The operation, which began on Saturday morning, took Israel by surprise on multiple fronts. The operation is unprecedented in the past 50 years.
It was the biggest attack on the Zionist regime in 50 years. It is haunting the invaders of the 1973 Yom Kippur War. It came 50 years and a day after forces from Egypt and Syria caught Israel off-guard.
Battles were still taking place in 22 locations, according to Israelis.
The armed wing of Hamas said more than 5,000 rockets had been fired from the besieged Gaza into the occupied territories within a space of 20 minutes.
Israel’s N12 News reported that at least 100 Israelis were killed. Israel’s ambulance service added that the toll was expected to rise.
A senior Hamas leader has said that the group had captured enough Israeli soldiers during the unprecedented attack to make Israeli authorities free all Palestinian prisoners.
The head of a regional Israeli council northeast of the Gaza Strip has been killed in a firefight, according to the council. “The president of the regional council, Ofir Liebstein, was killed during an exchange of fire with [the Resistance],” the Israeli Shaar Negev settlement council said in a statement.
As rocket barrages hit Israeli settlements and other sensitive sites, units of Hamas’ armed wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, infiltrated into Israeli settlements and military bases.
Israel’s ambassador to the UN has said that fighters, who infiltrated from a number of different points, “killed DOZENS of Israelis”.
What Israel doesn’t know is how many Palestinian Resistance fighters had infiltrated from Gaza into the settlements.
According to Reuters, Israel’s police chief said there were “21 active scenes” in southern occupied territories, indicating the extent of the surprise operation.
Israeli Minister of War Yoav Gallant said, “troops are fighting against the enemy at every location”.
A video going viral on social media shows a section of the separation fence, dividing the Gaza Strip from the occupied Palestinian territories, wide open from what appears to be an explosive device.
Footage shows Palestinian Resistance fighters on jeeps leaving the Gaza Strip and heading into occupied Palestinian territory for the first time in modern history amid chants of support and celebration by local residents.
For many Palestinian residents in Gaza, it was also a chance for them to step into the land of their grandparents.
Other footage circulating on social media appears to show clashes in the streets of Israeli settlements as well as gunmen in jeeps roaming the countryside.
Hamas media displayed videos of bodies of Israeli soldiers brought into Gaza by its forces, and Palestinian Resistance fighters touring an Israeli town in jeeps.
At least one video going viral on social media shows the body of an Israeli on the back of a captured Israeli jeep that had been driven back into the Gaza Strip.
The al-Qassam Brigades announced control of the Kibbutz settlement and the Kerem Shalom military site east of Rafah.
Other footage shows Palestinians in control of Israeli military vehicles and Israeli tanks on fire near the separation fence. A Palestinian man can be seen taking a selfie in front of a burning Israeli military vehicle.
Footage of Israeli firefighters extinguishing a fire after a rocket hit a parking lot in the settlement of Ashkelon is among various similar videos that have been broadcast.
In the settlement of Sderot, Israeli troops were engaged in clashes with the resistance fighters. In all the wars that proceeded this one, the fighting has never gone beyond the besieged Gaza Strip.
The Israeli military has confirmed it is engaged in clashes with the resistance in several Israeli settlements and military bases near Gaza, with prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowing to retaliate.
The Israeli army has not gained control of any of the locations Hamas fighters infiltrated in southern occupied Palestinian territories, according to Israeli media.
The Haaretz newspaper reported that settlers are still in shelters, and there are no Israeli security forces or medical staff on site.
Palestinians in Gaza expressed disbelief at the infiltration. One Gaza shopkeeper told Reuters “It is like a dream. I still can’t believe it”.
It’s not only a significant move for the Palestinian Resistance but also reflects the messages of Resistance leaders who said that they would take the war to the occupied territories, which many analysts in the region laughed off, implying that this was impossible.
Red alert warning sirens were activated in Tel Aviv, Sde Boker, Arad, and Dimona in the south, as explosions were heard by residents. In occupied al-Quds, rocket sirens sounded followed by the sound of explosions.
“We decided to put an end to all the crimes of the occupation. Their time for rampaging without being held accountable is over,” Hamas said. “We announce Operation al-Aqsa Storm and we fired, in the first strike of 20 minutes, more than 5,000 rockets.”
The Gaza-based Palestinian Islamic Jihad said its fighters have joined the operation as Hamas called on Palestinians everywhere to fight. It also called on Resistance groups in Lebanon to join the fight against Israel.
“We are part of this battle, our fighters are side-by-side with their brothers in the Qassam Brigades until victory is achieved,” Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s armed wing spokesman Abu Hamza said in a post on social media.
Lebanon’s Hezbollah has said it is following the situation in Gaza closely and is “in direct contact with the leadership of the Palestinian Resistance”.
Hezbollah also said the operation was a “decisive response to Israel’s continued occupation and a message to those seeking normalization with Israel”.
Hamas politburo chief Ismail Haniyeh has warned that “this storm which started from Gaza will spread to the West Bank and outside the country and all the places where our people and nation are present.”
Haniyeh called the operation historic and epic, saying the main reason for its start was the “criminal aggression of the Zionists in the al-Aqsa Mosque, which had reached its peak in recent days”.
The highest-ranking Hamas military commander Mohammad Deif, who has survived multiple Israeli assassination attempts and announced the start of the retaliatory operation, said, “This is the day of the greatest battle to end the last occupation on earth.”
He said Palestinian Resistance forces struck numerous Israeli targets, including airports and military facilities.
“Today, the wrath of our nation and righteous fighters is boiling over. This is your day to make the enemy understand that its time has come to an end,” the top commander stated.
Speaking to Al Jazeera, Hamas spokesperson Khaled Qadomi said that the group’s military operation is in response to all the atrocities the Palestinians have faced over the decades on top of them the desecration of Israelis at the al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam’s third holiest site.
“We want the international community to stop atrocities in Gaza, against Palestinian people, our holy sites like Al-Aqsa. All these things are the reason behind starting this battle,” he said.
Asked whether Hamas had taken Israeli soldiers and settlers hostage, Qadomi replied, “They are not hostages. They are prisoners of war.”
He highlighted that the Israeli settlers are also occupiers, and according to international law, they are invaders.
“So the situation today is a war against invaders,” he said.
Israel says it is at “war” and has begun bombing the Gaza Strip, with reports emerging of a large number of dead and wounded Palestinians at a Gaza hospital.
History has proven that these bombing raids by the regime mostly kill women and children on a very large scale.
Critics have previously accused Israel of using these war crime tactics to pressure the Resistance to halt fire.
What is certain is that the events that unfolded on Saturday are a game changer.
Mahjoob Zweiri, a professor at Qatar University, says events of the last few hours (on Saturday) have been “game-changing for the politics of the region”.
“For the first time, the Resistance movement decided to react against the occupiers and the military … I think the Israeli side is facing a real challenge in tackling its image now.
Also, the narrative created by Hamas with regional and international players is interesting,” he said.
By Ali Karbalaei
First published in Tehran Times
