Hamas attack on Israel: Israeli army responds, more than 1,000 dead in strikes

Israel announced that it had struck “more than 500 targets” of Hamas in the Gaza Strip on Monday, October 9, two days after the Palestinian armed group’s offensive. The toll is very heavy on both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian border.

Two days after the attack launched by Hamas, a Palestinian armed force considered by the West as a terrorist group, Israel responded. The IDF, the Israeli army, announced this Monday, October 9, that it had struck "more than 500 Hamas targets" located in the Gaza Strip overnight. While exchanges of airstrikes continue, fighting is also underway in “7 or 8” locations around the border between Israel and the Gaza Strip.

The attack carried out by Hamas on Israel and the numerous airstrikes launched by both sides are responsible for a very heavy toll. The latest figures communicated by the Israeli army show more than 700 dead and 2,150 injured, a large number of victims plus dozens of hostages according to the IDF. “Women, children, babies, the elderly and the disabled” are being held by Palestinian forces, Israel said. Hamas is holding “more than 100 prisoners” according to the Government Press Office (GPO). The fighting also left 413 dead and 2,300 injured in the enclave of the Gaza Strip according to local authorities.

Some victims are foreign nationals. A French woman died in the Hamas offensive on Israel on Saturday October 7. The Quai d'Orsay has indicated that other nationals present in Israel have not been located since the attack. Americans, a Canadian, Nepalese and Thais were also victims of the strikes.