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This was surely planned out months in advance, as it seems like a sophisticated operation, where Hamas fighters ran across the border for several miles into Israel and reportedly went door to door within Israel. It was probably timed with attempts to shut down the US government and McCarthy’s ouster as US House Speaker to make it more difficult for the US to help Israel. The US House Speaker has “the power of the purse”. As well, the US Congress has the right to declare war.

This was a massive and shocking intelligence failure by Israel. Any possible connections between ostensible US Congressman Matt Gaetz, his apparent puppeteer Steve Bannon, and Ehud Barak, who was involved in orchestrating the protests in Israel, need to be examined. Chaos weakens national security, as well as the ability to help allies.

This is why some people want McConnell gone – he and/or his team are smart enough to connect the dots. One cannot help but wonder if someone had slipped something into his food or drink, when he had those momentary lapses a few weeks ago. “The terrorists responsible for this ongoing war against Israel were trained and equipped by Iran, the same terror state providing lethal drones to Russia to attack Ukraine…. ”Failure to support friends under attack – in Kyiv or Tel Aviv – will only embolden the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism and fellow authoritarians who watch closely for a weakening of American leadership and Western solidarity.” https://www.republicanleader.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/mcconnell-statement-on-terrorist-violence-against-israel

Quote: “Israel’s army relies heavily on reservists, thousands of whom had pledged to stop reporting for duty in protest against a judicial overhaul being pushed by Netanyahu’s far-right allies. On Saturday, however, political differences were put aside as reservists scrambled to army bases.” https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/oct/07/hamas-launches-surprise-attack-on-israel-as-palestinian-gunmen-reported-in-south

“Hamas surprise attack a ‘historic failure’ for Israeli intelligence services: The Palestinian Islamist group Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israel on Saturday, firing thousands of rockets from the Gaza Strip into Israel, as dozens of fighters infiltrated the heavily fortified border in several locations by air, land and sea. The offensive caught the country completely off guard and represents a “historic failure” for Israeli intelligence services, according to Middle East expert David Khalfa“. 
Issued on: 07/10/2023 – 16:56 https://www.france24.com/en/middle-east/20231007-hamas-surprise-attack-a-historic-failure-for-israeli-intelligence-services

“McConnell Statement on Terrorist War Against Israel 10.07.23
LOUISVILLE, KY – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) released the following statement regarding today’s terrorist war against Israel:
“Today’s terrorist violence against Israel is a reminder of the evil that motivates Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and their patrons in Tehran.

“The United States and the civilized world must stand in solidarity as a fellow democracy defends its sovereignty and its citizens and must unequivocally condemn these vicious attacks against civilian populations. Terror on Israeli soil is only the sharpest edge of a concerted terrorist effort that threatens the United States, our partners in the Middle East, and free societies across the world.

“The terrorists responsible for this ongoing war against Israel were trained and equipped by Iran, the same terror state providing lethal drones to Russia to attack Ukraine.  There must be consequences for those who conduct or support such terror. 

”Failure to support friends under attack – in Kyiv or Tel Aviv – will only embolden the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism and fellow authoritarians who watch closely for a weakening of American leadership and Western solidarity.”
### https://www.republicanleader.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/mcconnell-statement-on-terrorist-violence-against-israel

“Analysts say these events are being keenly watched by U.S. adversaries like Russia and China. And, they said, Iran is very much involved.

“It’s very important to note that all these groups have one thing in common and that’s Iran,” said Joe Truzman, a research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Long War Journal.

“It’s absolutely in Russia’s interest to create chaos in the Middle East,” said Mark Dubowitz, CEO of the think tank. He added: “It’s a big distraction from the U.S. effort to support Ukraine. Certainly the Chinese are going to be enjoying this, too.”

On whether this violence complicates a Biden administration initiative to get Israel and Saudi Arabia to normalize relations, Dubowitz said while that may be Tehran’s intent, that process may not be disrupted so easily.

“I don’t think the Iranian strategy will work here to derail normalization,” he said. “I think normalization from a Saudi perspective is so strategic to [Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman] economically, politically, militarily, from a national security perspective, that he needs normalization and will continue to move forward.” Excerpt from VOA article discussing Biden’s response: https://www.voanews.com/a/biden-condemns-deadly-israel-terror-attacks-affirms-rock-solid-support-/7301219.html


-Link: https://youtu.be/07vNJ2Gplag

Quote: “Israel’s army relies heavily on reservists, thousands of whom had pledged to stop reporting for duty in protest against a judicial overhaul being pushed by Netanyahu’s far-right allies. On Saturday, however, political differences were put aside as reservists scrambled to army bases.” Read: “Israel and Hamas at war after surprise attacks from Gaza Strip: Twenty-two Israelis confirmed dead so far and 545 injured, with death toll likely to rise, after aerial and ground attack Bethan McKernan in Jerusalem” Sat 7 Oct 2023 12.49 CEST https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/oct/07/hamas-launches-surprise-attack-on-israel-as-palestinian-gunmen-reported-in-south

“Hamas attacks Israel and Netanyahu says his country is “at war”
October 07, 2023 Voice of America – Editors
The Palestinian Islamist group Hamas launched the largest attack on Israel in years on Saturday, killing at least 100 people and taking dozens of hostages in a surprise assault that combined armed men who crossed the territory of the Jewish State with a flood of rockets fired from Gaza.

Israel said that the Iran-backed group had declared war while its Army confirmed combat with militants in several Israeli cities and military bases near Gaza and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised to retaliate.

