Israel vows to win ‘wicked war’ as Hamas warns of attacks in West Bank and Jerusalem
- Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vows to destroy Hamas sites and advises Gazan residents to ‘get out now’
- China urges calm, says ‘deeply concerned’ after hundreds killed in escalation of violence between Israel and Palestinians
Israeli forces clashed with gunmen from the Palestinian group Hamas on Sunday, 24 hours after the militants launched a surprise attack on Israel in which nearly 500 people were killed in the deadliest day of violence in Israel for 50 years.
The biggest incursion into Israel in decades could undermine US-backed efforts to forge regional security alignments that could threaten Palestinian aspirations for statehood and the ambitions of the group’s main backer, Iran.
Hamas fighters began their attack at dawn on Saturday with a huge barrage of rockets into southern Israel, giving cover to an unprecedented, multipronged infiltration of fighters into Israel from Gaza, a narrow strip that is home to 2.3 million Palestinians.
Hamas fighters killed at least 250 Israelis in clashes through the day and escaped back into Gaza with dozens of hostages. More than 230 Gazans were killed when Israel responded with one of its most devastating days of retaliatory strikes.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday that his country will “take mighty vengeance for this black day”.
