JERUSALEM (NEWSnet/AP) —Israel's military says Gaza's militant Hamas rulers are holding Israeli civilians and soldiers captive in the Palestinian enclave, marking major escalation in the fighting.
The military confirmed Hamas claims its fighters had kidnapped several Israelis after they infiltrated Israel's separation fence and stormed into Israel communities.
The army did not say many Israelis had been seized.
Social media has been filled with videos claiming to show Hamas fighters dragging lifeless Israeli soldiers and parading captured civilians through the streets.
At least 40 people in Israel have been killed and hundreds wounded, making the unprecedented surprise attack by Hamas the deadliest in Israel in years.
Hamas militants fired thousands of rockets and sent dozens of fighters into Israeli towns Saturday near the Gaza Strip during a major Jewish holiday. Israel said it is now at war with Hamas and launched airstrikes in Gaza, vowing to inflict an “unprecedented price.”
“We are at war,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a televised address, declaring a mass army mobilization. “Not an ‘operation,’ not a ‘round,’ but at war.”
Mohammed Deif, leader of Hamas’ military wing, said the assault was in response to the continued blockade of Gaza, Israeli raids inside West Bank cities, violence at Al Aqsa, increasing attacks by settlers on Palestinians and continued growth of settlements. He said the attack was only the start of what he calls “Operation Al-Aqsa Storm.”
Several hours after the incursion began, Hamas militants were still fighting gun battles inside several Israeli communities near Gaza.
At least 198 people in Gaza Strip have been killed in Israel’s retaliation and at least 1,610 wounded, the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza said.
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