Netanyahu mobilizes more than 300,000 reservists: "What Hamas will experience will be hard"
Challenged from the north (Lebanon) with projectiles and the penetration of a commando and hit from the south (Gaza Strip) with an unprecedented attack against its rear, Israel carries out its most forceful offensive against the Islamist group Hamas in a Palestinian enclave that returns to its worst – and there were not a few – days of suffering, mourning and hopelessness.
The spokesman for Hamas's armed wing, Abu Oveida, threatened to publicly execute an Israeli civilian hostage for each unannounced bombing of civilians in Gaza.
The mobilization of more than 300,000 reservists, the isolation of Gaza and the bombings, with an intensity five times greater than that used against Hezbollah in the 2006 war to leave Hamas without the capacity or motivation to attack it again, mark the first steps of Israel's reaction to the murder of more than 900 people and the kidnapping of another 150 in an attack that marks a before and after not only for the kibbutzim taken in a bloody manner for several hours by Hamas but for the entire country. “Israel will no longer be the same,” many repeat.
In 2007, the fundamentalist movement took control of Gaza. In 2023, he may lose it after his greatest achievement that also provokes the greatest Israeli blow against the Gazans. In three days of Israeli bombs and fighting, almost 700 Palestinians have died while some 120,000 have left their homes to take refuge in UN facilities.
The third day of the war began with clashes between Israeli soldiers and militiamen 48 hours after the infiltration of a thousand Hamas troops and continued with the launching of projectiles against Israel and bombs in Gaza. “I have ordered a complete closure of Gaza. There will be no electricity, no food, no fuel. “We are fighting animals and we will respond accordingly,” announced Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, denouncing Hamas attacks that included cold executions.
Relatives mourn during the funeral of Israeli soldier Yuval Ben Yaakov. EFE
In a message that may also be part of the psychological struggle or the attempt to reduce the intensity of the Israeli attacks, Abu Oveida announced that “the bombings of the occupation in the Gaza Strip caused the death of four enemy prisoners and the martyrdom of who kept them captive”. Qatar negotiates with Hamas to free children and women in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israel.
If there is a swap, Yafa Adar would be the first to return home if she is still alive. This 85-year-old Israeli was last seen in a vehicle driven by Hamas members who filmed her. Orian can't help crying when she remembers her grandmother. “We found out by watching the videos. We don't know what her health status is. My grandmother is very bright, but her body is not as strong as before and in recent years she had a lot of pain,” she said, worried about whether she had a cane and if someone I could send him his medicines. His cousin is among those missing after the jihadist attack.
Mor Beider wishes he were in Adar's dramatic position. His grandmother was not kidnapped but murdered in cold blood by a terrorist at Kibbutz Nir Oz. He then took her cell phone, filmed her body and uploaded the image to the elderly woman's Facebook page. “I saw it on Facebook. It's the nightmare of my life. My grandmother was everything to me. She was very loved throughout the kibbutz”. There, the terrorists went house to house to indiscriminately shoot its inhabitants. In some cases, they set fire to the house to make them come out and finish them off.
A Palestinian carries the body of a murdered Israeli on a motorcycle. AP
“I know you have experienced terrible times. What Hamas will experience will be hard,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced to representatives of the towns bordering Gaza.. “This war was imposed on us by a disgusting enemy, animals that celebrate the murder of women, children and the elderly. We have not seen such horrors since Daesh. We always knew who Hamas is, now the whole world knows. We will defeat it as the enlightened world defeated Daesh,” he declared in a speech to the nation in which he asserted that the offensive against Hamas has only just begun and called on the opposition “to form a national emergency government.”. According to sources consulted, it could be announced this Tuesday.
The first three major waves of airstrikes focused on Beit Janun (where, according to Israel, Hamas planned and ordered the attack), Saajiah and Jabalia. According to testimonies in Gaza, the intensity of the bombings is much higher than that used in the last major escalation in 2021, so the death toll will be very high.. The Army will intensify the offensive once it guarantees that there are no longer any militiamen left in its territory.. Something he still can't clarify.
The shock is as great among Israelis as the anger at the “absence” of their State and their Army last Saturday and the demand for massive retaliation against Hamas.
A Palestinian next to the body of his deceased nephew in Gaza. Reuters
After the infiltration from Gaza, Israel reinforced its military presence also in the northern area due to fear that Hezbollah or some Palestinian group would expand the fronts.. At noon, a commando from Lebanon entered a northern Israeli town but, unlike what happened on Saturday, it was detected by the Army. The armed clash ended with the death of three of the attackers while the fourth managed to return to Lebanon. Several Israelis were injured in an attack claimed by Islamic Jihad. The Israeli response caused the death of five Hezbollah militiamen who reacted by launching projectiles.
Although Hezbollah and Israel are not interested in a direct confrontation, the violent inertia of events since the Hamas attack may lead them there.