300 Israelis killed, 750 missing as Palestinian Resistance pursues op.

October 8, 2023

Source: Agencies

Rockets launched by the Palestinian Resistance from the Gaza Strip toward Israeli settlements, in Gaza, October 7, 2023. (AP)

By Al Mayadeen English

The latest tally of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood is 300 Israelis killed and over 1864 wounded, and the numbers are expected to rise significantly.

Israeli media reported unofficial estimates suggesting that approximately 750 Israelis are still considered missing. They highlighted that despite a full day has passed since the Operation, Palestinian fighters are still present in Israeli settlements.

The Israeli media confirmed that confrontations are still ongoing in “Kfar Azza” and “Be’eri”, with “control yet to be established” over areas in “Sderot”, “Zikim”, “Re’im”, and “Sufa”.

Concurrently, the Israeli Health Ministry reported that the death toll has risen to 300, while 1864 are injured, including 19 clinically dead and 326 are in critical condition.

Additionally, Israeli media reports indicated that an Israeli soldier committed suicide in the “Re’im” kibbutz using his personal firearm in the wake of the Palestinian operation.

Furthermore, the Israeli occupation forces said, “The entire zone of responsibility of the Gaza Division has now been declared a closed military zone,” in a statement on  X.

Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Hamas movement, have announced that confrontations between the Resistance and Israeli occupation forces are ongoing on several fronts, including “Sufa” and “Kibbutz Holit”.

Al-Qassam Brigades spokesperson Abu Obeida confirmed that the number of Israeli prisoners is “several times greater than the Zionist entity thinks.” He directed a message to the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, stating that his threats to Gaza are a “losing bet after the soldiers fell like locusts, and hundreds of them fled.” He emphasized that the entity is facing a deep crisis, “after witnessing the courage of our men.”

Meanwhile, Haaretz reported that Netanyahu, facing accusations in three corruption cases, has failed to handle the entity’s affairs and is held responsible for the calamity that befell “Israel”.

Read next: ‘Israel was humiliated and defeated’: The Washington Post

What you need to know 

On Saturday, Mohammad Deif, Commander-in-Chief of al-Qassam Brigades, announced the launching of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood following a barrage of rockets fired and an infiltration operation into Gaza Envelope settlements.

The leader said the operation comes in response to the Israeli occupation’s desecration of al-Aqsa Mosque and multiple assaults against women in its yards. 

Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Hamas movement, issued a military statement regarding the operation.

Later in the day, Israeli occupation Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said “Israel is at war” after Hamas fighters initiated a large-scale surprise attack on settlements in the Gaza envelope. 

In a filmed statement published several hours after the Palestinian Resistance launched Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, Netanyahu confirmed that he convened the heads of the Israeli security establishment and directed that Palestinian Resistance fighters who crossed into Gaza envelope settlements be “neutralized”.

Towns and cities quickly fell into complete control of the Resistance units as Israeli occupation military and police forces collapsed within the first hour of the attack.

The Resistance’s operation comes in the context of continued and unchecked Israeli aggression against Palestinians in the West Bank and occupied al-Quds, as well as a suffocating siege on the Gaza Strip.