\u0027The enemy will pay an unprecedented price,\u0027 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, promising that Israel would \u0027return fire of a magnitude that the enemy has not known\u0027
JERUSALEM — Israel’s national rescue service says the death toll has risen to 100 from Hamas’ surprise incursion into southern Israel on Saturday.With hundreds of people hospitalized in serious and critical condition, that number is likely to rise.
The strength, sophistication and timing of the attack shocked Israelis. Hamas fighters used explosives to break through the border fence enclosing the long-blockaded Mediterranean territory, then crossed with motorcycles, pickup trucks, paragliders and speed boats on the coast. The shadowy leader of Hamas’ military wing, Mohammed Deif, said the assault was in response to the 16-year blockade of Gaza, Israeli raids inside West Bank cities over the past year, violence at Al Aqsa — the disputed Jerusalem holy site sacred to Jews as the Temple Mount — increasing attacks by settlers on Palestinians and growth of settlements.
Asked by reporters how Hamas had managed to catch the army off guard, Lt. Col. Richard Hecht, an Israeli army spokesman, replied, “That’s a good question.”The Israeli military struck targets in Gaza in response for some 2,500 rockets that sent air raid sirens wailing constantly as far north as Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, some 80 kilometers away. It said its forces were engaged in gunfights with Hamas terrorists who had infiltrated Israel in at least seven locations.
In a televised address, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant warned that Hamas had made “a grave mistake” and promised that “the state of Israel will win this war.”Western nations condemned the incursion and reiterated their support for Israel, while others called for restraint on both sides. The attack comes at a time of historic division within Israel over Netanyahu’s proposal to overhaul the judiciary. Mass protests over the plan have sent hundreds of thousands of Israeli demonstrators into the streets and prompted hundreds of military reservists to avoid volunteer duty — turmoil that has raised fears over the military’s battlefield readiness and raised concerns about its deterrence over its enemies.
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