Israel is hammering Gaza with airstrikes, hitting hundreds of targets and reducing neighborhoods to rubble, as new atrocities are uncovered in its territory after a devastating surprise attack by Hamas militants.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it had “more or less” secured the border with Gaza by Tuesday, after Hamas sent fighters pouring into Israeli territory on Saturday. At least 1,200 people were killed in Israel and thousands more injured in the militant group’s onslaught, according to public broadcaster Kan.
During an inspection of the front line along Israel’s border with Gaza on Tuesday, Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said he has “released all restraints” for the IDF troops in their fight against Hamas.
“They will regret this moment – Gaza will never return to what it was,” Gallant said
As Israeli troops regain ground, details are gradually emerging of the horror unleashed during the weekend attack. More than 100 bodies have been found in the Israeli kibbutz Be’eri, a farming community near Gaza, which was one of first places targeted by militants on Saturday. Bodies were also found at the nearby Kfar Aza kibbutz, according to an Israeli general.
“I have heard during my childhood about the pogroms in Europe, the Holocaust, of course. All my family came from Europe, they are survivors. But I never thought I would see in my eyes pictures and things like that,” Major Gen. Itai Veruv told CNN.
Israel, which has formally declared war on Hamas, is now battering the densely-inhabited strip with air strikes that have killed at least 900 people, including hundreds of children, women, and entire families, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. It said thousands more had been injured.