ISRAELI Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to reduce Gaza to “rubble” as he blitzes Hamas strongholds in revenge for the terror bloodbath dubbed “Israel’s 9/11”.
Israel’s Defence Forces are still fighting in the streets in the south of the country and have launched air strikes on Gaza following a surprise attack by the terrorist organisation Hamas yesterday.
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The unexpected attack has been dubbed “Israel’s 9/11” after a what experts referred to as an “embarrassing intelligence failure” preceding the attack.
At least 600 people have reportedly been killed in Israel a staggering toll on a scale the country has not experienced in decades and more than 300 have been killed in Gaza as Israeli airstrikes pound the territory.
It comes as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak vowed that “terrorism will not prevail” and promised the UK will help Israel in the wake of the attack.
In a short statement delivered at Chequers, he said: “I have just spoken with Prime Minister Netanyahu to assure him of the UK’s steadfast support as Israel defends itself against these appalling attacks.
“We will do everything that we can to help. Terrorism will not prevail.”
Israel blitzed Gaza City overnight, striking multiple high rise towers and striking compounds where Hamas fighters are thought to be hiding.
Netanyahu has vowed “mighty vengeance” but the fate of the Israeli soldiers, elderly people, women and children taken into Gaza – the numbers are still unclear – complicates how Israel delivers on its promise to hit back hard and fast, while sticking to a longstanding principle of leaving no one behind.
Israelis are reeling from the assault and from images of fellow citizens being bundled off to Gaza.
“There is no chance she will come back,” sobbed a young Israeli girl, talking about her sister who was killed in the attack, while she and her parents were held hostage.
She was shown in a video posted on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter, by senior Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs official, Ambassador David Saranga.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry said Israel would act to free the hostages, seriously damage Hamas’s “terrorist infrastructure” and ensure no terrorist group in Gaza could harm Israeli citizens again.
And British national Nathaniel Young was killed during the Hamas attacks in Israel, it’s been revealed.
The London-born soldier was living in Tel Aviv and was a member of the Israeli Army’s 13th Batallion.
Netanyahu said in a powerful statement on Twitter: “All of the places which Hamas is deployed, hiding and operating in, that wicked city, we will turn them into rubble.
“I say to the residents of Gaza: Leave now because we will operate forcefully everywhere.”
The Israeli Air Force struck targets throughout Gaza through the night as Netanyahu warned that the first part of the war was over and an “offensive formation” would start.
Video taken late yesterday showed the moment Filistin Tower in Gaza was completely destroyed by an Israeli strike.
IAF fighter jets struck a compound belonging to the head of the Hamas intelligence department as Netanyahu unleashed hell on his enemies in his latest strikes.
Israel Defense Forces said 426 targets were struck including 10 towers used by Hamas.
Tens of thousands of Israeli soldiers were operating on the ground near the Gaza Strip, spokesperson Daniel Hagari added.
“We will take mighty vengeance for this wicked day,” PM Netanyahu warned on Saturday night.
“Hamas launched a cruel and wicked war. We will win this war but the price is too heavy to bear,” he said.
“Hamas wants to murder us all. This is an enemy that murders mothers and children in their homes, in their beds. An enemy that abducts elderly, children, teenage girls.”
It comes as…
- Hamas terrorists launched an all-out attack on Israel from land, air and sea with 5,000 rockets fired
- 600+ Israelis are confirmed dead as thousands more have been taken to hospital
- Palestinian authorities said 313+ civilians died during Israel’s retaliatory air strikes this evening in the Gaza strip
- Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement that Gaza will be “reduced to rubble”
- Reports emerged of kidnapped Israeli soldiers being paraded on military vehicles
- British citizen Jake Marlowe has been reported missing after attending a music festival in southern Israel
- Netanyahu mobilised the country’s army reserves following his declaration of war
- The attack has been dubbed “Israel’s 9/11” after an “embarrassing intelligence failure”
Sirens also rang through the night as Israelis were warned of possible further attacks 24 hours after Hammas’ first rockets were fired.
Earlier marauding gunmen massacred civilians and snatched hostages off the streets after storming through the frontier from Gaza amid a hail of 5,000 rockets.
Some 313 Palestinians were reportedly killed and over 2,000 have been wounded in the worst violence to erupt in the country for years.
British citizen Jake Marlowe has been reported missing near Gaza, after attending a music festival which was attacked, according to the Israeli Ambassador to the UK.
An Israeli general said the surprise assault “opened the gates of hell” and vowed to take swift retaliation.
On Saturday night Israeli jets attacked Hamas targets in Gaza City, and the terror group leader’s home was allegedly blown to bits in Khan Younis.
Palestinian authorities said at least 232 civilians have reportedly been killed in the retaliatory airstrikes.
Meanwhile, another barrage of 150 rockets was fired by Hamas this evening, striking residential buildings in Tel Aviv.
Fighting continues in over 20 locations across the states.
As the bombs fell, Netanyahu promised the country would defeat Hamas and that they would pay an “unprecedented price”.
He said this evening: “Israel will settle the score with anyone who harms them.
“What happened today has never been seen in Israel. We will take mighty vengeance for this black day.”
Defence minister Yoav Gallant said the terror group had made a “grave mistake”, vowing that Israel would win the war.
Israel confirmed that civilians and soldiers are being held hostage by Hamas near the Gaza Border,
Some experts have suggested the hostages could be used as human bargaining chips in exchange for prisoners kept in Israeli jails.
