Israel’s UN ambassador calls Hamas surprise attack ‘our 9/11’ and says terrorists took babies hostage in assault which has left more than 300 dead and 1,500 injured so far
- Unprecedented Hamas assault on Israel continued to rage early on Sunday
- Indiscriminate attacks on civilians have left more than 300 Israelis dead
- Women, children and even babies were being held hostage in Gaza
The unprecedented surprise attack Hamas is carrying out against Israel is comparable to the terror attacks on America on September 11, 2001, Israel’s ambassador to the UN has argued.
‘This is our 9/11,’ Israeli Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan said in an appearance on Fox News Saturday. ‘Babies, women, the elderly were dragged outside of their homes, were taken hostage.’
‘These animals will pay a heavy price and they will learn that these atrocities cannot be committed again against our civilians,’ he said.
Published reports from Israel indicate more than 300 Israelis have been killed, and 1,590 injured, since Hamas launched its blitz attack with rockets and gangs of roving gunmen, attacking civilians and soldiers alike across dozens of locations.
Running gun battles continued on the streets of Israel early on Sunday, some 24 hours after the assault began.
A salvo of rockets is fired by Hamas militants from Gaza City toward Israel on Saturday. At least 300 people were reported killed in Israel, with more than 1,590 wounded
Fires break out at the Nahal Oz military site after armed Hamas fighters entered it in a massive surprise attack they are calling Operation Al-Aqsa Flood
The Hamas gunmen who launched an unprecedented surprise attack on Israel have taken babies hostage, according to former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett (right)
‘It’s been a very tough day for the state of Israel, for the citizens of Israel. The numbers of murdered Israelis is huge,’ former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett told CNN.
‘We have babies that have been kidnapped into Gaza. We have 80-year-old woman with what seems like dementia kidnapped into Gaza. So it’s been one of the hardest days in Israel’s history,’ he continued.
Israeli Defense Force (IDF) spokesman Jonathan Conricus told CNN that up to 1,000 armed Hamas fighters are believed to have infiltrated the border early Saturday, in conjunction with fusillades of rocket attacks throughout the day.
Hamas claims to have dozens of Israeli hostages being held in Gaza, whom the militants likely hope to use as bait to lure Israeli Defense Force soldiers into a deadly trap.
‘Hamas, in their gruesrome brutality, kidnapped women, children, elderly, and even disabled elderly persons, and dragged them — some of them live, some of them dead — into Gaza, and have paraded them on the streets,’ said Conricus.
Conricus the number of hostages was ‘significant’ but declined to offer a specific number, calling the situation ‘extremely delicate.’
It is by far the deadliest day of violence in Israel since the Yom Kippur war 50 years ago, and fighting continued into early morning hours of .
More than 230 Gazans were also killed when Israel responded with one of its most devastating days of retaliatory strikes. Fighting continued into the night.
Palestinians transport a captured Israeli civilian, center, from Kibbutz Kfar Azza into the Gaza Strip on Saturday. The militants have abducted dozens, if not hundreds, of hostages
‘We will take mighty vengeance or this wicked day,’ Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
‘Hamas launched a cruel and wicked war. We will win this war but the price is too heavy to bear,’ he said.
‘Hamas wants to murder us all. This is an enemy that murders mothers and children in their homes, in their beds. An enemy that abducts elderly, children, teenage girls.’
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said the assault that had begun in Gaza would spread to the West Bank and Jerusalem.
Developing story, more to follow.
Source: Read Full Article