On Saturday morning, October 7, Hamas launched a massive coordinated attack on Israel, which includes not only massive rocket attacks, but also raids on the nearest settlements to the Gaza Strip. Militants have already dubbed this operation "Al-Aqsa Flood."
The towns of Sderot, Netivot and Ofakim were the target of ground attacks by groups of militants who broke through the checkpoints, where, according to Israeli media, hostages were taken. Photos and videos of shot civilians are also currently circulating on the Internet.
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To infiltrate the territory of the Gaza Strip, Hamas used mobile groups on pickup trucks and motorcycles that move quickly on the roads.
In addition, the militants also used paragliders - at least on the Internet you can find several videos of them flying on paragliders during the attack. Militants also landed from the water north of the Gaza Strip.
Apparently, the Hamas attack came as a surprise to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), and the forces on the border with the Gaza Strip did not cope with the task of containing the militants. It is known about the loss of ranks of the Israeli military at checkpoints, Hamas reports the capture of Israeli soldiers, and also displays destroyed armored vehicles, including the Merkava tank.
Militants also captured IDF positions, including armored vehicles: M113 armored personnel carriers, at least one Merkava tank, Namer heavy armored personnel carrier as well as other weapons.
In parallel with the ground attack, Hamas launches rocket attacks on Israeli cities, and the Iron Dome system is actively operating. But the number of launched rockets allows, despite the overall effectiveness of the Israeli anti-missile defense system, to still hit residential buildings. According to the statements of the militants, 5,000 rockets were launched toward the territory of Israel will the IDF says about 2,200 rockets).
Currently, Israel's rapid response forces are trying to contain the ground attack, and reservists have been called up. The government of Israel gathered for an urgent meeting, as a result of which a decision was made to conduct an operation against Hamas, which was called 'Operation Iron Swords'.
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