Israel attacked Gaza on Sunday, a day after suffering its bloodiest incursion in decades, when fighters from Hamas They devastated several cities, killing hundreds of people and kidnapping an unknown number of others, threatening a new major war in the Middle East.
In a sign that the conflict could spread beyond Gaza, Israel and the Iranian-backed Lebanese militia Hezbollah exchanged artillery and rocket fire, while in Alexandria two Israeli tourists They died after being shot along with their Egyptian guide.
During the night, the Israeli aviation attacked housing blocks, tunnels, a mosque and the homes of Hamas officials in Gaza, killing more than 300 people, including 20 children, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised “powerful revenge for this evil day.”
In the south of Israel, armed men Hamas militants were still fighting local security forces 24 hours after a surprise multiple assault during a rocket barrage broke through security barriers and entered army bases to send hundreds of militants into nearby cities.
He Israeli army, Questioned for failing to prevent the attack, he declared that he had regained control of most of the infiltration points, killed hundreds of attackers and taken dozens more prisoner, but was still fighting in some places.
It said it had deployed tens of thousands of troops around Gaza, a narrow strip where 2.3 million Palestinians live, and planned to evacuate all Israelis living around the territory’s border.
“We are going to attack Hamas hard and this is going to be a long haul“a military spokesman said in a briefing with journalists.
Hamas spokesman’s defense of attack on Israel
In Gaza, Abdel-Latif al-Qanoua, Hamas spokesman, declared that Saturday’s attack had been “e“in defense of our people”adding that the fighters ofThe group continued launching rockets and carrying out operations behind the lines.
The attack marked the largest and deadliest raid on Israel since Egypt and Syria launched a sudden assault in an attempt to regain territory lost in the Yom Kippur War 50 years ago.
The conflict could undermine US-backed measures to normalize relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia, a security realignment that could threaten Palestinian hopes for self-determination and break Hamas’s main supporter, Iran.
Hezbollah, Tehran’s other major regional ally waged war against Israel in 2006 and tensions have regularly escalated since then. “We recommend that Hezbollah not intervene and I do not think it will do so,” declared the spokesman for the Israeli army.
Source: Ambito
