Smoke rises following Israeli strikes in Gaza.
Updated, October 07, 2023 3.07 PM. IST. Thousands of rockets are fired as far north as Tel Aviv, gunmen cross Gaza border.
For hours, people in Israel have been phoning into news stations saying they’re trapped in their homes, after Palestinian militants entered their towns and villages in a huge surprise attack.
Many are in hiding, saying they can hear gunfire, while others can not find loved ones.
“The terrorists are trying to break into my house,” Ayelet Hachim told Channel 12, from her home in the town of Kibbutz Be’eri, close to the Gaza strip.
“I hear their voices and they are banging on the door. I am with my two little children.”
Israel has told civilians near the border to stay in shelters. But in Kibbutz Be’eri, residents said Palestinian militants were trying to get into homes and shelters.
One resident living in the town told Channel 12 that “there’s shooting from across the town, I’m at home and I hear them outside my house. We’re sitting quietly, the entire town is quiet so they won’t come for us”.
And 23-year-old resident Ella said she has heard that “the terrorists are in the shelter”, adding: “I still hear bursts of gunfire.”
All homes in Israel are required by law to have bomb shelters, and there are also bomb shelters in public places too.
It is one of the most serious escalations in the Israel-Palestinian conflict in years – with fighters from militant group Hamas crossing into Israel from Gaza at dawn, using motorbikes, paragliders and boats in an unprecedented assault.
They claim to have taken dozens of Israelis captive, while in the the town of Sderot, gunmen purportedly opened fire on residents.
At least 40 people have been killed in Israel, the country’s emergency services say.
“I’ve been in the shelter with my week-old baby for over two hours, while my house is on fire,” said one resident of Kibbutz Nirim, near to the Gaza strip, on Channel 13.
Other residents have been putting out pleas on social media.
“Urgent, urgent, please help this get to the media,” Ella Mor wrote on Facebook. “We need to save my nephews who are in hiding. They called to say that they shot their mum and dad and they’re dead in Kfar Aza. They can’t find the baby girl.
“The police don’t answer; Magen David Adom [Israel’s emergency medical service] can’t get to the Kibbutz.”
Elsewhere, a woman called Adele said on Facebook: “We have been told to lock doors, not leave the safe room. We’re not even turning in the air-conditioning for fear it will signal a presence of people in the house.
“My stomach is turning. I hear a lot of shooting, even though the thick walls of the safe room. I need to go to the bathroom, but I dare not. I have literally never been this frightened.”
In Kibbutz Nir Oz, in southern Israel close to the border with Gaza, a resident called Yoni wrote on Facebook: “They kidnapped my mother-in-law and left [with her] – I urgently need to get in contact with the army and media.
Ofir, a resident of Sufa, said: “We are locked in our shelter, the army isn’t here. My husband is with the preparedness squad fighting outside. They’re firing on us in our homes, trying to come into our houses.
“The Kibbutz WhatsApp group is going crazy with messages that people are writing that they’re shooting on their houses. We are close to the fence, I don’t know where the army is, there’s no-one here.”
The unprecedented attack by Hamas began early on Saturday morning, as the fighters used cover from a barrage of rockets.
The militants claimed to have fired thousands of rockets – with some targeting cities as far as Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
English author and journalist Gideon Levy, who is in Tel Aviv, told the BBC: “The streets are totally empty. Restaurants, cafes everything is locked down and there is a heavy feeling of surprise, of shock and of fear from what is still expected to happen.
“When the first rockets fell, I was still jogging in the park, the noise was terrible.”
Photo from video appears to show Palestinian gunmen in Sderot.
Israeli Retaliation kills nearly 200 Palestinians after Hamas operation..
At least 198 people have been killed and 1,610 wounded in the Palestinian enclave of Gaza during Israel’s retaliation after a deadly multi-pronged attack by Hamas forces into Israel, the health ministry says.
The growing casualty toll on Saturday came after the Palestinian group running the Gaza Strip launched the largest attack on Israel in years, infiltrating areas in the south of the country following a barrage of thousands of rockets fired from the besieged territory.
Israel’s national rescue service said at least 100 people were killed and hundreds wounded, making it the deadliest attack in Israel in years. An unknown number of Israeli soldiers and civilians were also seized and taken into Gaza.
Hamas said gun battles were raging in dozens of areas inside Israel.
Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant warned Hamas it made a “grave mistake” in launching the attack, which began at 6:30am local time (03:30 GMT) and involved barrages of rockets fired from multiple locations in Gaza as well as fighters infiltrating Israel by land, sea and air.
“Citizens of Israel, we are at war. The enemy will pay an unprecedented price,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video message from military headquarters in Tel Aviv.
Israel’s military launched a series of air raids on Gaza in response to the attack. “Dozens of [Israeli military] fighter jets are currently striking a number of targets belonging to the Hamas terrorist organisation in the Gaza Strip,” it said.
Mohammed Deif, a senior Hamas military commander, said the rocket fire marked the start of “Operation Al-Aqsa Flood”, and he called on Palestinians everywhere to fight the Israeli occupation.
“We’ve decided to say enough is enough,” Deif said as he urged all Palestinians to confront Israel. “This is the day of the greatest battle to end the last occupation on Earth,” he said in an audio message.
Palestinians celebrate on the Israeli side of the Israel-Gaza border where an Israeli tank burns after it was attacked by Palestinian fighters.
Israel’s military told Israelis living around the Gaza Strip to stay in their homes and warned Hamas would pay a “heavy price for its actions”.
Israeli media reported Palestinian fighters opened fire on passers-by in the town of Sderot, in southern Israel, and footage circulating on social media appeared to show uniformed Palestinians engaged in clashes.
Another video on social media appeared to show a burning Israeli tank surrounded by jubilant Palestinians.
Israeli warplanes started to pound locations in Gaza – in what the military called “Operation Iron Swords” – and Israeli soldiers were engaged in ground fighting in several locations around the besieged Palestinian enclave.
“Right now we’re fighting. We’re fighting in certain locations around the Gaza Strip… Our forces are now fighting on the ground,” Israel’s army spokesman Richard Hecht told reporters.
