JERUSALEM – Israel declared a “state of war” on Saturday after Palestinian militants fired some 2,200 missiles from the Gaza Strip and infiltrated the southern parts of the country, leaving more than 100 Israelis dead and hundreds wounded.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared the nation “at war” in a video message, as he called an emergency meeting of his security officials.

“Our enemy will pay a price the type of which it has never known,” he said. “We are in a war, and we will win it.”

Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said the Palestinian militant group Hamas has “launched a war against the State of Israel”.

“Troops are fighting against the enemy at every location,” he said in a statement.

The Magen David Adom emergency medical services said in a statement that at least 40 Israelis had been killed, while the Israeli Health Ministry confirmed that more than 779 had been injured and taken to hospitals in the attack so far.

Hours later, Israel’s N12 News reports said the death toll had risen to more than 100.

The surprise assault, the biggest attack on Israel in years, combined gunmen crossing the border with a heavy barrage of rockets fired from the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli military said it retaliated by launching air strikes into Gaza, where witnesses reported hearing thunderous explosions.

Health officials said 198 Palestinians had been killed in the air strikes, as bombardments hit deep into Gaza, sending clouds of black smoke spiralling into the sky.

Hamas said the attack was driven by what it said were Israel’s escalated attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank and Jerusalem, and against Palestinians in Israeli prisons.

Hamas military commander Mohammad Deif announced the start of the operation in a broadcast on Hamas media, calling on Palestinians everywhere to fight.

“This is the day of the greatest battle to end the last occupation on earth,” he said, adding that 5,000 rockets were launched.

The unprecedented infiltration by an unknown number of Hamas gunmen into Israel from Gaza is the most serious escalation since Israel and Hamas fought a 10-day war in 2021.

The militant Islamic Jihad group said it joined the attacks and was holding several Israeli soldiers captive. “We are part of this battle, our fighters are side by side with their brothers in the Qassam Brigades until victory is achieved,” said Islamic Jihad armed wing spokesman Abu Hamza in a post on Telegram, referring to Hamas’ military wing.

Hamas social media accounts showed footage of what were said to be Israeli captives being taken alive into Gaza.

Hamas footage on its Telegram account showed its fighters pulling Israeli soldiers out of a tank.

Israeli media reported gun battles between bands of Palestinian fighters and security forces in towns in southern Israel.

Israel’s police chief said there were “21 active scenes” in southern Israel, indicating the extent of the attack.

The army said it was fighting Gaza militants who entered Israel by land, sea and air using paragliders.

“It was a combined ground raid, which happened through paragliders, through the sea and through the ground,” army spokesman Richard Hecht told reporters.

“Right now, we’re fighting. We’re fighting in certain locations around the Gaza Strip… our forces are now fighting on the ground” in Israel, he added.

In Gaza, people rushed to buy supplies in anticipation of days of conflict ahead. Some evacuated their homes and headed for shelters.

Speaking to Israel N12 News by phone from Nir Oz, a kibbutz (a place of work where workers live together) near Gaza, a woman identified as Dorin said militants came to her house and tried to open the bomb shelter where she was hiding.

“They just came in again, please send help,” she said. “There are a lot of homes harmed… My husband is holding the door closed… They are firing rounds of bullets.”

The Israeli military said in a statement: “A number of terrorists have infiltrated into Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip.”

It added that residents in the area surrounding the Gaza Strip had been told to stay in their homes.

Israeli media reported that gunmen opened fire on passers-by in the town of Sderot, in southern Israel, and footage circulating on social media appeared to show clashes in city streets, as well as gunmen in jeeps roaming the countryside.

“We were told there are terrorists inside the kibbutz. We can hear gunfire,” a young woman named Dvir, from Beeri Kibbutz, told Israeli Army Radio from her bomb shelter.

Hamas media displayed videos of what it said were bodies of Israeli soldiers brought into Gaza by fighters, and Palestinian gunmen inside Israeli homes and touring an Israeli town in jeeps reportedly driven into Israel by the attackers.

The Israeli defence minister authorised the call-up of reservists.

A group representing military reservists who planned to refuse to attend training over their objections to the government’s plans to overhaul the judiciary called on reservists to report for duty.

In Gaza, the roar of rocket launches could be heard and residents reported armed clashes along the separation fence with Israel, near the southern town of Khan Younis, and said they had seen significant movement of armed fighters.

Israel’s ambulance service said teams were dispatched to areas in southern Israel near Gaza, and residents were warned to stay inside.

Palestinians in Gaza expressed disbelief at the infiltration into Israel. “It is like a dream. I still can’t believe it. Fighters inside our occupied land?” said one Gaza shopkeeper.

The attack came a day after Israel marked the 50th anniversary of the 1973 war that brought the country to the verge of catastrophic defeat in a surprise attack by Syria and Egypt.

The United States condemned the Hamas fire and urged “all sides to refrain from violence and retaliatory attacks”.

“Terror and violence solve nothing,” the US Office of Palestinian Affairs wrote on X, formerly Twitter. REUTERS, BLOOMBERG, AFP