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Rabat – The Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas launched a major attack on Israel in the early hours of Saturday, unleashing a barrage of rockets from Gaza and deploying fighters across the border. The recent events mark the most extensive confrontation between the two factions in years.
The attack claimed the lives of at least 22 people and injured more than 540 in Israel, converging media reports have indicated.
In response, Israel declared a state of war readiness and commenced strikes on Hamas targets in Gaza.
“The IDF [Israel Defense Force] is initiating a large-scale operation to defend Israeli civilians against the combined attack launched against Israel by Hamas this morning,” said the Israeli military.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu posted a video to X, formerly Twitter, pledging that Hamas would face unprecedented consequences for their actions. “We are at war and we will win it,” he said.
Reports from Israeli media indicated intense gun battles between Palestinian fighters and Israeli security forces in various regions of southern Israel.
Hamas claimed responsibility for the aerial attack, asserting that they had fired over 5,000 rockets.
The group issued a call to arms, urging “resistance fighters in the West Bank” and nations within the Arab and Islamic world to unite and join the ongoing battle.
The Israeli military responded with overwhelming force, deploying dozens of fighter jets to conduct airstrikes on Hamas sites in Gaza. In addition, Israel has mobilized tens of thousands of reservists to reinforce the country’s defenses.
The violence has already claimed at least four Palestinian lives, according to local health officials.
