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Israel military says situation ‘dire’ in south as 260 bodies retrieved from festival Israel says it’s ‘going on the offensive’ after retaking territories overrun by Hamas
(about 5 hours later)
IDF says fighting is ongoing in south, saying it ‘could be a 9/11 and a Pearl Harbour wrapped into one’ as Supernova festival-goers describe attack Military confirms 700 killed in Israel after attack described as ‘9/11 and Pearl Harbor wrapped into one’
About 260 bodies have been recovered from the site of a music festival in southern Israel that was attacked by Hamas militants, as Israel’s military said fighting was ongoing in the region and described the situation as “dire”. Israel has re-established control of all the communities that were overrun by Hamas gunmen over the weekend, but militants might still be present on its territory, a defence forces spokesperson said on Monday.
Late on Sunday, Israeli rescue service Zaka said it had retrieved hundreds of bodies from the Supernova festival, near Kibbutz Re’im close to Gaza. Shocking images and video from the site showed festival-goers running for their lives across open fields as Hamas gunmen attacked them and took hostages. Chief military spokesperson Rear-Admiral Daniel Hagari said the country had drafted a record 300,000 reservists in its response to Saturday’s surprise, multi-front Hamas attack from Gaza and was “going on the offensive”.
Early on Monday, Lt Col Jonathan Conricus, spokesperson for the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), said in a video message “almost 48 hours into the fighting … the situation in Israel is a dire one”. “We are now carrying out searches in all of the communities and clearing the area,” he said in a televised briefing. Military officials had previously said their focus was on securing Israel’s side of the border before carrying out any major escalation of the counter-offensive in Gaza.
He said fighting was continuing in southern Israel and that the IDF estimated upwards of 1,000 Hamas militants entered Israeli territory in Saturday’s unprecedented offensive. He said 700 Israelis had been killed – civilians and military personnel – and more than 2,100 wounded. With a “high number of critically wounded people”, more deaths are expected, he said. It was not clear how many of the bodies from the festival were already included in Israel’s overall toll. Hagari confirmed reports that 700 people had been killed on Israel’s side of the border – a staggering toll by the scale of its recent conflicts – including at least 73 members of the security forces. The Palestinian health ministry said that retaliatory Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip killed more than 100 people overnight, bringing the Palestinian death toll since Saturday to 493, with more than 2,750 wounded.
The Palestinian health ministry said 413 Palestinians, including 78 children, have been killed and 2,300 people wounded since Saturday. Nineteen members of one family were reportedly killed when an airstrike hit their home in the southern Gaza city of Rafah. Late on Sunday, the Israeli rescue service Zaka said it had retrieved at least 260 bodies from the site of the Supernova music festival, near kibbutz Re’im close to the Gaza border, which was overrun by Hamas gunmen on Saturday. Shocking images and video from the site showed festivalgoers running for their lives across open fields as Hamas gunmen targeted them.
Conricus said: “It is by far the worst day in Israeli history. Never before have so many Israelis been killed by one single thing on one day.” Drawing a US analogy, he said the weekend’s attack, for Israel, “could be a 9/11 and a Pearl Harbor wrapped into one”. Other revellers were among the more than 100 hostages abducted into Gaza since the incursion, which has shaken Israel to the core.
The attack caught Israel’s vaunted military and intelligence apparatus completely off guard, bringing heavy battles to its streets for the first time in decades.
There were reports on Monday morning of an active hostage situation in a kibbutz in southern Israel and ongoing rocket and artillery fire in the southern city of Ashkelon. Israeli forces also reported fighting between an Israeli paratroop brigade and militants in the southern city of Sderot.
Breaches remain in the triple-layered and electrified barrier that surrounds Gaza’s eastern border. Hamas militants are believed to have used a tunnel that emerges close to the town of Be’eri, four miles from the border. An Israeli military spokesperson, Lt Col Richard Hecht, said 70 Hamas militants fought in the town overnight.
Hecht called the events of the last three days “a change of paradigm”, amid reports that an airstrike on a building in Rafah killed 25 people, without a warning shot fired, suggesting the Israel Defence Forces may have abandoned this practice.
The IDF spokesperson provided no comment on whether it had halted the practice, or the reported use of white phosphorus in Gaza, a densely populated area and home to more than 2 million people.
Early on Monday, Lt Col Jonathan Conricus, an IDF spokesperson, said the situation in Israel was dire. He said: “It is by far the worst day in Israeli history. Never before have so many Israelis been killed by one single thing on one day.”
