How Hamas surprise attack took form, in videos | EUROtoday

Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad claimed accountability for the assault, which started whereas Israel was observing a spiritual vacation that falls the day after the competition of Sukkot. The teams additionally launched greater than 3,000 rockets, the Israel Defense Forces stated. At least 250 folks in Israel have been killed and greater than 1,000 wounded, the nation’s emergency companies stated.

What’s behind the violence in Israel and Gaza? Here’s what to know.

The videos verified by The Post confirmed scores of fighters breaching the border with little opposition, armed with assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades. They poured into Israel on the bottom, flew in with fan-driven paragliders and used industrial drones to attack Israeli navy targets, together with tanks and communications infrastructure.

One video reveals fighters from Hamas’s armed wing, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, utilizing explosives towards a piece of border wall close to the Erez crossing, the one one accessible for Gazans to journey into Israel, situated on the northern finish of the Gaza Strip. The video reveals at the least seven gunmen operating towards the crossing, transferring by means of a safety checkpoint and firing at a guard tower.

A fighter shoots a bloodied physique on the bottom in a hallway as he catches up with a gaggle of different militants, who seem like capturing two males clothed in solely shorts and T-shirts. Later in the video, because the fighters clear hallways and residing quarters, a number of different our bodies will be seen on the bottom.

Another video reveals fighters on foot and bikes passing by means of a gap made in the border fence close to Kerem Shalom, a kibbutz on Israel’s southern border with Egypt close to a significant border crossing of the identical title. The video then cuts to the fighters storming a navy outpost about three miles to the north. Israeli navy autos together with armored personnel carriers and a tank will be seen, in addition to the our bodies of a number of Israeli troopers, together with one sporting solely boxer briefs, a helmet and a tactical vest.

In one room containing bunk beds, the video reveals the our bodies of a number of males, some in navy fatigues and others in shorts and T-shirts, together with one nonetheless mendacity in mattress.

Four different videos present fighters breaching the border fence in two areas close to the cities of Nahal Oz and Be’eri. In Be’eri, practically three miles from the Gaza Strip border, different videos, together with one posted on X (previously Twitter) confirmed armed males in navy garb dragging at the least 5 folks away. Two seem older and thinly dressed, and all are barefoot, with their fingers tied behind them.

Israeli and Hamas officers each confirmed that Israeli navy personnel and civilians have been taken captive, although the entire quantity and their situation is unknown. A spokesperson for Hamas’s armed wing stated there have been “tens” of troopers and officers in the group’s custody, a Reuters journalist in Gaza reported. The Israeli Embassy in the United States posted on X that there have been 100 “kidnapped civilians and soldiers.”

The Post additionally verified videos taken in Gaza exhibiting militants transporting what seemed to be useless or significantly wounded Israelis, together with at the least one member of the armed forces.

In Nahal Oz, fighters stormed a navy base and used a drone to drop an explosive on Israeli troopers standing close to an ambulance. Other footage launched by Hamas confirmed its fighters taking feminine prisoners on the base.

Fighters additionally destroyed and captured Israeli navy autos, a few of which have been pushed again into Gaza. The Post verified footage taken a number of miles inside northern Gaza exhibiting Palestinians celebrating close to an Israeli jeep.

Fighters additionally managed to achieve Sderot, a city of about 30,000 folks, the place photos confirmed greater than a half dozen civilians bloodied and slumped round a bus cease in the town and there have been videos of armed males in a pickup truck firing at an Israeli police car.

The Saturday assault took place below the quilt of a giant rocket barrage that started round 6:30 a.m. and was geared toward cities throughout Israel. The Post verified footage taken in the aftermath of a number of reported strikes, together with in Tel Aviv and the southern metropolis of Netivot. A spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces stated that the “overwhelming majority” of Israeli casualties resulted from close-contact taking pictures.

Palestinian well being authorities stated at the least 313 folks in the Gaza Strip had been killed in retaliatory Israeli strikes, together with practically 2,000 injured.

Gaza was plunged into darkness on Saturday night after Israel lower off its electrical energy and launched waves of airstrikes into the enclave. The Israeli air power hit what it described as 17 navy compounds and 4 operational command facilities belonging to Hamas. Footage taken on Saturday confirmed the destruction of a 14-story residential constructing in Gaza City referred to as the Palestine Tower.

Overnight, airstrikes continued to pound the territory.

Imogen Piper in London and Bryan Pietsch in Washington contributed to this report.