Oct. 9 (UPI) — The Israeli military said Monday it hit more than 500 Hamas and Islamic Jihad targets in Gaza overnight, as the Middle Eastern country entered the third day of its war against the terror groups.
Seven Hamas operational headquarters and one operated by Islamic Jihad were among the targets destroyed overnight, Israel Defense Forces said, adding several high-rise buildings were razed and tunnels were obliterated.
“The IDF will continue to attack with force the Gaza Strip and deal fatal damage to the terrorist organizations,” it said in a statement.
Israel launched its war against Hamas after the militant group conducted a surprise, multi-pronged attack from Gaza, a Palestinian enclave that borders Israel to the east and north, the Mediterranean Sea to the west, and Egypt to the south.
Hamas has been the de facto government of Gaza since ousting the Palestinian Authority in 2007, and Israel holds it responsible for all aggression originating from the strip of territory.
Israeli officials said Hamas began its attack at about 6:30 a.m. local time Saturday with a barrage of some 2,000 rockets launched from Gaza at Israel followed by militants infiltrating northwards and eastwards killing civilians and military personnel and taking hostages.
Mohammad Deif, commander of Hamas’ military wing, said in a recorded statement that the attack was to end Israel’s “rampaging without accountability.”
Deif said it was in response to Israel’s illegal occupation of the West Bank and recent Israeli police raids on Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. In response to the attack, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said they were at war, with the first phase of destroying “enemy forces that infiltrated our territory” nearing its end on Sunday and a second offensive phase having begun.
More than 1,100 people have been killed and thousands injured, though the death toll is expected to rise.
On Monday morning, the Palestinian health ministry said that as of 10:30 a.m., 493 Palestinians had been killed with more than 2,750 injured.
Israel has said more than 700 of its citizens have died. Early Monday, its foreign ministry said 2,382 of its citizens were wounded.
The United States confirmed late Sunday that at least four Americans have been killed.
IDF spokesperson Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus said late Sunday in a Facebook Live update that “for the first time in our history” dozens of Israelis have been taken hostage in Gaza.
U.S. officials said there are reports Americans are among those kidnapped.
“As we speak, there is still fighting ongoing. There are still rockets fired at Israeli civilians and unfortunately, there are causalities from these rockets and there are still Hamas terrorists in southern Israel,” Conricus said Sunday night.
Amid the two-day war, the Israeli Air Force said early Monday that its warplanes had hit approximately 1,200 targets, including 21 high-rise buildings.
It said that the IDF estimates “there are over 400 terrorists killed in the Gaza Strip, and hundreds more terrorists killed in the territory of the state of Israel.”
“This is alongside [taking] dozens of prisoners,” it said, while warning that “the IDF will continue to carry out more intense and significant attacks throughout the Gaza Strip.”
