hello. israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu says the country is "at war and will win", after an unprecedented attack by the palestinian and militant group hamas saw thousands of rockets launched into israel from gaza. dozens of militants appear to have entered southern israel, where a state of emergency has been declared. here's what we know so far. the rocket attacks have struck tel aviv and areas surrounding gaza. the town of ashkelon saw several major explosions. israel's media is now reporting that at least 100 israelis have been killed. israel's ministry of health confirms over 900 people have been wounded. details of the palestinian incursions are unclear, but gunmen have been reported in towns near the gaza border and israelis have been warned to stay inside.

there are also reports of a number of israeli soldiers taken captive by fighters, with hamas saying it has a "big number of captives, among them senior officers". israel's military has been striking targets in gaza in response. at least 198 palestinians are confirmed dead there. the 1000 wounded. —— over 1000 wounded. richard galpin has the latest. this was a surprise attack on israel by the militant palestinian group, hamas. it's claiming it's launched 5,000 rockets injust 20 minutes. some have hit the city of ashkelon, causing damage. amongst those on the ground, more hamas fighters heading into the battle. there is also footage apparently showing a captured israeli tank.

a senior hamas commander has said the militant group had decided to say enough is enough. here in the israeli town of sderot, the emergency services have been taking the injured to local hospitals. it's reported that militants have been taking control of some of the streets in the area. 0n social media, the israeli prime minister said he had ordered a large mobilisation of troops. translation: the enemy will pay a heavy price - on a scale that it has never known. meanwhile, i call on all citizens of israel to listen to the home front command instructions. we are at war, and we will win. the palestinian president, mahmoud abbas, has spoken out, saying palestinians have a right to defend themselves from what he describes as terror of settlers and occupation troops.

palestinians are fleeing from the area as they anticipate retaliation by the israeli forces. richard galpin, bbc news. lots of reaction coming in. benjamin netanyahu has spoken with president biden who offered his full support. we have also heard in the last hour from foreign secretary, james cleverly, who condemned the attack. we have seen an unprecedented attack on israel. reports of thousands of rockets being fired at civilian targets. and reports of arbitrary killings, murders, and kidnaps. we completely condemn, the uk, completely condemns, these terrorist acts against israel. we support israel's right to self—defence. of course, we will be working closely with the israeli government. we already have had contact

with them and we will continue to do so to protect nationals british in israel and to try and bring peace as quickly as possible. what form does that support take? what support is britain ready to give to israel as they respond to these attacks by hamas? of course, we will respond to requests from the israeli government. we will be in close contact with them and we will remain in close contact with them as this progresses. of course, our priority in the short—term is to help protect british nationals in israel. there is travel advice on the fcdo website. people should follow that if they are planning to travel to israel. they should follow the advice of the israeli defence force if they are already in israel. 0ne one new line to bring you, from gaza, the retallick tree attacks from israel —— retaliatory attacks. interference the strikes injured several people and damaged an oxygen

station. msf saying this on twitter on x in the past few minutes. a nurse and ambulance driver among the almost 200 people killed in the last few hours in gaza. 0urjerusalem bureau chief jo floto explained how fast moving and unprecedented the attacks have been. well, we are seeing a massive aerial response from the israeli military. as you have just said, the figures we have got now is 198 killed. hundreds wounded all across the gaza strip in the south, the centre, and in the north. israeli media are now reporting more than 100 israelis have been killed and the wounded is in excess of 900. it's difficult to overstate how unprecedented this event is. this is a nightmare scenario for many israelis and certainly for the israeli military. infiltration of hamas militants into towns and cities near the gaza strip. this wasn't supposed to happen.

