Hamas breaches Gaza siege, captures Israeli settlements, Netanyahu declares war

The Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ military wing, launched an operation already being called its largest in years on Saturday morning, breaking the siege on Gaza in incursions into Israeli-held areas and killing at least 40 people and wounding nearly 800 more thus far.

In response, the Israeli Defense Forces have launched airstrikes on Gaza that are reported to have led to 198 deaths and the injury of 1,610 others as of the time of publication.

Hamas launched more than 2,500 rockets into Israel on Saturday morning, while dozens of affiliated militants took control of areas along the Israel-controlled borders of the blockaded Gaza Strip.

Storming sites held by Israel near Gaza, Qassam Brigades fighters killed dozens of Israeli soldiers, seizing the bodies of the deceased, as well as taking captives and multiple IDF armored vehicles back to Gaza, according to a statement issued by the Qassam Brigades. The IDF confirmed that Hamas infiltrated a number of Israeli settlements around the Gaza Strip, according to Israeli’s Channel 12.

Tel Aviv and Ashkelon were two of the occupied cities targeted by Hamas rockets as residents celebrated the Simchat Torah holiday on Saturday. At least 40 Israelis have been killed, and 800 others have been admitted to hospitals so far, according to Israel’s ambulance service, which expected the death toll to rise.

In response, the IDF conducted airstrikes on Gaza, and the Palestinian Health Ministry said that medical personnel and civilians were injured in a strike that hit an ambulance in Khan Younis.

Declaring that Israel is at war, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed retaliation, saying, “our enemy will pay a price the type of which it has never known. We are in a war and we will win it.”

The operation, which Qassam Brigades dubbed Al-Aqsa Flood, comes on the back of a period of heightened tensions after Israeli forces killed one Palestinian and injured at least eight others in operations that targeted protesters in Gaza throughout September.

Demonstrations in Gaza were held to protest Israeli airstrikes on the blockaded area, as well as frequent raids of Al-Aqsa Mosque carried out by groups of Israeli settlers.

Saturday’s operation is a response to IDF violations, said Qassam Brigades Chief of Staff Mohammed Deif on Saturday, pointing to the assaults on Al-Aqsa Mosque, settlement expansion, and violations against Palestinians held prisoner in Israeli jails.

In Egypt, which upholds the siege on Gaza from its southern border, security measures at the Suez Canal were heightened and medical facilities put on alert, said a government source speaking to Mada Masr on condition of anonymity. Ambulances were instructed to move toward the Rafah border, said a source in the North Sinai ambulance service who also spoke to Mada Masr anonymously.

An Egyptian security source said that measures are being taken to ensure the safety of Egyptian nationals working on construction projects that were launched in Gaza after much of its infrastructure was destroyed in a 10-day war in 2021, with plans for all Egyptian engineering and diplomatic teams to be withdrawn if the situation escalates further.

Egypt called for both the Israeli and Palestinian sides not to escalate further, advising all parties to exercise restraint and urging international actors to intervene immediately to halt the escalation. The Foreign Ministry said it was conducting intensive calls with parties in Jordan, Israel, Palestine, the European Union and the United Arab Emirates to find a resolution.