Israel faces 'long, difficult war' after Hamas attack from Gaza

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News Article :-
Israel's military has warned that Hamas militants from Gaza are still fighting inside Israel after they infiltrated southern communities and left a reported 250 people dead.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told Israelis they are going into a "long and difficult war".

Hundreds of gunmen burst into southern Israel, killing soldiers and civilians, and taking into Gaza what the army said was a "significant number" of hostages.

Israel has responded with air strikes.

These have continued on Sunday morning, with the Israeli Air Force saying it was targeting "operational infrastructure" in Gaza.
Israel also carried out artillery strikes in Lebanon, following "shooting carried out a few minutes ago into Israeli territory", Israel Defense Forces said.

More than 200 people have been killed since Palestinian militants infiltrated the Israel border from Gaza on Saturday morning, according to Palestinian health officials.

Gazans received Israeli text messages overnight telling them to leave their homes and move to city centres or take refuge in shelters.

The Israeli prime minister said in an overnight message that the war had been "forced on us by a murderous attack by Hamas", and the first stage would end in the coming hours when most of the militants on Israeli territory had been wiped out. Israel would restore security to its citizens and win, he added.

The Israeli government also said it would cut off electricity, fuel and goods supplies to Gaza.

Israel's nightmare scenario - armed Palestinian militants at large in the south of the country - began early on Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath and festival of Simchat Torah.

Gunmen cut through the Gaza perimeter fence, storming into Israel on motorbikes, paragliders and by sea. The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) spokesman said the militants numbered in the high hundreds, while more than 3,000 rockets were fired across Israel across the the day.

"They attacked dozens of Israeli communities and IDF bases and went door to door, house to house," said Lt Col Jonathan Conricus.

"They executed Israeli civilians in cold blood in their homes and then continued to drag into Gaza Israeli civilians and military personnel. I'm talking women, children, elderly, disabled."

Distressing videos emerged of Israeli civilians running for their lives from a festival in the desert, and of women being bundled into vehicles and kidnapped.

Israelis rang into news channels saying they were hiding in their homes and scared for their lives. The town of Netiv HaAsara said 15 of its residents were shot dead by Hamas militants.

In the town of Sderot, a resident called Shlomi described seeing a "sea of bodies, inside Sderot along the road".

Gradually the Israeli military began to reassert control over most of the southern communities. Hostages held in a dining room in Kibbutz Be'eri were eventually freed after 18 hours, Israeli media reported. Shortly afterwards further reports
Transcript
00:00 Israel's military has warned that Hamas militants from Gaza are still fighting inside Israel
00:05 after they infiltrated southern communities and left a reported 250 people dead.
00:10 Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told Israelis they are going into a long and difficult war.
00:16 Hundreds of gunmen burst into southern Israel, killing soldiers and civilians,
00:20 and taking into Gaza what the army said was a significant number of hostages.
00:26 Israel has responded with airstrikes, these have continued on Sunday morning,
00:30 with the Israeli Air Force saying it was targeting operational infrastructure in Gaza.
00:35 Israel also carried out artillery strikes in Lebanon, following shooting carried out a few
00:40 minutes ago into Israeli territory, Israel Defense Forces said. More than 200 people have been killed.
00:47 Since Palestinian militants infiltrated the Israel border from Gaza on Saturday morning,
00:52 according to Palestinian health officials. Gazans received Israeli text messages overnight telling
00:58 them to leave their homes and move to city centers or take refuge in shelters.
01:03 The Israeli prime minister said in an overnight message that the war had been forced on us by a
01:08 murderous attack by Hamas, and the first stage would end in the coming hours when most of the
01:13 militants on Israeli territory had been wiped out. Israel would restore security to its citizens and
01:19 win, he added. The Israeli government also said it would cut off electricity, fuel and goods supplies
01:25 to Gaza. Israel's nightmare scenario, armed Palestinian militants at large in the south
01:30 of the country, began early on Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath and Festival of Sinchat Torah.
01:36 Gunmen cut through the Gaza perimeter fence, storming into Israel on motorbikes, paragliders
01:42 and by sea, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman said the militants numbered in the
01:48 high hundreds, while more than 3,000 rockets were fired across Israel across the the day.
01:53 They attacked dozens of Israeli communities and IDF bases and went door to door,
01:58 house to house, said LTCOL Jonathan Conricus. They executed Israeli civilians in cold blood
02:05 in their homes and then continued to drag into Gaza Israeli civilians and military personnel.
02:10 I'm talking women, children, elderly, disabled. Distressing videos emerged of Israeli civilians
02:17 running for their lives from a festival in the desert, and of women being bundled into vehicles
02:21 and kidnapped. Israelis rang into news channels saying they were hiding in their homes and scared
02:27 for their lives, the town of Netiv Ha'asarah said. Fifteen of its residents were shot dead by Hamas
02:32 militants in the town of Sderot. A resident called Shlomi described seeing a sea of bodies inside
02:38 Sderot along the road. Gradually, the Israeli military began to reassert control over most
02:44 of the southern communities. Hostages held in a dining room in Kibbutz B'Ari were eventually
02:49 freed after 18 hours, Israeli media reported. Shortly afterwards further reports said troops
02:55 had freed hostages in the town of Ofakim and the attackers holding them had been killed.
03:00 U.S. President Joe Biden spoke of America's "rock-solid and unwavering" support for Israel
03:05 which was under attack orchestrated by a terrorist organization. Hamas's military
03:10 wing said the number of Israelis captured was several times greater than dozens and
03:15 they included senior military officers. By the end of Saturday, more than 1,500 people
03:21 had been wounded in Gaza and 1,500 more in Israel, officials said. The army said Hamas's
03:27 unprecedented level of violence would be met with an unprecedented response.
03:32 Tens of thousands of reservists have been mobilized and are now expected to launch a
03:37 ground operation in Gaza. On Saturday Israeli strikes destroyed the 11-story Palestine Tower
03:43 in downtown Gaza City, which houses Hamas radio stations in the rooftop. The Israeli
03:48 air force said it struck military infrastructure in two multi-story buildings used by senior
03:54 Hamas terrorist operatives for carrying out terrorist activity, and that. It had warned
03:59 occupants to evacuate before the attack. There was also violence in several locations in the
04:04 West Bank on Saturday. Palestinian medics reported that six Palestinians were shot dead
04:10 during confrontations with Israeli forces. Hamas military commander Mohamed Diaf called
04:15 on Palestinians everywhere to join the group's operation. "We have decided to put an end to
04:20 these Israeli offenses. With God's help, so the enemy understands that the time of wreaking
04:26 havoc without being held accountable is over," he said. Ismail Haniyeh, the leader in exile of
04:32 Hamas, claimed that Palestinian factions intended to expand the violence to the occupied West Bank
04:38 and Jerusalem. Ghazi Hamad, a Hamas spokesman, meanwhile told the BBC that the group had direct
04:44 backing for the attack from Iran. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, a political rival of
04:50 Hamas, said the Palestinian people had the right to defend themselves against the terror of settlers
04:55 and occupation troops. There has been strong international condemnation of the Hamas attacks.
05:01 UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was "appalled" by reports that civilians have
05:06 been attacked and abducted from their own homes. While the UK's foreign secretary,
05:11 James Cleverley, said it unequivocally condemns the horrific attacks by Hamas on Israeli civilians.
05:17 However, Saudi Arabia called for an immediate halt to the escalation,
05:21 saying it had warned repeatedly about the dangers stemming from "continued occupation"
05:26 and "the deprivation of the Palestinian people".

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