this was something that the idf was supposed to have prevented or taken steps to prevent. the israeli defence force. we have to go back decades, decades, before we get to this level of casualties amongst the israeli population. it's still ongoing. in sderot, we're still hearing reports of gunfired, rockets being fired out of the gaza strip. sirens are going off all the way near the gaza strip on the israeli towns and cities. we understand that dozens of hostages, both military and civilian, have been taken by hamas. some are thought to be holed up in some of the small towns near the gaza strip. others we know from footage that's been released by hamas and others have been taken back into the gaza strip. this is an extraordinary situation. one for which the israeli military may have planned, but it is unlikely that anyone, either political or military,

will be entirely prepared for what this now means for the coming days and weeks. in terms of what is happening right now, jo, you mention sderot, a very active situation there, too. is itjust militant activity in gaza that we are seeing or is hamas still firing rockets into israel? as i havejust said, rockets are still being fired but also these militants who infiltrated israel, something that wasn't supposed to happen, wasn't supposed to be possible, is still ongoing. there are exchanges of fire. that is what the israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, says is his first priority, to restore order and get those people out of israel proper. but the scale of the hostagetaking is something that israel has never seen before... do we have numbers on that? do we have numbers on that, jo? and casualties... dozens. we understand it is dozens of hostages. we can't verify the numbers at the moment. the military are keeping

tight—lipped about how many of those are soldiers. we have also seen bodies of soldiers recovered by hamas and displayed in gaza. one of the most shocking episodes today appears to have been at the scene of a party. it was an all—night party being attended by thousands of israelis, who were celebrating the end of a majorjewish holiday here. it is very close, relatively close, to the gaza strip. in the early hours of this morning, they were overrun, it appears, by gunmen, almost indiscriminate shooting. we know there have been casualties. it appears that some of those revellers, some of those partygoers, have now ended up in gaza. we are getting reports of people tracking their relatives using iphone and phone—tracking devices and seeing that those devices are now within the gaza strip. we know that there were hours of gunfire around that party. there were a lot of civilians there.

this is just to give you a flavour of how devastating this attack has been. hamas has always said it wanted to do this. it has tried in the past. but never on this scale. today, this morning, they used some kind of method to get through the fence, we saw a whole in the fence we saw a hole cut in the fence and motorcycles carrying gunmen streaming through the fence between gaza and israel. we saw microlights, paragliders, powered by engines, in the sky, flying into israel. as you have just mentioned, at the top of the programme, the israeli military reported that the navy has killed militants attempting to infiltrate israel by the sea. land, sea, and air assaults. this is at a time when no—one expected this to happen. things have not been great in terms of relations between hamas and israel. there have been violent protests at the border for many days ahead

of this lastjewish holiday. what we were told was that this was part of a negotiation to release more funds from qatar and egypt, to get israel to allow more permissions for gazan workers to come into israel and earn money. no—one anticipated this would lead to what is obviously a very, very detailed, large—scale coordinated attack. the hamas leadership must know and must have known that the response to this will be devastating from the israeli military. we're seeing already that that death toll is nearly 200. what we don't know is how the israeli military will plan to recover those hostages. we don't know if that is possible. in the past, a small number of hostages have been used to trade for prisoners, security prisoners, palestinian prisoners, being held in israeli jails.

i don't think anyone is in the mood to negotiate at the moment, but this is a devastating blow to the israeli military today. it is something that has shocked the entire israeli country and the population of gaza will be shocked and surprised by what hamas has managed to do in conjunction with other militant groups. jo, what are your thoughts on whether or not this could also widen to include hezbollah in lebanon and the west bank? the fear is that this will trigger something even more dangerous than we have seen today. it is difficult to use those words because today is bad enough. we anticipate this will get worse before it gets better. but we have seen statements from hezbollah, the lebanese militant group, in support of hamas. whether or not they decide to engage in this is another matter altogether. the fact of the matter

