A new war erupted between Israel and the Palestinian armed groups. The Saudi TV channel Al Arabiya published the losses of both Palestinians and Israelis during the first day of the conflict.
According to the channel, Israel lost 300 people killed and at least 1,600 wounded, and the Palestinian-populated Gaza Strip victims were 232 dead and 1,627 wounded. The media explains such accurate information from the Palestinian Authority by having its sources there.
According to the Jerusalem Post, on the evening of Saturday, October 7, 2023, the number of Israeli casualties amounted to 250 people, and more than 1,500 were injured.
Haaretz, also on the evening of October 7, estimated Palestinian losses: 230 killed and 1,700 wounded.
Currently, the statistics of killed and wounded tend to increase as Palestine and Israel continue to exchange rocket strikes and street battles in Israeli settlements adjacent to the Gaza Strip.
On the morning of Saturday, October 7, 2023, the Palestinian armed groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad launched a massive air and land attack on the state of Israel in several locations at once.
The head of the armed wing of Hamas, Mohammed al-Deifa, said that his militants had launched the “Al-Aqsa Flood” operation. He claimed these actions were intended to protect the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.
The Palestinians fired over 2,000 rockets into Israel and seized 7 communities in the south.
There are casualties among the Israeli military and civilians. Captured Israeli soldiers were taken to the Gaza Strip. People are urged to lock themselves in their homes and stay in shelters.
In response, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) announced the mobilization of reservists and the launch of the counterterrorism operation Iron Swords. For the first time in 50 years, the government introduced martial law in the country.
On Sunday, the Israeli Army has been using aircraft to strike Palestinian command posts. It has also begun clearing Hamas-occupied communities.
IDF fighters struck mosques where Hamas command posts were located. The Israeli Air Force has claimed responsibility for air strikes on two mosques that were allegedly used as command posts by Hamas. The locations were not reported.
At the same time, there is a significant threat that the Shiite Hezbollah may attack Israel from the north, as its main partner and supplier, the Islamic Republic of Iran, has called on jihadists to “liberate Jerusalem.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an address on the evening of October 7 that the country would use all its power to destroy the Hamas armed group: he advised Gaza residents to “flee immediately.”
Netanyahu noted that Hamas, with its invasion of Israeli territory, has launched a “cruel and evil war” that targets innocent civilians, young and old. The prime minister called the events of October 7 something “unprecedented in Israel” and promised that “it will never happen again.”
He said Israel would win this war, but “the price will be unbearably high.”
“The IDF (Israeli Armed Forces – ed.) will immediately use all its power to destroy Hamas’ potential. We will fight them to the bitter end and take revenge for this black day they have prepared for Israel and its people,” Netanyahu emphasized.
Iranian leadership calls on Palestine to “liberate Jerusalem”
Advisor to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei congratulated Palestinian militants on launching the largest attack on Israel in recent years and expressed his full support.
“We congratulate the Palestinian fighters,” he said.
Khamenei said that Iran would support Palestinian terrorists until the “liberation” of Palestine and Jerusalem.
Western nations condemned the attacks by Hamas, which Israel, the United States and the European Union consider a terrorist group.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called the attack “terrorism in its most despicable form”.
