How the Hamas Attack on Israel Unfolded - WSJ
How the Hamas Attack on Israel Unfolded - WSJ
Transcript
00:00 Palestinian militants from the armed group Hamas launched a surprise, coordinated attack
00:05 on Israel by land, sea, and air on Saturday morning.
00:10 With hundreds killed, the attack is the largest and deadliest in years and prompted an Israeli
00:15 declaration of war.
00:18 Here's how it unfolded.
00:21 At around 6.30am, the attack began with a barrage of rockets.
00:25 Shortly after the first reports of rocket fire, Hamas fighters entered Israel near the
00:30 Kerem Shalom crossing, an important checkpoint between Israel and Gaza.
00:35 The video released by Hamas shows its fighters breaching the border fence and attacking the
00:39 military base there.
00:49 Around the same time, Hamas fighters also raided and captured Israel's Erez border
00:53 crossing station.
01:05 Targeting checkpoints like these enabled Hamas to neutralize clusters of Israeli forces and
01:11 spread into nearby towns with less resistance.
01:15 By 7.30am, Israelis began seeing groups of Palestinian militants arriving in towns and
01:20 cities.
01:24 The incursion fanned out into nine towns near the border with Gaza.
01:31 In the city of Sderot, Palestinian militants clashed in the streets with Israeli police
01:36 and military.
01:43 By late morning, Palestinian militants began destroying sections of the border barrier.
01:54 What started as a small penetration of the Israeli border became a wide-open corridor.
02:02 Soon, Palestinian militants began taking hostages in towns near the border with Gaza.
02:17 Many hostages were taken back to Gaza and driven through the streets.
02:31 By the afternoon, at least 200 Israelis were killed and more than 1,000 injured, mainly
02:37 civilians.
02:38 Israeli jets launched retaliatory strikes in Gaza, killing and injuring similar numbers
02:43 of Palestinians.
02:45 Hamas said their attacks were only the beginning of a long war.
02:48 "We are not going to give up.
02:49 We are not going to give up.
02:50 We are not going to give up.
02:51 We are not going to give up.
02:52 We are not going to give up.
02:53 We are not going to give up.
02:54 We are not going to give up.
02:55 We are not going to give up.