PM says Israel at war after 100 killed in attack from Gaza
At least 100 people have been killed in Israel after Palestinian militant group Hamas launched its biggest attack in years.
Militants crossed into Israel from Gaza under the cover of heavy rocket fire – and have since taken dozens of Israelis captive. Some hostages – both soldiers and civilians – were taken back to Gaza.
Israel has responded with a wave of air strikes on targets in Gaza killing 198 people, Palestinian officials say.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was “at war” and vowed that Hamas, the militant group that rules Gaza, will “pay a price it has never known”. “This morning Hamas launched a murderous surprise attack against the state of Israel and its citizens,” he said.
This is one of the most serious escalations in the Israel-Palestinian conflict in years.
The attack by Hamas saw fighters cross the perimeter fence at just after dawn. At the same time, barrages of rockets were launched from Gaza – some reaching as far as the cities of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. How the gunmen managed to penetrate one of the most heavily fortified borders in the world is unclear.
The Israeli military has said dozens of fighter jets are carrying out air strikes on Hamas sites in Gaza, and it has hit 17 Hamas military compounds. It also said it has mobilised tens of thousands of reservists.
The Palestinian health ministry says 198 people have been killed in Israeli strikes. and another 1,610 have been wounded. Israeli bombs destroyed an 11-story tower in downtown Gaza City which houses Hamas radio stations in the rooftop.
Medical aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres said a nurse and an ambulance driver were killed in Israeli strikes on two hospitals in Gaza.
Reuters news agency reported Israel’s energy minister, Israel Katz, as saying that Israel will cut off Gaza’s electricity supply.
(BBC)
