An Israeli soldier prays standing in front of a Merkava tank on the outskirts of the northern town of Kiryat Shmona near the border with Lebanon on Oct. 8, 2023.JALAA MAREY/AFP/Getty Images
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A surprise attack by Hamas on Israel, which combined gunmen breaching security barriers with a barrage of rockets fired from Gaza, was launched at dawn on Saturday during the Jewish high holiday of Simchat Torah.
The attack came 50 years and a day after Egyptian and Syrian forces launched an assault during the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur in an effort to retrieve territory Israel had taken during a brief conflict in 1967.
This is how it took place.
Covering rocket barrage
At about 6.30 a.m., Palestinian Islamist group Hamas fired a huge barrage of rockets across southern Israel, with sirens heard as far away as Tel Aviv and Beersheba.
Hamas said it had fired 5,000 rockets in a first barrage. Israel’s military said 2,500 rockets were fired.
Smoke billowed over residential Israeli areas and people sheltered behind buildings as sirens sounded overhead. At least one woman was reported killed by the rockets.
Hamas launches attack on Israel
As of 12 p.m. ET Oct. 7
Hamas have launched thousands of
rockets at Israel from Gaza as gunmen
infiltrated towns across the south of
the country in a surprise attack they
are calling Operation Al-Aqsa Storm
Ben
Gurion
Airport
Tel Aviv
Hamas gunmen
Rishon
LeTsiyon
ISRAEL
Rocket strikes
Lod
80km
Israeli air strikes
Ramla
Yavne
Kfar Aviv
Ashdod
Mediterranean Sea
Jerusalem
ISRAEL
Ashkelon
GAZA STRIP
Bethlehem
Gaza City
Israel Air Force
hits Hamas
targets
Netiv HaAsara
Sderot
WEST BANK
Kfar Aza
Khan Younis
Clashes
with IDF
Nahal Oz
Be’eri
Re’im
Nir Oz
Ofakim
Magen
Beersheba
Sufa
10km
Militants enter Israel by land, sea and air using paragliders.
Palestinian Islamic Jihad has said its fighters are joining battle
EGYPT
graphic news, Source: Haaretz; BBC; Reuters
Hamas launches attack on Israel
As of 12 p.m. ET Oct. 7
Hamas have launched thousands of
rockets at Israel from Gaza as gunmen
infiltrated towns across the south of
the country in a surprise attack they
are calling Operation Al-Aqsa Storm
Ben
Gurion
Airport
Tel Aviv
Hamas gunmen
Rishon
LeTsiyon
ISRAEL
Rocket strikes
Lod
80km
Israeli air strikes
Ramla
Yavne
Kfar Aviv
Ashdod
Mediterranean Sea
Jerusalem
ISRAEL
Ashkelon
GAZA STRIP
Bethlehem
Gaza City
Israel Air Force
hits Hamas
targets
Netiv HaAsara
Sderot
WEST BANK
Kfar Aza
Khan Younis
Clashes
with IDF
Nahal Oz
Be’eri
Re’im
Nir Oz
Ofakim
Magen
Beersheba
Sufa
10km
Militants enter Israel by land, sea and air using paragliders.
Palestinian Islamic Jihad has said its fighters are joining battle
EGYPT
graphic news, Source: Haaretz; BBC; Reuters
Hamas launches attack on Israel
As of 12 p.m. ET Oct. 7
Hamas have launched thousands of rockets at Israel
from Gaza as gunmen infiltrated towns across the south
of the country in a surprise attack they are calling
Operation Al-Aqsa Storm
Ben
Gurion
Airport
Hamas gunmen
Tel Aviv
Rishon
LeTsiyon
Rocket strikes
ISRAEL
Israeli air strikes
Lod
80km
Ramla
Yavne
Kfar Aviv
Ashdod
Mediterranean Sea
Jerusalem
Ashkelon
ISRAEL
GAZA STRIP
Bethlehem
Gaza City
Israel Air Force
hits Hamas
targets
Netiv HaAsara
Sderot
WEST BANK
Kfar Aza
Khan Younis
Clashes
with IDF
Nahal Oz
Be’eri
Re’im
Nir Oz
Ofakim
Magen
Beersheba
Sufa
Militants enter Israel by land, sea and air using paragliders.
