israel. Gatherings were also restricted to 10 people outdoors and 50 people indoors in those areas, the Home Front Command said.

The Hamas-run health ministry in the Gaza Strip said 198 Palestinians were killed and another 1,610 were wounded as of Saturday afternoon.
This is a developing story and will be updated.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hm9miagTHww
Massive Surprise Attack On Israel By Gaza’s Hamas

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https://news.sky.com/story/israel-gaza-latest-hamas-fighters-on-the-ground-after-5-000-rockets-fired-jerusalem-attacks-gaza-strip-targets-and-calls-up-reserves-12978800
Israel-Gaza latest: 198 killed in Gaza as Israel responds to Hamas attack that left 100 dead
Hamas fighters have crossed the border into Israel after an early morning barrage of rockets from the Gaza Strip. Israel has called up reservists and is striking targets in Gaza as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says "we are at war".

Saturday 7 October 2023 14:57, UK

Israel
LIVE

Watch live coverage of Israel-Gaza war on Sky News
Why you can trust Sky News
Key points
'We are at war and we will win': Netanyahu defiant after Hamas incursion View post
40 Israelis confirmed dead, as many as 740 injured View post
Nearly 200 dead in Gaza after retaliatory Israeli strikes View post
Multiple dead and wounded in Gaza after retaliatory Israeli strikes View post
Hamas says it fired 5,000 rockets View post | Israel says 2,500 View post
Israeli civilians being taken by Hamas to Gaza - reports View post
'Extensive mobilisation' of reserves in Israel in response View post
Watch: Hamas fighters 'paraglide' into Israel View post
John Sparks: Well-organised Hamas will 'unnerve Israel' View post
Live reporting by Jess Sharp and (earlier) Ollie Cooper
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1m ago
15:04
Hamas 'has enough Israel captives' to have 'all Palestinian prisoners' released, militant leader says
Hamas has taken "enough Israeli captives" to make the country "release all Palestinian prisoners in its jails", the leader of the militant group has said.

Saleh al-Arouri made the comment amid reports Hamas is kidnapping soldiers of the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF).

Israel's N12 news channel has said around 50 Israeli hostages are being held by the group's gunmen.

Benjamin Netanyahu made an announcement a few hours ago, declaring Israel is at war.
4,000 rockets fired from Gaza since early morning on the Jewish Sabbath! 100 Israelis killed and 800 wounded so far, innocent citizens kidnapped and ambulances hijacked.
It’s nightmarish and heartbreaking!

https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2023-10-07/ty-article-live/israel-under-attack-terrorists-infiltrate-from-gaza-amid-massive-rocket-barrages/0000018b-088b-dae9-adcb-abbff50f0000
Gaza Declares War | Surprise Infiltration, Massive Barrages Shock Israel; at Least 40 Killed, Over 500 Wounded, Unknown Number of Hostages
Gaza Declares War | Surprise Infiltration, Massive Barrages Shock Israel; at Least 40 Killed, Over 500 Wounded, Unknown Number of Hostages
Oct 7, 2023
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Remnants of a destroyed vehicle in the Israeli city of Ashkelon on Saturday following rocket fire from Gaza.
Credit: Ilan Assayag
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Burnt car in the southern Israel of Ashkelon, on Saturday.
Credit: Ilan Assayag
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Israeli forces in Ashkelon amid a wave of attacks from the Gaza Strip on Saturday.
Credit: Ilan Assayag
Dozens of Palestinian militants infiltrate Israel from Gaza by land, sea and air ■ Some 2,500 rockets fired from the Strip ■ At least 40 Israelis killed, over 500 wounded ■ Army strikes Hamas targets in Gaza ■ Terrorists hold Israeli civilians hostage in their homes

At least 40 people killed since morning, 779 wounded, rescue service says
PM Netanyahu: 'We are at war; we will win'
RECAP: 40 Israelis killed, more than 700 wounded, dozens held hostage ■ Gunfights with terrorists in Gaza border communities as rockets batter Israel
'We are being slaughtered. There is no army': Israeli residents beg for rescue
Tel Aviv resident: 'My sister said militants entered their home, I'm unable to reach her'
About 2,200 rockets launched from Gaza; Israeli army says terrorists infiltrated Israel by land, sea and air
Chaos and confusion in Rahat: fewer than ten shelters for 75,000 residents
Terrorist infiltration reported at Israeli police station, shootout underway
U.S. official in Jerusalem condemns Gaza's rocket attacks on Israel
Dozens of Hamas militants infiltrated from the Gaza Strip; Israeli intelligence taken by surprise
Israeli defense minister approves mobilization of IDF reserve forces
Hamas official speaks in response to 'aggression against Al-Aqsa Mosque' as rockets strike Israel
Israeli army strikes Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip
Woman killed, terrorist infiltration from Gaza, strike on Tel Aviv
Updates
Last to first

Yaniv Kubovich
4:28 PM
Fighting in southern communities Be'eri, Re'im and Sderot; hostages held in Be'eri and Ofakim
Fighting is taking place in Kibbutz Be'eri and Kibbutz Re'im in Israel's south. Gunfights are also taking place in Sderot, near the police station in the city.


A police vehicle in Re'imwas hit by anti-tank fire, there are casualties at the scene. In Kibbutz Be'eri and Ofakim, hostages are being held and negotiations for their release are underway.

