Israel’s defence minister on Monday ordered a “complete siege” of Gaza, as the military said it had retaken control of Israeli communities near the coastal enclave that were stormed by Hamas’ gunmen in an unprecedented attack over the weekend.
Yoav Gallant said on camera that Israel would halt the supply of electricity, food, water and fuel to Gaza. “I have given an order – Gaza will be under complete siege,” Gallant said. “We are fighting barbarians and will respond accordingly.”
Israel has retaken control of all communities around Gaza and there is no ongoing fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas militants inside Israel, the Israeli military said on Monday, following continued assaults by both sides.
The announcement by Israel Defence Forces (IDF) spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari came more than 48 hours after Hamas launched a surprise assault with thousands of rockets and sent armed fighters into Israel.
Israel on Sunday formally declared war on the Islamist militant group Hamas after its fighters launched an unprecedented attack that has so far killed more than 700 people in Israel. At least 2,506 people have been injured, the Israeli Health Ministry said.
Israeli jets continued to bombard the Palestinian enclave of Gaza on Monday as the war entered its third day. Israeli strikes in Gaza have killed at least 493, including dozens of children, and left 2,651 injured, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
An incursion by Gaza militants of this scale has not been seen in Israel since the nation’s founding in 1948.
Earlier Monday, as Israeli forces battled to expel the last assailants, Hamas launched a fresh barrage of rocket attacks.
Hamas said it fired 120 rockets toward the coastal cities of Ashdod and Ashkelon, in response to Israeli airstrikes. A CNN team on the ground saw dust billowing over the sky, as rockets launched from Gaza were intercepted by the Israeli air defence system in Ashdod.
Hamas militants claimed late Sunday to be holding more than 100 hostages in Gaza, including high-ranking Israeli army officers, according to Mousa Abu Marzouk, chief deputy of Hamas’ political bureau.
Videos on social media showed militants capturing multiple civilians, including children, as Israeli families across the nation made anxious pleas for the safe return of their loved ones.
In addition to Israeli captives, there are also other nationalities believed to have been taken hostage, including American, Mexican, Brazilian and Thai nationals – further complicating Israel’s response to the Hamas attack.
For now, airstrikes have been the primary retaliation measure within Gaza itself, with Israeli jets repeatedly pounding the heavily populated 140 square mile coastal strip, turning multiple buildings to rubble.
The IDF says it has been hitting Hamas, destroying around 800 targets and killing “hundreds” of fighters, wounding thousands and capturing scores of others, spokesperson Hagari said Sunday.
Tens of thousands of people have been displaced in Gaza, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency said, and access to medical care has been complicated by Israel cutting power to the territory, threatening the “lives of hundreds” of those injured, the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza said.
While it remains unclear what the full scale of the Israeli response will be, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday predicted a “long and difficult war” and vowed “mighty vengeance” on Hamas.
Horror on the ground
Many Israelis have spent much of the past two days in bomb shelters and saferooms, while Palestinians in Gaza have struggled to contain the devastation from deadly Israeli airstrikes along the strip.
Israel’s Ambassador to the US, Michael Herzog, told CNN Hamas fired more than 4,000 rockets at Israel and sent hundreds of militants into Israeli territory.
Throughout the bloody weekend, Hamas rockets made direct hits on multiple locations inside the country including Tel Aviv, while armed terror groups entered Israel and infiltrated military bases, towns and farms, shooting at civilians and taking hostages.
Among those killed in Israel were 12 Thai citizens, 10 Nepalis, four US nationals, two Ukrainians, one French and one British citizen.
Images and videos show the horror unfolding on the ground.
Photos released by the Israeli foreign ministry showed dozens of bodies in the aftermath of a Hamas attack on a music festival near the Israel-Gaza border, which emergency responders said left at least 260 dead.
*CNN
