Israel's Netanyahu vows 'mighty vengeance' against Hamas
In a brief video address, he said Hamas would be held responsible for the well-being of the captives and said Israel would settle the score with anyone who harmed them
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed "mighty vengeance" against Hamas after the Palestinian fighters movement launched a surprise attack on Saturday, killing more than 150 Israelis and taking numerous captives.
In a brief video address, he said Hamas would be held responsible for the well-being of the captives and said Israel would settle the score with anyone who harmed them.
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In an overnight message, Netanyahu said that the war had been "forced on us by a murderous attack by Hamas", and the first stage would end in the coming hours when most of the fighters on Israeli territory had been wiped out, reports BBC.
Hamas fighters infiltrated Israel's southern communities on Saturday and the attack has left some 250 people in Israel killed and dozens of Israelis are believed to have been taken hostage. Additionally, Israel has already responded with a wave of air strikes on Gaza, killing more than 230 people, officials say.
The Israeli government have also said it would cut off electricity, fuel and goods supplies to Gaza.
After Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened to turn the besieged Palestinian enclave into a "deserted island" and warned its residents to "leave now".
How did Israeli intelligence fail to stop major attack by Hamas?
With the combined efforts of Shin Bet (Israel's domestic intelligence agency), Mossad (its external spy agency), and the full capabilities of the Israel Defense Forces at their disposal, it is genuinely astonishing that there was no prior knowledge of this impending assault, reports BBC.
Or if they did know, they failed to act on it.
Israel is widely acknowledged to possess one of the most extensive and well-funded intelligence apparatuses in the Middle East. It maintains a network of informants and agents within Palestinian groups and extends its intelligence presence into Lebanon, Syria, and other regions.
On the ground, along the tense border fence between Gaza and Israel, an array of surveillance tools, including cameras, ground-motion sensors, and regular army patrols, is in place.
The barbed-wire-topped fence was designed as a "smart barrier" precisely to prevent the kind of infiltration witnessed in this recent attack.
Why Palestinian group Hamas launched attack on Israel?
Hamas spokesperson Khaled Qadomi has told Al Jazeera that the group's military operation is in response to all the atrocities the Palestinians have faced over the decades.
"We want the international community to stop atrocities in Gaza, against Palestinian people, our holy sites like Al-Aqsa. All these things are the reason behind starting this battle," Qadomi said.
"This is the day of the greatest battle to end the last occupation on earth," Mohammed Deif, the Hamas military commander said, adding that 5,000 rockets were launched.
"Everyone who has a gun should take it out. The time has come," Deif said, according to media reports.
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.