is that were they to do so, that would be an all—out war, effectively, between israel and hezbollah, who control most of southern lebanon. but the israeli government will hold the entire lebanese government responsible for that. however, there are palestinian militant groups that are based in lebanon and have fired rockets into israel in the past. we are waiting to see what happens in the west bank. 0bviously, all of these militant groups are represented in the west bank and have been fighting for a long time. the casualties there in the last... well, in this year, have already reached more than 200 on the palestinian side. so, it is a very active conflict area. and hamas will be justifying this for a number of reasons. for its defence, they say, of the holy sites in jerusalem, of the status of their own prisoners in israeli jails and they will be

saying they want to bring the fight to the israeli public that is currently taking place in the west bank. how on earth this ends is a different matter. it does appear that there will need to be quite a lot of fighting before anyone is prepared to sit down and talk, but we're getting ahead of ourselves, really. let's show you the live pictures from gaza. you can still see smoke in the sky and ongoing retaliatory attacks. palestinian officials telling us that almost 200 people have been killed. 1600 or more have been injured. among the dead msf have sent an ambulance officer and a nurse because a hospital has been struck, two, in fact, nurse because a hospital has been struck, two, infact, in nurse because a hospital has been struck, two, in fact, in gaza. we'll construe and deliver concerns about the infrastructure, not only how medicalfacilities the infrastructure, not only how medical facilities are coping but also possibly issues around electricity and water. —— real concerns around. the official statement we have just had from the

white house is here. joe biden condemning the terrorist attacks in israel. he says the us unequivocally condemns this appalling assault. he has made it clear to mr netanyahu, we stand ready to offer all appropriate means of support to the government and people of israel. terrorism is neverjustified. israel has a right to defend itself and its people. the us warns against any other party hostile to israel seeking advantage of this situation. my seeking advantage of this situation. my administration's support for israel's security is rock—solid. we are keeping in our prayers all the families who have been hurt and we are heartbroken by this many lives that have been tragically cut short. 0ne that have been tragically cut short. one of the big elements of this story which has been fluid and we have been trying to confirm for you is about the hostages. we understand they have been taken by hamas, hostages and islamic you had claiming they have taken hostages. i

have just been sent a line from the idf —— islamichhad. they have confirmed to the media, the idf, that soldiers and civilians have been abducted. earlier we heard that some senior officials, senior military personnel, were kidnapped. the idf has denied that. hamas claiming it has taken 53 hostages. interference we have been wondering if it wasjust interference we have been wondering if it was just military or if it was civilians as well and now we have this confirmation from the idf it is soldiers and it is civilians who have been abducted. incredibly worrying a difficult time. also, the idf saying, just coming to us now, that they are going to call up as many of their reserve forces, even hundreds of thousands, as needed. you will know that military service is compulsory in israel. 0nce you will know that military service is compulsory in israel. once they leave the military, and they begin their civilian lives, they can stand

—— continue to train. the military think they will call up as many as a reserve forces as they can, even hundreds of thousands if it is needed. let's bring you an idea of how it is in gaza right now. mohammed rafik who is a freelance journalist gave us this update on israel's retaliation in gaza city. nowhere is literally safe right now in gaza. we are witnessing a large and full—scale retaliation from the israeli air force in response to the military clashes across the borders. it is basically a lot of places including, let's say, residential compounds and public spaces have been targets of these air strikes with a staggering number of palestinians being injured and killed, as well. it has been six hours now since the clashes began. it has been marked... i have been talking to a lot of average citizens in here. just trying to sense

what it is feeling like. it is unprecedented scale and intensity. they are experiencing something that is very huge. palestinians in gaza haven't seen this escalation in military engagements since 2021. the war between hamas and palestinian factions in gaza and israel. it's now central areas within gaza have become targets of the raids that are being fired at, as the israeli army is being suggested, at security outposts and, like, places and posts associated with the governments in gaza. but a lot of people, including civilian people, have been targets of that air strikes. in some rural areas, neighbourhoods as well, close to the fence, lots of residents have been advised to evacuate in the face of the escalating combat. it is shocking and it is spreading

a sense of fear amongst the residents, including myself. if they are told to evacuate, where do they go? it is not known until now. the situation is being unfolded at the rapid rate across the borders. especially close to the separation fence where these military engagements are taking place at the moment. speaking with lots of people there, they said they haven't seen, and i can confirm, we haven't seen footage of palestinians breaching into these towns beyond the barriers like this before. but i must also confirm that these live images that are unfolding, they evoke a complex mess of emotions in palestinians. it is like a hopeful celebration and concern. because they have a sense that, yeah, we can return to the occupied lands. but, at the same time, they fear the possibility of an israeli potential long—term counterattack.