Drawing a US analogy, he said the weekend’s attack, for Israel, “could be a 9/11 and a Pearl Harbor wrapped into one”.
Conricus said a significant number of Israeli civilians and military personnel had been taken hostage and moved into Gaza. He did not specify a figure, but said “many many Israelis [have been] forcefully taken from Israel”.Conricus said a significant number of Israeli civilians and military personnel had been taken hostage and moved into Gaza. He did not specify a figure, but said “many many Israelis [have been] forcefully taken from Israel”.
He said the IDF military response had two primary objectives in its response to the Hamas attack. “At the end of this war, Hamas will no longer have any military capabilities to threaten Israeli civilians … Hamas will not be able to govern the Gaza Strip.” The Israeli military has called up around 100,000 reservists. He said the IDF military response had two primary objectives in its response to the Hamas attack. “At the end of this war, Hamas will no longer have any military capabilities to threaten Israeli civilians … Hamas will not be able to govern the Gaza Strip.”
An IDF briefing on Monday morning said fighting was ongoing in seven or eight areas, including one active hostage situation in Kfar Aza kibbutz, and that not all breaches of the Gaza fence had been secured yet, with Hamas fighters still able to enter Israel. Survivors from the festival attack described the rockets and gunfire coming from several directions as the assault unfolded on Saturday morning.
Survivors from the festival attack described the rocket and gun fire coming from several directions as the assault unfolded on Saturday morning.
Chen Mizrachi, a resident of Tel Aviv who was at the party, told Ynet: “It started at seven in the morning. When the rocket fire from the sky began, we started shouting ‘Code Red’ to everyone. There were several firing points; we ran from one direction to another. There were no IDF, only police. We needed more officers.
“Many fell and were injured from terrorist fire. The terrorists surrounded us. Somehow, we managed to escape the line of fire.”
Mizrachi said several of his friends were missing.
Arik Nani went to the party to celebrate his 26th birthday on Friday night but ended up fleeing a massacre. “I heard shots from every direction, they were firing at us from both sides,” he told Reuters. “Everyone was running and didn’t know what to do. It was total chaos.”Arik Nani went to the party to celebrate his 26th birthday on Friday night but ended up fleeing a massacre. “I heard shots from every direction, they were firing at us from both sides,” he told Reuters. “Everyone was running and didn’t know what to do. It was total chaos.”
After hours of running, Nani and his friend finally reached shelter where he heard horrifying stories from others who had escaped. “People speaking about murder they saw in front of their eyes, someone who saw an entire kidnapped family and a small girl who was murdered,” he said.After hours of running, Nani and his friend finally reached shelter where he heard horrifying stories from others who had escaped. “People speaking about murder they saw in front of their eyes, someone who saw an entire kidnapped family and a small girl who was murdered,” he said.
The grim discovery of the bodies came as the Israeli military laboured to crush fighters still in southern towns and intensified its bombardment of the Gaza Strip. The toll passed 1,100 dead and thousands wounded on both sides. The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, declared war on Hamas on Sunday, raising the prospect of a ground assault on Gaza, a move that in the past has brought further casualties.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared war on Hamas on Sunday, raising the prospect of a ground assault on Gaza, a move that in the past has brought intensified casualties. Hamas and the smaller Islamic Jihad militia claimed to have taken captive more than 130 people from inside Israel and brought them into Gaza, saying they would be traded for the release of thousands of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. The announcement, though unconfirmed, was the first sign of the scope of the abductions.
Meanwhile, Hamas and the smaller Islamic Jihad group claimed to have taken captive more than 130 people from inside Israel and brought them into Gaza, saying they would be traded for the release of thousands of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. The announcement, though unconfirmed, was the first sign of the scope of the abductions. The captives are known to include soldiers and civilians, including women, children and older adults – mostly Israelis but also migrant workers of other nationalities. Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, told the US news channel CBS that “dozens” of American citizens, largely dual nationals, are among those held captive in Gaza.
The captives are known to include soldiers and civilians, including women, children and older adults – mostly Israelis but also some people of other nationalities. The Israeli military said only that the number of captives was “significant”. The Israeli military said only that the number of captives was “significant”.
In response, Israel hit more than 800 targets in Gaza over the weekend, its military said, including airstrikes that levelled much of the town of Beit Hanoun in the enclave’s north-east corner. An Egyptian official told the Associated Press that Israel sought help from Cairo to ensure the safety of the hostages, amid frantic negotiations by Egyptian officials in a vain attempt to broker a ceasefire.
