More than 700 Israelis murdered, 2,048 injured and a hundred kidnapped is the still not definitive balance of the bloodiest armed attack that Israel has suffered since the 1973 war.. The offensive launched this Saturday by the Islamist group Hamas under the name “Al Aqsa Storm” and the subsequent Israeli military retaliation called “Iron Swords” lead all parties to agree on one word: “War”. After hours of combat, the spokesman for the Israeli Army, General Daniel Hagari, assured this afternoon that “800 objectives had been reached” and that the surroundings of Gaza would be reinforced.. “The enemy is still on the ground,” he warned.

The Lebanese group Hezbollah, which supported the Hamas attack, has claimed responsibility for launching mortar shells against military targets this Sunday morning in a border area under Israeli control.. In response, a Tsahal drone has attacked the tent that this pro-Iranian movement had installed months ago in that area controlled by Israel in another sign of the loss of Israel's deterrence capacity against its enemies in 2023 as a result of deep internal division around the Government and its judicial reform proposal that also affected cohesion in the army.

Israel's Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, issued an “emergency order” this Sunday to the Firearms Licensing Division to facilitate the greatest possible number of Israeli citizens to arm themselves in the midst of war with Hamas.

“Any citizen who meets the criteria for possession of firearms, without a criminal or medical record, may receive approval to possess firearms,” the minister's office said.. The deadline to obtain the license will be only one week, after the interested party has undergone a telephone interview.

In addition, it will be expedited for citizens who have deposited their weapon in the last year due to not having renewed their license or training to recover it.. As part of the order, permits will be issued for the possession of firearms with a bonus for the purchase of up to 100 cartridges, down from the current limit of 50.

50 years and 15 hours after the surprise attack by Egypt and Syria that started the Yom Kippur War, the armed wing of Hamas broke the Shabbat calm in Israel. The biggest offensive of the fundamentalist group since it took control of Gaza in 2007 began at half past six in the morning with the launch of thousands of projectiles against large areas in Israel, including Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, and as a dramatic differential factor, with the infiltration of dozens of militiamen in numerous Israeli towns near the Palestinian enclave.

Israel, which until this morning was fighting with some of the terrorists infiltrated in cities and several kibbutzim that have not yet been killed or have not managed to return to Gaza, launched at noon its first retaliatory air strikes against Hamas which, along with the fighting, left a toll of at least 413 Palestinians dead and more than 2,000 injured. According to the army, most of those killed were from Hamas.

“Citizens of Israel, we are at war. Hamas terrorists invaded our territory and murdered innocent citizens, babies and elderly people in their homes.. “It is an enemy that murders babies and mothers in their homes, in their beds,” declared Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after announcing “the broad mobilization of reservists and counterattacking with a strength and reach that the enemy has never known.”. At night, he announced revenge for “this black day” and asked Gazans to leave the places where Hamas operates.

Hamas and Hizbula attacks against Israel October 2023

Netanyahu, who gathered his mini-cabinet to study an unprecedented scenario due to the number of deaths in the rear and the kidnapping of dozens [many more than dozens, according to Hamas], faces the worst attack in decades precisely when his country is going through its biggest internal crisis. of its history due to the judicial reform proposal launched in January by its ultra-conservative government inaugurated days before. The shock of the Hamas attack is so great in Israel that the chances are growing for the creation of an “emergency unity government” between Netanyahu (Likud) and the centrist parties of Yair Lapid and Benny Gantz.

If the attack by Egypt and Syria began at 1:50 p.m. on October 6, 1973, the one carried out by Hamas, which has been ruling an isolated mini-state for years, took place at 6:30 a.m. on October 7, 2023.. Dozens of motorcycles and vans driven by Gaza militiamen crossed the border fence and entered two cities located three kilometers away (Sderot) and 25 kilometers away (Ofakim), a military base and kibbutzim that, like in past wars in Israel, became the scene. of harsh armed clashes and last opposition front. Hamas used rifles, drones, boats, projectiles and anti-tank missiles while harassing some bodies in front of the cameras.. Soldiers, young people participating in a massive open-air music festival, and elderly women with their foreign caregivers were kidnapped according to various reports.

“I woke up early and soon the alarms began, which were numerous and followed, unlike what I had experienced in the past,” says Spanish Lázaro Herrera, who lives in an Israeli town near the Gaza Strip.. As he explains to EL MUNDO, he also heard gunshots. “In a while I saw a video of terrorists in an SUV driving unopposed through the streets. “The security system has completely failed and is unacceptable considering where we live and the constant threat,” he adds.

