The Israel Defence Forces on Saturday launched operation ‘Swords of Iron’ in response to Hamas’s surprise attack on Israel
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday after hundreds of rockets fired by Hamas militants hit Israel today.
“Citizens of Israel, we are at war. Not an operation not an escalation- at war,” Netanyahu said in a video posted on X, formerly Twitter.
“We are at war and we will win,” he asserted in a video statement according to translation provided by Reuters. “Our enemy will pay a price the type of which it has never known,” he added.
The Israeli PM’s statement followed after rockets were launched from Gaza into Israel
According to the latest reports, at least 5 people have been killed and over 100 injured in the Hamas rocket fire.
Israel’s Operation Swords of Iron
The Israel Defence Forces on Saturday launched operation ‘Swords of Iron‘ in response to Hamas’s surprise attack on Israel, the Times of Israel reported.
IDF is striking Hamas targets in Gaza. “In response to the barrages of rockets launched by Hamas from Gaza at Israel, the IDF is currently striking Hamas targets in Gaza,” Israel Defense Forces said in a post on ‘X’.
The centre and south of Israel came under heavy rocket fire for over 3.5 hours on Saturday morning, The Times of Israel reported.
“Israel is in an emergency” and Lapid would back a “harsh military response” to Hamas’s coordinated attack, a statement from the Opposition’s leader’s office said.
Israel Defence Minister Yoav Gallant approved the draft of reserve soldiers in accordance with the Isreael Defence Force’s requirements.
He further announced a “special security situation” in Israel’s Homefront, within a 0-80 km radius of the Gaza Strip, The Jerusalem Post reported, adding that this further enabled the IDF to provide civilians with safety instructions at “close and relevant sites”.
The daily reported earlier that after a barrage of rocket fire from the Gaza Strip, Hamas fighters infiltrated Israel.
Following the attack, red alert warning sirens were activated in Tel Aviv, located around 70 kilometres from the Gaza Strip, as well as, Sde Boker, Arad, and Dimona in the south.
Israeli Mayor killed
The head of the Sha’ar Hanegev Regional Council, Ofir Liebstein, was killed in the deadly rocket fire from Hamas into Israel on Saturday morning, The Times of Israel reported, citing local sources.
“Ofir was killed when he went to defend a town during the terrorist attack,” the report said, quoting a statement from the Council.
The deputy head of the Council, Yossi Keren, has taken interim charge of the body following Liebstein’s death, The Times of Israel reported.