as mediators have become part of the situation right now, there is no solution, let's say, to be seen. at the moment, it is just expected to escalate rapidly. speculations are valid at the moment. we are seeing, like, a situation that is basically horrific for palestinians in gaza. it wasn't like this six hours ago. it wasn't like this in the morning. the retaliation of the israeli air strikes has been increasing and escalating rapidly. can you help us understand something for our viewers, who are also possibly horrified when they see some palestinians celebrating the death of israelis and the amount of israelis who have been killed and injured in the attacks. what are those people who are celebrating, how do you explain that to people? we are watching pictures of it

happening right now. yeah. yeah, of course. at the end of the day, it is not a celebration of having people killed, it is a celebration and a sense of hope for palestinians having been refugees in the gaza strip for over 75 years, they have a sense of hope that now make given those towns and villages are now being... being evacuated, it is now maybe time for us, as refugees, who fled those towns and villages, it is time to return. they are now applauding behind the resistance factions and the political factions in gaza that this is time to keep striking. a lot of people are also speculating that it is not ending soon, whether we are escalating or not. there is a sense among the people that those attacks by the palestinian resistance groups and the people across the border is something to be expected, to be responded for.

it's not a celebration of killing people, rather than having a hope, a sense of hope, for those refugees that we can now go back and return to the lands, the occupied towns. it is obviously complex and there will be a myriad of reasons that people express certain emotions but it is good to hear that one perspective of you. as we see all of these air strikes taking place and the death toll going up, the number of injured going up, we also are seeing infrastructure being affected. are there concerns you may not have power or water in the coming hours? i'm sorry, i didn't hear? that's exactly the question i am actually asking you, we are speaking to you now on a line which is quite clear. the picture is even quite clear. but i wonder if there is a concern that you may not have power and water or internet, the infrastructure could be affected by these strikes?

yes, at the moment, i am living in a neighbourhood that has been impacted by the air strikes. my electricity in the house has gone out. it is the reason the lighting is not really good in here. it was expected to have our day shift of electricity hours ago but, at the moment, it has been cut off for the entire neighbourhood due to the impact of the air strikes. as you may have heard, previously during my interview, bombings are becoming closer by the minute and getting closer to where i basically live with my family. you asked me about the infrastructure. it is being deteriorated by the moment. the air strikes outside our being horrible. the air strikes outside are being horrible. it's just really difficult for every citizens and even journalists like myself to go out. it is just like a situation that we can barely save our lives with. we are trying to keep up—to—date. are you and your family scared?

we are trying to be good, trying to be safe, thank you very much. it is very horrific to hear the sounds of the explosions coming closer to where we live but we are hoping we are going to be fine. we are hopeful. live pictures of the retaliatory air strikes, israel's strikes on gaza. with me is news correspondentjon donnsion. he spent a lot of time in gaza and would spend time reporting. your thoughts? it is not unexpected. interference we thoughts? it is not unexpected. interference— thoughts? it is not unexpected. interference ~ ., , interference we have seen in the last few minutes _ interference we have seen in the last few minutes several _ interference we have seen in the last few minutes several huge - interference we have seen in the last few minutes several huge air i last few minutes several huge air strikes taken from one of the rooftop cameras in the centre of gaza city. as you can see, credibly built—up area. israel will say that is a precision strike, i imagine they are targeting something specific.

