- The violence has been driven by frequent Israeli military raids in Palestinian towns and cities, which Israel has said are a necessary response to a rising number of attacks by Palestinian militants on Israelis.
After Israeli settlers seized the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in recent days and a record number of Palestinians were slain by Israel in recent months, Hamas launched its unexpected strike.
The large-scale surprise attack by Gaza militants on Israel on Saturday left hundreds of Israelis dead, prompting a lethal volley of retaliatory Israeli airstrikes and a formal declaration of war on Sunday, October 8, 2023.
In a report by CNN on the wee hours of the reported surprise attack, Israeli Prime Minister came out to confirm the said attacks in a video message.
“Citizens of Israel, we are at war – not in an operation, not in rounds – at war,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video message shortly after the militant group Hamas, which controls the coastal enclave of Gaza, fired a barrage of rockets and sent gunmen into Israel in a multi-pronged and unprecedented attack in the long-running conflict.
As the report stands as of today, Israel claims to have hit over 500 sites in the Gaza Strip, and heavy combat with Hamas fighters is still going on in a number of southern Israeli communities.
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More than 120,000 residents of the besieged Palestinian enclave have already been uprooted by the heavy bombing.
A 100,000-strong reserve force of the Israeli army has gathered close to Gaza, where Palestinian fighters claim to be imprisoning 130 individuals.
According to health officials, the most recent dead toll includes 436 Palestinians and more than 700 Israelis.
