War grips Israel, Gaza after surprise Hamas attack and Israeli retaliation

John Yang:

Good evening, I'm John Yang. Tonight months of escalating tensions between Israelis and Palestinians have erupted into a firestorm. In an unprecedented surprise attack, the militant Hamas rulers of Gaza sent dozens of fighters into Israel by land, sea and air. Gun battles raged for hours and communities across southern Israel and officials on both sides say Israeli soldiers and civilians are now captives in Gaza.

Israel responded with airstrikes on Gaza cities, flattening Hamas offices and residential buildings. At this hour at least 200 Israelis are reported dead and 1,100 wounded. Palestinian officials say at least 198 Palestinians are dead and 1,600 wounded most from fighting in Israel.

Tonight special correspondent and Nurit Ben is in Tel Aviv. And we should warn you that some of the images in her report are disturbing.

Nurit Ben:

Terror and carnage on Israel streets as rockets from Hamas filled.

Golan, Resident of Ashkelon (through translator): At around six in the morning a rocket fell here near the house. Everything got burnt. The house was destroyed. We live in a reality that's not real.

Nurit Ben:

Israeli sheltered in place as dozens of Hamas gunmen entered Israeli border towns. Civilians are sharing videos on social media of unprecedented scenes, heavily armed militants going house to house firing machine guns under the cover of heavy rocket fire.

These videos have been reported in Israeli media but are unconfirmed by PBS. This video from Hamas shows how militant paragliders were also able to circumvent Israel's heavily fortified border. Gazans also broke through the border fence separating the narrow strip from Israel.

The Israel Defense Forces said Hamas had kidnapped Israeli soldiers and civilians. Hamas said it was holding scores of hostages in Gaza. There were also unverified videos of Gazans purportedly stomping on an Israeli soldiers body and Hamas militants capturing women and children. Israel responded with airstrikes on Gaza.

Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister, Israel (through translator):

Since this morning, the State of Israel has been at war. Our first objective is to clear out enemy forces. The second objective is to exact an immense price from the enemy.

Nurit Ben:

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with President Joe Biden Saturday.

Joe Biden, U.S. President:

The world's seen appalling images, thousands of rockets in a space of hours, raining down on his holy cities. When I spoke with Prime Minister Netanyahu this morning, I told him the United States stands with the people of Israel in the face of these terrorist assaults. Israel has the right to defend itself and his people full stop.

Nurit Ben:

As Israel declared war, Palestinian civilians sought shelter.

Amal Abu Daka, Resident of Gaza (through translator): Of course, we are in fear. They're afraid of what they'll do, they might wipe us off the face of the earth.

Nurit Ben:

The attacks came one day after the 50th anniversary of what Israel calls the Yom Kippur War. In 1973, Syrian and Egyptian forces launched a surprise attack on Israel. Tonight, many Israelis are likening the intelligence to that war.

Today, Hamas supporters celebrated the attacks, as Commander Muhammad Deif urged Palestinians everywhere to fight.

Muhammad Deif, Hamas Military Commander (through translator):

This day is the great revolution day to put an end to the last occupation and last apartheid regime in the world.

Nurit Ben:

All of this is happening I mean deep division inside Israel with 10 months of mass protests against this government's judicial reforms. But in a statement this evening, opposition leader Yair Lapid announced an offer to form an emergency unity government with Benjamin Netanyahu. Lapid saying that the Prime Minister knows that with the current extreme and dysfunctional government, he says he cannot manage a war.

Now Netanyahu is indicated he is open to an emergency unity government but not without those far right ministers. And that is likely a no go. John.

John Yang:

Nurit, I know you told us that you're still hearing sirens, you're still hearing explosions. You're in Tel Aviv. Just tell us, what is it like in Israel right now, tonight

Nurit Ben:

Really is hard to overstate the shock and terror, quite frankly, that this coordinated surprise attack has caused the shaping up to be clearly the worst ever terror attack on Israeli civilians, and also the biggest intelligence failure since the Yom Kippur War half a century ago.

As you also mentioned, the rocket fire we've been hearing that recently, late into this evening, rockets actually landing in four different locations in central Israel, including in Tel Aviv with some injuries reported. So you know, John, one of the surreal parts of this day has been listening to Israeli television and radio news throughout the day. And I think that's a sort of good barometer of how Israeli citizens have been feeling.

It's sort of turned into a helpline with really desperate people calling in sharing their stories and asking for information about their loved ones about people that they could not track down. And really even now, some 18 hours after Hamas launched those attacks, there is an incredibly thick fog of war. And maybe the only thing is that we are far away from the end of this war.

John Yang:

Nurit Ben in Tel Aviv on a day to remember in in Israel. Nurit, thank you very much and please stay safe.