Israeli Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari told reporters Hamas was using the town as a staging ground for attacks. There was no immediate word on casualties, and most of the community’s population of tens of thousands likely fled beforehand. “We will continue to attack in this way, with this force, continuously, on all gathering [places] and routes” used by Hamas, Hagari said. Egypt had discussed a potential ceasefire with both Palestinian militants and Israeli officials, it said, but Israel was not open to a truce “at this stage”, according to the official, who asked not to be identified.
Civilians on both sides were already paying a high price. Israeli forces continued its attacks by land and sea on the Gaza strip, including strikes that levelled much of the town of Beit Hanoun in the enclave’s north-eastern corner.
Mayyan Zin said she learned that her two daughters had been abducted when a relative sent her photos from a Telegram group showing them sitting on mattresses in captivity. She then found online videos of a chilling scene in her ex-husband’s home in the town of Nahal Oz: gunmen who had broken in speak to him, his leg bleeding, in the living room near the two terrified, weeping daughters, Dafna, 15, and Ella, 8. Another video showed the father being taken across the border into Gaza. “Just bring my daughters home and to their family. All the people,” Zin said. Hagari told journalists Hamas used the town as a staging ground for attacks. “We will continue to attack in this way, with this force, continuously, on all gathering [places] and routes” used by Hamas,” he said.
The presence of hostages in Gaza complicates Israel’s response. Israel has a history of making heavily lopsided exchanges to bring captive Israelis home. Across Gaza, a densely populated strip of land housing 2.3 million people, residents described their terror at having nowhere to seek shelter from the bombardments. The area has been sealed off by a 16-year Israeli blockade after the election of Hamas in 2006, as well as routine closures on the southern border with Egypt.
An Egyptian official said Israel sought help from Cairo to ensure the safety of the hostages. Egypt also spoke to both sides about a potential ceasefire, but Israel was not open to a truce “at this stage”, according to the official, who asked not to be identified. Fearful residents said they anticipated further escalation.
In Gaza, a tiny enclave of 2.3 million people sealed off by an Israeli-Egyptian blockade for 16 years since the Hamas takeover, residents feared further escalation. Israeli strikes flattened some residential buildings. Nasser Abu Quta told the AP news agency that 19 members of his family and five of his neighbours were killed in an airstrike on their building, as they sheltered on the ground floor in a refugee camp in Rafah, at the southern end of the Gaza.
Nasser Abu Quta said 19 members of his family including his wife were killed when an airstrike hit their home, where they were huddling on the ground floor in the southern Gaza city of Rafah. The building housed only civilians, he insisted. “This is a safe house, with children and women,” the 57-year-old said by telephone. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the strike. Another strike in the same city early on Monday killed 11, including women and children.
There were no militants in his building, he insisted. “This is a safe house, with children and women,” the 57-year-old said by telephone. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the strike. Another strike in the same city early on Monday killed 11, including women and children.
The number of displaced Gaza residents staying at schools converted into shelters jumped by tens of thousands, to 123,000, the United Nations said. The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said a school sheltering more than 225 people took a direct hit. It did not say where the fire came from.
In a UN security council emergency meeting held behind closed doors on Sunday, the US demanded all 15 members strongly condemn “these heinous terrorist attacks committed by Hamas”, but they took no immediate action.In a UN security council emergency meeting held behind closed doors on Sunday, the US demanded all 15 members strongly condemn “these heinous terrorist attacks committed by Hamas”, but they took no immediate action.
US deputy ambassador Robert Wood said afterward that “a good number of countries” did condemn the Hamas attack. The US deputy ambassador, Robert Wood, said afterward that “a good number of countries” did condemn the Hamas attack.
Russia’s UN ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, told the Associated Press the Americans tried to say during the meeting that Russia isn’t condemning the attacks, but “that’s untrue”. “It was in my comments,” he said. “We condemn all the attacks on civilians.” Russia’s UN ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, told the Associated Press that the US tried to say during the meeting that Russia was not condemning the attacks, but “that’s untrue”.
US Special Antisemitism Envoy Deborah Lipstadt, among the most renowned Holocaust scholars in the world, called the Hamas attacks “the most lethal assault against Jews since the Holocaust.”Lipstadt said there is “no justification” for the “heinous, barbaric terrorism against Israeli civilians” and mass murder. “It was in my comments,” he said. “We condemn all the attacks on civilians.”
The US special antisemitism envoy, Deborah Lipstadt, among the most renowned Holocaust scholars in the world, called the Hamas attacks “the most lethal assault against Jews since the Holocaust”.Lipstadt said there was “no justification” for the “heinous, barbaric terrorism against Israeli civilians” and mass murder.