The coastal enclave has been almost completely cut off from the rest of the world for nearly 17 years, when Hamas seized control, prompting Israel and Egypt to impose a strict siege on the territory, which is ongoing.
Israel also maintains an air and naval blockade on Gaza as well as a vast array of surveillance.
Which begs the question:How did Hamas amass the sheer amount of weaponry thatenabled the group to pull off coordinated attacks that killed more than 1,200 people in Israel and injured thousands more — while continuing to rain rocket fire down on Israel?
The answer, according to experts, is through a combination of guile, improvisation, tenacity and an important overseasbenefactor.
Iran factor: “Hamas acquires its weapons through smuggling or local construction and receives some military support from Iran,” the CIA’s World Factbook says.
While the Israeli and US governments have yet to find any direct role by Iran in last weekend’s raids, experts say the Islamic Republic has long beenHamas’ main military supporter, smuggling weapons into the enclave through clandestine cross-border tunnels or boats that have escaped the Mediterranean blockade.
Recycling munitions: Gaza has none of the heavy industry that would support weapons production in most of the world. But among its main exports are scrap iron, which can provide material to make weapons in the tunnel network below the enclave.
When Gaza infrastructure has been destroyed in Israeli airstrikes, what’s left — sheet metal and metal pipes, rebar, electrical wiring — has found its way into Hamas’ weapon workshops, emerging as rocket tubes or other explosive devices, according to Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib in the Washington Institute for Near East Policy’s Fikra Forum in 2021.
Recycling unexploded Israel munitions for their explosive material and other parts adds to Hamas’ supply chain, Alkhatib wrote. “The IDF’s operation indirectly provided Hamas with materials that are otherwise strictly monitored or forbidden altogether in Gaza,” he wrote.
It's morning in Israel and Gaza. Here's what you need to know
From CNN staff
Israel is "conducting a large-scale strike" on Hamas targets in Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a social media post early Thursday, as the conflict enters a sixth day.
A humanitarian crisis is rapidly unfolding in Gaza as the enclave faces relentless Israeli airstrikes. The UN said Thursday more than 330,000 people have been displaced there since Israel began its bombardment.
Meantime, talks are underway to allow US and Palestinian civilians to leave Gaza through Egypt as a potential land invasion looms, a senior Israeli official said. Several other countries are sending flights to evacuate their citizens.
Nearly 1,200 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel began airstrikes Saturday in response to Hamas' attacks on Israel, the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza said. Israel has reported at least 1,200 people have been killed since Saturday.
Here's what else you should know:
Troops gather: IDF spokesperson Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus said Wednesday Israel has amassed more than 300,000 reservists along its southern border — roughly the same number of reservists as the combined number across the entire US military. Asked whether an Israeli ground invasion of Gaza was imminent, Conricus told CNN he would not telegraph Israel’s intentions, adding: "All of Hamas' military capabilities need to be taken off the map."
Hostages latest: Senior Hamas official Izzat al-Risheq told CNN it's too early to exchange Israeli hostages while Israel continues to strike Gaza. "We will only discuss this issue when the Israeli aggression against our people ends," he said. Hamas is holding as many as 150 people captive in Gaza, Israel’s UN ambassador said Monday. The US is working closely with Israel to get American hostages home safely, with FBI and Pentagon personnel on the ground providing support to Israeli special operators. Conricus, the IDF spokesperson, told CNN Israeli authorities think the hostages are being held underground.
Wartime cabinet: Israel has formed an emergency government in the wake of Hamas' surprise attacks on border communities. Former defense minister Benny Gantz will join Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and current Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in a wartime cabinet. "There is time for war and time for peace. This, now, is the time for war," Gantz said.
Hamas preparations: Islamist militants spent two years preparing the attack on Israel, a senior Hamas official based in Lebanon said. Ali Baraka, head of Hamas National Relations Abroad, said the group manufactured rockets, ammunition and firearms, according to an edited interview with Russia Today’s Arabic news channel RTArabic. Read more about where Hamas gets its arms.
Doubts over Iran involvement: Intelligence collected by the United States casts doubt on the idea that Tehran was directly involved in the planning, sourcing and approving of Hamas' attack on Israel, sources said. Though the intelligence community is not ready to reach a full conclusion, officials have pointed to Tehran's support for Hamas that would have helped them, even if not directly.
