TRANSCRIPT
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed "mighty vengeance" after Hamas militants launched thousands of rockets and sent fighters into Israel in an attack that is being described as unprecedented.
Israel’s national rescue service says at least 200 people were killed and at least 1,100 more were injured.
This includes both military personnel and civilians.
"Citizens of Israel, we are at war, not in an operation or in (fighting) rounds, but at war. This morning, Hamas launched a murderous surprise attack against the State of Israel and its citizens. We have been in this since the early morning hours. I convened the heads of the security establishment and ordered – first of all – to clear out the communities that have been infiltrated by terrorists.”
The Israeli military has performed a series of airstrikes on Gaza City and Hamas military targets.
Palestinian authorities reported at least 198 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip and at least 1,610 wounded.
A Palestinian resident, Kamal Zarif, shares his opinion
“This is natural and expected because of the practices of the occupation over so many years, like the killing of people in Gaza, Nablus, Jenin, Tulkarm, and what has happening in Al-Aqsa Mosque with the attempted Judaization of it. This pains the Arab world, the Islamic world."
Israeli police reported several rocket impact sites in the area of Tel Aviv, the largest city in Israel, where four people are reportedly injured.
And an Israeli airstrike has flattened a high-rise building in central Gaza City.
Hamas militants say they have taken a number of civilian and military as hostages.
International reactions abound.
United States President Joe Biden expressed his support for Israel.
“In the street, in their homes, innocent people murdered, wounded, entire families taken hostage by Hamas just days after Israel marked the holiest of days in the Jewish calendar. It's unconscionable. You know, when I spoke to Prime Minister Netanyahu this morning, I told him the United States stands with the people of Israel in the face of these terrorist assaults. Israel has the right to defend itself and its people. Full stop.”
Here, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese shared his views with the ABC.
"This is an abhorrent attack on Israel, this is indiscriminate. Civilians being targeted, killed, and murdered, and as well, many of them being taken as hostages. This is a dreadful circumstance that people didn't see coming, wasn't foreshadowed. A shock attack."
Other countries have expressed support for the Hamas militants.
In Iran, the capital Tehran saw street celebrations and demonstrators waving Palestinian flags, and a huge mural was installed on a wall hailing what Iranians refer to as the "operation".
