The violence in Israel and Gaza has sent shockwaves around the world. The Israeli military has issued evacuation warnings to residents in various parts of the Gaza Strip, citing potential retaliation against Hamas
UN, Arab League call for peace as violence returns to the Middle East. Over 550 people were killed as Hamas group’s multi-front attack on Israel which provoked the Jewish state to unleash aerial bombing on civilian spots in Gaza. The toll is expected to continue to rise.
Various civilians as well as Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers are believed to have been abducted and brought into Gaza. Hamas has claimed that the number of hostages is higher than Israel knows, reports The Times of Israel.
At about 6:30 am (local time) on Saturday, a barrage of rocket fire began from Gaza into Israel, hitting several cities including Tel Aviv, Rehovot, Gedera and Ashkelon. The Israeli army has asked residents of several areas of the Gaza Strip to flee their homes in preparation for revenge attacks against Hamas.
Meanwhile, the UN Middle East peace envoy Tor Wennesland appeal for peace.
“This is a dangerous precipice and I appeal to all to pull back from the brink,” he said in a statement.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Tuerk said: “This attack is having a horrific impact on Israeli civilians… Civilians must never be the target of attack.”
The United Nations Security Council is due to meet on Sunday.
“Secretary-General [Antonio Guterres] is deeply concerned for the civilian population and urges maximum restraint. Civilians must be respected and protected in accordance with international humanitarian law at all times,” UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said.
The UK criticised the attack. “The UK unequivocally condemns the horrific attacks by Hamas on Israeli civilians,” said Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said. “The UK will always support Israel’s right to defend itself,” Cleverly said in a post on social media.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said that the Palestinian people have the right to defend themselves against the “terror of settlers and occupation troops”, the official news agency WAFA quoted him as saying.
He was speaking at an emergency meeting held in Ramallah with a number of top officials from the Palestinian Authority.
In another development, Iran welcomes the Palestine move. An adviser to Supreme Leader Ali Hosseini Khamenei said Iran supported the Palestinians’ attack, the semi-official ISNA news site reported.
“We congratulate the Palestinian fighters,” it quoted adviser Rahim Safavi as saying. “We will stand by the Palestinian fighters until the liberation of Palestine and Jerusalem.”
Iran’s foreign ministry said attacks by its ally Hamas were proof of the Palestinians’ increased confidence in the face of Israel’s occupation.
“In this operation, the element of surprise and other combined methods were used, which show the Palestinian people’s confidence in the face of the occupiers,” ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said.
The attacks “proved that the Zionist regime is more vulnerable than ever and that the initiative is in the hands of Palestinian youth,” government spokesperson Ali Bahadori-Jahromi told state news agency IRNA.
The US condemned “the appalling Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel”.
“President [Joe Biden] will continue to receive updates and White House officials remain in close contact with Israeli partners,” the White House said in a statement.
“The United States unequivocally condemns the unprovoked attacks by Hamas terrorists against Israeli civilians. There is never any justification for terrorism. We stand firmly with the government and people of Israel and extend our condolences for the Israeli lives lost in these attacks.”
US military chief Lloyd Austin said: “Over the coming days the Department of Defense will work to ensure that Israel has what it needs to defend itself and protect civilians from indiscriminate violence and terrorism.”
Call for Peace
Arab League chief Ahmed Aboul Gheit urged “an immediate halt to military operations in Gaza” and “the cycle of armed confrontation between the two sides”.
“Israel’s continued implementation of violent and extremist policies is a time bomb depriving the region of any serious opportunity for stability in the foreseeable future.”
Qatar’s foreign ministry issued a statement saying Israel alone was responsible for the ongoing escalation of violence with the Palestinian people, Al Jazeera reported.
It called on both sides to exercise utmost restraint and calls on the international community to prevent Israel from using these events as an excuse to launch a disproportionate war against Palestinian civilians in Gaza.
Egypt called for an “immediate cessation of violence” between Israel and the Palestinians, the state news agency reported.
Egypt warned of “grave consequences” from an escalation in tensions between Israel and the Palestinians in a statement from the foreign ministry carried by the state news agency.
It called for “exercising maximum restraint and avoiding exposing civilians to further danger”.
Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukri also held a call with European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell to discuss developments, stating that both sides should exercise restraint to avoid serious risks.
Surprise Attacks
Israel was taken by surprise in one of the most serious cross-border attacks it has faced in more than a generation. For months, it has been clear that there was a deepening risk of an explosion between Palestinian armed groups and Israel.
Israelis and Palestinians have been focusing on the West Bank, the territory between Jerusalem and the Jordanian border that Israel has occupied since 1967, where there has been almost continuous confrontation and violence throughout the year.
Armed Palestinians, especially those operating out of the West Bank towns of Jenin and Nablus, have attacked Israeli soldiers and Jewish settlers. The Israeli army has mounted dozens of raids. Armed settlers have taken the law into their own hands, with reprisals against Palestinian villages. No-one expected Hamas to conceive and meticulously plan such a complex and coordinated operation out of Gaza.
This was followed by several Hamas terrorists entering Israel from the Gaza Strip and taking over Israeli towns. Hamas military commander Muhammad Al-Deif called the operation “Al-Aqsa Storm” and said that the assault on Israel was a response to attacks on women, the desecration of the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem and the ongoing siege of Gaza.
Some graphic videos showed bodies strewn in the streets of the southern city of Sderot after the attack by Palestinian militants. Cars were riddled with bullets and lit on fire. Meanwhile, the IDF has said that it has killed seven terrorists attempting to enter Israel via the Zikim Beach just north of Gaza.
The IDF says it prevented the terrorists from infiltrating into Israeli communities. The military also says that it recently struck three operational sites being used by Hamas in Gaza, as per The Times of Israel.
The Israeli security forces have also rescued an unspecified number of people who were taken hostage in a home in the southern town of Ofakim. The terrorists were killed, according to reports.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the IDF has said his country hasn’t regained full control in the wake of attacks from the militant group Hamas on Saturday. “There are still active battles between Israeli security forces and terrorists inside Gaza. And unfortunately, we have not yet been able to re-establish full control over all of our communities and all of our bases,” Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus. “This is the top priority,” he added.
Conricus during a live briefing on Sunday said: “Unprecedented attack requires unprecedented response. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Hamas has started a cruel, evil war and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) will use all its strength to destroy Hamas’ capabilities.
“Hamas forces invaded Israeli territory this morning, on the morning of a holiday and Shabbat, and murdered innocent civilians, children and the elderly. Hamas started a cruel and evil war. We will win this war, but the price is too heavy to bear. This is a very difficult day for all of us,” the Israeli PM wrote on ‘X’ on Sunday.
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