Saudi diplomacy: Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said Saudi Arabia "is making unremitting efforts" to stop the escalation in the conflict, according to state-run SPA news. The prince discussed the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in a phone call with Iran’s President Ebrahim Rais — their first call since the countries renewed diplomatic ties, an Iranian presidential aide said.
14 min ago
More than 330,000 people have been displaced in Gaza since Israel began its bombardment, UN says
From CNN's Abeer Salman & Kareem El Damanhoury
A man walks with mattresses through destruction in Gaza's Jabalia refugee camp on October 11, 2023. Mahmud Hams/AFP/Getty Images
More than 330,000 people have been displaced in Gaza since Israel began its bombardment of the enclave, the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said early Thursday.
In a statement, OCHA further expressed its concerns over the damage of civilian infrastructure in Gaza. Israel began a blockade of the densely populated enclave, cutting electricity, fuel, and water supplies.
"The cumulative number of displaced people increased by 30 percent over the past 24 hours, now totaling 338,934, of whom over two thirds are taking shelter in UNRWA schools," the statement read.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza earlier on Thursday said 600,000 people have no access to water and that some hospitals are relying on water from wells. The ministry added that the death toll in Gaza is nearing 1,200 since Saturday.
Meanwhile, the World Food Programme (WFP) said it is aiming to provide "a critical food lifeline to over 800,000 people."
2 hr 30 min ago
Senior Hamas official says it's too early to exchange Israeli hostages
From CNN's Mohammed Tawfeeq and journalist Ali Younes
Izzat al-Risheq, a senior Hamas official, told CNN Wednesday that it's too early to exchange Israeli hostages while Israel continues to strike Gaza.
"We will only discuss this issue when the Israeli aggression against our people ends," al-Risheq said from Doha, Qatar.
He also denied Hamas had any help from Iran or Lebanon's Hezbollah in executing or planning its large-scale surprise assault on Israel.
"I say it very clearly that this operation was a 100% Hamas operation without any help from any regional party," al-Risheq said.
Some background: Hamas fighters are holding as many as 150 people hostage in locations across Gaza following their raids on southern Israel on Saturday, Israel’s ambassador to the UN said Monday.
Abu Obaida, the spokesperson of Hamas’ Al-Qassam Brigades, said Monday that Hamas would start executing civilian hostages if Israel targeted people in Gaza without warning.
2 hr 50 min ago
Hostages held by Hamas are likely underground, IDF says
From CNN’s Josh Campbell and Larry Register
Israeli authorities think hostages taken by Hamas are being held underground, Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, a spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces, told CNN’s Erin Burnett on Wednesday.
“Reason dictates that they are underground,” Conricus said. “Reason also dictates that Hamas, since they planned to launch this attack and they planned to take these people hostage, reason dictates that they planned in advance locations to hide these hostages and keep them safe from Israeli intelligence, and efforts to get them out.”
The situation with the hostages is an “extremely sensitive and complex topic,” Conricus said. Even though Israel has had “some experience” with hostage situations, they have never dealt with anything like this, he added.
“Not in the scope, not in the magnitude and not in the complexity of where our hostages are, Conricus said.
Potential ground invasion: When asked whether an Israeli ground invasion was imminent, Conricus said he would not telegraph Israel’s schedule or intentions in this conflict.
“It is clear and understandable that what needs to be done is that all of Hamas’ military capabilities need to be taken off the map. How that will happen, by what means, and what tactics, that is a few days in the future, maybe more than that.”
Hamas fighters are holding as many as 150 people hostage in locations across Gaza following their raids on southern Israel on Saturday, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations said Monday.
Abu Obaida, the spokesperson for Hamas’ Al-Qassam Brigades, on Monday said Hamas would start executing civilian hostages if Israel targeted people in Gaza without warning.
10 min ago
Israel airstrikes kill more than 50, injure hundreds, Palestinian health ministry says
From CNN's Kareem El Damanhoury
An Israeli army self-propelled howitzer fires rounds near the border with Gaza, in southern Israel, on October 11, 2023. Jack Guez/AFP/Getty Images
Israeli airstrikes on Gaza killed at least 51 people and injured 281 others early Thursday, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
The casualties were in the residential areas of Zeitoun, Sabra, Al-Nafaq, and Tel al-Haw, it said.
