Two days have passed since the unexpected multiple attack led by Hamas, and Israel is still discovering the dimensions of the impact. It is preparing to expand its counteroffensive against the Palestinian militias in Gaza, within the framework of a full-fledged war that already has more than 700 Israelis and more than 400 Gazans dead, including children on both sides. The wounded number more than 2,000 on each side. At least 260 bodies were found in the desert where a festival that Hamas attacked was taking place.
For Israeli forces, the priority, before undertaking what is expected to be a prolonged and large-scale retaliation, is to regain full control of the south, in the border areas with the Strip, from where hundreds of Islamist militants managed to infiltrate, attack communities and police and military facilities and kidnapping more than a hundred people. The Israeli air force continues to massively bomb the Gaza Strip this Monday to "devastate the capabilities" of the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, Israeli military sources reported cited by Efe. More than 500 Hamas and Islamic Jihad targets were hit last night, including the residence of a prominent Hamas member, Ruhi Mashtaa, who allegedly helped lead the infiltration into Israel.
In the street-by-street search, Israeli soldiers managed in the early hours of yesterday to free hostages from the Be'eri and Ofakim kibbutzim, and regain control of the Sderot police station. In the fighting, an Israeli military spokesman said the army killed hundreds of armed militiamen, adding to about 400 who died in the multiple bombings of Gaza, which Israel has vowed to increase the intensity of.
Behind each area secured by Israeli officers, troops have encountered Dantesque scenes. Dubi Wiesnester, general director of ZAKA – the group of volunteers that recovers the bodies of the deceased – described “difficult images that we have never seen before” and explained that the organization's teams are distributed in the south, “focusing on treating the deceased with respect and collect the many finds in each scene.”
At least 260 bodies have been recovered by Israeli emergency services from the desert area near the Gaza Strip where hundreds of young people were celebrating an electronic music festival early Saturday when Hamas burst in firing. A spokesperson for ZAKA, a volunteer group that recovers human remains after attacks and other disasters, confirmed to Israeli media that more than 260 bodies have so far been recovered from the music festival site in southern Israel. Israel, near Kibbutz Reim, near Gaza. There was the German victim shown in a Hamas video, one of the viral videos of victims that has gone around the world.
Benjamin Netanyahu's government has appointed Gal Hirsch, a reservist general who commanded an army division in the 2006 Lebanon war, to coordinate the unit for kidnapped or missing citizens, a position that had been vacant since last year. And identifying the deceased or captured and finding multiple missing people has become an urgent need for relatives, who have approached a police station authorized to address the issue in the area of Ben Gurion International Airport in large numbers. .
Throughout Sunday they brought personal items of their loved ones to take DNA samples. A mother interviewed by the Reuters agency said that she brought the toothbrush of her son, whom she has not heard from since she attended the music festival and found herself in the middle of gunfire from infiltrated Hamas militiamen.
Similarly, some posters have appeared in the streets with photographs of people whose whereabouts are requested, based on data such as age or appearance. In Jerusalem, a young man who was looking at these posters told La Vanguardia of his discomfort and fear about the situation: “Yesterday I had to take a friend to his house and I was afraid of meeting a terrorist on the street. He had never happened to me.”
Still under the shock and within the framework of the emergency declared throughout the Israeli territory, yesterday the streets of many Israeli cities were almost empty, with classes suspended at least until Tuesday, non-essential medical services canceled, business opening subject to if they have shelters and several people opting for teleworking.
In the field of war, with the state of war formally ratified by Netanyahu's cabinet, the bombings of Gaza intensified, reaching more than 800 Hamas facilities at the time of this edition, according to the Israeli military spokesman, who detailed that they were destroyed command centers, tunnels and rocket launchers.
Likewise, the Israeli counterattack appears to be in an initial stage and will grow in intensity. Hence, the army has begun the evacuation of residents of 24 communities near Gaza, while issuing a warning for Gazans to leave areas where heavier bombing is expected.
Among the objectives achieved by Israel in recent hours are several command posts; a building housing Hamas operatives; a command center used by a senior Hamas naval force official; an “operational asset used by Hamas” located inside a mosque in Jabaliya; and an asset used by the Islamist group for intelligence purposes, indicated the sources, cited by Israeli media.
Of course, for the more than two million inhabitants of the overcrowded enclave blocked by Israel and Egypt, the possibilities of refuge are slim. The UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (Unrwa) received more than 20,000 people in 44 of its schools distributed in the Strip and hopes that more will continue to arrive, especially from the border areas with Israel.
In addition, Israeli authorities have cut off the flow of electricity, leaving Gazans with less than four hours of light a day, provided by generators. Likewise, many citizens were left without basic products.
Faced with this scenario, the World Food Program noted that, although Gaza stores “currently hold a month's worth of food stocks, they risk quickly running out as people stock up for fear of a prolonged conflict.”
On the other hand, while the focus is on the south and on Gaza, another front looms for Israel in the north, after the Shiite organization Hizbullah claimed mortar and projectile fire against three Israeli positions “in solidarity” with Hamas. Israeli forces responded by bombing a tent located on the Blue Line, the UN-designated boundary between Lebanon and Israel, two states that are technically still at war.
In Egypt, two Israeli tourists and an Egyptian guide were murdered by a police officer without saying a word, in what is feared to be an action related to events in Israel. Various European capitals have strengthened security around synagogues and Jewish meeting centers. Here you can follow the last hour of the conflict, live.
