Jerusalem radiated in the luminous calm of a Sabbath morning, concluding the week-long celebration of the Jewish holiday of Sukkot. Few cars were on the road. Suddenly, sirens sounded, all the louder as the whole city fell silent. Rockets were on their way from the Gaza Strip. And the expected shock resounded: the anti-aircraft defense system thundered. The time was 8 am. Those who were awake already knew that this was not one of those confrontations carefully calibrated between Israel and Hamas to avoid a deadly escalation. The Islamist party was launching a full-scale war.

Two hours earlier, it sent a first salvo of hundreds of projectiles from the enclave. But the real attack was not in the sky. It took place on the ground, when members of the Al-Qassam Brigades crossed the separation line in pick-up trucks to carry out an unprecedented incursion into Israeli territory. Israeli army spokesman Richard Hecht acknowledged an invasion by land, sea and air, via motorized paragliders. Apart from a hang-glider attack carried out by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine in 1986 from Syria, this was the first real airborne operation in Palestinian military history.

The militants raced along the roads bordering the enclave, firing at an Israeli police car as it sped away. The army confirmed assaults on the towns of Nahal Oz, Magen, Be'eri, Kfar Aza and above all Sderot. The police station in this medium-sized town, right up against the border, was attacked. So were the military bases including at Zikim, and even the Erez border crossing. Militants seized several vehicles, including an Israeli army armored vehicle, which soon sped off into Gaza, with militants on board. The first rumors of kidnappings began to circulate. The bloodied corpse of what appeared to be an Israeli soldier emerged from a car somewhere in Gaza, only to be immediately beaten up by the small crowd that had ventured outside. According to local sources, four soldiers were taken alive. The Israeli army has not yet confirmed this. But the videos were spreading on social media.

Mohammed Deif, commander of the Al-Qassam Brigades, announces the start of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood. in reference to the Esplanade of the Mosques in Jerusalem, the third holiest site in Islam, which Hamas claims to protect. "The first strike, which targeted enemy positions, airports and military fortifications, exceeded 5,000 missiles and shells," said Deif. He called on Palestinians in Israel and the West Bank to "set the earth on fire under the feet of the occupiers" and also on Lebanon, Iraq and Syria to join the assault. Since rockets were fired at Israel from Lebanese territory last April, this threat must be taken seriously. In Gaza, Islamic Jihad militants have announced that they will join the Hamas operation.

You have 56.51% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.