Saturday, October 07, 2023

UPDATE: Israel - Hamas war, day 1 • > 500 dead: 300 Israelis, 232 Palestinians. Thousands injured • Airstrikes pound Gaza now • Hamas has > dozen Israeli hostages • Thousands of rockets hit Israel • Netanyahu vows turning Hamas enclave to rubble

The scale of devastation from first day of Hamas-Israel war is already unprecedented. We are entering a very dark chapter in conflict, with weeks if not months to come of war and bloodshed. Netanyahu facing hardest battle with hostages inside Gaza. Hamas has little to lose.

How this can play out, all escalatory scenarios:

- Israeli ground operation, likely after hostages situation addressed
- Weeks of war: Netanyahu Unity gov. bid indication
- A multi-front war involving Lebanon or Syria or both
- Something involving Iran though less likely for now

Update from Haaretz - continued fighting near Gaza in Israeli communities

Yaniv Kubovich
8:28 PM
Fighting ongoing in Israel's south, Hamas militants hold hostages

The fighting between security forces and Hamas militants holding extensive territories in Israeli areas near the border with Gaza has continued into the evening hours on Saturday. Hamas militants are still holding hostages in the Be'eri community as well as in the town of Ofakim.

Fighting zones also include Sderot, Kfar Aza, Erez, Re'im, Kisufim, Holit, and Mivtachim in Israel's south.

IDF Spokesperson Daniel Hagari stated on Saturday evening that Israel has regained control of some of the communities and towns in the Gaza periphery that were held by Hamas militants, but additional searches are being conducted to confirm this.

More updates on Israel

From BICOM - British Israel Communications and Research Centre

Operation Swords of Iron – Update No. 2

The Israeli death toll from Hamas’s surprise attack has risen to over 200. At least 1,100 Israelis are known to have been injured.

At this time, there is continued rocket fire from Gaza towards central and southern Israel, with over 3,000 launches.

The IDF has are currently operating in 22 border communities, going house to house to ensure that all terrorists are cleared from the area.

The IDF has also confirmed earlier reports that they are engaged in an ongoing hostage situation in Ofakim and Beeri.

There have been numerous accounts of hostages, both military and civilian, taken back into Gaza by terrorists.

The IDF has now confirmed that it has re-taken from Hamas the Re’im military base in southern Israel, home to its Gaza Division.

As well as many breaches of the land border, there were also infiltration attempts by sea, with the IDF intercepting at least four boats, including two speedboats – in total dozens of terrorists onboard.

31 regular IDF battalions are already in operation in the area around the Gaza Strip and Southern Israel, with a further four reservist divisions en route.

In response to the invasion, Israel is striking Hamas targets inside the Gaza Strip. The so-called “Palestine Tower” in Gaza City – a known Hamas base – was struck and destroyed earlier, after an Israeli warning had been given for civilians to clear the area.

Due to the unprecedented nature of the attack, Energy Minister Israel Katz has made an unprecedented decision to cut the power supply to Gaza.

According to Palestinian sources, over 160 Palestinians have been killed – the vast majority are presumed to be combatants....

Meanwhile, on the Norther border, close to Metula, Hezbollah operatives were filmed in a motorcycle convey close to the border. Israeli forces fired warning shots. The Northern Command remains on high alert.

Prime Minister Netanyahu has spoken with US President Biden and told him that a “prolonged and powerful campaign would be required in which Israel would win”.

Defence Minister Yoav Gallant has also spoken with US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, who said that the Pentagon will work in the coming days “to ensure that Israel has what it needs to defend itself and protect civilians from indiscriminate violence and terrorism.”

Israeli President Isaac Herzog released a statement saying: “Today we saw the true face of Hamas. A terrorist army whose only goal is the cold-blooded murder of innocent men, women, and children. Supported and directed by their proxy commanders in Iran, they carried out an unprovoked, heinous attack against the Jewish state on a Jewish holy day. Innocent civilians were massacred and wounded, and many are still under attack. The State of Israel will take all measures necessary to eliminate this clear and immediate danger to our citizens. Israel will overcome in the face of all challenges. I call upon the family of nations – this war waged against us marks a line in the sand. Now is the time to hear clear, unequivocal condemnation of Hamas, its allies, and its backers in Iran. Now is the time to stand firm with Israel in support of its just and moral battle in the face of an abhorrent enemy.”

Opposition leader Yair Lapid, who earlier today joined other senior opposition figures in expressing full unity with the government, also made public an offer he apparently made to Netanyahu earlier today to form an “emergency, narrow, professional government” unity government for the duration of the conflict.

A senior adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was earlier quoted by a news agency supporting the attacks, while at a parliamentary session Iranian lawmakers chanted “Down with Israel,” “Down with America,” and “Welcome Palestine,” according to a video published by Tasnim news agency.

Times of Israel: Death toll of Israelis now more than 150 from Hamas attack

Israeli death toll from Hamas war rises to more than 150

Today, 8:11 pm 1

An Israeli soldier stands by the bodies of Israelis killed by Palestinian terrorists who entered from the Gaza strip, in the southern Israeli city of Sderot, Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov)

The death toll from the Hamas terror group’s war on Israel rises to more than 150, Hebrew-language media cite medical officials as saying.

The Health Ministry says 1,104 people have been wounded in the attacks, which included Hamas terrorists infiltrating into Israel and gunning down soldiers and civilians. Others were wounded in rocket attacks.

The death toll is expected to rise higher.

Hundreds of Hamas gunmen infiltrated into Israel this morning, crossing at multiple points, overwhelming what the IDF considered to be the highly sophisticated border fence.