they are targeting something secific. , ., ., specific. rushdi, our colleague, has 'ust told specific. rushdi, our colleague, has just told us— specific. rushdi, our colleague, has just told us that _ specific. rushdi, our colleague, has just told us that what _ specific. rushdi, our colleague, has just told us that what we _ specific. rushdi, our colleague, has just told us that what we just - just told us that what we just saw, thatis just told us that what we just saw, that is an 11—storey building in the downtown area, the home of hamas radio. he downtown area, the home of hamas radio. , ., ., ., ., radio. he is not far at all where the bbc office _ radio. he is not far at all where the bbc office is _ radio. he is not far at all where the bbc office is based. - radio. he is not far at all where the bbc office is based. lots i radio. he is not far at all where the bbc office is based. lots ofj the bbc office is based. lots of journalists based around there and people living round there. the truth is, gaza is a very, very small place. gaza city itself is densely populated. there isn't really anywhere safe for them, i think. i feel concerned when i look at that for sderot and our team who is there as we look at the aftermath of what we are being told is an 11—storey building in downtown gaza city that has been hit by israeli rocket fire —— i look at that and i worry for rushdi. the latest figures, 200 killed and 1000 wounded. those figures will go up. juan the other line we need to talk about is what

has been happening... the idf has confirmed that we are notjust talking about military personnel who have been taken hostage, but also civilians, it seems.— civilians, it seems. yes, hamas in gaza is saying _ civilians, it seems. yes, hamas in gaza is saying it has _ civilians, it seems. yes, hamas in gaza is saying it has taken - civilians, it seems. yes, hamas in gaza is saying it has taken 53 - gaza is saying it has taken 53 people hostage. the israeli officials not giving numbers. as you say, confirming military and civilian hostages. it is this element that is absolutely unprecedented. element that is absolutely un - recedented. [m unprecedented. interference i'm auoin to unprecedented. interference i'm going to show— unprecedented. interference i'm going to show you _ unprecedented. interference i'm going to show you some _ unprecedented. interference i'm going to show you some pictures i unprecedented. interference i'm i going to show you some pictures now. we have seen quite a few pictures that we have been unable to verify of hostages apparently in gaza. a woman who is bundled into that black jeep. we are not showing the pictures of her, because it is pretty distressing. she is in that car. that is in gaza, on the outskirts of gaza city. hamas saying that is just one of those israeli

hostages in the video... she appears to be bloodied and she is dragged out of the car by her hair. there are other videos even more disturbing, perhaps, circulating on social media that we have been unable to verify. as i say, if they have got 53 israeli hostages, i mean, that is a huge problem for the israeli government, for the israeli security forces, and they will be working out how they will try and deal with it. the working out how they will try and deal with it— working out how they will try and deal with it. ., ,., , ., �* deal with it. the reason you didn't have my attention _ deal with it. the reason you didn't have my attention for— deal with it. the reason you didn't have my attention for a _ deal with it. the reason you didn't have my attention for a moment, | deal with it. the reason you didn't| have my attention for a moment, i deal with it. the reason you didn't - have my attention for a moment, i am printing out something for us to both look over, jon, it is significant and coming from the idf. talking about these hostages. i'm just going to hand it to you. let me read it to you. there have been deaths of idf soldiers, we don't have exact numbers. we are at war. dozens of terrorists infiltrated on foot a large number of locations and enable infiltration and a large number of breaches in the security

fence. 22 locations still fighting and there is no community in southern israel where we do not have forces in all of the towns. there are communities that have been rid of terrorists that we want to... interference interference confirming deaths of idf soldiers but has not released anything more specific. is there anything else you can see... 17 there anything else you can see... that is so striking, 22 locations where fighting is ongoing. 0ne presumes that that is where fighting is ongoing. one presumes that that is interference that illustrates _ presumes that that is interference that illustrates just _ presumes that that is interference that illustrates just how _ presumes that that is interference that illustrates just how big - presumes that that is interference that illustrates just how big this - that illustrates just how big this infiltration has been. we have all this footage with the security fence being damaged, being attacked. people on motorbikes heading back through and we have seen footage of palestinians who have, apparently, captured a tank. an israeli tank.

