Israel, reeling from the deadliest attack in half a century, formally declared war on Hamas Sunday as the conflict’s death toll surged above 1,000 after the Palestinian militant group launched a massive surprise assault from Gaza.
Israel, reeling from the deadliest attack in half a century, formally declared war on Hamas Sunday as the conflict’s death toll surged above 1,000 after the Palestinian militant group launched a massive surprise assault from Gaza.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu steeled the shocked and grieving nation for a “long and difficult” war after Hamas fired a barrage of rockets at Israel on Saturday and sent a wave of fighters who gunned down civilians and took at least 100 hostages.
The bloody escalation sharply heightened Middle East tensions and killed more than 600 people on the Israeli side, the country’s worst losses since the 1973 Arab-Israeli war when it came under attack from a coalition led by Egypt and Syria.
“Israel was caught flat-footed by the unprecedented attack,” said Jonathan Panikoff, director of the Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative. “I’ve heard multiple comparisons to 9/11, and many Israelis are struggling to understand how this could have happened.”
In Gaza — which was hammered by Israeli air strikes on 800 targets ahead of what many feared may be a looming ground invasion — officials reported at least 413 deaths, with thousands more wounded across the war zone.
US President Joe Biden ordered “additional support for Israel in the face of this unprecedented terrorist assault by Hamas,” the White House said.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Washington “will be rapidly providing the Israel Defense Forces with additional equipment and resources, including munitions”.
Austin also said he had directed the USS Gerald R. Ford, an aircraft carrier, and its accompanying warships to the eastern Mediterranean, and that Washington was augmenting fighter aircraft squadrons in the region.
Several foreign countries have reported nationals killed, abducted or missing in the fighting, among them Brazil, Britain, France, Germany, Ireland, Mexico, Nepal, Thailand, Ukraine and the United States.
Tens of thousands of Israeli forces were deployed to battle holdout Hamas fighters in the south, where the bodies of civilians had been found strewn on roads and in town centres.
“The enemy is still on the ground,” said military spokesman Daniel Hagari as a second night fell after the attack, adding that Israel was reinforcing its military strength near the Gaza Strip.
