After threatening to crush the Palestinian militant organization whose unexpected attack on the nation has been compared to 9/11, Israel attacked Hamas rebels still holed up in southern cities Monday and massed tens of thousands of troops near the Gaza Strip.
Stunned by the unprecedented assault on its territory, Israel has counted over 700 dead and launched a ferocious barrage of strikes on Gaza, raising the death toll there to more than 430.
“We’re still fighting,” said military spokesman Richard Hecht as army forces battled holdout Hamas fighters for a third day in at least seven locations in southern communities near the coastal enclave.
“We thought by yesterday we would have full control,” he said as Israeli army reservists joined the fight to clear and evacuate southern towns and kibbutz communities. “I hope we will by the end of the day.”
As plumes of black smoke rose above Gaza, sirens blared and rockets and anti-missile weapons flew across the sky to the sound of fighter jets.
Palestinians in the 2.3 million-person coastal enclave readied for what many anticipated would be a large Israeli ground attack aimed at defeating Hamas and freeing at least 100 hostages.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered Gaza citizens to avoid any Hamas sites, which he has pledged to demolish.
Middle East tensions have risen as Israel’s old foe Iran and its Lebanese partner Hezbollah welcomed the Hamas strike, despite Tehran’s denial of any role in the military operation on Monday.
Hamas has called on “resistance fighters” in the occupied West Bank as well as Arab and Islamic nations to join its “Operation Al-Aqsa Flood,” which was begun half a century after the Arab-Israel war in 1973.
The US has offered “rock solid” backing for Israel, saying it will deploy weapons and military gear to the country and shift an aircraft carrier group to the eastern Mediterranean.
Alarm and revulsion
Israel, which has always had a technological advantage in its previous confrontations, has been rocked to its core by Hamas’ unprecedented ground, air, and sea strike on the Jewish Sabbath.
It now confronts a multi-front battle after Hezbollah launched guided missiles and artillery shells from the north on Sunday “in solidarity” with Hamas, which some observers saw as a warning shot.
Israel has expressed outrage and disgust after more than 1,000 extremists breached an impregnable border fence and surged into surrounding Jewish neighborhoods.
As scared inhabitants cowered in their houses or died fighting back, gunmen went house to house, shooting down citizens or abducting them back into Gaza.
According to Israeli officials, among the hostages returned to Gaza were youngsters and a Holocaust veteran in a wheelchair.
About 250 bodies, largely young people, were discovered scattered across the venue of a music festival in a Negev desert kibbutz, while other revellers were among the more than 100 hostages carried into Gaza.
Israelis have expressed outrage at the intelligence failure that caught them off guard, but they have attempted to put aside the profound political tensions of recent years as they prepare for what Netanyahu has said will be a “long and difficult war.”
‘Worst in Israeli history’
“Never before have so many Israelis been killed by one single thing, let alone enemy activity in one day,” said Army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus.
The multi-pronged attack had brought “by far the worst day in Israeli history”, he said, likening it to “a 9/11 and a Pearl Harbour wrapped into one”.
Retaliatory air and drone strikes continued on Gaza early Monday, AFP correspondents reported.
“Overnight IDF fighter jets, helicopters, aircraft and artillery struck over 500 Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorist targets in the Gaza Strip,” said a statement by the Israeli Defense Forces.
The situation was dire inside Gaza, which has been blockaded by Israel since Hamas assumed control there 15 years ago, a period that has seen multiple wars with Israel.
Air strikes have levelled residential tower blocks, mosques and the central bank. The power supply has been cut and shortages loomed of essentials with all border crossing closed.
More than 120,000 people in Gaza have been displaced, said the United Nations.
“The situation is unbearable psychologically and economically,” said Amal al-Sarsawi, 37, as she took shelter in a school;s classroom with her terrified children.
Global shock waves
Many Gaza residents protested. “We will not give up, and we are here to stay,” said Mohammed Saq Allah, 23, of the Islamic State. “This is our land, and we will not abandon our land.”
In the occupied West Bank, Palestinians have rallied in solidarity and battled with Israeli security forces, resulting in 15 Palestinian deaths since Saturday.
Pro-Palestinian demonstrations took place in Iraq, Pakistan, the United States, and other countries, while Germany and France increased security around Jewish temples and schools.
The escalating crisis has sent shockwaves around the world, raising concerns about a further escalation. Oil prices rose more than 4% on Monday, as investors worried about potential supply disruptions from the energy-rich region.
Western capitals have condemned the attack by Hamas, which the United States and European Union consider a terrorist group.
Foreign nationals have been reported killed, abducted or missing in the war by countries including Brazil, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Mexico, Nepal, Thailand, Ukraine and the United States.
In the Egyptian city of Alexandria a police officer opened fire “at random” on Israeli tourists Sunday, killing two of them and their Egyptian guide before he was arrested.
Israel, which has struck a series of US-brokered normalisation deals with several Arab nations in recent years, has issued a travel warning for its citizens, especially in the Middle East.