Israel’s Cabinet on Sunday formally declared war as the death toll from two days of fighting after a surprise attack by the Palestinian militant group Hamas climbed to over 1,000.
The Biden administration engaged in a frantic round of regional diplomacy to try to contain the fighting as Israeli forces pounded targets in the densely populated Palestinian enclave of Gaza and Lebanese-based Hezbollah units traded fire with Israeli Defense Forces on the country’s northern border as well. CNN reported a fresh round of missile strikes and firings by Israel’s vaunted Iron Dome defensive system Sunday evening.
More than 700 Israelis — the vast majority of them civilians — are now estimated to have died in the wave of missile strikes and ground attacks by Hamas forces targeting border communities and military posts along the Gaza border. At least 400 people are said to have been killed inside Gaza, and the fighting is complicated by the more than 130 Israeli soldiers and civilians said to have been captured as hostages by Hamas.
As the Pentagon ordered a major carrier strike force to the region Sunday, White House National Security Council officials were confirming on background that “several” U.S. citizens were among those killed in the first day of fighting.
“It’s been a very, very hard 24 hours,” said Israel Defense Forces spokesman Lt. Col. Richard Hecht. “We’ve been talking about Hamas for years. Now everybody has gotten a taste of who they are.”
SEE ALSO: Blinken: U.S. citizens killed, possibly kidnapped by Hamas
The IDF said it had hit some 800 targets in Gaza in its response. Particularly hard hit was the northeast town of Beit Hanoun, which Israeli military sources said was a staging ground for Hamas attacks inside Israel. Israeli forces on Sunday were reportedly battling to oust Hamas fighters holding four sites inside Israel, including two kibbutzim that militants had entered, The Associated Press reported.
Just two days old, the crisis had multiplying aftershocks across the region. A U.S. diplomatic drive to end Israel’s long isolation in the region appears to be in a deep freeze, while a divisive domestic political battle inside Israel over judicial reforms and democratic rights has been pushed aside by the national emergency.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken was working the phones and hitting the talk shows Sunday, speaking with his counterparts from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey, among others, during the day.
The U.N. Security Council held a rare emergency meeting Sunday to discuss the fighting in private but did not act on an American demand for an immediate statement condemning what U.S. diplomats called “heinous terrorist attacks committed by Hamas.” Russia, China and several Middle Eastern countries issued general statements deploring the bloodshed and civilian casualties but called on Israel and Hamas to exercise “restraint.”
U.S. and Israeli policymakers will soon confront the question of Iran’s role in the attack. Tehran has long been a financial and military backer of Hamas, Hezbollah and other anti-Israel militant groups, and The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday that Hamas officials were claiming privately that the Iranian regime had given the “green light” for the surprise Hamas attacks Saturday. Iran has long championed the Palestinian cause and heatedly opposed moves by other regional powers to normalize ties with Israel.
As the Cabinet of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu formally declared a “state of war” with Hamas, the Israeli Health Ministry said more than 1,800 people were wounded, with more than 400 listed in serious condition at hospitals.
SEE ALSO: Iran celebrates ‘sacred wrath’ of Hamas attack on Israel
Hamas and the smaller Islamic Jihad group say the Israeli captives will be traded for the release of thousands of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. The captives include soldiers and civilian women, children and elderly, both Israeli and foreign, according AP.
Relations between the Netanyahu government and Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank have deteriorated sharply in recent months, but the extent and sophistication of the Hamas attacks came as a shock to Israel and to private analysts. Hamas officials said their attack, using a code name based on the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, was a response to Israel’s 16-year blockade of the enclave as well as aggressive new settler and legal policies by the nationalist Netanyahu government. They say the policies have undermined the viability of an independent Palestinian state.
Navy to the region
In another fallout from the crisis, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Sunday that he was sending the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier strike group to the region. In addition to the aircraft carrier and its air wing, the Navy’s strike group includes the guided missile cruiser USS Normandy and four guided missile destroyers: the USS Thomas Hudner, the USS Ramage, the USS Carney and the USS Roosevelt.
“In addition, the United States government will be rapidly providing the Israel Defense Forces with additional equipment and resources, including munitions,” Mr. Austin said. “The first security assistance will begin moving today and arriving in the coming days.”
Sen. Tom Cotton, Arkansas Republican, said he had no doubt that the IDF could decimate Hamas inside the Gaza Strip.
“But they need the freedom of action and time to destroy Hamas. That takes the form of American military, diplomatic and political support,” Mr. Cotton said on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures.” “If President Biden can stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes, I hope [he] can stand with Israel for as long as it takes.”
While the fighting continued in Israel’s south, U.N. peacekeepers said they detected several rockets fired from southeast Lebanon toward Israeli-occupied territory and artillery fire from Israel to Lebanon in response.
“We are in contact with authorities on both sides of the Blue Line, at all levels, to contain the situation and avoid a more serious escalation,” officials with the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon said. “We urge everyone to exercise restraint and make use of UNIFIL’s liaison and coordination mechanisms to de-escalate and prevent a fast deterioration of the security situation.”
Analysts feared the activity in the north would open into a full-scale military operation, forcing the Israel Defense Forces to tackle a multifront war.
Hezbollah has about 150,000 rockets in southern Lebanon, most concealed inside civilian buildings, and precision-guided missiles that can change course during flight, according to the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
“Iran has a deliberate strategy, long in the planning and execution, of surrounding Israel with a ring of fire on multiple fronts — none more dangerous than Israel’s northern border with Iran-backed Hezbollah. That has forced the IDF to allocate its limited resources to the northern border, Syria, and the West Bank as Iran-directed violence has heightened in recent months,” Mark Dubowitz, the think tank’s CEO, said in a statement.
“We will know in the coming days whether Iran is ready to activate Hezbollah to light up that border or save the terror proxy’s firepower for a possible Israeli strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities and regime assets.”
The terrorist group receives about $700 million annually from Tehran, significantly more than Iran’s other Palestinian terrorist proxies, according to the think tank.
IDF leaders accused Hamas of committing war crimes by focusing its attacks on civilians.
“Taking women and children captive violates international law and goes against Islam,” Israeli Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said. “Whoever took part will pay the price.”
He said Israel’s war against Hamas has been brutal and that challenging days lie ahead.
“The IDF is strong and will use every bit of its strength and power,” Adm. Hagari said.
Although Hamas’ assault on Israel conjures up memories of the 1973 Yom Kippur War, some analysts said al Qaeda’s attack on the U.S. on Sept. 11, 2001, is a better comparison.
• This article is based in part on wire service reports.
• Mike Glenn can be reached at mglenn@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.