Dozens of Israeli soldiers and settlers died and hundreds of others were injured during a major cross-border operation launched early on Saturday by Palestinian resistance fighters named as the Aqsa Flood operation.
Mohamed al-Deif commander-in-chief of al-Qassam Brigades of Hamas said the operation was launched in response to Israel’s continued aggression on Jerusalem’s Aqsa Mosque.
Deif said 5000 rockets have already been fired into Israel with Israelis reporting hearing explosions across the country including Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
The Israeli army has said it is in a state of war and has begun air strikes on Gaza.
“It was a combined ground raid which happened through paragliders through the sea and through the ground” Israeli military sources said.
The Israeli military has called up thousands of reservists for Gaza as well as northern Israel and the occupied West Bank.
Footage circulating online appeared to show Palestinian fighters in Israeli military bases as well as crossing into Israel on motorbikes through a hole in the boundary fence.
Israel’s police chief said there were 21 “active confrontation locations in southern Israel” with army special forces present at the scene.
