Concern for mass conflict in the Middle East, following Hamas attack on Israel

2023-10-08 19:50:26, Kosova & Bota CNA

Israel's security cabinet officially declared a state of war as Israeli soldiers continued to battle Hamas fighters on the streets of the southern part of the country and bombard Gaza in response to the Palestinian militant group's unprecedented attack inside Israeli territory. Israeli officials say the death toll in Israel has reached at least 600 people. Israeli airstrikes hit apartment blocks, tunnels, a mosque and the homes of Hamas officials in Gaza, killing more than 370 people.

Israeli soldiers continued fighting Hamas militants on the streets of southern Israel on Sunday and launched retaliatory strikes that leveled buildings in Gaza. In northern Israel a brief exchange of attacks with Lebanon's Hezbollah militants escalated fears of a widening conflict.

The fighting is continuing more than 24 hours after an unprecedented Palestinian assault in which Hamas militants, backed by thousands of rockets, broke through Israel's security barrier. They took prisoners and sent them to Gaza, including women, children and the elderly, who will try to exchange them for thousands of Palestinian prisoners held in Israel.

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The high death toll, large number of prisoners and a slow response to the attack pointed to a major intelligence failure and undermined the long-held impression that Israel has eyes and ears everywhere in Gaza, the small and densely populated territory. that has controlled it for decades.

The main question now is whether Israel will launch a ground attack on Gaza, a move that has caused heavy casualties in the past. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed that Hamas "will pay an unprecedented price." But he warned that “this fight will take time. It will be difficult."

Israeli television stations broadcast a flurry of pleas for help from relatives of Israelis taken hostage or missing. In Gaza, residents fled their homes near the border to escape Israeli attacks, fleeing deeper into the territory after warnings in Arabic from the Israeli military.

In neighboring Egypt, a policeman shot dead two Israeli tourists and an Egyptian at a tourist site in Alexandria, the Interior Ministry said. Egypt reached a peace deal with Israel decades ago, but anti-Israel sentiment runs high in the country, especially during periods of Israeli-Palestinian violence.

Attacks on Israel's northern border with Lebanon also threaten to draw into the fray Hezbollah, Israel's bitter enemy, which is backed by Iran and is estimated to have tens of thousands of rockets at its disposal. Hezbollah fired dozens of rockets and projectiles Sunday at three Israeli positions in an area along the border, and the Israeli military responded by using armed drones. Two children were slightly injured by broken glass on the Lebanese side, according to a hospital in the area.

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Admiral Daniel Hagari, an Israeli military official, told reporters that the situation on the northern border was calm after the exchange of fire with Hezbollah. But he said fighting was continuing in the south, where there were still hostage situations.

He said troops had gone to every neighborhood near the Gaza border, where they planned to evacuate all civilians and clear the area of ??militants.

"We will go to every community until we kill every terrorist that is in Israeli territory," he said. In Gaza, “every terrorist found in the house, all the commanders, will be hit by Israeli fire. This will continue to escalate in the coming hours."

Hamas said overnight it had continued to send forces and equipment to "several locations inside our occupied territories," referring to Israel. Hamas-affiliated media reported that the son of Nizar Awadallah, a senior political official, was killed. The Islamic militant group has not reported any senior members captured, killed or wounded.

Saturday's surprise attack was Israel's deadliest in decades. In the attack that caught Israel by surprise, Hamas gunmen used explosives to breach the border fence surrounding Gaza, then crossed into Israel on motorbikes, pick-up trucks, parachutes and speedboats along the coast.

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They entered up to 22 areas on Saturday morning, in various towns and communities up to 24 kilometers from the Gaza border, as Hamas fired thousands of rockets into Israeli cities.

Hamas fighters took an unknown number of civilians and soldiers captive in Gaza. Scores of Israelis, relatives of the missing, went to police districts in central Israel to supply investigators with DNA samples and other tools that could help identify their family members.

Israel hit 426 targets in Gaza, according to the Israeli military.

UNRWA, the United Nations agency for Palestinians, said more than 20,000 Palestinians fled the Gaza border region to go further inside the territory and take shelter in UN schools.

In a televised address on Saturday night, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the military will use all its forces to destroy Hamas' capabilities.

In Gaza, much of the population was left in the dark on Saturday night after Israel cut electricity and said it would no longer supply power, fuel or other goods to the territory.

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Hamas said it planned for a long war. "We are prepared for all possibilities, including war on all fronts," said the deputy head of Hamas's political bureau, Saleh al-Arouri, for "Al-Jazeera" television.

An Egyptian official said Israel has sought help from Cairo to ensure the safety of the hostages and that Egypt's intelligence chief had contacted Hamas and the smaller but more radical Islamic Jihad group, which also took part in Saturday's attack, about requested information. Egypt has often mediated between the two sides in the past.

The official said Palestinian leaders claimed they still do not have a "full version" of the hostages, but said those brought to Gaza were taken to "secure locations" across the territory.

"It's clear they have a large number - several dozen," said the official, who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to brief the media.

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Egypt also spoke to both sides about a possible ceasefire, but the official said Israel was not open to a ceasefire "at this stage".

Speaking from the White House, President Joe Biden reiterated Washington's strong and unwavering support for Israel.

"In the conversation with Prime Minister Netanyahu, I told him that the United States stands with the people of Israel in the face of these terrorist attacks. Israel has the right to defend itself and its people. There is never any justification for terrorist attacks," said President Biden.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres strongly condemned the attacks by Hamas and said he was "horrified" by attacks on and kidnapping of civilians. He demanded their immediate release, while calling for diplomatic efforts to avoid a wider conflict.

The Security Council of the United Nations will meet on Sunday afternoon in an emergency session with closed doors to be informed about the situation./ VOA