As Hamas threatens hostages, the Israeli defense minister orders a “complete siege” of Gaza

As Hamas threatens hostages, the Israeli defense minister orders a "complete siege" of Gaza
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In response to the militant organization’s vow to kill civilian captives if airstrikes target Gaza without prior notice, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared on Monday that Israel’s military would engage Hamas with a force “like never before.”

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Monday also ordered a “complete siege” of Gaza in response to Hamas’ devastating surprise attack on Israeli territory over the weekend. Gallant also said he would stop the flow of electricity, food, water, and gasoline to the Palestinian enclave.

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The minister declared, “I have given an order — Gaza will be completely besieged.” “We will act appropriately because we are battling barbarians.” Since the Hamas attack, Israel has been bombarding what it refers to as “strategic” Hamas targets in Gaza with airstrikes.

Hours later, a representative of Hamas’ armed wing declared that if Israel hits residents of Gaza without warning, it will start executing civilian hostages and publicizing the act. In a message posted on the Al-Qassam Brigades’ Telegram channel, Abu Obaida said, “We declare that we will react to any targeting of our people who stay safe in their homes with no warning, with the execution of our civilian hostages, and that we will broadcast it with audio and video.”

Early on Saturday, Hamas launched its first-ever surprise attack, firing thousands of missiles and dispatching armed men into Israel. Israel’s Army Radio claimed on Monday that the attack has left at least 900 people dead and thousands more injured in Israel.

In retaliation, Israel formally proclaimed war on Hamas on Sunday.

As the bloodshed entered a third day on Monday, Israeli jets continued to pound Gaza with devastating bombs. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, the strikes have resulted in at least 687 fatalities, thousands of injuries, and the death of dozens of children and women.

Attacks on alleged Hamas strongholds in Gaza are “just the beginning,” Netanyahu cautioned in a Monday speech that was broadcast on television. “I said that every base of operations for Hamas will be reduced to ruins. It is already taking place right now, and it will continue to grow, he said.

He added, “We are fighting for our existence and for our house.”

As Israeli air defense systems in Ashdod intercepted rockets fired from Gaza on Monday, a CNN crew on the ground witnessed dust pouring into the sky. In retaliation to Israeli airstrikes, Hamas claimed to have launched 120 rockets on Monday against the coastal communities of Ashdod and Ashkelon.

There is no longer any active hostilities between Israeli forces and Hamas terrorists within Israel, according to the Israeli military, which has already regained control of Israeli communities that were overrun by the militant group’s gunmen over the weekend.

According to US President Joe Biden, at least 11 US citizens have been verified dead in Israel.

American hostages are also “likely” to be among those being held, according to Biden, who also stated that his administration is collaborating with Israeli authorities on “every aspect of the hostage crisis.”

Pleads for the release of the captives

According to Mousa Abu Marzouk, the deputy of the political bureau of Hamas, militants with the organization known as Hamas claimed late on Sunday to be holding more than 100 hostages in Gaza, including senior Israeli army personnel.

As Israeli families across the country pleaded frantically for the safe return of their loved ones, videos on social media showed extremists kidnapping numerous civilians, including children.

Israeli captives are thought to have been joined by hostages of various countries, including Americans, Mexicans, Brazilians, and Thais; this complicates Israel’s response to the Hamas onslaught. Authorities in Peru, Paraguay, Brazil, and Mexico have reported that at least nine of their citizens are missing.

A senior US official and another source involved with the negotiations informed CNN that Qatar has been in contact with Hamas over the captives the terrorist organization is keeping inside Gaza. The US has been cooperating with the Qataris as they play a crucial mediation role with Hamas.

Israel’s and Qatar’s governments have both been contacted by CNN for comment.

Speaking on behalf of the Al-Qassam Brigades, Abu Obaida stated that Hamas will not engage in hostage negotiations while being attacked by Israel.

In view of the onslaught against the Gaza Strip, Abu Obaida said in a statement, “It has become clear that the hostages of the enemy are at risk to the same extent as our people.” We declare that we won’t discuss or bargain on the topic of hostages while under attack, in the face of aggression, or during a battle.

Lt. Col. Richard Hecht, an IDF spokesman, was questioned earlier on whether the organization had stopped using the so-called “knock on the roof” method of warning residents before bombing a structure.

Hecht retorted that Hamas had not given any prior notice.

“They didn’t knock on the roof when they entered and lobbed explosives at our ambulances. We are at war. The scale has changed, according to Hecht.

Gaza “Massacre”

Israel’s primary form of retaliation within Gaza itself has been airstrikes, with planes repeatedly bombing the densely populated 140 square mile coastal strip, razing numerous structures, uprooting tens of thousands of people, and flooding overburdened hospitals with waves of injured Palestinians.

According to an IDF spokeswoman, it has been attacking Hamas, destroying about 800 targets, killing “hundreds” of militants, inflicting thousands of injuries, and seizing scores more.