Haaretz
11:33 AM
RECAP: 40 Israelis killed, more than 700 wounded, dozens held hostage ■ Gunfights with terrorists in Gaza border communities as rockets batter Israel
Open gallery view
Israeli forces in Ashkelon pull shrapnel from the street on Saturday following a rocket attack from Gaza.Credit: Ilan Assayag
Since 6 A.M. thousands of rockets were launched from Gaza on cities across central and southern Israel, reaching as far as Jerusalem, while Palestinian terrorists infiltrated communities in the country's south by land, sea and air.

At least 40 Israelis were killed and over 700 were wounded throughout the day. Israeli police estimate that there are currently 60 terrorists in 14 locations throughout the country that have infiltrated the country from Gaza and are holding gunfights in Gaza border communities.

In the southern cities of Be'ery and Ofakim, Israeli civilians are held captive by terrorists in their homes, which prompted outcry from a number of U.S. agencies and officials.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir declared a national state of emergency that will go into effect in the evening, and called to recruit all police volunteers across the country.

The Israeli army has responded to the wave of attacks by striking Hamas positions in the Gaza Strip.

"Israel is at war. This is not a so-called military operation," Netanyahu said on Saturday. Speaking at a security cabinet meeting, he said that Israel's first goal is "to purge the area of enemy forces that have infiltrated and restore security and peace to the towns that were attacked."

Open gallery view
Israeli troops take up positions amid a wave of rockets fired from Gaza and an infiltration along the southern border on Saturday.Credit: Ilan Assayag
The U.S. Office of Palestinian Affairs said it "unequivocally condemned the attack of Hamas terrorists and the loss of life that has incurred. We urge all sides to refrain from violence and retaliatory attacks. Terror and violence solve nothing."

Stephanie Hallett, the chargé d'affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem, also denounced the recent wave of rockets across Israel on X (formerly known as Twitter) on Saturday. Hallett wrote that she was "sickened by the images coming out of southern Israel of dead and wounded civilians at the hands of terrorists from Gaza. The United States stands with Israel."

Tens of thousands of Israeli army reserve personnel are also set to be mobilized, and a number of reserve troops participating in the protest movement against the Netanyahu government's judicial overhaul are returning to reserve duty in light of the incident.

Ido Efrati
4:13 PM
Number of wounded since morning rises to 779, Health Ministry says
The number of wounded who were brought to hospitals across the country has risen to 779, Israel's Health Ministry said on Saturday.

Hospitals located up to 80 km (22 miles) from the Gaza Strip will not hold non-urgent medical treatments tomorrow, according to the ministry.

In addition, the ministry's director general has ordered a halt to travel plans by healthcare employees, the cancellation of vacations and the publication of a directive for the return of medical staff currently abroad.

Amos Harel
4:12 PM
Hamas’ victory is an Israeli failure on a massive scale | Analysis
Open gallery view
Palestinians celebrating by a burning Israeli tank at the border fence of the Gaza Strip on Saturday.Credit: Hatem Ali/AP
The State of Israel has been at war since Saturday morning. Hamas initiated an effective, sudden attack that caught the Israeli intelligence organizations completely by surprise and shattered the operational defense doctrine on the Gaza Strip border.

There is a large number, which has yet to be finally determined, of dead and wounded on the Israeli side. According to reports in Gaza, a considerable number of hostages and corpses have been brought there from Israel.

At this time, the Israel Defense Forces and Israel Police are conducting house-to house battles with armed Palestinians holed up in homes in Israeli communities along the border. The army is calling up reservists at an extent commensurate to war.

There have been terrible massacres in some communities and military bases. Although thousands of rockets and missiles have been fired into Israel, from the south to Jerusalem and the greater Tel Aviv area, that has been mainly a diversion: Hamas’ military effort is concentrated on the Israeli communities on the Gaza border. Tragically, it has been very successful.

Read the full analysis.

Eden Solomon
4:07 PM
Barzilai hospital in Ashkelon damaged by rocket
Open gallery view
The damage at Ashkelon's Barzilai Hospital on Saturday.Credit: Itai Ron
Yaniv Kubovich
4:02 PM
Israel Air Force striking within Israeli territory and in Gaza
The Israeli army is striking targets within Israeli territory and in Gaza. According to the army spokesperson, Palestinian militants were hit near the Gaza border crossing.

Reuters
3:54 PM
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin says Pentagon will work to ensure Israel 'has what it needs to defend itself'
Haaretz
3:38 PM
UN Middle East special coordinator condemns multi-front assault on Israel
“I vehemently condemn this morning’s multi-front assault against Israeli towns and cities near the Gaza Strip, and barrage of rockets reaching across central Israel by Hamas militants," Tor Wennesland, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process said on Saturday.

"These events have resulted in horrific scenes of violence and many Israeli fatalities and injuries, with many believed to be kidnapped inside the Strip. These are heinous attacks targeting civilians and must stop immediately.

"I am deeply concerned for the well-being of all civilians. I am in close contact with all concerned to urge maximum restraint and call on all sides to protect civilians," his statement read.

Bar Peleg
3:35 PM
Exchanges of fire near police station in southern city of Sderot
Reuters
3:35 PM
UAE calls for immediate ceasefire between Israel and Palestinians
The United Arab Emirates called on Israel and the Palestinians on Saturday to prevent further violence and preserve the safety of civilians, the official news agency reported, citing the UAE foreign ministry.

"The UAE calls for the exercise of maximum restraint and an immediate ceasefire to avoid serious repercussions," the ministry said in a statement, according to the report.