“There are numerous terrorists here! I have never seen anything like this. Where are our soldiers?”, another resident of Sderot told us on the phone with fear and anger who, like other Israeli towns bordering the Palestinian enclave, has had a violent awakening that It preceded a day of great tension and fighting that continued in some kibbutzim late into the night.. After one in the morning, Israeli forces managed to rescue hostages in the Kibbutz Beeri dining room.

“We had already warned the enemy, who cursed the prophet in the courtyards of the Al-Aqsa mosque. We have decided to put an end to all the crimes of the occupation. The time for not being held accountable for their crimes is over,” declared the head of Hamas's armed wing, Mohamed Deif, in a rare appearance to explain and boast about an attack planned for months.. After revealing that they launched 5,000 projectiles, Deif asked to expand the fronts in reference to an intervention by other groups from Lebanon and Syria. All of them, also supported by Iran. Hezbollah and Tehran praised what they called “heroic operation” and “Palestinian liberation war” but without intervening directly and openly.

In an appeal to Palestinians in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Israel, Hamas armed wing spokesman Abu Obeida said: “Today is your chance. You must now go to all the places where the occupation is. “The enemy is collapsed.”

Hamas announced the captivity of “dozens of Israelis, including soldiers and officers, who have already been transferred to tunnels”. The stated objective of the group led by Ismail Haniya and Yahya Sinwar is an exchange with Palestinian prisoners imprisoned in Israel. Sinwar's house was bombed in the afternoon before Hamas launched a new burst of rockets against the Tel Aviv area, leaving several injured.. Since they started the fight, their political and military leadership took safety hours before in the numerous tunnels that cross houses and buildings in Gaza.

Beyond the euphoria over an attack that not even Hezbollah, the most powerful armed group in the Middle East, could or dared to carry out from Lebanon against populations in northern Israel, Hamas fears that the retaliation will endanger its regime.. The official in charge of civil affairs with Gaza and the West Bank, Major General Rasan Aliyan, sent a message in Arabic: “Hamas has opened the gates of hell for Gaza”. The Minister of Energy, Israel Katz, ordered the interruption of the electricity supply to Gaza where the inhabitants, beyond the demonstrations of joy from sympathizers and members of Hamas, fear long days and nights of bombings.

“Today we saw the face of evil. Hamas has launched a brutal attack against the citizens of Israel, indiscriminately attacking men, women, children and the elderly.. Hamas will quickly understand that it has made a serious mistake and will pay the price for it. What was, is not what will be. We will change the face of reality in Gaza in the years to come,” Defense Minister Yoav Gallant promised as unprecedented images spread of Israeli military jeeps driven by Hamas on the streets of Gaza and Palestinian militia SUVs on the streets of Sderot. Images more typical of the Israeli series Fauda.

His body, half-naked and unconscious, was thrown into the back of a van.. Broken, in an unnatural position, he was displayed like a trophy in the streets of Gaza. It was guarded by terrorists armed with machine guns and rockets shouting “Allahu Akbar”; the children spat at him as he passed. Hours before, Shani Louk was laughing and dancing with her friends at a peace festival where war suddenly broke out.

The 22-year-old German-Israeli girl has been identified as the victim of the brutal images that went viral on social networks on Saturday after the large-scale attack launched by Hamas against Israel.. In the absence of official confirmation, it was her own mother who recognized her daughter in the video recorded by the terrorists, thanks to her characteristic dreadlocks and tattoos.. “This morning my daughter was kidnapped with a group of tourists in southern Israel. They sent us a video where I could clearly recognize her. Unconscious, in the car with the Palestinians as they drove towards the Gaza Strip. “I ask for any help, any news,” asks the camerawoman Ricarda Louk in a video broadcast on the X network (formerly Twitter).

In the German city of Ravensburg, those close to Shani Louk – who lives in Tel Aviv – hope that the young woman is still alive and will be released.. “The terrorists have among their victims a German girl who has always fought for peace and did not enlist in the army. A boy spat on her, so you can see how big the hatred is,” Winfried Gehr, Shani's aunt's partner, told BILD newspaper.

Shani Louk. AND. M.

The fate of the young woman, who was participating with hundreds of young people in an electronic music festival near the Israeli kibbutz of Reim, remains uncertain, but the trace of her credit card places her inside Gaza.. The German embassy has been involved in investigating his whereabouts.

The Government of Israel announced this Sunday that more than 100 Israelis were captured and taken to Palestinian territory. “The numbers continue to rise and with them our sadness. “Our prayers are with the families of those kidnapped, killed or injured by Hamas,” the Israeli Government Press Office reported.

Noa Argamani's face, although distorted by terror, was also immediately recognized by her family and friends.. In a video, the 25-year-old Israeli appears being kidnapped by two militants on a motorcycle while she screams through tears “don't kill me” and asks for help from her boyfriend, who was also captured.. The fate of both is unknown.

