Jerusalem, Oct 8 (AP) Israeli soldiers are battling Hamas fighters in the streets of southern Israel and launching airstrikes on Gaza, a day after an unprecedented surprise attack by Hamas fighters.
In northern Israel a brief exchange of strikes with Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group raised fears of a broader conflict. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declared that Israel is “at war.”
PALESTINIANS SEEK REFUGE IN UN SCHOOLS
The UN agency for Palestinian Refugees, UNRWA, said over 20,000 people were sheltering in 44 of its schools around Gaza by Saturday evening.
“The number (of displaced) is rapidly increasing," said Inas Hamdan, acting public information officer in Gaza.
The agency said three of its schools suffered “collateral” damage from Israeli airstrikes. The agency also said its operations of nine water wells around the Gaza Strip were stopped early Saturday. Operations in three wells resumed Sunday, said Hamdan. The agency's food distribution centres, which provide for over 540,000 of Gaza residents, have been closed since Saturday.
In an UNRWA school in the Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood northwest of Gaza city center, residents described overnight Israeli strikes that hit the school's courtyard causing panic and light injuries among those sheltering there.
At another school serving as a shelter in central Gaza city, people were piling blankets and food stuff in the three-story building. New arrivals brought in mattresses, packing their children into small and crowded classrooms.
“We didn't know where to go,” said Umm Mohammad, or mother of Mohammad, a resident of a district on the eastern borders of Gaza. She described waking up in the middle of the night to screams, strikes and calls for evacuation. “We arrived at the schools miraculously because there was no transport.”
MEDIA REPORTS: ISRAELI DEATH TOLL STANDS AT 600
The death toll in Israel following a surprise attack by the militant group Hamas stands at 600, according to several Israeli media outlets.
The Kan public broadcaster and Channel 12, as well as the Haaretz and Times of Israel newspapers, reported the toll Sunday.
There has been no official confirmation of the number of deaths on the Israeli side since the fighting erupted early Saturday.
Palestinian officials say more than 300 people have been killed in Gaza, without differentiating between fighters and civilians.
Hamas gunmen used explosives to break through the border fence enclosing Gaza on Saturday, then crossed with motorcycles, pickup trucks, paragliders and speed boats on the coast.
LEADERS OF EGYPT, JORDAN DISCUSS CRISIS
The leaders of Israel's neighbours, Egypt and Jordan, discussed the ongoing fighting between Israel and the Palestinians.
According to a statement by the Egyptian president, President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi received a phone call from King Abdullah II of Jordan.
Both leaders agreed on working to avoid further deterioration of the situation, the statement said.
Both Egypt and Jordan are close allies with the US and are the first Arab nations to establish diplomatic ties with Israel.
The latest round of violence began with an unprecedented surprise attack in which Hamas militants raced into Israel, killing hundreds of people and taking captives back to Gaza.
Israel responded by rushing troops to the border area and launching airstrikes across the blockaded territory. Palestinian officials say more than 300 Gazans have been killed.
EXPLOSIONS AND AIRSTRIKES IN RAFAH
In the southern Gaza town of Rafah on Sunday, residents heard a loud explosion, apparently from an Israeli airstrike that hit a target close to the borders with Egypt. It was not immediately clear what was targeted. Residents said a house in the area had been evacuated.
Israel carried out dozens of airstrikes in Rafah overnight. One of the strikes hit three homes in one of the most crowded refugee camps, Shaboura, killing 19 members of the same family, according to a family member who posted their names on his social media. Surviving family members and neighbours filled al-Farouk mosque, holding funeral prayers as the bodies of those killed wrapped in white shrouds lined the floor. The crowd then marched to the nearby cemetery for burial, some carrying the bodies.
Also on Sunday, loudspeakers from mosques and moving cars in Rafah blared with condolences and praise for fighters from Hamas, believed to be natives of Rafah, who were killed during the assault on Israel.
