Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to avenge what he said was a “black day” for Israel Saturday, saying the army will strike back at Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza with full force.
“The IDF (army) is about to use all its force to destroy Hamas’s capabilities,” Netanyahu said in a brief televised statement.
“We’ll strike them to the bitter end and avenge with force this black day they brought on Israel and its people,” he said, after Hamas militants launched a surprise dawn attack, sending hundreds of militants into Israel under cover of a huge rocket barrage.
Also read: Hamas’ Attack: Israel retaliation lands 200 Palestinians in graves
Gun battles raged into the night after Hamas’ large-scale attack against Israel Saturday, firing thousands of rockets from Gaza and sending fighters to kill and abduct soldiers and civilians.
The attack signals the first of such combined ground, air and sea offensive, half a century after the outbreak of the 1973 Arab-Israeli war.
“We are at war,” Netanyahu told the stunned nation as the army retaliated by pounding targets in the blockaded enclave, where several residential tower blocks were reduced to rubble.
About 80 people were killed in Israel, medical services said, while Gaza authorities released a death toll of 232 in the conflict’s bloodiest escalation in years which also left many hundreds wounded on both sides.
“The enemy will pay an unprecedented price,” Netanyahu vowed.
Major airlines cancel flights
Meanwhile, major airlines cancelled dozens of flights to Tel Aviv this weekend after the Palestinian militant group Hamas attacks on Israel.
On the arrivals board at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport American Airlines, Air France, Lufthansa, Emirates, Ryanair and Aegean Airlines were among those pulling flights.
However, airport authorities did not stop commercial air links with Eilat, Israel’s second international airport and tourist destination on the Red Sea.
“Given the current security situation in Tel Aviv, Lufthansa is cancelling all flights to and from Tel Aviv up until and including Monday, a spokesman for the German carrier told AFP.
Brussels Airline, part of the Lufthansa group, also cancelled its Tel Aviv flights.
Air France said it had halted Tel Aviv flights “until further notice”.
“Commercial measures are in place, allowing customers to postpone or cancel their trip free of charge”, an Air France spokesman said.
Air France-KLM group’s low-cost carrier Transavia announced it was cancelling all flights from Paris and Lyon to Tel Aviv up to and including Monday.
Spanish airline Iberia announced that its budget subsidiary Iberia Express was cancelling its Tel Aviv flights.
Italy’s flag carrier ITA Airways cancelled its flight until Sunday morning at the earliest “to protect the safety of passengers and crew”.
Spanish airline Iberia announced that its budget subsidiary Iberia Express was cancelling its Tel Aviv flights.
In Warsaw, Polish carrier LOT said it had cancelled its flights from the Polish capital on Saturday.
The Israel death toll from the Hamas surprise attack Saturday has surged to more than 200, the army said, accusing the Palestinian militants of breaking into homes and “massacring civilians”.
“Terrorists rampaged and broke into homes, massacring civilians,” the army said, adding that more than 200 people were killed and more than 1,000 wounded in the assault that began at dawn.
Gun battles raged into the night after Hamas’ large-scale attack against Israel Saturday, firing thousands of rockets from Gaza and sending fighters to kill and abduct soldiers and civilians.
The attack signals the first of such combined ground, air and sea offensive, half a century after the outbreak of the 1973 Arab-Israeli war.
“We are at war,” Netanyahu told the stunned nation as the army retaliated by pounding targets in the blockaded enclave, where several residential tower blocks were reduced to rubble.
