Secretary of State Antony Blinken said U.S. officials are working to verify reports that several Americans have been killed and others taken hostage.
Hundreds dead, thousands injured in Israel after Hamas’ attack
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared a mass army mobilization after Palestinian group Hamas launched thousands of rockets into Israel.
The rapidly intensifying war between Israel and Palestinian militants roared into a second day Sunday, with the Israeli Security Cabinet formally declaring war and the death toll closing in on 1,000 − which may include some Americans.
ZAKA, a volunteer group that handles human remains after terror attacks, told Israeli media that more than 600 Israelis have been killed since Hamas militants began their assault Saturday on almost two dozen Israeli towns and army bases. Others had been taken hostage. Palestinian authorities said more than 300 fighters and civilians have been killed by Israeli counterattacks in Gaza. Thousands of people were reported wounded by both sides.
Thousands of rockets fired from Gaza pounded parts of southern and central Israel, including Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Hamas militants infiltrated Israeli areas near the Gaza border, killing and wounding civilians and Israeli security forces and taking hostages, prompting the Israel military to strike back.
“The security situation remains dynamic,” the U.S. Embassy Jerusalem said in a statement, adding that the crossings between Israel and Gaza were closed “until further notice.”
Israel updates: ‘We are at war,’ Israel’s Netanyahu says as Hamas launches surprise multi-front attack
Developments:
∎ Israel’s Security Cabinet formally declared war, and “the taking of significant military steps” to combat that attack, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
∎ Germany stands “unwaveringly on Israel’s side,” Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Sunday. He said he spoke with Netanyahu and that his “thoughts are with all those in Israel whose women, men and children have been killed or injured.”
Secretary of State Antony Blinken, making the rounds of Sunday talk shows, said U.S. officials are working to verify reports that several Americans have been killed and others taken hostage.
“Any American anywhere who is being detained or held hostage, that is going to be a priority for this government, for this administration, and for me, but I don’t want to get ahead of where we are,” Blinken said on NBC’s Meet the Press. “We have reports, we need to verify them.”
Israel will “do anything” to free hostages taken in Gaza, Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Maj. Doron Spielman told CNN.
The Palestinian media outlet Al Ayyam described what it called an “Israeli massacre” in Gaza. It said the Ministry of Health in Gaza was appealing to citizens to go to hospitals and blood banks to donate blood for the more than 2,000 people reported wounded there.
“A large number of [are] missing people from the Gaza Strip, some of whom are believed to have been martyred … at the Beit Hanoun crossing, which was bombed after a large number of citizens arrived there,” Al Ayyam reported. “Others were subjected to arrest by the occupation forces.”
Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh was quoted as saying Israel “bears full responsibility for what is happening, by creating a climate of hatred, violence, incitement, and violating international law.”
Israeli Defense Forces said on social media that it struck two “operational situation rooms” located inside mosques used by Hamas in Gaza. The IDF also struck Hamas’ intelligence headquarters, a military compound used by Hamas’ aerial forces and an aerial weapons production site. The IDF said it killed at least 400 Palestinian terrorists both in Israel and in strikes in Gaza.
The Gaza health ministry said 370 Palestinians have been killed and another 2,200 have been wounded in the Gaza Strip.
Israel carried out dozens of airstrikes in the southern Gaza town of Rafah overnight. One strike slammed into three homes in the crowded Shaboura refugee camp, killing 19 members of the same family, according to a family member who posted the names on his social media. The Associated Press reported that surviving family members and neighbors filled al-Farouk mosque and prayed over the bodies of those killed before marching to the nearby cemetery for burial, some carrying the bodies.
The attack came on the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah, reviving memories of the 1973 war that began with a surprise attack on Yom Kippur. President Joe Biden quickly condemned the “appalling assault” and said U.S. support was “rock solid and unwavering.” He warned other foes of Israel not to take advantage of the developments.
“Terrorism is never justified,” Biden said. “Israel has a right to defend itself and its people.”
The war comes from a dispute rooted in pre-biblical times. Though its borders have shifted over the years, Palestinian territories used to be what is now Israel, Gaza and the West Bank. Both Israeli Jews’ and Palestinian Arabs’ history, culture and identity are linked to the Palestinian territories and to the ancient city of Jerusalem, “one of the most bitterly contested cities on earth,” according to The Associated Press.
Britain was given control of Palestine by the League of Nations in 1920, under an order called the British Mandate. In 1917, the British government signaled its support for the establishment of a Jewish state in Israel with the Balfour Declaration. Read more.
− George Petras and Janet Loehrke
The attack on Israel by Hamas forces coincided with the Jewish religious holiday Simchat Torah.
Simchat Torah, which means “the joy of the Torah,” is “supposed to be a day of rejoicing when Jews celebrate completing the end of the Torah cycle and beginning again,” said Ruth Franklin, a Jewish writer and a finalist for the Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature.
Simchat Torah is part of the holiday Shemini Atzeret. In Israel, they are celebrated on the same day and often referred to interchangeably. For Jewish people outside Israel, Shemini Atzeret is usually a two-day celebration, with Simchat Torah occurring on the second day.
At one synagogue about 90 minutes north of the epicenter of the attacks, half the people celebrated and danced with the Torah while the other half arrived in their uniforms and left their neighborhoods to serve, said Yael Eckstein, president and CEO of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews.
– Jeanine Santucci and Krystal Nurse
Contributing: The Associated Press
