This is how the first day of war was experienced in Israel. Here is the count

Hamas launched a surprise attack against Israel at dawn on Saturday, during the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah, in which Gunmen broke through security barriers and launched a volley of rockets from Gaza.

The attack came 50 years and one day after Egyptian and Syrian forces launched an assault during the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur in an attempt to recapture territory Israel had seized during a brief conflict in 1967.

This is how Saturday's episodes were produced:

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rocket barrage

Around 6:30 a.m. local time, the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas fired a huge volley of rockets into southern Israel, and Sirens were heard even in Tel Aviv and Beersheba.

Hamas said it had fired 5,000 rockets in a first volley. The Israeli Army declared that 2,500 rockets had been fired. Smoke spread over Israeli residential areas and people took shelter as sirens blared. The rockets left at least one dead.

Dawn Infiltration

The bombing served to cover up an unprecedented multiple infiltration of combatants. The Israeli Army informed the 7:40 local time that Palestinian gunmen had crossed into Israel.

Most of the fighters crossed through gaps in the land security barriers separating Gaza from Israel. But at least one was filmed crossing on a parachute, while a speedboat was filmed heading to Zikim, a coastal town and Israeli military base.

Videos released by Hamas showed fighters breaching security fences, with dim lighting and low sun suggesting it was around the time of the rocket launch.

Video showed at least six motorcycles with fighters riding through a hole in a metal security barrier.

A photograph released by Hamas showed a bulldozer tearing down a section of the security fence.

Fighting in military bases

The Israeli Army declared at 10:00 a.m. that Palestinian fighters had entered at least three military installations located around the border: the Erez border crossing, the Zikim base and the Gaza division headquarters in Reim. He also stated that fighting continued in Erez and Zikim.

VHamas images showed fighters running towards a burning building near a high concrete wall with a guard tower and fighters apparently invading part of an Israeli military facility and firing from behind a wall.

Footage was later shown of several captured Israeli military vehicles being driven to Gaza and paraded there.

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City assaults

Fighters stormed the Israeli border town of Sderot and were reported to be in Be'eri, another border community, and the town of Ofakim, 30 km east of Gaza, according to Israeli media citing phone calls from residents.

Verified video showed several armed men riding in the back of a white van traveling through Sderot. Many Residents of cities in southern Israel have fortified areas of their houses that function as bomb shelters.

At mid-morning, Israeli police chief Yaacov Shabtai said forces were facing gunmen in 21 towns and at 1:30 p.m. local time the army said troops were still working to clear communities that had been invaded. by armed men.

Death count

A Reuters photographer saw bodies in the streets of Sderot. Israeli media have reported at least 100 Israelis dead and 800 injured.

Hamas videos and unverified images circulating on social media showed dead civilians, Israeli soldiers and Palestinian fighterss. The Israeli Foreign Ministry said Hamas gunmen had gone house to house killing civilians.

They take hostages

Israeli media reported that gunmen took hostages in Ofakim. Islamic Jihad said it was holding several Israeli soldiers captive and Hamas social media accounts showed images that appeared to show captives being taken alive to Gaza.

One video showed three young men in vests, shorts and sneakers being led through a security facility with Hebrew writing on the wall. Other videos showed captive women. Another showed fighters dragging at least two Israeli soldiers from a military vehicle.

| THE LATEST: The Israel Defense Forces manage to rescue 50 hostages in Kibbutz Beeri, in the south of the country. pic.twitter.com/2qzXzaLtkC

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Israeli counterattack

At 09:45 local time explosions were heard in central and Gaza City, and at 10:00 local time the Israeli military spokesman said that the air force was carrying out strikes in Gaza. Gaza doctors said dozens of people had been killed in the attacks.

With information from Ruters, AFP and EuropaPress.

ORP