Israel-Hamas Fighting Continues In Up To 8 Locations; At Least 1,100 Killed In Violence So Far
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Israel is reeling from the deadliest attack suffered in half a century. Combat in the Gaza Strip continues, as Israel retaliates against a surprise offensive carried out by the militant organization Hamas early Saturday morning.
More than 700 Israelis have been killed in what Hamas is calling Operation Al Aqsa Flood, with at least 400 Palestinians killed in retaliatory Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip. The total number of deaths has surpassed 1,100, including foreign nationals.
An unknown number of Israelis, both civilians and soldiers, have been taken captive by Hamas in its hostilities, prompting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to declare that his country is at war. Israel says it is working to rescue the hostages but warned that Hamas operatives could still be entering the country. The Israel Defense Forces said it struck more than 500 enemy targets in an overnight attack on Gaza.
Gaza, the small strip of land that is home to over 2 million Palestinians within roughly 140 square miles, is one of the most densely populated territories on Earth and has been kept under an Israeli land, air and sea blockade since 2007.
The surprise attack by Hamas on Israel suggests a massive intelligence failure as the Israeli government appeared blindsided by the infiltration of Hamas fighters across the southern border and the launch of thousands of rockets.
The Hamas assault by air, land and sea also raised questions as to why U.S. intelligence agencies apparently did not see it coming, experts and former intelligence officials said.
U.S. officials said that if the Israelis knew an attack was imminent, they did not share it with Washington.
“We were not tracking this,” one senior U.S. military official told NBC News.
“Jews have not faced this kind of atrocity in the world since the Holocaust, so … everything is on the table if you are an Israeli Jew today,” Ian Bremmer, president and founder of political consultancy Eurasia Group told CNBC.
“To take out the leadership of Hamas, it is not going to be a matter of days or weeks. This is months or maybe years. This is going to go on for a long, long time,” he added.
The weekend assaults happened a day after the 50th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War, inviting comparisons with the deadliest Arab-Israeli war in 1973 that threatened to imperil the state of Israel.
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