Some of the victims are still under the rubble, according to Deputy Health Minister Yousef Abu Al-Rish, who accused Israeli forces of intending "to cause as much damage and destruction, hence destroying entire residential areas.”
The death toll in Gaza since Israeli strikes began on Saturday is nearing 1,200, Abu Al-Rish said.
The minister described the situation as an “imminent humanitarian catastrophe” after Israel began a blockade of the densely populated enclave, cutting electricity, fuel, and water supplies.
“More than 600,000 of Gaza’s population are deprived from water, and entire hospitals are deprived from water," he added, urging the world to stop the Israeli aggression.
2 hr 52 min ago
Here's what the US is doing to try to rescue Americans taken hostage by Hamas
From CNN's MJ Lee, Zachary Cohen, Evan Perez and Jennifer Hansler
The Biden administration is still searching for concrete details about the condition of the handful of Americans believed to have been taken hostage by Hamas, including exactly how many the group may be holding captive in Gaza, or if they are currently being held in one place, a US official told CNN.
As the Biden administration continues its work to support Israel and move military assets into the region, US officials across the government are furiously working behind the scenes to piece together an accurate picture on the ground.
In remarks to a roundtable with members of the Jewish community at the White House Wednesday, President Joe Biden pledged the full force of his administration's commitment to rescuing hostages, saying that while "we're working on every aspect of the hostage crisis in Israel," if he relayed in detail what steps the administration was taking, "I wouldn't be able to get them home."
Further complicating the situation, US officials say, is that Hamas consists of numerous and often competing subgroups and militias that all operate in Gaza. Before the US can put together a plan to recover hostages, officials first have to figure out which of those Hamas sub-groups may be holding them, and for what reason.
Here's what is happening: The US is working closely with Israel, with FBI and Pentagon personnel on the ground in Israel providing support to Israeli special operators.
An interagency team of US officials from the State Department, National Security Council, and FBI is also receiving input about the Americans who are missing or deceased in Israel, a US official said.
FBI hostage negotiators and agents are talking to family members, getting proof of life information that can be used in the investigation and for possible questions to be asked if hostage takers reach out. These include members of the FBI's Critical Incident Response Group, which has extensive experience in helping to resolve hostage incidents, including in war zones from Afghanistan to Iraq and across the Middle East.
Gantz says formation of Israel's war cabinet is a "clear message to our enemies"
From CNN's Radina Gigova
Former Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz attends a cabinet meeting of the new government at Chagall State Hall in the Knesset (Israeli parliament) in Jerusalem on May 24, 2020. Abir Sultan/Pool/AFP/Getty Images
Benny Gantz, a former defense minister who joined Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and current defense minister Yoav Gallant in a "war management cabinet," said Wednesday that the three men standing together is a "clear message to our enemies."
"The state of Israel is at its most difficult hours. These are faithful days," Gantz said during a televised address. "At this time, there is only one camp, one group — the camp of the nation of Israel."
He added that "now is the time for bravery."
"Our friends, our families were killed and taken hostages by a cruel enemy. An enemy that should be annihilated with all means necessary," Gantz said.
The emergency government and war cabinet were announced earlier Wednesday. The government will not pass any laws or make any decisions that do not concern the conduct of the war, the announcement said.
3 hr 42 min ago
Hamas denies its militants beheaded children and assaulted women
From CNN's Ruba Alhenawi and Mohammed Tawfeeq
Hamas has denied that its militants beheaded children and attacked women when it launched a large-scale surprise assault on Israel last Saturday that left at least 1,200 people dead in Israel.
Hamas spokesman and senior official Izzat al-Risheq said in a statement Wednesday that reports "spread lies about our Palestinian people and the resistance claiming that members of the Palestinian resistance beheaded children and attacked women with no evidence to support such claims and lies."
"We strongly condemn the fabricated and baseless allegations promoted by the occupation in an attempt to cover up for the massacres, crimes and genocide committed in Gaza," al-Risheq added.
Tal Heinrich, a spokesperson for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said earlier on Wednesday that babies and toddlers were found with their "heads decapitated" in Kfar Aza in southern Israel after Hamas' attacks in the kibbutz over the weekend.
