UPDATE 4:45 PM – The Washington Post reports a spokesman for Hamas tells the BBC it received direct support from Iran to carry out the multi pronged attacks on Israel that began Saturday. In response to those attacks, Israel has now declared war against Hamas, reports more than 1,100 people killed, about 100 people including Israelis and Westerners taken hostage, which it wants to swap with Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
Hamas spokesman Ghazi Hamad says nations and groups in addition to Iran helped the movement of war, though those other nations and groups are not named. Iranian Presidnet Ebrahim Raisi is praising what he calls a “history making move” by Hamas, highlighting Iran’s support for the Palestinian’s “legitimate defense” against Israel. In a statement, he blames the “Zionist regime” and supporters for instability in the region. Raisi is urging all Muslim governments to support the Palestinians, and acknowledge injustices committed against Palestinian civilians over the years. “The Palestinian nation will emerge victorious in this battlefield” Hamad said.
UPDATE: 10.08.2023 3:15 PM – At least 11 hundred people have died; more than 700 in Israel, in the surprise barrage of missile attacks by Hamas from the Gaza Strip on Israel Saturday. A music festival underway in Israel near the Gaza Strip was attacked with at least 260 people killed at that site. Israeli military is reported to have hit more than 800 targets in the Gaza Strip. Gaza authorities estimate more than 400 killed; more than 2 thousand people in total injured.
A number of Israeli and perhaps Western citizens in Israel at the time of the attack were also taken hostage. Officials believe the captives include elderly people, women and children.
Four American citizens are now reported as killed during the fighting, with some additionally reported taken as hostage.
Hamas says it wants the release of it’s prisoners held in Israel in return for the hostages taken in the surprise missile barrage strikes on Saturday.
American warships are headed to Israel now, with western nations vowing to back Israel in it’s now declared war against Hamas.
(WBAP/KLIF) — FOXNEWS.COM — Iranian backed Hamas terrorists invaded areas of southern Israel as rocket barrages launched from the Gaza Strip struck the area on Saturday, killing at least 100 Israelis in an attack the Islamist movement Hamas is taking responsibility for.
A senior Hamas military commander, Mohammad Deif, announced the start of the operation in which he called on Palestinians everywhere to attack the Israelis. “This is the day of the greatest battle to end the last occupation on earth,” he said in a broadcast on Hamas media, saying that 5,000 rockets had been launched.
Local Israeli media reported that at least 100 people have been killed in the wide-ranging assault, while Gaza health officials say that 198 Palestinians have died in Israeli air strikes made in response to the Hamas attack. Hospitals are treating at least 561 wounded people, including 77 who were in critical condition, the Associated Press reported based on public statements and calls to hospitals.
In a video message early Saturday morning, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “Citizens of Israel, we are at war — not in an operation, not in rounds — at war.” Ambulance crews responded to areas around the Gaza Strip, and sirens sounded across Israel. Soroka Medical Center in Beer Sheva, the largest town in southern Israel, is treating 140 wounded, including 20 in serious and critical condition. Some of these wounded people are civilians. Another hospital in Ashkelon is treating 94 victims wounded in various conditions.
According to Israeli media, gunmen opened fire on passersby in the southern Israeli town of Sderot, and footage of the fighting appeared to show attacks in city streets. “A number of terrorists have infiltrated into Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip,” the Israeli military said in a statement. Residents in the area surrounding the Gaza Strip are urged to remain in their homes.
“The Israeli Defence Forces will defend Israeli civilians and the Hamas terrorist organization will pay heavy price for its actions,” the military said. Netanyahu’s office said he would meet top security officials in the coming hours to address the operation. The sound of rocket launches could be heard in Gaza as residents reported armed clashes along the separation fence with Israel, near the southern town of Khan Younis. The residents said they had seen significant movement of armed fighters.
U.S. National Security Council Spokesperson Adrienne Watson “unequivocally” condemned the attacks, calling them unprovoked and stressing that “There is never any justification for terrorism.”
(Copyright 2023 WBAP/KLIF Newsroom News. Contains material from FoxNews.com)
