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| How Hamas carried out its shock assault on Israel | How Hamas carried out its shock assault on Israel |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| Many Israelis would have been asleep when it began. | Many Israelis would have been asleep when it began. |
| Saturday was the Jewish Sabbath and also a holy festival day, meaning families planning to spend time at home together or in synagogue, and friends just meeting up. | |
| But out of the dawn sky, a hail of rockets signalled the start of an attack that was unprecedented in its scale and co-ordination. | |
| For years, Israel has fortified the barrier between itself and the small Palestinian enclave of Gaza. Within hours, its impenetrability was exposed as flawed. | |
| BBC News has been analysing footage taken by militants and civilians on the ground to piece together how Hamas co-ordinated their most sophisticated attack ever from Gaza. | BBC News has been analysing footage taken by militants and civilians on the ground to piece together how Hamas co-ordinated their most sophisticated attack ever from Gaza. |
| Rockets signal start of attack | Rockets signal start of attack |
| At around 06:30 local time, the rockets began to fly. | At around 06:30 local time, the rockets began to fly. |
| The Islamist militant organisation - which controls Gaza and is designated as a terrorist group in the UK and elsewhere around the world - uses this tactic frequently. | The Islamist militant organisation - which controls Gaza and is designated as a terrorist group in the UK and elsewhere around the world - uses this tactic frequently. |
| The rudimentary rockets often struggle to evade Israel's advanced Iron Dome missile defence system - but thousands were fired in a short space of time to overwhelm it. | The rudimentary rockets often struggle to evade Israel's advanced Iron Dome missile defence system - but thousands were fired in a short space of time to overwhelm it. |
| The scale suggests months of planning and stockpiling. Hamas says it fired 5,000 in the first round (Israel says it was half that number). | The scale suggests months of planning and stockpiling. Hamas says it fired 5,000 in the first round (Israel says it was half that number). |
| Air raid sirens began to sound as far afield as Tel Aviv - 60km (38 miles) from Gaza - and western Jerusalem and smoke was seen rising above towns where there had been direct hits. | Air raid sirens began to sound as far afield as Tel Aviv - 60km (38 miles) from Gaza - and western Jerusalem and smoke was seen rising above towns where there had been direct hits. |
| As the rockets continued to launch, fighters were gathering where they planned to penetrate the heavily fortified Gaza barrier. | |
| Although Israel pulled its troops and settlers out of Gaza in 2005, it still controls its airspace, shared border and shoreline. | Although Israel pulled its troops and settlers out of Gaza in 2005, it still controls its airspace, shared border and shoreline. |
| As well as regular military patrols around the perimeter - which is a concrete wall in some places and a fence in others - there is also a network of cameras and censors to prevent incursions. | As well as regular military patrols around the perimeter - which is a concrete wall in some places and a fence in others - there is also a network of cameras and censors to prevent incursions. |
| But within hours, the barrier had been breached again and again. | But within hours, the barrier had been breached again and again. |
| How did Hamas get through? | How did Hamas get through? |
| Some Hamas fighters tried to bypass the barrier completely, including by flying over it on paragliders (unverified footage showed at least seven drifting above Israel) and by boat. | Some Hamas fighters tried to bypass the barrier completely, including by flying over it on paragliders (unverified footage showed at least seven drifting above Israel) and by boat. |
| The Israel Defense Forces said they had repelled two Hamas attempts to cross into Israel by landing vessels on the beach. | The Israel Defense Forces said they had repelled two Hamas attempts to cross into Israel by landing vessels on the beach. |
| But what sets this attack apart is the several co-ordinated, direct assaults on barrier crossing points. | |
| At 05:50 local time, a Telegram account associated with Hamas's armed wing posted the first images from the ground, taken at Kerem Shalom - the most southern of Gaza's crossings. | At 05:50 local time, a Telegram account associated with Hamas's armed wing posted the first images from the ground, taken at Kerem Shalom - the most southern of Gaza's crossings. |
| They showed militants overrunning a checkpoint and the bloodied bodies of two Israeli soldiers on the ground. | |
| Another image showed at least five motorbikes, each carrying two militants armed with rifles, passing through a hole which had been cut in the wire fence section of the barrier. | Another image showed at least five motorbikes, each carrying two militants armed with rifles, passing through a hole which had been cut in the wire fence section of the barrier. |
| Militants broke through the barrier at Kerem Shalom by overunning guards and cutting through the fence | Militants broke through the barrier at Kerem Shalom by overunning guards and cutting through the fence |
| At a less guarded section, a bulldozer was seen demolishing a stretch of barbed wire-topped fencing. | At a less guarded section, a bulldozer was seen demolishing a stretch of barbed wire-topped fencing. |
| Dozens of seemingly unarmed people were gathered there, and some began to run through the gap. | Dozens of seemingly unarmed people were gathered there, and some began to run through the gap. |
| BBC News has verified footage of a bulldozer destroying a section of the barrier | BBC News has verified footage of a bulldozer destroying a section of the barrier |
