On Saturday October 7, Palestinian militant groups led by Hamas launched a large-scale invasion and offensive against Israel from the Gaza Strip, breaking through the Gaza–Israel barrier and forcing entry via the Gaza border crossings, into nearby Israeli settlements and military installations. Hamas called it Operation al-Aqsa Storm. It is the first direct conflict within Israel's boundaries since the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. Hostilities were initiated in the early morning with a rocket barrage against Israel and vehicle-transported incursions into Israeli territory, with several attacks on surrounding Israeli civilian communities and Israeli military bases. Some observers have referred to these events as the beginning of a third Palestinian intifada. For the first time since the 1973 Yom Kippur War, Israel formally declared war.
Some media reports say at least 2,200 rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip as Hamas militants broke through the border and entered Israel, killing at least 700 Israelis and prompting Israel's government to declare a state of emergency. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that Israel "is at war" in a national address following the beginning of the attacks. Palestinian militants who infiltrated Israel made their way into several kibbutzim near the Gaza Strip as well as the city of Sderot. The Palestinian Ministry of Health led by Hamas in Gaza reported Israel had killed at least 400 Palestinians in gunfights and by airstrikes, including civilians, 78 children and 41 women; while the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) stated it killed more than 400 terrorists.
Both Palestinian and Israeli media sources reported that Israeli soldiers and civilians, including children, had been taken hostage by Palestinian militants; several of these hostages have reportedly since been taken to the Gaza Strip. Numerous cases of violence against Israeli civilians have also been reported since the beginning of the Hamas offensive, including a massacre at a music festival in Re'im.
In response, the Israeli military reprotedly has launched an operation dubbed 'Operation Sword of Iron' and has carried out airstrikes in Hamas-controlled Gaza. According to some media reports, Israel retaliated to the invasion by shelling civilian targets in Gaza, including a hospital and ambulance.
Al Jazeera reports that according to the UN humanitarian relief agency, Israeli air attacks and shelling aimed at houses and apartment buildings have displaced some 123,538 Palestinians in Gaza. Many of those forced to flee their homes are reprotedly sheltering in some 64 schools in the coastal enclave.
UN Security Council reprotedly failed to agree on statement on Israel-Hamas war. Al Jazeera notes that the UN Security Council has met behind closed doors in an emergency session amid the war between Israel and Hamas but failed to achieve the unanimity needed for a joint statement.
The US called on the council’s 15 members to strongly condemn Hamas but diplomats said members led by Russia were hoping for a broader focus than condemning the Palestinian armed group. The council met for about 90 minutes and heard a briefing from the UN Middle East peace envoy Tor Wennesland.
A statement needs to be agreed upon by consensus.
Al Jazeera says at least 1,100 people have already been killed since Hamas, the Palestinian group that controls the blockaded Gaza Strip, launched an assault on Israeli towns on Saturday and took hundreds of people hostage.
Iran has denied any involvement in the unprecedented attacks launched by Hamas within Israel. “We emphatically stand in unflinching support of Palestine, however, we are not involved in Palestine’s response as it is taken solely by Palestine itself,” Iran’s mission to the UN said in statement, according to Al Jazeera.