interference— captured a tank. an israeli tank. interference streets of sderot, the town riaht interference streets of sderot, the town right on — interference streets of sderot, the town right on the _ interference streets of sderot, the town right on the border _ interference streets of sderot, the town right on the border with - interference streets of sderot, the town right on the border with israel. town right on the border with israel where we saw palestinian militants on the back of pick—up trucks, travelling around. and later in the day, there is a video of israeli forces going house to house, looking... forces going house to house, looking- - -_ forces going house to house, i looking. . ._ they forces going house to house, - looking. . ._ they are looking... interference they are still fi . htin: looking... interference they are still fighting in _ looking... interference they are still fighting in 22 _ looking... interference they are still fighting in 22 locations - looking... interference they are still fighting in 22 locations along l still fighting in 22 locations along that short order. this still fighting in 22 locations along that short order.— that short order. this idea of spokesperson. _ that short order. this idea of spokesperson, also - that short order. this idea of spokesperson, also points. that short order. this idea of. spokesperson, also points out that short order. this idea of - spokesperson, also points out the statement they are combating fake news at the moment. frank gardner was looking into this as well, jon, because they had been reports of one of the top generals was kidnapped and he says that is not true. also reports that a commander of the division in gaza was kidnapped and he says that is not true. also something we are very aware of at the moment as we gather information. we have talked about the fog of war

at the beginning, but it is very clear that both sides of the conflict will try and use both sides of that fog to restore what is happening. certainly, a lot of the stuff that is circulating on social media, you have to be pretty careful that you can verify that it is actually true.— that you can verify that it is actually true. that you can verify that it is actuall true. , , ., actually true. he tells us our white mobilisation _ actually true. he tells us our white mobilisation of _ actually true. he tells us our white mobilisation of reserves _ actually true. he tells us our white mobilisation of reserves have - actually true. he tells us our white i mobilisation of reserves have begun. —— a wide mobilisation. tanks are being brought down, but a comment from earlier was that they were prepared to call up hundreds of thousands of reservists if necessary. it is a compulsory military service in israel, people continue to stay in the reserves for many years. continue to stay in the reserves for many years-— continue to stay in the reserves for many years. you have to go into the military when _ many years. you have to go into the military when you _ many years. you have to go into the military when you are _ many years. you have to go into the military when you are quite - many years. you have to go into the military when you are quite young, | military when you are quite young, straight out of school. just about everyone in israel does it, and then once you have done your time in military service, you are then kept on as a reservist. you have to do periodic training to keep your

skills up, and those reserves are getting called up. the fear in gaza will be, and properly among israelis, is that what is coming could be a ground invasion. since 2008 and 2009, there have been for short wards in gaza, which led to many casualties, especially on the palestinian side, but there was never a major ground invasion. that is what people in gaza will be fearing. the question is, though, what does israel do after? are they going to completely re—occupy with troops on the ground, the gaza strip? troops on the ground, the gaza stri - ? ,, , , ., , strip? stay with us, we are 'ust auoin to strip? stay with us, we are 'ust going to bring in i strip? stay with us, we are 'ust going to bring in our * strip? stay with us, we arejustj going to bring in our colleagues strip? stay with us, we are just i going to bring in our colleagues at the world service radio, who have managed to speak to the idf in one of their spokespeople. managed to speak to the idf in one of theirspokespeople. her managed to speak to the idf in one of their spokespeople. her comments, israel will make hummus pay for their mistake this morning. it has been a rough _ their mistake this morning. it has been a rough morning, _ their mistake this morning. it has been a rough morning, a - their mistake this morning. it has been a rough morning, a very - been a rough morning, a very horrible — been a rough morning, a very horrible day, on holiday in israel for the _

horrible day, on holiday in israel for the jewish people.