Thirteen hours after the start of the attacks, there are reported to still be 22 “active” areas in southern Israel, where gunmen are still active or feared to be in the field.

Hamas claims to have abducted dozens of Israelis to Gaza; the IDF has confirmed that soldiers and civilians have been taken hostage, but has not specified a number.

Terrible attacks upon Israeli civilians by Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Sderot, Netivot, Ofakim....

It's not at all clear now what's happening in the Israeli towns, moshavim, and kibbutzim that are close to Gaza. I've heard reports from Beeri, a kibbutz, from Sderot, Netivot, Ofakim, a rave in desert of attacks by Palestinian terrorists from Gaza.

Noga Tarnopolsky just posted this.

Translation of the Hebrew: About eighty wounded have been taken to Soroka Hospital (in Beersheba, which is also under attack), some of them in very critical condition.

Another report from Noga Tarnopolsky on terrorists holding civilians hostage in Ofakim:

Israel Police report that "terrorists from the Gaza Strip are holding hostages in homes in Ofakim; armed militants have infiltrated into Netivot." There are many Palestinian reports of IDF soldiers taken hostage into Gaza.

Link to Twitter: https://twitter.com/NTarnopolsky/status/1710542663437468066

Kerem Shalom border crossing captured by Hamas terrorists.

Michael Vokabre

@Vokabre

Kerem Shalom Gaza-Israel border crossing was reportedly captured by Hamas militants. Of course this would help tremendously in facilitating freedom of movement for Palestinians from Gaza and goods to Gaza and helping stuff like facilitating moving kids to Israeli hospitals.

3:03 AM · Oct 7, 2023

267

Views

https://twitter.com/Vokabre/status/1710551423702663348

New York Times reporting on the war

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2023/10/07/world/israel-gaza-attack#israel-gaza-attack

Here is what to know about the surprise attack on Israel.

Israel and Gaza were at war on Saturday after Palestinian militants fired barrages of rockets into southern and central Israel in a surprise morning attack that was among the biggest from Gaza in years, and the Israeli military said that armed gunmen had crossed the border fence in several locations and infiltrated Israeli communities.

At least one woman was killed in the initial barrages, according to Israel’s ambulance service.

The assault began without any warning about 6:30 a.m. on the Jewish Sabbath and the morning of a festival, the last of the series of Jewish high holidays. It was almost 50 years to the day after the surprise attack by Egyptian and Syrian forces over Israel’s northern and southern borders at the opening of the 1973 war that traumatized the nation.

Within the first hour of the attack, salvos of rockets had slammed relentlessly into Israeli towns and cities, striking as far north as Rishon LeZion, about 10 miles south of Tel Aviv, and Ramla, near Israel’s international airport. At 8:15 a.m. sirens also sounded in central Jerusalem, and loud booms could be heard.

Unverified images on television showed armed gunmen in a pickup truck shooting inside an Israeli community as well as at least one hang-glider in the sky. The militants who crossed the border into Israeli territory were heavily armed, according to Israeli media reports.

Here is the latest:

The Israeli military attributed the assault to Hamas, the militant organization that controls the Gaza Strip, a poor coastal enclave that has been under blockade by Israel and neighboring Egypt for about 15 years, saying in a statement: “The Hamas terrorist organization will pay a heavy price for its actions.”

Al Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, said that a military operation “in defense of the Aqsa mosque,” the hotly contested holy site in Jerusalem that thousands of Jews have visited in recent weeks, and against the Israeli blockade.

The ambulance service, Magen David Adom, issued an urgent call for blood and was organizing a special blood donation drive at a hospital in central Tel Aviv.

Reporting was contributed by Jonathan Rosen from Jerusalem, Gabby Sobelman from Rehovot, Israel, and Iyad Abuheweila from Cairo.Show less

Oct. 7, 2023, 2:31 a.m. ET29 minutes ago29 minutes ago

Douglas Schorzman

Israeli media and witness accounts described a large-scale infiltration attack by militants into Israel from Gaza, apparently including some who used paragliders.

Oct. 7, 2023, 2:22 a.m. ET39 minutes ago39 minutes ago

Isabel Kershner

Sirens have sounded numerous times in central Jerusalem, followed by loud booms, indicating an unprecedented rocket assault on the contested city. It was initially unclear if any rockets had struck the center of the city or if the booms were caused by Israel’s aerial interceptions of the incoming rockets by its Iron Dome anti-missile defense system. But a witness said that rockets had struck in the wooded hills on the western edge of Jerusalem.

Oct. 7, 2023, 2:20 a.m. ET40 minutes ago40 minutes ago

Isabel Kershner

In Jerusalem, there are constant sirens and booms.

Oct. 7, 2023, 2:20 a.m. ET40 minutes ago40 minutes ago

Isabel Kershner

The Israeli military has called up army reserves, according to the Israeli news media. In light of Saturday’s attack, organizers of the protest movement opposed to the government’s plans for judicial changes have called on reservists who had threatened to stop volunteering to report for duty.

"We're in a state of war" - surprise attack on Israel fifty years after the Yom Kippur War begins

From Haaretz:

9:46 AM
Israel's police chief: 'We're in a state of war'

Israeli police chief Kobi Shabtai in Israel in June. Credit: Fadi Amon

Israeli Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai announced in a statement that "We're in a state of war. We are under a massive attack from the Gaza Strip. There are currently 21 active high confrontation locations in southern Israel. The Yamam counterterrorism unite is at the scene… The entire southern region is closed [for civilian movement]."

9:22 AM
Palestinian militants infiltrate southern Israeli towns, holding Israelis hostage
Palestinian militants infiltrated the southern Israeli towns of Netivot and Ofakim. A source in police says they are holding civilians hostage in Ofakim.