“Our enemy will pay a price he has never known,” he said. “We are at war and we will win it.” The Israeli network N12 News reported that at least 100 people died in the attacks. A Reuters photographer saw several corpses lying on the streets of the city of Sderot, in the south of the country.

Hundreds of Israelis have been injured, the Ministry of Health said.

The Israeli Army reported that it had responded with airstrikes in Gaza, where witnesses reported that strong explosions had been heard and that several deaths had been transferred to hospitals. He added that the naval forces had killed dozens of Palestinian militants who were trying to infiltrate Israel by sea.

The deputy head of Hamas, Saleh al-Arouri, told Al Yazira that the group had a large number of Israeli captives in its possession, including high-ranking officials. He claimed that the group had enough captives to force the Jewish state to free all Palestinians from their prisons.

Gaza health authorities declared that 198 Palestinians had died in air strikes, as the bombings reached the center of Gaza City, sending clouds of spiraling black smoke into the sky.

Hamas advocates for the destruction of Israel. Both sides waged a 10-day war in 2021.
The attack involved an unprecedented infiltration into Israel of an unknown number of armed Hamas men from the Gaza Strip, and the hardest blow to the Jewish State in the conflict with the Palestinians since the Second Intifada suicide attacks about two decades ago.

The events occurred a day after Israel commemorated the 50th anniversary of the 1973 war that brought the country to the brink of catastrophic defeat in a surprise attack by Syria and Egypt.

The militant Islamic Jihad group declared that it had joined the attacks and held several Israeli soldiers captive, and Hamas’s social media accounts showed images of what were said to be Israeli captives taken alive to Gaza.

Images posted by Hamas on its Telegram account showed its fighters taking Israeli soldiers out of a tank.

The Israeli press reported clashes between Palestinian combatant gangs and security forces in cities in southern Israel. The head of the Israeli police said that there were “21 active scenes” in the south of the country.

In Gaza, people rushed to buy provisions in anticipation of the days of conflict that were coming. Some evacuated their homes and went to shelters.

Attacks from various points in the Gaza Strip

The upsurge in violence began with a launch of rockets fired from various points of the Gaza Strip from 06H30 (03H30 GMT) this Saturday. The armed wing of Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack and assured that thousands of projectiles were fired.

The Israeli Army responded by attacking Hamas targets in Gaza by air, and was also fighting on Israeli soil, near the Palestinian enclave, against militiamen infiltrated from Gaza by land, sea and air.

“There was a combined attack with the help of paragliders,” Israeli army spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Richard Hecht, told the press, warning that “something big” was happening.

The Israeli emergency service, Magen David Adom, equivalent of the Red Cross, reported 22 people shot dead in Israel during clashes with Palestinian militias, in addition to “hundreds of wounded.”

Among the dead is the president of the regional council of the Israeli localities bordering the northeast of the Gaza Strip, who died in a shooting with Palestinian attackers.

The armed wing of Hamas published a video in which it shows three men dressed as civilians who, he said, were captured by their fighters.

“Operation Flood”

The Israeli armed forces reported the activation of sirens in the south of the country, while the police asked the population to stay near the bomb shelters. The sirens were also activated in Jerusalem, according to AFP journalists.

The armed wing of Hamas claimed the attack of projectiles and assured that more than 5,000 rockets were launched.

“We decided to put an end to all the crimes of the (Israeli) occupation; their time of destroying without accountability is over,” the group declared. “We announced the Al Aqsa Flood operation and fired, in the first 20-minute attack, more than 5,000 rockets.”

The Israeli army reported the firing of at least 2,200 rockets from Gaza until 10:30 a.m. local time (07H30 GMT).

Hundreds of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip left their homes to move away from border areas with Israel. Men, women and children fled with blankets and food, most of them from the northeastern part of the Palestinian enclave, an AFP journalist said.

The escalation of violence aroused numerous international reactions.

Russia called for an “immediate” ceasefire, after saying that it had contacted “the whole world (…), the Israelis, the Palestinians and the Arabs.”

The European Union condemned “unambiguously” the attacks “by Hamas terrorists,” and expressed its “solidarity with Israel,” which has “the right to defend itself,” said the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.

France, the United Kingdom, Germany and Spain condemned the attacks of Hamas and both Italy and Ukraine supported Israel’s right to defend itself. India expressed its “solidarity” with the Hebrew State.

Hamas instead earned the praise of two sworn enemies of Israel in the region: the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah, and Iran, through the mouth of a military adviser to the supreme guide.

Border protests

Israel has maintained a tough blockade against the Gaza Strip, a impoverished and overpopulated Palestinian territory, since Hamas assumed all power in 2007.

Since then, there have been several devastating wars between Palestinian fighters and Israeli forces. The two sides experienced tensions in September, when Israel closed the border for Palestinian workers for two weeks.

The border closure was criticized as a collective punishment that harmed thousands of Palestinian workers, who can earn more money working in Israel than in Gaza, where unemployment is very high.

The reopening of the border aroused the hope of an improvement in the situation in Gaza, where 2.3 million people live.

In May, an exchange of Israeli aerial bombardments and rockets from Gaza caused the death of 34 Palestinians and one Israeli. [With information from AFP, The Associated Press and Reuters)” See Spanish original here: https://www.vozdeamerica.com/a/hamas-ataca-israel-y-netanyahu-dice-que-su-pais-esta-en-guerra-/7300864.html
Note that it’s very difficult to find quality news where re-use is allowed. VOA English is very lazy and only republished Reuters or AP or AFP (apart from the article discussing Biden). This is why this blog is translating from VOA Spanish to have a quality summary of events for readers in a timely manner. Voz de America and VOA China also have additional regional materials of importance.