Israel established a total siege on the Gaza Strip on Monday and shut off the water supply as it continued to bomb targets in the crowded Palestinian enclave in reaction to the surprise attack by Hamas, which has been compared to the 9/11 attacks.
Following the Islamist group’s extraordinary ground, air, and sea attacks, Israel has counted over 700 fatalities and launched a barrage of strikes on Gaza, killing 560 people.
As Hamas continued to hurl rockets as far as Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, where missile defense systems fired and air raid sirens blared, the skies over Gaza were clouded by plumes of smoke from deafening explosions.
On Monday, Hamas claimed that four of the prisoners had been killed by Israeli air strikes after their gunmen stormed into Israeli villages on Saturday, firing gunfire at people and dragged off over 100 hostages.
Israel said it had called up 300,000 army reservists for its “Swords of Iron” operation, and truck convoys were transporting tanks to the south, where its forces had driven the last remaining Hamas fighters from besieged towns.
“We are in control of the communities,” said military spokesman Daniel Hagari, cautioning that some “terrorists” may remain after about 1,000 militants had swarmed into the region on the Jewish Sabbath.
Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said Israel would impose a “complete siege” on the long-blockaded enclave, emphasizing the implications for its 2.3 million residents: “No electricity, no food, no water, no gas — it’s all closed.”
Palestinians in the impoverished coastal area readied for what many expected to be a big Israeli ground assault aimed at defeating Hamas and freeing the detainees.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has advised Gaza citizens to avoid all Hamas locations, which he has promised to “raze to the ground.”
Lebanon Border Clash
Middle East tensions have risen as Israel’s arch foe Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah praised the Hamas strike, despite Tehran’s denial of any involvement in the military action.
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 military operation is still ongoing,” Hamas spokesperson Hossam Badran told AFP from Doha, adding that “there is currently no chance for negotiation on the issue of prisoners or anything else.”
The US has offered “rock solid” backing for Israel, pledging to deliver weapons and military hardware to its vital ally and diverting an aircraft carrier group to the eastern Mediterranean.
Israel, which has long prided itself on having a cutting-edge military and intelligence capability in its previous confrontations, has been rocked to its core by Hamas’ unprecedented onslaught.
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.
The Israeli army stated on Monday that its soldiers had “killed a number of armed suspects” who had crossed the border from Lebanon, and that Israeli helicopters were attacking locations in the region.
According to a local Lebanese official, Israel was firing the southern border area, while Hezbollah denied any role in the hostilities or “any infiltration attempt” into Israel.
‘They Butchered People’
Israel has expressed shock and disgust at the Hamas strike across the Gaza border fence, which has long been considered impregnable and is secured by surveillance cameras, drones, patrols, and watchtowers, as well as the horrific bloodshed it unleashed.
According to Israeli sources, among the hostages taken back into Gaza were youngsters and a Holocaust veteran in a wheelchair.
Up to 250 bodies, largely young people, were strewn around the site of a music festival in a Negev desert kibbutz, and burnt car wrecks were heaped up in a sign of the frenzied effort to flee, while other revellers were suspected to be hostages.
“They butchered people in cold blood in an inconceivable way,” said Moti Bukjin of the Zaka religious volunteer group which helped collect the human remains.
Israelis have voiced anger at the intelligence failure that blindsided the nation on a Jewish holiday.
But for now its people appeared to have put aside deep political divisions that have long roiled the country and braced for what the right-wing veteran premier Netanyahu has warned will be a “long and difficult war”.
‘In Constant Fear’
“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.
He described the multi-pronged attack as “by far the worst day in Israeli history,” comparing it to a mixture of the “9/11 and Pearl Harbour” attacks.
The situation was as dire within Gaza, which has been blockaded by Israel since Hamas took control there 15 years ago, during which time Israel has fought three wars.
Residential tower blocks, mosques, and the central bank have all been destroyed by air strikes. According to the UN, more than 120,000 people have been displaced in Gaza.
“The situation is unbearable,” said Amal al-Sarsawi, 37, as she took shelter in a school classroom with her terrified children.
The sense of safety of children in the war zone has been “ripped away” said Jason Lee of charity group Save the Children.
“Our teams and their families are terrified, they feel like sitting targets. Children across the region are in constant fear.”
Global Shock Waves
Since Saturday, Palestinians in the occupied West Bank have risen in solidarity and battled with Israeli security forces, killing 15 Palestinians.
Anti-Israel protesters have demonstrated in Lebanon, Iraq, Pakistan, and elsewhere, while security has been increased around Jewish temples and schools around the world.
The escalating battle has sent shockwaves around the world, causing a jump in oil prices due to fears of tighter supply.
Western countries have criticized the Hamas attack, which the US and EU consider a terrorist organization.
The EU has paused development aid payments to the Palestinians and stated that 691 million euros ($728 million) of assistance is being “reviewed.”
Brazil, the United Kingdom, Cambodia, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Mexico, Nepal, Panama, Paraguay, Thailand, Ukraine, and the United States have all reported foreign or dual nationals dead, abducted, or missing.
A police officer in the Egyptian city of Alexandria opened fire “at random” on Israeli visitors on Sunday, killing two of them and their Egyptian guide before being detained.
Israel, which has secured normalisation treaties with several Arab nations in recent years through US mediation, has issued a travel warning for its nationals, particularly in the Middle East.
The Arab League announced a “extraordinary meeting” of its foreign ministers on Wednesday to discuss “Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip.”