Israel warns war against Hamas will be 'long and difficult'

Twenty-four hours and 300 dead after the surprise attack by Hamas, Israel tries this Sunday to regain control of all its territory. Its soldiers are still fighting in eight points with redoubts of Palestinian militants who infiltrated the Strip on Saturday – in a show of fragility only comparable to that of the Yom Kippur war – and were killing and kidnapping civilians, police and soldiers in the street, in their homes or in military bases. Although it has been bombing Gaza harshly since Saturday (there are already 313 Palestinians killed), it has set itself the first objective of putting order at home before launching into a "long and difficult" war, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has defined it after a meeting of the security cabinet. The government announced this morning the cut of electricity, fuel and goods supplies to Gaza, and the army has indicated that it intends to evacuate all towns near the Strip.

"We are embarking on a long and difficult war that has been forced on us by Hamas' murderous attack. The first phase is to finish destroying the vast majority of the enemy forces that infiltrated our territory. At the same time, we have started the offensive phase, which will continue without limitations or rest until the objectives are achieved," Netanyahu said.

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The Israeli army has been gradually regaining control of the towns near the Strip and released hostages. In the city of Sderot, for example, it bombed the police station where ten militiamen were holed up. But fighting is still going on in eight other towns. The Israeli military claims to have killed hundreds of Palestinian militants and captured dozens of them, Reuters reported.

The armed wing of the Islamist organization Hamas, the Brigades of Ezedin al Qasam, for its part, has assured that some of its militants continue to fight against Israeli forces in several points inside Israel.

The Israeli authorities have also extended to the entire country the state of emergency that they had declared only in part. The most explosive prospect is what in Israel is known as a "multi-front war", that is, the action of the armed groups of the West Bank and, above all, Hezbollah, the Lebanese militia with an arsenal, preparation and number of men far superior to that of the Palestinian groups. On Sunday, he claimed responsibility for firing mortar shells at Israel, which has responded with bombings. No casualties have been reported.

After the incident, well below the capacity of action of Hezbollah, the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon (UNIFIL) – 10,000 troops under the command of Spanish General Aroldo Lázaro – has reported that it is in contact "at all levels" with both the Lebanese and Israeli authorities to avoid a "more serious escalation".

The surprise attack by Hamas and the Israeli bombings have caused, so far, at least 300 deaths and 1,592 wounded in Israel, according to its Ministry of Health, and 313 dead and about 2,000 wounded in the Gaza Strip, according to the latest balance of the Palestinian health authorities. In the West Bank, seven more people were killed by Israeli forces.

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