Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said ‘We are in a state of war and we will win it’ after a barrage of rockets were fired and fighters from the Palestinian enclave infiltrated Israel on Saturday.
Violence between Israel and the Palestinians has been surging for almost two years, with fatalities in the occupied West Bank hitting a scale not seen in years.
At least two people were killed in Israel, officials said.
In a video statement Netanyahu said, “Citizens of Israel, we are at war. Not an operation, not an escalation — at war.”
Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said Palestinian militant group Hamas has “launched a war against the State of Israel.”
“Troops are fighting against the enemy at every location,” he said in a statement.
AFP journalists said Israel’s military began air strikes on Gaza, following the rocket barrage from inside the territory which is sealed off from Israel by a militarised border barrier.
“Dozens of IDF fighter jets are currently striking a number of targets belonging to the Hamas terrorist organisation in the Gaza Strip,” the military said.
Rockets had earlier streamed across the sky repeatedly after the first launches from multiple locations across the Palestinian territory from 6:30 am (0330 GMT), AFP journalists in Gaza City reported.
Hamas, a militant group which controls Gaza, said it was behind the aerial assault, saying its militants had launched thousands of rockets and its fighters seized an Israeli tank.
Israel’s army did not immediately comment on the tank claim when contacted by AFP.
Israeli security chiefs convened over the violence, which occurred on Shabbat and during a Jewish holiday.
Air raid sirens wailed across southern and central Israel, and the army urged people to stay near bomb shelters.
AFP journalists in Jerusalem heard multiple rockets being intercepted by Israeli air defence systems.
Sirens blared across the city on more occasions than in any Gaza conflict in the past three years.
“We decided to put an end to all the crimes of the occupation (Israel). Their time for rampaging without being held accountable is over,” the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades said.
“We announce Operation Al-Aqsa Flood and we fired, in the first strike of 20 minutes, more than 5,000 rockets.”
Israel’s military said Hamas launched “massive shooting of rockets”, while at the same time “terrorists infiltrated into Israeli territory in a number of different locations”.
Hamas “will face the consequences and responsibility for these events”, it said in a statement.In Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, some Palestinian residents cheered and blew their car horns as sirens blared.
A regional council for Israeli communities northeast of Gaza said its president was killed in an exchange of fire with attackers from Gaza.
Separately, a woman in her 60s was killed “due to a direct hit” in Israel, the Magen David Adom emergency services said.
Fifteen others were wounded, two of them seriously, medics said.
Hamas has launched a “war” against Israel, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said, after barrages of rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory.
“Hamas has made a grave mistake this morning and launched a war against the State of Israel,” Gallant said in a statement.
“IDF troops (Israeli army) are fighting against the enemy at every location.”
Israeli army launched ‘Operation Iron Swords’ against the Hamas in the Gaza Strip, in response to attacks from the territory.
Israeli raids have started, as witnesses told Reuters that explosions are heard in the Gaza city.
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In a separate incident, medics said a 20-year-old man was hurt moderately from shrapnel.
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the premier will convene security chiefs over the violence.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the rocket fire.
With input from agencies…
