The Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the armed group of the Hamas movement, claimed responsibility for more than 5,000 rockets fired at Israel in a surprise attack early Saturday morning. Israeli Army Radio (IDF Radio) said that at least 100 Israelis have been killed and about 1,000 more injured.
“Hamas has warned Israel many times before that we would have a response as Israel was crossing the red line and playing with fire with its aggression on al-Aqsa mosque,” Hamas spokesperson Abdul Latif Qanu’ told Rudaw.
“We conducted this operation against the [Israeli] government because it continued its crimes and aggressions against our people and our brothers in the prisons and continued its blockade on Gaza,” he added.
"This is an open war and it cannot stop until we inflict huge damage on the right-wing government and they stop their violations on al-Aqsa in Quds [Jerusalem]," he said.
Hamas fighters have also crossed into Israel from the Gaza Strip. Qanu’ said the fight is ongoing and the Qassam Brigades have arrested tens of Israelis.
“Israel was not ready for the attack and the Zionist entity could not endure the attack of the resistance,” he said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday said his country was “at war.”
“We are at war, not in an operation or in rounds, but at war. This morning, Hamas launched a murderous surprise attack against the State of Israel and its citizens. We have been in this since the early morning hours,” Netanyahu said in a video message.
Palestine’s official WAFA news agency reported on Saturday that President Mahmood Abbas held an emergency meeting with a number of civil and security officials. Abbas emphasized the “right of the Palestinian people to defend themselves against terrorism of settlers and the occupation army,” according to WAFA.
The Israeli army (IDF) has retaliated. Daniel Hagari, an IDF spokesperson, said on X (formerly known as Twitter) that Israeli fighter jets attacked two sites inside high-rise buildings that were used by senior members of Hamas.
The Palestinian health ministry said 198 people in Gaza were killed and 1,610 injured as a result of Israel’s attack.
Reaction to Saturday’s violence has been divided. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said that he was “shocked” by the attack against the Israeli people, adding that “Israel has an absolute right to defend itself.” Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Union Commission, said she “unequivocally” condemns the attack.
The Iraqi government expressed its support for Gaza and the Palestinian people and called the rocket attack on Israel a "natural result of the systematic oppression... at the hands of the Zionist occupation authority," according to a statement from spokesperson Basem al-Awadi.
Turkey’s foreign ministry called on both Israel and Palestine to “give up the use of force, and work for a permanent solution for peace without delay.” It said Ankara was ready to help ensure that the situation does not escalate further.
Saudi Arabia, which was headed towards a historic normalization of relations with Israel, called for a halt to the violence. “The Kingdom recalls its repeated warnings of the dangers of the explosion of the situation as a result of the continued occupation, the deprivation of the Palestinian people of their legitimate rights, and the repetition of systemic provocations against its sanctities,” read a statement from the foreign ministry.
