https://www.foxnews.com/world/israels-military-force-war-hamas-idf-hits-back-terror-targets
Israel’s military forces have opened up fighting in nearly two dozen locations along the Gaza border after Hamas terrorists launched thousands of rockets into Israel on Saturday morning.
“There is no community in Southern Israel where we do not have forces, in all the towns,” Israel Defense Force (IDF) Spokesperson Daniel Hagari said in a statement Saturday evening. “There are communities that have been rid of terrorists, but we want to finish additional scans of the area before declaring so.”
Iranian-backed Hamas terrorists invaded areas of southern Israel as rocket barrages launched from the Gaza Strip struck the area on Saturday, killing at least 200 Israelis and wounding at least 985 others, according to The Associated Press.
A senior Hamas military commander, Mohammad Deif, announced the start of the operation in which he called on Palestinians everywhere to attack the Israelis, saying in a broadcast on Hamas media that the group launched thousands of rockets and calling the attack “the day of the greatest battle to end the last occupation on earth.”
Reports on the number of rockets have ranged from 2,100 to 5,000 – the former reported by the IDF and the latter claimed by Deif in his initial announcement.
The IDF claimed to have blocked many of the rockets with the country’s robust missile defense system Iron Dome. A retaliatory strike on Hamas targets has resulted in at least 198 Palestinians killed, according to Gaza health officials.
In a video message early Saturday morning, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “Citizens of Israel, we are at war — not in an operation, not in rounds — at war.” Netanyahu's office said he would meet top security officials in the coming hours to address the operation.