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Dozens of rockets were fired from the blockaded Gaza Strip towards Israel. (Image: AFP)
The Israeli army blared sirens in Jerusalem following a barrage of rockets fired from the blockaded Gaza Strip into Israel.
The armed wing of Hamas launched Operation Al-Aqsa Flood and fired around 5,000 missiles into central and southern Israel on Saturday morning. Israel also declared a state of war after the missile strikes killed one woman.
The Palestinian militant group has also taken Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) soldiers hostage, according to reports from Israel-based news outlets. The Israeli army responded by striking a number of Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip in retaliation to the rocket fire.
“We decided to put an end to all the crimes of the occupation (Israel), their time for rampaging without being held accountable is over. We announce Operation Al-Aqsa Flood and we fired, in the first strike of 20 minutes, more than 5,000 rockets,” Hamas said, according to AFP.
“We warned the enemy not to continue his aggression against the Al-Aqsa Mosque. The age of the enemy’s aggression without a response is over. I call on Palestinians everywhere in the West Bank and within the Green Line to launch an attack without restraint. Go to all the streets. I call on Muslims everywhere to launch an attack,” Mohammed Deif, the head of Hamas’ military wing, issued a statement.
The AFP in its report said that rockets streamed across the sky repeatedly after the first launches from multiple locations across Gaza in the wee hours of early morning (local time). A sixty-year old woman died in Kfar Aviv when a missile hit her directly and a building in southern Ashkelon was damaged.
There are reports that 10 Israeli soldiers have died in attacks across Israeli cities.
Meanwhile, Palestinian militants have reportedly taken over a police station in Sderot and a shootout is going on.
The Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant declared a special state of emergency in a radius of 80 km from the Gaza Strip border after the IDF and the Mossad were caught napping by the surprise attack which the Hamas claims is a retaliation for the aggression against Al-Aqsa Mosque.
A report by Israeli newspaperHaaretz said Hamas terrorists used paragliders and forcibly broke through gates used by the IDF forces near the Gaza Strip border. Terrorists from Hamas were seen moving on foot in the southern city of Sderot, as per videos short by residents living in the area.
Israel’s pilots and reservists have suspended their protests against the judicial overhaul and have decided to resume their reserve duties with troops now on their way to their respective squadrons.
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