Her father, Yaakov Argamani, told Channel 12 that as soon as the alarms went off, he contacted his daughter.. An hour later a message came from his cell phone saying that he was fine and that he would call him later.. “It seemed strange to me. “Why would you want to contact me later?” he said.. It was a friend of her daughter who sent her the video that was circulating on networks. “I was very scared, very scared. I always protected her and at that moment I couldn't. I pray that everyone returns,” he said, immersed in despair.

The land, sea and air offensive planned by Hamas included the indiscriminate taking of civilian and military hostages, to negotiate with Israel for the release of prisoners.. A human shield made up of young people, children and even the elderly, as seen in another surreal scene: some militiamen taking an elderly Israeli woman captured and covered with a blanket of flowers to Gaza in a golf cart.

Social networks have been filled with desperate messages from relatives requesting help to find their missing people since Saturday.. “Our dear mother, Ditza Heiman, 84, is missing. The terrorists kidnapped her and took her to Gaza from her home in Kibbutz Nir Oz.. Her neighbor heard her calling for help and went out, but there were many terrorists outside.. When we tried to call her, someone from Hamas answered in Arabic. We are helpless and torn with worry, and no one has contacted us yet with information. Please spread this photo holding one of her great-grandchildren (she loves babies) so everyone can see it, and maybe someone can help us,” posted a family member.

The images also confirmed the worst of Yoni Asher's fears, who recognized his mother-in-law, his wife and his two daughters, aged three and five, being transported by Palestinian militants to Gaza.. He became worried when his wife stopped answering the phone after the attack.. When he geolocated the cell phone, the signal was already coming from Khan Younis, inside the Gaza Strip.

Although the brutality of Hamas's actions leads one to think that we are dealing with war crimes, international law imposes nuances. “The Statute of the International Criminal Court only contemplates as a war crime that carried out by a State against another State, and this is not the case of Hamas,” says Manuel Ollé, an expert lawyer in International Criminal Law.

“It should be reverted to a crime against humanity.”. If Hamas acts with the approval of the Palestinian National Authority in the kidnapping of these hostages, Israel could respond in legitimate defense according to the United Nations Charter.. From the moment the aggression is illegitimate, whether from a state or a state organization, an exclusive surgical response could be justified to be able to free those hostages as long as it is proportionate and appropriate,” explains Ollé.

Ben Wilson has taken street art to extremes never seen before. Known as the chewing gum artist, he usually spends long hours lying down and painting the chewing gum that has been stepped on and “fossilized” on the sidewalks.. With the patience of a minimalist, Wilson turns the patches on the floor into mosaics of furious colors where a Bengal tiger roars, where a smiling angel flies or where two doves kiss.. He calls it “gum art”, a genre of his own with which he has become famous all over the world without leaving London.

A decade ago we spent an entire morning with the bubblegum artist, watching him in action in his Muswell Hill neighborhood, converted into something like a ground-level museum. From there he jumped to Shoreditch, the neighborhood par excellence of graffiti, until he finally found his habitat on Norman Foster's Millennium Bridge, which connects St. Paul's Cathedral with the Tate Modern.

Up to 600 small works by the also known as the Picasso of the Pavement can be counted along the 325 meters of the wobbly bridge, which will close to the public on October 14 to undergo a facelift. Ben Wilson has cried foul, fearful that his paintings will be erased by replacing the synthetic membrane and renewing the worn surface…

“I have been working on this bridge for more than ten years, turning what is literally trash into pieces of art. “I would like people to be able to continue enjoying them because I know they are loved and admired.”

Ben Wilson is right: dozens of tourists who cross the bridge every day bend down to the pavement to immortalize their small, great works on their cell phones.. A double-decker bus, a black cab or a stray cat come incredibly alive under our feet on a canvas the size of a two-euro coin.. Sometimes they are simply phrases, declarations of love (“Will you marry me?”) or dedications that people ask of him and with which he can make his art profitable.

“There is nothing like capturing everyday beauty and creating connections with people,” insists Wilson, always so inclined to talk to the curious or explain on the fly how he does it.. Using a blowtorch, soften and spread the trampled gum on the sidewalk. Then he applies a varnish and several coats of enamel.. And so the canvas is ready, waiting for the master hand that will give it life with very fine brushes and a small palette.

The artist occasionally takes a lighter out of his backpack to dry the acrylic paint and ensure that the chewing gum converted into a micromosaic can withstand the footsteps of passers-by.. According to his calculations, over 15 years (almost 60) he has carried out more than 15,000 small works. He keeps a very precise record of all of them.