In Kfar Aza, a kibbutz in southern Israel, the Israel Defense Forces told CNN that militants carried out a “massacre” in which women, children, toddlers and elderly were “brutally butchered in an ISIS way of action.”
Less than 20 kilometers (12 miles) away, the farming community Be’eri was among the worst-hit, with more than 100 bodies recovered and eyewitnesses describing assailants going door to door, breaking into homes and executing civilians.
Israel is "conducting a large-scale strike" on Hamas targets in Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces said early Thursday, as the conflict enters a sixth day.
The coastal enclave has been almost completely cut off from the rest of the world for nearly 17 years, when Hamas seized control, prompting Israel and Egypt to impose a strict siege on the territory, which is ongoing.
Israel also maintains an air and naval blockade on Gaza as well as a vast array of surveillance.
Which begs the question:How did Hamas amass the sheer amount of weaponry thatenabled the group to pull off coordinated attacks that killed more than 1,200 people in Israel and injured thousands more — while continuing to rain rocket fire down on Israel?
The answer, according to experts, is through a combination of guile, improvisation, tenacity and an important overseasbenefactor.
Iran factor: “Hamas acquires its weapons through smuggling or local construction and receives some military support from Iran,” the CIA’s World Factbook says.
While the Israeli and US governments have yet to find any direct role by Iran in last weekend’s raids, experts say the Islamic Republic has long beenHamas’ main military supporter, smuggling weapons into the enclave through clandestine cross-border tunnels or boats that have escaped the Mediterranean blockade.
Recycling munitions: Gaza has none of the heavy industry that would support weapons production in most of the world. But among its main exports are scrap iron, which can provide material to make weapons in the tunnel network below the enclave.
When Gaza infrastructure has been destroyed in Israeli airstrikes, what’s left — sheet metal and metal pipes, rebar, electrical wiring — has found its way into Hamas’ weapon workshops, emerging as rocket tubes or other explosive devices, according to Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib in the Washington Institute for Near East Policy’s Fikra Forum in 2021.
Recycling unexploded Israel munitions for their explosive material and other parts adds to Hamas’ supply chain, Alkhatib wrote. “The IDF’s operation indirectly provided Hamas with materials that are otherwise strictly monitored or forbidden altogether in Gaza,” he wrote.
Israel is "conducting a large-scale strike" on Hamas targets in Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a social media post early Thursday, as the conflict enters a sixth day.
A humanitarian crisis is rapidly unfolding in Gaza as the enclave faces relentless Israeli airstrikes. The UN said Thursday more than 330,000 people have been displaced there since Israel began its bombardment.
Meantime, talks are underway to allow US and Palestinian civilians to leave Gaza through Egypt as a potential land invasion looms, a senior Israeli official said. Several other countries are sending flights to evacuate their citizens.
Nearly 1,200 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel began airstrikes Saturday in response to Hamas' attacks on Israel, the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza said. Israel has reported at least 1,200 people have been killed since Saturday.
Here's what else you should know:
Troops gather: IDF spokesperson Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus said Wednesday Israel has amassed more than 300,000 reservists along its southern border — roughly the same number of reservists as the combined number across the entire US military. Asked whether an Israeli ground invasion of Gaza was imminent, Conricus told CNN he would not telegraph Israel’s intentions, adding: "All of Hamas' military capabilities need to be taken off the map."
Hostages latest: Senior Hamas official Izzat al-Risheq told CNN it's too early to exchange Israeli hostages while Israel continues to strike Gaza. "We will only discuss this issue when the Israeli aggression against our people ends," he said. Hamas is holding as many as 150 people captive in Gaza, Israel’s UN ambassador said Monday. The US is working closely with Israel to get American hostages home safely, with FBI and Pentagon personnel on the ground providing support to Israeli special operators. Conricus, the IDF spokesperson, told CNN Israeli authorities think the hostages are being held underground.
Wartime cabinet: Israel has formed an emergency government in the wake of Hamas' surprise attacks on border communities. Former defense minister Benny Gantz will join Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and current Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in a wartime cabinet. "There is time for war and time for peace. This, now, is the time for war," Gantz said.