THE POPE CALLS FOR THE VIOLENCE TO STOP
Pope Francis on Sunday expressed “apprehension and pain at what is happening in Israel, where violence is again exploding even faster, causing hundreds of deaths and injuries.”
Speaking to the faithful in St Peter's Square, the pope offered prayers for the victims and their families “and for all those who are experiencing hours of terror and anguish.” The pontiff called on the attacks by both sides to stop. “Terrorism and war don't bring solutions, only death. War is a defeat. Every war is a defeat."
ISLAMIC BLOC CONDEMNS ISRAELI MILITARY AGGRESSION'
The world's largest bloc of Muslim countries has condemned what it refers to as “Israeli military aggression” amid ongoing fighting between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
The Saudi-based Organisation of Islamic Cooperation said Sunday that it is “greatly concerned about the developments on the ground and the dangerous Israeli escalation in the occupied Palestinian territory”.
The 57-member bloc went on to condemn “the Israeli military aggression that led to the fall of hundreds of martyrs and wounded among the Palestinian people”.
The latest round of violence began with an unprecedented surprise attack in which Hamas militants raced into Israel, killing hundreds of people and taking captives back to Gaza.
Israel responded by rushing troops to the border area and launching airstrikes across the blockaded territory. Palestinian officials say more than 300 Gazans have been killed.
HEZBOLLAH REPLACE DESTROYED TENT THAT HAD LED TO TENSIONS
Lebanon's state-run National News Agency says Hezbollah fighters have set up a tent in a disputed area along the country's tense southern border hours after an Israeli drone destroyed another one in the same place.
Hezbollah initially erected the tent over the summer in a disputed area along Lebanon's border with Syria's Israeli-occupied Golan Heights that Lebanon claims is Lebanese territory.
That has led to tensions with Israel over the past months and the U.N. has been working to persuade Hezbollah to remove the tent.
Earlier Sunday, Hezbollah fired dozens of rockets and shells at three Israeli positions in the disputed area of Chebaa Farms and Kfar Chouba hills and Israel's military fired back using armed drones.
ROMANIA REPATRIATES HUNDREDS OF CITIZENS AND OTHER FOREIGNERS
Romania's Ministry of Foreign Affairs says that 346 Romanian citizens and other foreigners were repatriated from Israel overnight on two separate flights.
The ministry said Sunday that a mobile consular team was sent to Ben Gurion Airport from the Romanian Embassy in Tel Aviv and Romania's representative office in Ramallah to provide consular assistance.
On Saturday, the ministry “strongly condemned” Hamas' rocket attacks against Israel, “including against the civilian population, terrorist infiltrations and hostage-taking.” It said Israel has a sovereign right to defend itself.
MEDIA REPORTS: EGYPTIAN POLICEMAN OPENS FIRE ON ISRAELI TOURISTS
An Egyptian policeman opened fire on Israeli tourists Sunday in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, killing at least two Israelis and one Egyptian, local media reported.
Extra News television channel, which has close ties to Egyptian security agencies, quoted an unidentified security official as saying that another person was injured in the attack which took place in the Pompey's Pillar tourist site in Alexandria. The suspected assailant was detained, it reported.
Israel's Zaka rescue service reported two people killed in Alexandria.
EGYPT INTERVENES OVER ISRAELI HOSTAGES
An Egyptian official says Israel has sought help from Cairo to ensure the safety of abducted Israelis, and Egypt's intelligence chief had contacted Hamas and the Islamic Jihad militant group to seek information.
According to the official, Palestinian leaders claimed that they don't yet have a “full picture” of hostages, but said those who were brought to Gaza were taken to “secure locations” across the territory.
“It's clear that they have a big number - several dozens,” said the official, who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to brief media.
Egyptian intelligence also spoke with both sides about a potential cease-fire, he added, but Israel was not open to a truce “at this stage”. (AP) SCY
SCY