| At Erez - the furthest north of the Gaza crossings, around 43.4km (27 miles) from Kerem Shalom - Hamas was swarming another crossing. | At Erez - the furthest north of the Gaza crossings, around 43.4km (27 miles) from Kerem Shalom - Hamas was swarming another crossing. |
| Footage was posted on one of the group's propaganda channels. It shows an explosion at the concrete barrier, which served as a signal to start the assault, and a militant can then be seen waving a group of fighters towards the blast site. | |
| Eight men in bulletproof vests and carrying rifles run towards the heavily fortified checkpoint and fire at Israeli troops. | |
| Militants attack Israel/Gaza border crossing point in propaganda footage | Militants attack Israel/Gaza border crossing point in propaganda footage |
| Militants attack Israel/Gaza border crossing point in propaganda footage | Militants attack Israel/Gaza border crossing point in propaganda footage |
| Later in the video, the bodies of Israeli soldiers are seen lying on the floor as the militants go from room to room sweeping the compound, clearly organised and trained. | |
| Gaza has seven official crossings - six are controlled by Israel, one into Egypt is controlled by Cairo. | Gaza has seven official crossings - six are controlled by Israel, one into Egypt is controlled by Cairo. |
| But within the space of a few hours, Hamas had found ways to enter Israeli territory along the length of the barrier. | |
| Attacks reach deep into Israeli territory | |
| Hamas fighters swept out of Gaza in all directions. We now know from the Israeli authorities that they assaulted 27 different locations, seemingly with orders to kill on sight. | Hamas fighters swept out of Gaza in all directions. We now know from the Israeli authorities that they assaulted 27 different locations, seemingly with orders to kill on sight. |
| The furthest Hamas penetrated was the town of Ofakim, which lies 22.5km (14 miles) east of Gaza. The map below shows the different areas they reached. | |
| In Sderot, militants were seen standing on the back of a pick-up truck being driven through the town, which lies around 3km (1.8 miles) to the east of Gaza. | |
| Around a dozen armed fighters were seen fanning out through the empty streets of Ashkelon, just to the north of the Erez crossing which had just been stormed. | Around a dozen armed fighters were seen fanning out through the empty streets of Ashkelon, just to the north of the Erez crossing which had just been stormed. |
| Similar scenes were repeated across southern Israel and civilians were told by the military to hide indoors. | |
| At a music festival near Re'im, gunmen fired at will at a large group of young people who had gathered in the desert. | |
| An eyewitness told the BBC how the militants were driving around a van loaded with weapons and spent three hours searching the area for other Israelis to target. | |
| Watch: Video appears to show Palestinian gunmen in Sderot | Watch: Video appears to show Palestinian gunmen in Sderot |
| Watch: Video appears to show Palestinian gunmen in Sderot | Watch: Video appears to show Palestinian gunmen in Sderot |
| Soldiers and civilians taken captive | |
| We now know that hostages were taken from the festival and other locations and transported back into Gaza. Israel says 100 people - soldiers and civilians - have been abducted. | |
| Footage taken in the town of Be'ri and verified by the BBC shows around four civilians being forcibly led away by militants. | Footage taken in the town of Be'ri and verified by the BBC shows around four civilians being forcibly led away by militants. |
| Several videos have circulated online of Israelis, some of them heavily injured, being paraded through Gaza's crowded streets. | Several videos have circulated online of Israelis, some of them heavily injured, being paraded through Gaza's crowded streets. |
| Other unverified atrocities too graphic to publish were captured on camera, including a motorist being dragged from his car and having his throat slashed, and the bodies of dead civilians and soldiers being defiled. | |
| Several videos purporting to show hostages being taken have been shared on social media. The BBC has confirmed this apparent abduction happened in Be'ri. | Several videos purporting to show hostages being taken have been shared on social media. The BBC has confirmed this apparent abduction happened in Be'ri. |
| As well as targeting Israeli communities, Hamas also attacked two military sites: a base at Zikim and another at Re'im. | |
| Footage taken from near Re'im shows the aftermath, with several burned-out cars scattered along the road to the base. It's unclear how many people were killed during the fighting. | |
| Hamas's social media channels have repeatedly shared images of dead Israeli soldiers. BBC News has not verified these images. | Hamas's social media channels have repeatedly shared images of dead Israeli soldiers. BBC News has not verified these images. |
| Within just a few hours of the rocket barrage beginning, hundreds of Israelis were dead - and it happened in a way no-one thought was possible. | |
| Help began to arrive in the stricken southern region within a few hours but Hamas, for a time, was in effective control of pieces of territory outside of Gaza. | |
| The speed and deadliness of the surprise attack has stunned Israel. Questions over how it was able to happen will be asked for years. | The speed and deadliness of the surprise attack has stunned Israel. Questions over how it was able to happen will be asked for years. |
| By mid-morning, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared: "We are at war." | |
| Related Topics | Related Topics |
| Middle East | Middle East |
| Israel & the Palestinians | Israel & the Palestinians |
| Israel | Israel |
| Gaza | Gaza |
| Hamas | Hamas |