Hamas preparations: Islamist militants spent two years preparing the attack on Israel, a senior Hamas official based in Lebanon said. Ali Baraka, head of Hamas National Relations Abroad, said the group manufactured rockets, ammunition and firearms, according to an edited interview with Russia Today’s Arabic news channel RTArabic. Read more about where Hamas gets its arms.
Doubts over Iran involvement: Intelligence collected by the United States casts doubt on the idea that Tehran was directly involved in the planning, sourcing and approving of Hamas' attack on Israel, sources said. Though the intelligence community is not ready to reach a full conclusion, officials have pointed to Tehran's support for Hamas that would have helped them, even if not directly.
Saudi diplomacy: Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said Saudi Arabia "is making unremitting efforts" to stop the escalation in the conflict, according to state-run SPA news. The prince discussed the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in a phone call with Iran’s President Ebrahim Rais — their first call since the countries renewed diplomatic ties, an Iranian presidential aide said.
A man walks with mattresses through destruction in Gaza's Jabalia refugee camp on October 11, 2023. Mahmud Hams/AFP/Getty Images
More than 330,000 people have been displaced in Gaza since Israel began its bombardment of the enclave, the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said early Thursday.
In a statement, OCHA further expressed its concerns over the damage of civilian infrastructure in Gaza. Israel began a blockade of the densely populated enclave, cutting electricity, fuel, and water supplies.
"The cumulative number of displaced people increased by 30 percent over the past 24 hours, now totaling 338,934, of whom over two thirds are taking shelter in UNRWA schools," the statement read.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza earlier on Thursday said 600,000 people have no access to water and that some hospitals are relying on water from wells. The ministry added that the death toll in Gaza is nearing 1,200 since Saturday.
Meanwhile, the World Food Programme (WFP) said it is aiming to provide "a critical food lifeline to over 800,000 people."
Izzat al-Risheq, a senior Hamas official, told CNN Wednesday that it's too early to exchange Israeli hostages while Israel continues to strike Gaza.
"We will only discuss this issue when the Israeli aggression against our people ends," al-Risheq said from Doha, Qatar.
He also denied Hamas had any help from Iran or Lebanon's Hezbollah in executing or planning its large-scale surprise assault on Israel.
"I say it very clearly that this operation was a 100% Hamas operation without any help from any regional party," al-Risheq said.
Some background: Hamas fighters are holding as many as 150 people hostage in locations across Gaza following their raids on southern Israel on Saturday, Israel’s ambassador to the UN said Monday.
Abu Obaida, the spokesperson of Hamas’ Al-Qassam Brigades, said Monday that Hamas would start executing civilian hostages if Israel targeted people in Gaza without warning.
Israeli authorities think hostages taken by Hamas are being held underground, Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, a spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces, told CNN’s Erin Burnett on Wednesday.
“Reason dictates that they are underground,” Conricus said. “Reason also dictates that Hamas, since they planned to launch this attack and they planned to take these people hostage, reason dictates that they planned in advance locations to hide these hostages and keep them safe from Israeli intelligence, and efforts to get them out.”
The situation with the hostages is an “extremely sensitive and complex topic,” Conricus said. Even though Israel has had “some experience” with hostage situations, they have never dealt with anything like this, he added.
“Not in the scope, not in the magnitude and not in the complexity of where our hostages are, Conricus said.
Potential ground invasion: When asked whether an Israeli ground invasion was imminent, Conricus said he would not telegraph Israel’s schedule or intentions in this conflict.
“It is clear and understandable that what needs to be done is that all of Hamas’ military capabilities need to be taken off the map. How that will happen, by what means, and what tactics, that is a few days in the future, maybe more than that.”
Hamas fighters are holding as many as 150 people hostage in locations across Gaza following their raids on southern Israel on Saturday, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations said Monday.
Abu Obaida, the spokesperson for Hamas’ Al-Qassam Brigades, on Monday said Hamas would start executing civilian hostages if Israel targeted people in Gaza without warning.
An Israeli army self-propelled howitzer fires rounds near the border with Gaza, in southern Israel, on October 11, 2023. Jack Guez/AFP/Getty Images
Israeli airstrikes on Gaza killed at least 51 people and injured 281 others early Thursday, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
The casualties were in the residential areas of Zeitoun, Sabra, Al-Nafaq, and Tel al-Haw, it said.
