The terrorists who carried out an unprecedented attack across southern Israel displayed “ISIS-level savagery,” according to a senior U.S. defense official.
Hamas and other Islamic militants carried out a multipronged attack on Saturday in which they caught Israel off guard. Hundreds of militants killed, raped, and overran Israeli communities near the border with Gaza in the southern part of the country. The death toll in Israel is above 700, though that figure will likely continue to rise, and it appears most were civilians.
ISRAEL ORDERS ‘TOTAL SIEGE’ OF GAZA IN AFTERMATH OF UNPRECEDENTED TERROR ATTACK BY HAMAS
The attacks were different from any previous fighting between Hamas and Israel, the official said, noting that this weekend’s events were much more brutal, including the targeting of women, children, and the elderly, than anything before.
“The reason that I’m underscoring the ISIS-level style tactics and techniques here is because in some of the reactions across the region and others, I think there’s been an instinct to see this as the same kind of tensions or conflicts that we’ve seen between Palestinians and Israelis, or in Gaza with Israelis in general. This is different,” the official told reporters. “It’s unprecedented.”
Hamas militants landed at the open-air Tribe of Nova music festival and opened fire. Initial reports indicate that there were more than 250 concertgoers who were murdered. Elsewhere, terrorists entered homes in communities near the border and slaughtered families.
“Hamas militants going across Israel, murdering children in front of their parents, massacring with indiscriminate violence in music festivals, burning down entire houses, while families sheltered in their bunkers,” the official continued. “This is different, and we want to be very clear about what that is.”
Hamas also videotaped and shared videos of the killings, kidnappings, and desecration of the dead on social media.
The terrorists who carried out the attack also kidnapped a number of Israelis and brought them back into Gaza. Hamas has said the number of hostages is above 100 but that’s uncorroborated. Israel has declared war and begun a massive retaliatory air campaign leveling buildings and targeting Hamas, which has resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Palestinian civilians.
Abu Obeida, spokesman for Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, warned on Al Jazeera Arabic that they would execute hostages and broadcast it if Israel continued such strikes.
“Over the past few hours, we suffered as a result of the harm inflicted on our brothers and sisters at the hands of fascist barbarian Zionist attacks targeting residential buildings,” he said. “Therefore, we have decided to put an end to this. From this moment on, we announce that any targeting of innocent civilians without warning will be met regretfully, to say, by executing one of the hostages in our custody, and we will be forced to broadcast this execution.”
A decade ago, ISIS became notorious for videotaping and publishing videos of its forces executing civilians.
Israel is not currently negotiating with Hamas or any third party for the release of the hostages, Lior Haiat, spokesman of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told reporters on Monday.
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President Joe Biden said in a statement on Monday afternoon that 11 Americans had been killed in the terror attacks, while they’re trying to figure out how many, if any, Americans are among the hostages.
“Sadly, we now know that at least 11 American citizens were among those killed — many of whom made a second home in Israel,” the president said. “The safety of American citizens — whether at home or abroad — is my top priority as President. While we are still working to confirm, we believe it is likely that American citizens may be among those being held by Hamas.”
