Israel maintained its lethal bombardment of Hamas-controlled Gaza on Tuesday, after the Palestinian terrorist organization threatened to murder some of the about 150 hostages it kidnapped in a weekend assault if air attacks continued without notice.
On Monday, Israel established a comprehensive embargo on the Gaza Strip, cutting off food, water, and energy supplies and raising fears that an already poor humanitarian situation may deteriorate rapidly.
Israel is reeling from Hamas’ unparalleled ground, air, and sea assault, which has been compared to the September 11, 2001 strikes on the United States.
The death toll in Israel has risen to almost 900, with Israel retaliating with a barrage of strikes on Gaza, pushing the dead toll to 687.
Following Saturday’s huge breach by Palestinian militants, the Israeli army stated Tuesday that it had “more or less restored control” of the Gaza border.
It said it had retrieved the bodies of about 1,500 Hamas militants inside Israel, confirming the severity of the attack on Saturday.
It claimed to have “nearly completed” the evacuation of Israeli towns near the border.
As sirens wailed and explosions rang out, fireballs lit up Gaza City before daybreak on Tuesday.
Hamas said Monday that Israeli air strikes had killed four of its hostages.
It later said it could start killing them itself.
“Every targeting of our people without warning will be met with the execution of one of the civilian hostages,” Hamas armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, said in a statement.
In a televised speech late Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu compared Hamas to the Islamic State group, also known as ISIS, and said Israel planned to deploy “unprecedented force”.
“Hamas terrorists bound, burned and executed children. They are savages. Hamas is ISIS,” Netanyahu said.
He also promised to “strengthen other fronts in the north against Hezbollah,” where militants and Israeli forces clashed for the second day.
More rockets were launched by Hamas as far as Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, where missile defense systems fired and air raid sirens blared.
Israel announced the mobilization of 300,000 army reservists for its “Swords of Iron” campaign.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant claimed Israel would impose a “complete siege” on the 2.3 million-person enclave: “No electricity, no food, no water, no gas — it’s all closed.”
The news of the closure has “deeply distressed” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who has warned that Gaza’s already grave humanitarian situation will “only deteriorate exponentially.”
Palestinians in the coastal territory braced for what many feared would be a massive Israeli ground attack aiming to defeat Hamas and liberate the hostages.
Lebanon Border Clash
Middle East tensions have spiked as Israel’s arch-enemy Iran praised the Hamas attack, although Tehran denied any direct role in the military operation.
Hamas has called on “resistance fighters” in the West Bank and in Arab and Islamic nations to join what it has dubbed “Operation Al-Aqsa Flood”.
“The military operation is still continuing,” Hossam Badran, a Hamas official, told AFP from Doha, adding that “there is currently no chance for negotiation on the issue of prisoners or anything else”.
Israel, which has long prided itself on having a cutting-edge military and intelligence capability, has been shook to its core by the surprise Hamas strike and now confronts the danger of a multi-front conflict.
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.
Islamic Jihad, a Palestinian militant group, later claimed responsibility for the foiled infiltration from Lebanon into Israel.
Iran-backed Hezbollah claimed three of its members were killed in Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon, causing the movement to react against two Israeli barracks “using guided missiles and mortar shells that hit them directly.”
It was the second day of an exchange of fire between Israel and Hezbollah, which on Sunday said its strikes were “in solidarity” with the Hamas attacks.
“We are deeply concerned about Hezbollah making the wrong decision and choosing to open a second front to this conflict,” a senior US defence official said.
Washington, which has pushed its largest aircraft carrier and other warships closer to Israel in a show of support, has stated that it has no intentions to put US troops on the ground but is assisting its partner with captive retrieval attempts.
‘Unbearable’
The Hamas strike breached the Gaza border fence, which had long been thought to be impregnable and guarded by surveillance cameras, drones, patrols, and watchtowers.
More than 270 bodies, largely of young people, were found strewn across the site of a music festival in a Negev desert kibbutz, while more revelers were suspected to be among those taken into Gaza.
According to Israeli soldier Ephraim Mordechayev, he watched Hamas attackers launch RPG missiles into the crowd.
“Imagine yourself using a rocket that is meant to fire on houses or tanks, fired on a group of 20 civilians,” he said.
Inside Gaza, air strikes wreaked havoc on the Jabalia refugee camp, as burnt bodies were removed from the wreckage and family wept.
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, three Palestinian journalists have been murdered in the violence, and two photographers have gone missing since Saturday.
Since Hamas gained control in 2007, Israel has blockaded Gaza, resulting in four prior battles.
Israeli airstrikes have destroyed several residential tower blocks, as well as a huge mosque and the territory’s main bank structure.
According to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, about 137,000 people are being housed in schools across Gaza.
“The situation is unbearable,” Amal al-Sarsawi, 37, said from a classroom with her terrified pupils.
In the West Bank, protesting Palestinians clashed with Israeli forces, leaving 15 Palestinians dead since Saturday.
Global Shock Waves
The spiralling conflict has been felt globally, with oil prices surging on fears of tightening supplies.
Chevron, a US energy company, said it had paused activities at a natural gas platform off the coast of Israel at the request of authorities.
Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, informed Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas in a phone call early Tuesday that the Gulf nation was striving to keep the crisis from spreading across the region.
The European Commission stated that it was assessing its development assistance to the Palestinians, but added that no assistance had yet been suspended. Britain stated that it was conducting a similar review.
The United States and the European Union consider Hamas a terrorist group.
According to some, the unprecedented nature of the Hamas attack may render any diplomatic efforts futile for the time being.
Nonetheless, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is among those attempting. On Monday, he conducted an urgent round of phone diplomacy.
Erdogan urged Israel against bombing people “indiscriminately” and provided measured criticism of Hamas, encouraging all parties to uphold the “ethics” of conflict.