What is known about the battles between Israel and Hamas. Main

For the second day, Israel has been in a state of military conflict. On the morning of October 7, a day after the anniversary of the 1973 Arab-Israeli war, the 50-year-old Palestinian group Hamas began shelling the country from the Gaza Strip under its control, calling it the military operation “Al-Aqsa Flood”.

The militant attack was a response to Israel’s alleged repeated violations of red lines at the Al-Aqsaas mosque, located on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The group’s militants broke into Israeli territory, establishing temporary control over a number of settlements, where they captured hostages from both military and civilians. Vedomosti collected the main news about what is happening in Israel and the Gaza Strip by 12:00 on October 8.

Vedomosti collected the main news about what is happening in Israel and the Gaza Strip by 12:00 on October 8.

On the morning of October 7, the Israeli army announced a “state of readiness for war,” and the country’s Defense Minister Yoav Galant approved the conscription of reservists into the army. An operation called “Iron Swords” was announced in the country. The Israeli army on the morning of October 8 announced the evacuation of all residents on the border with the Gaza Strip to a depth of at least 4 km within 24 hours before the start of a ground military operation there, said the spokesman for the country’s armed forces (IDF), Daniel Hagari.

Fighting in the city of Kfar Aza continues. Hagari said the Israeli army had killed more than 400 Palestinian militants and arrested dozens. According to him, the Israeli Air Force hit 426 Hamas targets in Gaza overnight alone. The IDF later stated that its goal was to take control of Gaza. “We have goals for the next 12 hours: to end the Gaza enclave. Take control of the entire enclave and destroy all terrorists on our territory,” said IDF spokesman Lt. Col. Richard Hecht.

The IDF also officially published the names of 26 dead Israeli soldiers, including the commander of the Nahal infantry brigade, Colonel Jonathan Steinberg.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netenyahu on the social network X (formerly Twitter) on the morning of October 8 announced the destruction of “most” of the attackers and the imminent completion of the cleansing of a number of settlements, including cities, previously captured by Hamas and Islamic Jihad (a group recognized as terrorist and banned in Russia). Ashkelon and Sderot. Netenyahu confirmed the preparation of a large “offensive operation” in Gaza, the goal of which he called “destroying the capabilities of Hamas.” Earlier in the evening, he warned residents of the enclave to leave areas near the group’s facilities, promising to turn them “into ruins.”

According to the latest data from the Israeli Ministry of Health, which leads them in their Telegram channel as of 7:30 Moscow time on October 8, since the start of the Hamas attack, the number of injured and hospitalized citizens of the country has increased to 1864, of which 19 are in critical condition, 326 seriously injured and 359 in condition of moderate severity. The Israeli Embassy in the United States puts the figure at “More than 350 dead” of its citizens and “More than 100 taken hostage.” The West Bank-based Palestinian Health Ministry reported 313 deaths in Gaza in the past 24 hours from retaliatory Israeli airstrikes, including 20 children, and 1,990 wounded.

The Iranian-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah shelled northern Israel on the morning of October 8 “in solidarity with Hamas.” Hezbollah fired mortars from southern Lebanon at three Israeli positions in the area of ​​Mount Dov in the northeast of the country. The IDF carried out retaliatory airstrikes against the group. Its militants have not yet invaded Israeli territory.

On the afternoon of October 7, most European air carriers suspended flights to Israel. Rosaviatsia in the evening of the same day until further notice from 3:00 Moscow time on October 8 introduced restrictions on night flights from Russian airports to Israeli airports “due to the unstable military-political situation. There were no reports of Russian casualties in Israel.