The attack, which killed 40 people and injured hundreds, involved multiple gunmen crossing into Israel and a barrage of rockets fired from Gaza, Reuters reported.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged to respond: “Our enemies will pay a price they have never seen. We will fight and we will win.”
At least 40 Israelis were killed and hundreds wounded in the Hamas attack, Israel's ambulance service said, with the toll likely to rise. A Reuters reporter spotted several bodies on the streets of the southern Israeli town of Sderot.
The Israeli military said it responded by launching air strikes into Gaza, where witnesses reported hearing loud explosions and many dead and injured people were taken to hospitals.
Gaza health officials say 198 Palestinians were killed in the air strike, which hit central Gaza City.
Hamas deputy leader Saleh al-Arouri told Al Jazeera that the group is holding a large number of Israeli hostages including several senior officials.
Hamas said the attack was carried out in response to Israel's escalating attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank, Jerusalem and Palestinians in Israeli prisons.
Hamas military commander Mohammad Deif announced the launch of the campaign in a broadcast on Hamas media, calling on Palestinians everywhere to rise up.
“This will be the greatest war to end the last occupation regime on earth,” he said, adding that 5,000 missiles had been launched.
Hamas and Israel fought a 10-day war in 2021.
The attack marked an unprecedented incursion into Israel by an unknown number of Hamas fighters crossing from the Gaza Strip, and was the most serious blow to Israel in its conflict with the Palestinians since a suicide bombing during the Second Intifada two decades ago.
Reports on Israeli hostages
Islamic Jihad said it had joined the fighting and was holding several Israeli soldiers hostage. Hamas social media pages posted images of Israeli hostages being taken into Gaza.
Images posted by Hamas on Telegram showed Hamas soldiers pulling Israeli soldiers out of a tank.
The Israeli military declined to comment, saying it would issue a statement on reports regarding the Israeli hostages later.
Israel's Reshet 13 TV News channel said militants took Israeli hostages in the town of Ofakim, and five Palestinian militants were killed in Sderot, with several homes burned.
Israeli media reported several gun battles between Palestinian militants and security forces in southern Israeli towns. Israel’s police chief said there were “21 crime scenes” in southern Israel.
In Gaza, many people are rushing to shop and prepare for the conflict in the coming days. Some people have evacuated their homes and taken to shelters.
The UN Middle East Peace Envoy Tor Wennesland condemned the attack on Israel, warning in a statement: “This is a dangerous precipice, and I appeal to all sides to step back from it.”
The incident has also received criticism from Washington and other Western governments.
Smoke rises in Gaza on October 7, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Mohammed Salem.
“The United States unequivocally condemns Hamas’s unprovoked attacks on Israeli civilians. Such actions can never be justified.”
“Save us”
In a call to Israel N12 News from Nir Oz, a kibbutz settlement on the edge of Gaza, a woman named Dorin said several militiamen had broken into her home and tried to break down the door to the bomb shelter where she was taking shelter.
“They just came here again, please save us. There are many families that have been harmed. My husband is trying to hold the door. They started shooting.”
Israeli Defense Minister Galant said “the army is engaged in combat with the enemy in all locations” and had authorized the call-up of reserves.
Images posted on social media showed clashes on the streets as well as gunmen in trucks travelling in rural areas.
Violence on the rise
The escalation comes amid growing violence between Israel and Palestinian militant groups in the West Bank, an area that, alongside the Gaza Strip, is part of the territory where Palestinians have long sought to establish a state.
The incident also comes at a time of political turmoil in Israel, with the country divided over decisions on judicial reform. Washington is seeking an opportunity to broker a deal that would normalize relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia's foreign minister has called for "an immediate cessation of violence between Israelis and Palestinians".
Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah said the operation was "a decisive response to Israel's long-standing occupation and a message to those seeking normalization of relations with Israel."
Hamas media channels have posted numerous videos of dead Israeli soldiers being brought to Gaza, and Palestinian gunmen in Israeli homes or patrolling Israeli towns in jeeps.
Reuters has not been able to verify the videos.
Hamas media also posted several videos showing an Israeli tank being destroyed.
In Gaza, rocket fire could be heard and residents reported armed clashes on the fence separating them from Israel, near the southern town of Khan Younis. They saw large numbers of armed soldiers mobilised.
Palestinians in Gaza are preparing for a response from Israel.
“We are very scared,” a Palestinian woman named Amal Abu Daqqa told Reuters as she prepared to evacuate Khan Younis.
The attack came just a day after Israel marked the 50th anniversary of the 1973 war, which brought the country to the brink of catastrophic defeat after a surprise attack from Syria and Egypt./.
Nguyen Quang Minh (according to Reuters)
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