Palestinian Islamic Jihad has said its fighters are joining battle
10km
EGYPT
graphic news, Source: Haaretz; BBC; Reuters
Dawn infiltration
The barrage served as cover for an unprecedented multi-pronged infiltration of fighters, with the Israeli military saying at 7.40 a.m. (0540 GMT) that Palestinian gunmen had crossed into Israel.
Most fighters crossed through breaches in land security barriers separating Gaza and Israel. But at least one was filmed crossing on a powered parachute while a motorboat was filmed heading to Zikim, an Israeli coastal town and military base.
Videos issued by Hamas showed fighters breaching the security fences, with the dim light and low sun suggesting it was at around the time of the rocket barrage.
One video showed at least six motorbikes with fighters crossing through a hole in a metal security barrier.
A photograph released by Hamas showed a bulldozer tearing down a section of security fence.
Palestinians break into the Israeli side of Israel-Gaza border fence after gunmen infiltrated areas of southern Israel, October 7, 2023.STRINGER/Reuters
Fighting at Israeli military bases
Israel’s military said at 10 a.m. that Palestinian fighters had penetrated at least three military installations around the frontier - the Erez border crossing, the Zikim base and the Gaza division headquarters at Reim. It said fighting at Erez and Zikim continued.
Hamas videos showed fighters running towards a burning building near a high concrete wall with a watchtower and fighters apparently overrunning part of an Israeli military facility and shooting from behind a wall.
Several captured Israeli military vehicles were later pictured being driven into Gaza and paraded there.
Palestinians stand by a burning Israeli military watch tower in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023. Dozens of Hamas fighters infiltrated the heavily fortified Israeli border in several locations.Hatem Ali/The Associated Press
Border town raids
Fighters raided the Israeli border town of Sderot and were reported to be in another border community, Be’eri, and the town of Ofakim 30 km east of Gaza, according to Israeli media citing phone calls from residents.
A video verified by Reuters showed several gunmen riding the back of a white pickup truck moving through Sderot.
Many residents of southern Israeli towns have fortified areas in their homes that function as bomb shelters and on Saturday they were using them as panic rooms.
Israel’s military ordered residents to shelter inside, saying on the radio “we will reach you”.
By mid morning Israel’s police chief Yaacov Shabtai said forces were engaging gunmen in 21 locations and at 1.30 p.m. the military said troops were still working to clear communities that had been overrun by gunmen.
Casualties
A Reuters photographer saw bodies on the streets of Sderot. Israeli news media have reported at least 300 Israelis killed and 1,500 wounded.
Hamas videos and unverified images circulating on social media showed dead civilians, Israeli soldiers and Palestinian fighters.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry said Hamas gunmen had gone house-to-house killing civilians.
Palestinian children pick through the damage to their home after Israeli jets destroyed the building adjacent to theirs in Gaza City, Gaza Strip on Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023.Samar Abu Elouf/The New York Times News Service
Taking captives
Israeli media has reported that gunmen have seized hostages in Ofakim. Islamic Jihad said it was holding several Israeli soldiers captive and Hamas social media accounts showed footage of appearing to show captives being taken alive into Gaza.
One video showed three young men in vests, shorts and slippers being marched through a security installation with Hebrew writing on the wall. Other videos showed female captives.
Another showed fighters dragging at least two Israeli soldiers from a military vehicle.
Israeli strikes
At 9.45 a.m., blasts were heard in central Gaza and Gaza city and at 10.00 a.m. Israel’s military spokesperson said the airforce was carrying out strikes in Gaza. Medics in Gaza said dozens of people were killed in the strikes.
Smoke and flames billow after Israeli forces struck a high-rise tower in Gaza City, Oct. 7, 2023.MOHAMMED SALEM/Reuters