On the morning of this Saturday, 7 October, militiamen of the Islamist terrorist group Hamas breached the border fortification and stormed Israeli towns located near the blockaded Gaza Strip, killing and abducting both civilians and military personnel. Simultaneously, a barrage of thousands of rockets was also launched at Israeli targets.
According to Israeli sources,
at least 250 Israelis were killed in the attack, with another 1,7000 wounded, making it the deadliest terrorist attack in the country in decades.
Initially, the Israeli military struggled to regain control of the coastal towns hit by the attack. In the town of Sderot, the local police station was taken over by Hamas fighters. However, by Sunday morning, the station was recaptured by Israeli security forces, and the 10 Hamas militiamen leading the attack were killed. By then, the Jewish states’ military managed to take back control at other locations as well.
In Ashkelon, a hospital was hit by one of the rockets launched from Palestine. While one of the building’s walls has been punctured, local officials claim it thankfully resulted in no injuries or deaths. Other projectiles have also reached the major city of Tel Aviv. A video has also surfaced of Hamas fighters parading around the unconscious body of a German-Israeli woman taken hostage.
In total, around 400 Hamas fighters have been killed or captured by Israeli forces.
In response to the gruesome attacks,
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel claimed that his country is now ‘at war’.
He went on to say that ‘what happened today has never been seen in Israel, we will take mighty vengeance for this black day,’ as quoted by CNN World; and vowed that his nation’s forces will turn Hamas-controlled settlements ‘into islands of ruins’. He also warned Hamas they ‘are responsible for the wellbeing of captives, Israel will settle the score with anyone who harms them’.
The attack by the Islamist terrorist group was launched on the 50th anniversary of the start of the Yom Kippur War, also known as the Fourth Arab-Israeli War. In 1973, a coalition of Arab forces, led by Egypt and Syria, attacked Israel on the first day of the holy Jewish holiday Yom Kippur.
PM Orbán Offers His Support
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán of Hungary took to the social media platform X (formerly Twiter) to show his support for the Jewish state under attack.
US President Joe Biden expressed similar sentiments, saying:
‘In this moment of tragedy, I want to say to the world and to terrorists everywhere that the United States stands with Israel. We will not ever fail to have their back. We’ll make sure they have the help their citizens need and they can continue to defend themselves.’
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