Hamas took babies hostage during surprise terror attack that has left more than 300 dead and 1,500 injured, says ex-PM of Israel
- Unprecedented Hamas assault on Israel continued to rage early on Sunday
- Indiscriminate attacks on civilians have left more than 300 Israelis dead
- Women, children and even babies were being held hostage in Gaza
The Hamas gunmen who launched an unprecedented surprise attack on Israel have taken babies and elderly women hostage, according to former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.
Bennett revealed the sickening details of the ongoing assault in an interview with CNN on Saturday night, as running gun battles continued in the streets of Israel more than 24 hours after the assault began.
‘It’s been a very tough day for the state of Israel, for the citizens of Israel. The numbers of murdered Israelis is huge,’ said Bennet.
‘We have babies that have been kidnapped into Gaza. We have 80-year-old woman with what seems like dementia kidnapped into Gaza. So it’s been one of the hardest days in Israel’s history,’ he continued.
Published reports from Israel indicate more than 300 Israelis have been killed, and 1,590 injured, since Hamas launched its blitz attack of rockets and gangs of roving gunmen, attacking civilians and soldiers alike across dozens of locations.
Fire and smoke rises above buildings during an Israeli air strike in Gaza City early on Sunday. At least 300 Israelis died in a surprise large-scale attack by the Palestinian militant group Hamas
![The Hamas gunmen who launched an unprecedented surprise attack on Israel have taken babies hostage, according to former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett (right)](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/10/08/02/76291471-12606583-image-a-3_1696727461797.jpg)
The Hamas gunmen who launched an unprecedented surprise attack on Israel have taken babies hostage, according to former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett (right)
Israeli Defense Force (IDF) spokesman Jonathan Conricus told CNN that up to 1,000 armed Hamas fighters are believed to have infiltrated the border early Saturday, in conjunction with fusillades of rocket attacks throughout the day.
Hamas claims to have dozens of Israeli hostages being held in Gaza, whom the militants likely hope to use as bait to lure Israeli Defense Force soldiers into a deadly trap.
‘Hamas, in their gruesrome brutality, kidnapped women, children, elderly, and even disabled elderly persons, and dragged them — some of them live, some of them dead — into Gaza, and have paraded them on the streets,’ said Conricus.
Conricus the number of hostages was ‘significant’ but declined to offer a specific number, calling the situation ‘extremely delicate.’
It is by far the deadliest day of violence in Israel since the Yom Kippur war 50 years ago, and fighting continued into early morning hours of .
More than 230 Gazans were also killed when Israel responded with one of its most devastating days of retaliatory strikes. Fighting continued into the night.
![One captured woman was sat in the front seat of a golf cart accompanied with three male Hamas members as they made their way into the Gaza Strip](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/10/08/02/76277049-12606583-One_captured_woman_was_sat_in_the_front_seat_of_a_golf_cart_acco-a-13_1696728507015.jpg)
One captured woman was sat in the front seat of a golf cart accompanied with three male Hamas members as they made their way into the Gaza Strip
‘We will take mighty vengeance or this wicked day,’ Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
‘Hamas launched a cruel and wicked war. We will win this war but the price is too heavy to bear,’ he said.
‘Hamas wants to murder us all. This is an enemy that murders mothers and children in their homes, in their beds. An enemy that abducts elderly, children, teenage girls.’
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said the assault that had begun in Gaza would spread to the West Bank and Jerusalem.
Developing story, more to follow.
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