Palestinian militants had begun a 'war' against Israel which they infiltrated by air, sea and land from the blockaded Gaza Strip on Saturday, Israeli officials said.
ASHKELON, Israel -- Palestinian militants had begun a "war" against Israel which they infiltrated by air, sea and land from the blockaded Gaza Strip on Saturday, Israeli officials said, a major escalation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said "we are at war" and vowed severe retaliation after ordering an extensive mobilization of army reserves. "The enemy will pay an unprecedented price" for the surprise attack, he warned.
Israel's army said its forces were fighting Palestinian militants on the ground in several locations near the Strip. It dubbed its operation "Swords of Iron". The rocket barrage from Gaza -- which Hecht said numbered at least 2,200 -- left cars burning beneath residential buildings in the Israeli city of Ashkelon, about 10 kilometers north of Gaza.Netanyahu said in a statement that the Hamas attack will be riposted at "a magnitude that the enemy has not known".
An AFP journalist saw armed Palestinians gathered around an Israeli tank, which was partially in flames, after they crossed the border fence from Khan Yunis in Gaza.Air raid sirens wailed across southern and central Israel, as well as an unusual number of times in Jerusalem, where AFP journalists heard multiple rockets being intercepted by Israeli air defense systems.Israeli police set up roadblocks to check motorists on the highway between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, an AFP journalist said.
Among the dead was the president of a regional council for Israeli communities northeast of Gaza. The council said its president was killed in an exchange of fire with Gaza attackers.Hamas called on "the resistance fighters in the West Bank" as well as "our Arab and Islamic nations" to join the battle, in a statement posted on Telegram.
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