Topline An Israeli official has confirmed Americans are among the “scores” of hostages being held in Gaza following one of the largest attacks on Israel by militant group Hamas in decades, and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said officials are still working to verify reports of American deaths—as the total Israeli and Palestinian death toll approaches 1,000.
Security forces gather in front of an Israeli police station in Sderot after it was damaged during … [+] battles to dislodge Hamas militants who were stationed inside, on October 8, 2023. (Photo by RONALDO SCHEMIDT / AFP) (Photo by RONALDO SCHEMIDT/AFP via Getty Images)
AFP via Getty Images Key Facts Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer told CNN Sunday that Americans are among the hostages being held in Gaza, though he wouldn’t estimate how many Americans were being held.
On CNN’s State of the Union, Blinken said the U.S. is “working overtime” to verify reports of missing and dead Americans in the aftermath of Saturday’s surprise attack.
The Israeli death toll is at least 600, local news outlets Haaretz and the Times of Israel reported Sunday morning, rising sharply from 300 as Israeli officials cleared more border areas that were infiltrated by Hamas militants—more than 1,600 Israelis are injured, according to the Israel Ministry of Health.
Israel’s Security Cabinet has approved a formal declaration of war, meaning the country can now take “significant military steps,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced Sunday, after the Israel Defense Forces said it carried out an initial set of airstrikes on Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip.
Roughly 370 Palestinians have been killed and 2,200 have been injured in the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said Sunday.
Early Sunday, Hezbollah—a Lebanese militant group—attacked three Israeli positions in the disputed Golan Heights, the Associated Press reported, an attack it said was in support of the “Palestinian resistance”; there were no immediate casualties reported.
Key Background On Saturday, Hamas launched an attack on Israel from air, land and sea, with militants crossing the Gaza Strip border into Southern Israel while Hamas fired rockets toward Israeli cities, leading to one of the worst attacks on Israel in decades. Gunmen reportedly killed Israelis in cities near the Gaza border and captured both soldiers and civilians, taking captives—including a Holocaust survivor in a wheelchair, according to Blinken—back to Hamas-controlled Gaza. On Saturday, Netanyahu said the scale of the attack “has never been seen in Israel,” and he vowed to “take mighty vengeance for this black day.” Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif called the attack the “day of the greatest battle to end the last occupation on earth,” multiple outlets reported. Throughout Saturday night into Sunday, residents of Gaza faced Israeli airstrikes, while sirens to warn of potential attacks rang through the night in Israel. Hamas has controlled the Gaza Strip since 2007, after Israeli forces withdrew from the occupied territory in 2005, leading to a tight Israeli and Egyptian blockade around the densely populated and impoverished territory. Violence between Palestinians and Israeli forces has increased in recent months: In June, the Israeli military raided the West Bank city of Jenin and killed five people while injuring more than 90 others. Last month, a volley of Israeli attacks in the occupied West Bank and Gaza killed six more Palestinians.
Crucial Quote “What happened today is unprecedented in Israel – and I will see to it that it does not happen again. The entire government is behind this decision,” Netanyahu said on X Saturday night. He said Israel will “immediately use all its strength to destroy Hamas’s capabilities” and “forcefully avenge this dark day that they have forced on the State of Israel and its citizens.”
What To Watch For Blinken told CNN the direction from President Joe Biden was to ensure the U.S. is “providing Israel everything it needs in this moment to deal with the attacks from Hamas.”
Further ReadingCNNBlinken says US working to verify reports of several Americans dead in Israel | CNN PoliticsAP NewsHezbollah bombards Israeli positions in disputed area along border with Syria’s Golan HeightsMORE FROM FORBESIsrael Vows ‚Mighty Vengeance‘: Unprecedented Hamas Attack Leaves At Least 200 DeadBy Brian BushardMORE FROM FORBESHamas Takes Israeli Soldiers, Civilians As Prisoners Of WarBy Antonio Pequeño IV