Photos on this post were just taken in Gaza by Anas Alsharif and are sent to us at 6 am today, 11 October 2023, by Adel Zaanoon, the most senior member of the NCF in Gaza.

The Israel-Palestine conflict reached new heights this weekend as Hamas (Harkah Moqawamah Islamiyah or the Islamic Resistance Action Group) launched an unprecedented assault on Israel’s soil.

Their actions represent the culmination of years of escalating violence and increasingly bellicose rhetoric on both sides, backdropped by settlement expansion.

Muhammad Deif, the leader of Hamas’ military wing, has cited Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and the indefinite internment of thousands of Palestinians in Israel’s jails, in addition to recent police raids on the Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, as the key motives for the attack. The intent behind the “operation,” he says, is to show the enemy “that the time of their rampaging without accountability has been ended.”

Here, then, are the facts of the situation as they currently stand.

Chronology of the Attack

Just after sunrise on Saturday, Hamas launched 2,200 rockets towards southern and central Israel from their base in the tiny coastal enclave of Gaza. Some of these missiles managed to reach as far as the cities of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, leaving a trail of destruction in their wake.

Under cover of this barrage of rockets, dozens of Hamas gunmen infiltrated dozens of Israel’s towns and army bases, entering by land, sea and air, shooting and seizing civilian and military personnel indiscriminately.

Israel Retaliates

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded with a formal declaration of war

on Hamas. “We are at war, and we will win,” he announced in an address to Israel’s people on Saturday.

He warned that his country would exact “mighty vengeance” on Hamas, vowing “our enemy will pay a price the type of which it has never known.” Thus, he opened the way for Israel’s large-scale, multi-pronged counter-offensive, operation “Iron Swords”

As Israel’s land forces battle with Hamas fighters  on the ground, its aerial bombardment of the Gaza Strip rages overhead. Thus far, Israel’s Defence Force, the IDF, claims it has struck over 400 targets in the enclave, including ten residential towers said to hold offices or other assets associated with Hamas and other militia groups (the most important of the others being Islamic Jihad) headquartered in the Strip.  Compounding these efforts, on Monday, Israel’s defence minister sanctioned a “complete siege” on the Gaza Strip, saying authorities will cut electricity and block the entry of food and fuel.

In retaliation, Hamas has threatened to execute a civilian hostage every time an airstrike hit Gazans “in their homes without warning.”

The Senior Palestinian member of the Next Century Foundation, Ms Mona Al Ghussein, commented, “What I find beyond the tragedy and the debate as to whether this was wise is why what is never at the forefront of debate is why there has been the loss of a homeland since 1948 and the lack of the political will to resolve this.”

The Senior Egyptian member of the NCF, Adel Darwish, puts the timing of the attack down to the catalyst of the putative Saudi-Israel deal and regards this as a “terrible miscalculation” on the part of Hamas.

Meanwhile the NCF’s fiends in Gaza report that Israel’s bombing was so very bad last night. Our Gazan friends are clearly absolutely terrified. They seek refuge in places like Shifa hospital.

The International Community Responds

Politicians and leaders across the globe have united in denouncing Hamas’ attack and voicing their solidarity with Israel.

The United States has condemned the attack by “Hamas terrorists” and committed itself to ensuring that Israel has the wherewithal to defend itself. The USA has sent two aircraft carriers to the Eastern Mediterranean.

Meanwhile, writing on X (formerly known as Twitter), the head of the European Union’s executive commission, Ursula von der Leyen, characterised the attack as “terrorism in its most despicable form.”

The British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he was “shocked” by the attacks, affirming “Israel has an absolute right to defend itself.”

Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry also acknowledged Israel’s “right to defend itself and its people,” and its Russian counterpart called for an “immediate ceasefire” and both parties’ agreement to a “negotiation process aimed at establishing a comprehensive, lasting and long-awaited peace.”

The United Nations Security (UNSC) convened behind closed doors in an emergency session to discuss the war but failed to achieve the consensus required for a joint statement.

Meanwhile Hezbollah fired a limited number of rockets from Lebanon in what was a very contained gesture of support to the Palestinians.

Loss of Life

Although precise figures remain elusive, the loss of life has been devastating: as of Tuesday morning, more than 900 Israelis have been killed, and thousands more have been injured. In addition, Hamas fighters are reported to be holding as many as 150 people hostage in locations across Gaza, many of them civilians (but including a significant number of soldiers), most of them young people in their twenties.

As for Palestinian dead, we believe the following figures to be a very considerable underestimate but the Ministry of Health – Gaza Strip has just issued updated statistics for Palestinian dead for the fifth day:

Wednesday…at 8.25 am: “950 citizens were martyred and 5,000 others were injured with various injuries.”

As the death toll continues to rise, homes and cities continue to fall, and communities continue to mourn, there is little one can do but hope for a swift end to the present hostilities and a return to the ideal of the two-state solution.

Gaza government media office’s Comments

The head of the NCF in Gaza, Adel Zaanoon, forwarded this comment from the government on Gaza as issued by them this morning:

The Gaza Strip is facing a humanitarian catastrophe as the power plant is completely shut down within hours due to running out of fuel, threatening to plunge the Strip into total darkness and make it impossible to continue providing all basic life services, all of which depend on electricity, and it will not be possible to operate them partially with generators in light of the prevention of fuel supplies from Rafah Gate.

This catastrophic situation creates a humanitarian crisis for all residents of the Gaza Strip, which is further exacerbated by the occupation’s continued aggression and destruction of entire residential neighborhoods with hundreds of tons of explosives, and the bombing of citizens’ homes over their heads, in what can be described as the dirtiest crime of collective punishment against defenseless civilians in modern history.

In the face of this reality that threatens the lives of more than 2.3 million people, we launch a very urgent distress call to the international community and its humanitarian and relief organizations, with the need to move quickly to stop this crime against humanity and this multi-form mass murder, and the need to provide the Gaza Strip with all the means of life, and not abandon it. Its residents are hostage to the killing tools used by the occupation.

Government Media Office
Wednesday, October 11, 2023 AD

Israel issues list of International Casualties

List of International Casualties from The Palestinian attack at the weekend (some dual nationals, some were just visiting)
🇺🇸 USA – 11
🇬🇧 Great Britain – 10+, more missing
🇫🇷 France – 1, more missing
🇨🇦 Canada – 1, 2 missing
🇩🇪 Germany – 1+
🇷🇺 Russia – 1
🇺🇦 Ukraine – 2
🇹🇭 Thailand – 12, 11 missing
🇳🇵 Nepal – 10
🇰🇭 Cambodia – 1
🇧🇷 Brazil – 3 injured
🇵🇾 Paraguay – 2
🇲🇽 Mexico – 2 hostages
🇮🇪 Ireland – 1 injured
🇹🇿 Tanzania – 2