Netanyahu: Israel 'At War'; Media: Surprise Attack 'A Massive Intelligence Failure'
Israeli jets are bombing the Gaza Strip in retaliation
BREAKING NEWS. This article will be updated.
Hamas launched a surprise operation on an unprecedented scale against Israel early Saturday by land, air, and sea. Hamas’s military chief, Muhammad Deif said the operation was codenamed “Al-Aqsa Flood.”
Israeli media calls it a massive intelligence failure by Israel and the United States.
The day marks a tremendous strategic failure and defeat for Israel, even as it bombs Gaza in retaliation. The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza says the death toll of the ongoing Israeli attacks on Gaza has risen to 198, with 1,610 injured.
And Israel’s Channel 12 reports that the Israeli death toll has risen to at least 40 and more than 740 people have been injured.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Hamas would pay an “unprecedented price” and warned of severe retaliation to come after ordering an extensive mobilization of Israeli army reserves.
Hamas spokesperson Khaled Qadomi told Al Jazeera that the group’s military operation is in response to all the atrocities the Palestinians have faced over the decades. “We want the international community to stop atrocities in Gaza, against Palestinian people, our holy sites like Al-Aqsa. All these things are the reason behind starting this battle,” he said.
No this was not the biggest intelligence failure by Israel.\n\nThe biggest intel failure is to believe it can live in peace while permanently occupying another people\n\nThat is not to justify violence. But to recognize that peace & occupation never tends to coexist in the long run>>— Trita Parsi (@Trita Parsi) 1696693727
Hamas has launched \u2018Operation Al-Aqsa Flood\u2019 against Israel \u2013 the biggest armed offensive in decades.\n\nVideos show Palestinian fighters \u2018infiltrating\u2019 Israeli territory from Gaza, where they are reported to have captured Israeli soldiers \u2935\ufe0f— Al Jazeera English (@Al Jazeera English) 1696666797
A surprise operation launched from Gaza, 50 years after Egypt\u2019s October surprise caught Israel off guard, is a shocking embarrassment for Israeli security and leadership whose policy in Gaza has been an abject failure and crime against humanity.— Yousef Munayyer (@Yousef Munayyer) 1696661360
The unfolding events in Israel and Palestine are deeply alarming.\n\nWe need an immediate ceasefire and urgent de-escalation.\n\nAnd we need a route out of this tragic cycle of violence: ending the occupation is the only means of achieving a just and lasting peace.— Jeremy Corbyn (@Jeremy Corbyn) 1696681645
Gaza is a small strip of besieged, blockaded land that Israel dominates and controls, allegedly with the most sophisticated surveillance on earth, and they missed a massive land, sea, and air incursion being organized for what had to have been months, right under their noses? Odd— Michael Tracey (@Michael Tracey) 1696672565
Footage of a hamas infiltrator using a motorized hang glider to get into Israel.\n\n#Palestine #Israel #Hamas #Gaza #War #AlMayadeen #Palestine #AlAqsaFlood #\u0637\u0648\u0641\u0627\u0646_\u0627\u0644\u0623\u0642\u0635\u0649 #IsraelUnderAttack #Palestinian #IndiaWithIsrael #Palestinians #Palestina— Zain Rajpoot (@Zain Rajpoot) 1696682762