Operation Swords of Iron commences: Israel declares war against terrorist group Hamas

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared war on Hamas after the terrorist group fired an estimated 2,500-5,000 rockets on innocent civilians into the country and crossed the border at dawn, attacking local villages and kidnapping citizens some of whom may have been taken back into Palestinian territory.

As of 10 a.m. EST, Israeli and Palestinian officials reported that more than 200 people had been killed, 1,600 were injured and as many as 35 Israelis were kidnapped. Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) immediately responded by launching 17 responsive using fighter jets. The U.S. and European Union have both designated Hamas as a terrorist organization because of its armed attacks against Israel, which have included both rocket attacks and suicide bombings.  

The Hamas attack began early Saturday morning EST after Hamas forces crossed the border Gaza on Saturday, fighting Israeli forces and pouring into the south of the country. Some Israeli civilians were crying for help, saying their families were being “slaughtered” by Hamas terrorists who invaded their homes, according to a report published by the New York Post.

The Hamas militants struck at dawn on the Jewish holiday Simchat Torah and a day after the 50 year anniversary of the Yom Kippur War, in which Egypt, Syria and other Arab nations launched a collective invasion on the holiest day of the Jewish calendar. 

The IDF said Hamas crossed into Israeli territory by air, land and sea with Hamas militants penetrated a military base that operates as the Israeli army’s southern headquarters. Israeli forces clashed with Hamas militants to regain control of towns and villages being invaded by the hostile organization.

“We are at war, not in an operation, not in rounds of fighting, at war,” declared Netanyahu in a video statement that was meant to reach Israeli citizens nationwide. “I instructed a wide-scale call for reserves to respond militarily at an intensity and scale that the enemy has not known before. The enemy will pay a price they have never paid before.”

The Israeli military said it has named its counteroffensive Operation Swords of Iron.

The Saturday morning attacks could disrupt current negotiations to normalize relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel, and could be an attempt to draw neighboring Arab countries into war, according to experts.

“This was design to strike fear into Israelis,” said former Trump official Morgan Ortagus in a live Saturday morning interview with Fox News. Ortagus, a former U.S. State Department spokeswoman who was speaking to the network from overseas.  

Ortagus described the attacks as “massive” and expressed her belief that Iran was encouraging the attacks as a means of riling other Arab nations to go to war against the Jewish State. The former State Department spokeswoman said it was critical for the U.S. and free world to support Israel’s right to defend itself.

“Now is the time for both [U.S.] political parties to step up and come together for the State of Israel,” she said. “This could become an open conflict, right now it is a proxy conflict,” she said. “We have to allow Bibi Netanyahu to take out the terrorist threat … it is overdue … these attacks come on the fiftieth anniversary of the Yom Kippur War we’re seeing Israel attacked …

“What we don’t want to do is tie Bibi Netanyahu’s hands behind his back,” she asserted. “Israel did not start this fight today. Hamas started this fight. If we [the U.S.] had a situation like Gaza… that would be an intolerable situation for the American people. Why do we expect the Israeli people to endure this terrorism?” she asked.

Ortagus added that the attacks also came on the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah, toward the end of the weeklong festival of Sukkot.

“Congress needs to stand with Israel, they’re our greatest ally in the Middle East,” said Republican Rep. Alex Mooney also in an interview with the news network.

Mooney agreed with Ortagus that Iran was behind the attacks.

“Iran is a terror state … we have to fight these people… we need to make sure we protect Israel… we have to stand strong and stand together and stand with our allies,” the West Virginia congressman said.

Israeli forces responded to the attacks by immediately launching strikes on 17 military compounds and other Gaza locations tied to Hamas’s leadership. The IDF released videos of air-force jet fighters launching responsive strikes on Palestinian militants and other targets.

The IDF also poured across southern Israel, sending ground troops to manage the incursion, it said.

Israeli military spokesman Richard Hecht said that some Hamas militants used paragliders to invade Israelis airspace as Hamas fighters breached the southern border by land and sea. He said that as of Saturday afternoon Israeli time, IDF forces were combating Hamas militants in at least six different locations.

“They want to do what they want to always do: Kill Israelis,” Hecht said.

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said he was confident about Israel’s ability to achieve a military victory.

“Hamas made a grave mistake this morning and started a war against the State of Israel. IDF [Israel Defense Forces] soldiers are fighting at all penetration points against the enemy,” Gallant said. “The State of Israel will win this war.”

U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan said he spoke with his Israeli counterpart, Tzachi Hanegbi, and was planning on maintaining close contact with the Israeli government as the invasion continues to unfold.

“The U.S. unequivocally condemns the unprovoked attacks by Hamas terrorists against Israeli civilians,” said a spokeswoman for the National Security Council. “We stand firmly with the government and people of Israel.”

Saturday morning’s attacks erupted after weeks of tension brewing at the Israeli-Palestinian border, but there were no significant intelligence reports suggesting the situation would evolve into a full-scale conflict. 

Israel’s military has engaged in on-and-off confrontations with Hamas since it took over the Gaza Strip after a hostile conflict with Fatah, the political group in charge of the Palestinian Authority. In May, another militant group in Gaza, “Palestinian Islamic Jihad” exchanged five days of fire with Israeli forces before both sides called a cease-fire.

The last time Israeli forces entered Gaza was 2014.

As of 10 a.m. Fox News and other news agencies reported that “at least 100 Israelis had been killed,” and 198 were killed in their counterattack.