An Israeli attack on the Yom Kippur War of 1973: The military wing of the Hamas army announced that it had begun operations in defense of the Aqsa mosque
Al Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, said that there was a military operation “in defense of the Aqsa mosque,” the hotly contested holy site in Jerusalem that thousands of Jews have visited in recent weeks, and against the Israeli blockade.
An urgent call for blood was issued by the ambulance service and it was holding a blood drive in Tel Aviv.
Unverified images on television showed armed gunmen in a pickup truck shooting inside an Israeli community as well as at least one hang-glider in the sky. The militants who crossed the border into Israeli territory were heavily armed, according to Israeli media reports.
Within the first hour of the Israeli attack, rockets slammed into Israeli cities and towns, hitting as far north as Rishon LeZion, about 10 miles south of Tel Aviv, and Ramla near Israel’s international airport. At 8:15 a.m. sirens also sounded in central Jerusalem, and loud booms could be heard.
The timing of the assault made it striking, hitting Israel at a low point in its history. It followed months of profound anxiety about the cohesion of Israeli society and the readiness of its military, a crisis set off by the government’s efforts to reduce the power of the judiciary. And the violence came 50 years and a day after the Yom Kippur War of 1973, when Israel was also surprised by a complex Arab attack, leading to huge Israeli losses and soul-searching about the state of the country.
The leader of the military wing of Hamas said in a recorded message that the group was going to start anoperation so that the enemies would know that the time of rampaging without accountability was over.
Hamas and the Defense of Israel, Israel’s First Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and the United States Stand Against the Unprovoked Attacks
Israel’s Health Ministry said that at least 779 wounded Israelis had been treated at hospitals across the country. A hospital spokeswoman said that some of the people that the Soroka Medical Center had admitted were in very difficult condition. The ambulance service, Magen David Adom, issued an urgent call for blood.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said operations were underway to clear the militants from infiltrated towns and that he had issued a call-up of reservists.
The Palestine Liberation Organization launched an assault on southern Israel early Saturday that caused several Israeli towns to be invaded, and wreaked havoc on the area with thousands of rockets being fired towards cities as far away as Jerusalem.
The White House strongly condemns the unprovoked attacks by Hamas against Israeli civilians and that the United States stands with Israel, according to the National Security Council spokeswoman.