And although he can now paint in peace, thanks to a safe passage from the local Police, it was not always like this. He was arrested twice at the beginning with his hands in the gum, and one of them (in 2010) was precisely on the Millennium Bridge.. “I was painting the dome of St. Paul's Cathedral before a group of students who were enthusiastic. The police came, they accused me of “criminal damage” and I couldn't finish the painting. “They dragged me over the bridge, forced me into a van and I ended up in a cell.”

Time has moved on in his favor, and the authorities now look favorably on Ben Wilson, who is also an accomplished sculptor and exhibits in galleries. The City Bridges Foundation has recognized “the value of his art” and has committed to “identifying a limited number of pieces that will be preserved” during the cleaning and maintenance works of the also known as “tremble bridge.”

Every time Israelis hear the name Mohamed Deif on the news, they know that “something bad” has happened or will happen to them.. That's how it was when the veteran head of the armed wing of the Islamist group Hamas appeared early Saturday morning

The confrontation between Israel and Gaza reached European territory with a succession of demonstrations in several cities on the continent. Some celebrating the Hamas attack, others in support of Israel. Movements that forced the main capitals to reinforce security in synagogues and places frequented by the Jewish community.

The British Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, meanwhile called on Scotland Yard to use “the full force of the law” to quell demonstrations in support of Hamas in London such as those that took place this weekend.. “There must be zero tolerance against anti-Semitism or the glorification of terrorism on British streets,” Braverman wrote on his X (former Twitter) account.. “When Israel is attacked, Islamists and racists use Israeli defensive measures as a pretext to incite hatred against Jews in the UK,” Braverman added.. “Our Government will ensure that everything necessary is done to protect Jewish communities.”

Italy also reinforced security at sensitive Israeli targets in the country. Specifically, it increased security measures in Rome, in the Jewish ghetto neighborhood, especially at the synagogue, as well as at the Israeli embassy and other diplomatic residences.

Along the same lines, France reinforced security this weekend in places of worship and Jewish schools, particularly in Paris and its suburbs, “We have already given orders to the prefects to protect community places,” explained Gérald Darmanin , trying to call for calm: “There is no threat.”

In Berlin, but also in other federal states, district police stations doubled the police presence around synagogues, which is already very high in general. The Central Council of Jews in Germany, in permanent contact with the Interior authorities, speaks of a “high abstract threat”, but in recent hours the police detected an increase in anti-Semitic messages on the Internet. In the Berlin district of Neukölln, a group of Palestinians celebrated the Hamas attacks in the street and distributed baked sweets. The organizer was the solidarity network with Palestinian prisoners Samidoun. The mayor of the Neukölln district, Social Democrat Martin Hikel, asked the Federal Ministry of the Interior to ban the group's activities.

On the other hand, in several German cities, people expressed their solidarity with Israel. In Berlin, some 2,000 people gathered at the Brandenburg Gate in favor of peace and security for Israel and against financial aid to the Palestinians, whom they called, without distinction, “terrorists.”

Meanwhile, in Spain, the Mossos in Catalonia told Efe that in light of what happened between Israel and Gaza they decided to increase security on buildings or premises related to the Jewish community.. A special device that affects synagogues, headquarters of Jewish entities or the Israeli consulate.

Unlike the Brandenburg Gate in Germany, which was illuminated in the colors of the Israeli flag, the Zat al-Imad towers in Tripoli (Libya) displayed Palestinian colors. A rally in support of the Palestinian cause was also held in Istanbul.

Israeli right to defense

In the same way, European leaders took positions and also important decisions.. The Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, held talks with the German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz; the Ukrainian president, Volodimir Zelensky; the Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, and the British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak. A statement from Netanyahu's office said they had all expressed support for Israel's right to defend itself “as much as necessary.”

Labor opposition leader and British prime ministerial hopeful Keir Starmer condemned Hamas' attacks on Israel as “a horrific act of terrorism” and said Israel “has the right to defend itself,” the same terms used by the Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

In Germany, a country that has made Israel's security a state issue, the debate over how to respond to the Jewish state's aggression with more than just words of condemnation has begun.. The first to ask for concrete actions was the Minister of Finance, the liberal Christian Lidner. Supported by his militancy and conservative politicians from the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Linder defended the suspension of development aid to the Palestinians.. Germany transferred 340 million euros in development aid to the Palestinians in the last two years. The 2024 budget provides for some 350 million euros for the Palestinian Authority, aid now being questioned due to the suspicion that these funds serve to indirectly finance terror against Israel.

Other countries take advantage of the conflict to obtain electoral benefits, such as the case of Poland, which resorts to the specter of a possible new wave of refugees on the eve of next Sunday's elections.