Hostage taking ended
Israel’s army liberates places near the Gaza Strip
October 8, 2023, 7:19 a.m
As part of their surprise attack, hundreds of Hamas terrorists advance from the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory. They kill and kidnap a still unknown number of Israelis. After hours of “battles,” Israel’s army brings most of the area back under control. The fighting is not over yet.
According to its own statements, the Israeli army has recaptured most of the places that were previously controlled by Hamas. “Most of the significant battles in the south” of Israel have ended, a military spokesman told the Israeli news site INews24 early this morning. The army has begun evacuating residents from the region near the Gaza Strip. “We still have difficult days ahead,” said the spokesman.
The army declared the area around the coastal strip a restricted area. The army said there are still eight points in the south of the country where possible attackers are being searched. The barrier to the Gaza Strip was breached in 29 places and is now all under control. Potential new attackers are attacked at these points from the air.
The first phase now ends with the “destruction of the majority of the enemy forces that have invaded our territory,” it said after a meeting of the Israeli security cabinet. At the same time, an offensive phase was initiated, which will continue until the goals are achieved.
On Saturday evening, the Israeli army announced that security forces were fighting in a total of 22 locations on Israeli territory against hundreds of terrorists who had invaded from the Gaza Strip. An army spokesman confirmed that there was a “serious hostage-taking situation in Beeri and also in Ofakim.” The two places are near Israel’s border with the Gaza Strip.
Palestinian killed in police station
According to Israeli media reports, the hostage-taking in Ofakim has now been ended. As a result, security forces freed dozens of hostages overnight who were being held in a house on the border with the Gaza Strip. The soldiers stormed the building and killed ten terrorists, reported the news website Ynet and the broadcaster i24NEWS. Three Israeli soldiers were injured.
During fighting in the city of Sderot, which borders the Gaza Strip, Israeli soldiers killed several suspected Hamas members at a police station. As the news website Ynet reported early on Sunday morning, citing the police, “around ten armed terrorists were neutralized” after a battle that lasted around 20 hours. The police station was said to have been brought back under control.
The attacks came as a complete surprise to Israel on the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah (Joy of the Torah). Supported by a hail of thousands of rockets, Hamas fighters from the blockaded Gaza Strip entered nearby Israeli towns on Saturday. They killed several people and kidnapped an unknown number of soldiers and civilians, including, according to the media, children, into the Gaza Strip. The Israeli military then began counterstrikes in the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli army said several hundred Palestinian terrorists were killed in the fighting. According to INews24, several Israeli soldiers were killed, including commanders, the army spokesman said. He did not provide any further details. According to media reports, a total of at least 300 people died in Israel. Around 1,590 people were injured. On the Palestinian side, at least 232 people were killed and almost 1,700 injured, the Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip reported.