Another suggested they might even be used as human shields to stop Israeli forces.
Senior Hamas leader Saleh al-Arouri said his force had enough Israeli captives to force the release of around 5,000 Palestinian prisoners.
It comes after shocking images showed a young woman and two elderly women being captured by gun-toting fanatics.
The young woman is seen barefoot and bloodied as she’s dragged by a militant fighter shouting “Allah Akbar” into a vehicle.
One of the old women was wedged between two gun-toting terrorists on a motorbike, like Noa Argamani, who was snatched from a music festival.
Harrowing footage shows the 25-year-old woman begging for her life as her boyfriend watches on in horror and Hamas thugs speed off with her on the back of a bike.
As many as 100 hostages were reportedly snatched, including women, children and soldiers.
Hamas launched the terrifying attack from land, air, and sea in the early hours of Saturday, pummelling Israeli citizens with over 5,000 rockets.
Israel’s high-tech security services were taken completely by surprise, and the $1bn Iron Dome missile defence system failed to stop the hail of rockets.
Experts called it an “embarrassing intelligence failure” as questions were asked about how Hamas was able to build a huge arsenal despite a total blockade by Israel and its allies.
President of the Eurasia group, Ian Bremmer, said: “Massive attacks by Hamas leadership into Israel… This is no less than Israel’s 9/11.
“And if you are the leadership of Hamas, refusing to accept Israel’s right to exist … watching the politics of the region turn against you … Well, certainly that is part of the reason why Hamas would have decided to engage in this level of unprecedented strikes against Israel.”
Chilling footage captured the moment paragliders, small boats and armed men in cars stormed into Israeli territory.
Video taken early Saturday morning appeared to show Hamas militants stalking the streets of southern Israel with machine guns.
Other reports describe bodies of Israeli civilians lying in the street in pools of blood.
Others showed dead civilian families hauled from their cars on motorways.
Militants were also filmed storming the Israeli border, tearing down barriers with motorcycles and tractors and taking control of military vehicles.
German Shani Louk, 30, was seized from a music festival by Hamas terrorists.
It comes as another girl was snatched on a motorbike and a British national has been reported missing from the same festival.
Israel declared “war” and launched a revenge operation dubbed Iron Swords, which included calling up reservists for action.
Israel’s President Isaac Herzog said the group had committed “cold-blooded murder of innocent men, women, and children”.
Following the terror groups’ brazen attacks across Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Sderot, Israel’s Major General Ghasan Alyan delivered a chilling warning.
He said: “Hamas has opened the gates of hell into the Gaza Strip” and that they would “bear the responsibility and pay for its deeds.”
In a video address posted on Twitter, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued his own chilling warning: “We are at war and we will win.
“Our enemy will pay a price, the type of which it has never known.”
News of the attack was met with jubilant scenes in the West Bank as hundreds took to the streets to celebrate the Hamas incursion, despite the threat of retaliatory airstrikes.
The shocking attack from Hamas militants has been condemned by the EU, Ukraine, Germany, France, Italy, and the United Kingdom.
UK PM Rishi Sunak wrote on Twitter: “I am shocked by this morning‘s attacks by Hamas terrorists against Israeli citizens. Israel has an absolute right to defend itself.
“We’re in contact with Israeli authorities, and British nationals in Israel should follow travel advice.”
President Joe Biden also confirmed that he’d spoken with Netanyahu and offered his “unwavering” support.
He later said: “Israel has a right to defend itself and its people – full stop”.
“Let me say this as clearly as I can. This is not a moment for any party hostile to Israel to exploit these attacks to seek advantage. The world is watching.”
He said the taking of entire families from their homes was “unconscionable”.
But the massacre was openly praised by some, including Iran‘s Supreme Leader Ali Khameneni who congratulated the Palestinian terrorists.
Another group, The Palestinian Islamic Jihad, said its fighters have joined Hamas in the shock attack on Israel.
A statement said: “Our cadres stand alongside their brothers in Hamas, shoulder to shoulder, until victory.”
Israeli PM Netanyahu said the country would reinforce its borders to deter others from “making the mistake of joining the war”.
On Saturday, Hamas military commander Mohammad Deif said more than 5,000 rockets had been launched.
He said: “This is the day of the greatest battle to end the last occupation on earth.”
Palestinians had been protesting attempts by settlers to forcibly evict a number of families from their homes at Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Arabic and Jewish communities have engaged in fierce conflicts for decades over who can lay claim to the region.
Extreme violence previously erupted between Israel and Palestine in 2021 when protests turned into air strikes and rocket attacks.
The terrorist group said it would turn Israel “into hell” in retaliation before IDF forces hit 150 Hamas targets dropping 450 missiles in just 40 minutes on the Gaza Strip.
Hundreds died in the 11-day crisis in May 2021, prompting an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council.
The ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine goes back many decades.
In May 1948, tens of thousands of Holocaust survivors rebuilt their lives in the newly established State of Israel.
Arabs already living in the area didn’t accept this, so the two parties went to war in 1948 and later in 1967.
Israel still controls most of Gaza’s borders and coastal territory, deciding who can get in and out of Gaza, including goods.
Hamas – the largest of several militant Islamist groups in Palestine – refuses to recognise Israel as a country and wants Palestinians to be able to return to their old home.
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