The commander of Hamas’s armed wing confirmed on Thursday the start of the ‘Al-Aqsa Storm’ operation, launching more than 5,000 rockets into Israel from Gaza, calling for the uprising of all Arabs on Israeli soil.
The launch of Operation ‘Al-Aqsa Storm’ began “with the launch of more than 5,000 rockets towards the heart of Tel Aviv,” Al-Qasam Brigades commander Mohamed Deif said in a rare public statement issued by the Palestinian news agency Maan.
The commander regretted that Hamas’ requests for “humanitarian exchanges” had been rejected and that “violations in the West Bank continue every day.”
Similarly, and in part of his statement collected by ‘The Times of Israel’, The Hamas commander takes the opportunity to ask Israeli Arabs to “take up arms against Israel”, in a statement addressed to a community devastated by months of extreme violence between their clans, while condemning the inaction of the Israeli government regrets in containing this bloodshed.
“Today the people restore the revolution and reactivate the March of Return,” Al-Daif says before “urging the Arabs in Jerusalem and within Israel, the Negev and Galilee to burn the land under the feet of its inhabitants ” .
Militants from the group on Thursday infiltrated the Israeli town of Sderot, where a battle with Israeli forces broke out, and on the Gaza border, where militants kidnapped, killed and wounded dozens of Israeli soldiers, as confirmed by the brigades.
According to the militia The members have freed Palestinian prisoners from the Israeli prison in Ashkelon (Ashkelon), and in videos posted on social media they are also seen on the streets of Gaza with an Israeli military vehicle and the corpse of a soldier.
The Islamist group Islamic Jihad, also with a strong presence and armed wing in Gaza, reported that it had joined the Hamas attack:We are part of this struggle and our fighters are fighting together with their Hamas brothers, shoulder to shoulder, until victory,” he stated.
According to Israeli media, the many attacks from Gaza have overwhelmed Israeli intelligence services.
In response, however, the Israeli army launched an attack on several Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip, with no information yet available on its exact scale.
In addition to the state of war declared by the military, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant ordered the mobilization of reservists and announced “a special security situation” within Israel, “within a radius of zero to 50 miles from the Gaza Strip.” the military to “provide security briefings to civilians and close relevant locations.”
As sirens continue to blare in several parts of Israel – including Jerusalem – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced that the Security Cabinet will meet today at 1:00 pm local time (10:00 am GMT) to analyze the situation after an initial meeting at 09:30 (06:30 GMT).
According to official sources, the escalation has so far left three dead, one in Israel and two in Gaza, although these are preliminary figures.
In an Israeli town near Gaza, “A woman, about 60 years old, died from a direct impact (of a rocket),” said the Israeli emergency service, which also reported 15 injuries, two in serious condition, six in moderate condition and seven with minor injuries.
In Gaza, “two Palestinians were killed this morning and many others were injured, some seriously, in Israeli shelling east of the Bureij refugee camp” in the center of the enclave, following a firefight between Gaza militias and Israeli forces, the Palestinian official said Wafa news agency.
“In anticipation of fierce Israeli retaliation, all types of activities, including schools and universities, as well as businesses in the Gaza Strip, were halted and people stayed at home,” he added.
However, Saleh al Arouri, a senior Hamas official, also called on Palestinians in the West Bank “to take up this battle,” which he described as “a large-scale operation aimed at defending the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem ‘. free Palestinian prisoners.”
Source: DN