A spokesperson of the Palestinian health ministry in Gaza told the Palestinian news outlet Shihab Agency on Monday that the majority of patients arriving at hospitals in Gaza had suffered second-and third-degree burns, as well as amputations. Several people have also suffered shrapnel wounds, according to Ashraf al-Qidra.

Al-Qidra noted that the majority of patients seeking hospital care are women and children and that this is “a result of Israelis attacking residential houses and buildings.”

Israel’s power outages have made it more difficult for injured people to access medical care, endangering “hundreds” of people’s lives, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza.

The ministry later said that all operations at the sole operating hospital in Gaza’s Beit Hanoun area had been discontinued because of persistent Israeli airstrikes that prevented medical personnel from entering or exiting the structure. Since Saturday, nine ambulances have been targeted, the ministry added.

The Shati and Jabalia refugee camps in Gaza were the target of Israeli bombings on Monday, according to the Palestinian health ministry, which called the attack a “massacre against the entire neighborhood.”

The ministry reported that despite the strikes killing a “large number” of people, bodies were still being found. There is no death toll available.

The international community was urged by the Palestinian Minister of Health Mai al-Kaila to stop “the aggression” against Gaza’s medical facilities and personnel.

According to journalist Hassan Eslayeh and a family member, at least 13 family members—including four toddlers—were murdered in an Israeli airstrike on Khan Younis in southern Gaza on Sunday.

Sounds of conflict

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday threatened a “long and difficult war” and vowed “mighty vengeance” on Hamas, while the extent of the Israeli reaction is still unknown.

The IDF’s top aim for the ensuing hours and days, according to Hecht, is to “control the entire enclave and assassinate all the terrorists in our territory.”

Tanks and people carriers were spotted moving near the Israel-Gaza border on Sunday as a result of Israel’s declaration of war, which paved the way for a significant military assault in Gaza.

The IDF reported that many villages close to the Gaza security border are being evacuated, and thousands of Israeli reservists have been called up.

An Israeli military official and a US defense official claimed that Israel is asking the US for Joint Direct Attack Munitions, or JDAMs, a kit that transforms an unguided “dumb” bomb into a precision “smart” weapon, as well as additional interceptors for its Iron Dome missile system.

According to US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, the US will soon offer Israel security support. The US announced that it was also sending a Navy carrier strike group, which would include guided missile cruisers and destroyers, to the eastern Mediterranean Sea.

On the ground, horror

The majority of Israelis have spent the last two days in safe rooms and bomb shelters.

Throughout the violent weekend, armed terror groups penetrated Israel and infiltrated military bases, cities, and farms, shooting at citizens and robbing captives. Hamas rockets also made direct hits on numerous locations inside the country, including Tel Aviv.

The attack has devastated Israel and affected families beyond its boundaries. Among those killed in Israel are 12 Thai nationals, 10 Nepalese, 2 Ukrainian, 2 French, and 1 British person.

According to the Israeli rescue organization Zaka, volunteers have retrieved at least 107 dead from the southern Israeli kibbutz of Be’eri, the majority of them are local people.

At least 260 people were killed, according to emergency responders, in a Hamas gunman attack on a music event close to the Israel-Gaza border, according to photos supplied by the Israeli foreign ministry.

According to reports, an Israeli woman was kidnapped at the festival and her father told CNN that he “didn’t want to believe it” after seeing his daughter being lifted onto the back of a motorcycle by Hamas attackers in a video going viral on social media.

It was indescribable in words. It is not possible. Yakov Argamani described the first time he viewed the footage of his 25-year-old daughter Noa as being a “very difficult moment.”

At least four people in the kibbutz of Be’eri were massacred while in the hands of Hamas, mere steps away from where armed militants had been accompanying them, according to videos collected and geolocated by CNN.

Early on Monday, the IDF said that Be’eri had been “very badly hit.”

Fears of an escalation in the region

There are still unanswered questions on how Israel’s military & intelligence apparatus seemed to be unprepared for one of the greatest security breaches in the nation’s history.

In the last two years, fighting has increased between the two groups. Frequent Israeli military incursions into Palestinian cities and towns, which Israel has claimed are necessary in reaction to an uptick in assaults by Palestinian terrorists on Israelis, have been the main cause of the violence.

UN peacekeepers urged restraint after the conflict spread to other parts of the region on Monday when the IDF claimed it killed armed people who “infiltrated” Israel from Lebanon. Hezbollah had earlier claimed responsibility for attacks on three Israeli sites in Shebaa Farms, which Lebanon views as Israeli-occupied territory.

Later on Monday, the organization with support from Iran informed CNN that three of its members had perished in an Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon. Hezbollah said in a statement that “groups of the Islamic Resistance” responded by launching guided missiles at Israel, specifically aiming for the Pranit and Avivim Barracks of the Israeli army.

The UN Security Council convened an emergency meeting on Sunday, but nothing came of it.

The foreign ministers of the European Union are scheduled to meet on Tuesday to discuss the situation in Israel.

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