Some of the victims are still under the rubble, according to Deputy Health Minister Yousef Abu Al-Rish, who accused Israeli forces of intending "to cause as much damage and destruction, hence destroying entire residential areas.”
The death toll in Gaza since Israeli strikes began on Saturday is nearing 1,200, Abu Al-Rish said.
The minister described the situation as an “imminent humanitarian catastrophe” after Israel began a blockade of the densely populated enclave, cutting electricity, fuel, and water supplies.
“More than 600,000 of Gaza’s population are deprived from water, and entire hospitals are deprived from water," he added, urging the world to stop the Israeli aggression.
The Biden administration is still searching for concrete details about the condition of the handful of Americans believed to have been taken hostage by Hamas, including exactly how many the group may be holding captive in Gaza, or if they are currently being held in one place, a US official told CNN.
As the Biden administration continues its work to support Israel and move military assets into the region, US officials across the government are furiously working behind the scenes to piece together an accurate picture on the ground.
In remarks to a roundtable with members of the Jewish community at the White House Wednesday, President Joe Biden pledged the full force of his administration's commitment to rescuing hostages, saying that while "we're working on every aspect of the hostage crisis in Israel," if he relayed in detail what steps the administration was taking, "I wouldn't be able to get them home."
Further complicating the situation, US officials say, is that Hamas consists of numerous and often competing subgroups and militias that all operate in Gaza. Before the US can put together a plan to recover hostages, officials first have to figure out which of those Hamas sub-groups may be holding them, and for what reason.
Here's what is happening: The US is working closely with Israel, with FBI and Pentagon personnel on the ground in Israel providing support to Israeli special operators.
An interagency team of US officials from the State Department, National Security Council, and FBI is also receiving input about the Americans who are missing or deceased in Israel, a US official said.
FBI hostage negotiators and agents are talking to family members, getting proof of life information that can be used in the investigation and for possible questions to be asked if hostage takers reach out. These include members of the FBI's Critical Incident Response Group, which has extensive experience in helping to resolve hostage incidents, including in war zones from Afghanistan to Iraq and across the Middle East.
Former Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz attends a cabinet meeting of the new government at Chagall State Hall in the Knesset (Israeli parliament) in Jerusalem on May 24, 2020. Abir Sultan/Pool/AFP/Getty Images
Benny Gantz, a former defense minister who joined Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and current defense minister Yoav Gallant in a "war management cabinet," said Wednesday that the three men standing together is a "clear message to our enemies."
"The state of Israel is at its most difficult hours. These are faithful days," Gantz said during a televised address. "At this time, there is only one camp, one group — the camp of the nation of Israel."
He added that "now is the time for bravery."
"Our friends, our families were killed and taken hostages by a cruel enemy. An enemy that should be annihilated with all means necessary," Gantz said.
The emergency government and war cabinet were announced earlier Wednesday. The government will not pass any laws or make any decisions that do not concern the conduct of the war, the announcement said.
Hamas has denied that its militants beheaded children and attacked women when it launched a large-scale surprise assault on Israel last Saturday that left at least 1,200 people dead in Israel.
Hamas spokesman and senior official Izzat al-Risheq said in a statement Wednesday that reports "spread lies about our Palestinian people and the resistance claiming that members of the Palestinian resistance beheaded children and attacked women with no evidence to support such claims and lies."
"We strongly condemn the fabricated and baseless allegations promoted by the occupation in an attempt to cover up for the massacres, crimes and genocide committed in Gaza," al-Risheq added.
Tal Heinrich, a spokesperson for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said earlier on Wednesday that babies and toddlers were found with their "heads decapitated" in Kfar Aza in southern Israel after Hamas' attacks in the kibbutz over the weekend.
In Kfar Aza, a kibbutz in southern Israel, the Israel Defense Forces told CNN that militants carried out a “massacre” in which women, children, toddlers and elderly were “brutally butchered in an ISIS way of action.”
Less than 20 kilometers (12 miles) away, the farming community Be’eri was among the worst-hit, with more than 100 bodies recovered and eyewitnesses describing assailants going door to door, breaking into homes and executing civilians.
