OAN’s Brooke Mallory
11:47 AM – Sunday, October 8, 2023
After Hamas committed the worst attack on the Jewish state in fifty years, Israel’s cabinet officially declared war on the terrorist organization by invoking Article 40 Aleph.
Since the start of the conflict, with the death toll anticipated to grow after Hamas terrorists fired hundreds of missiles and dispatched dozens of militants into Israeli communities, at least 700 Israelis have died, around 2,150 have been injured, and 100 have been verified as being held hostage by the Islamic terrorist organization.
On social media, horrifying videos of Hamas militants kidnapping festival goers and parading a woman’s bruised, naked body around the streets have gone viral.
Additionally, the group of abducted people includes Americans.
Gilad Erdan, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, confirmed this in a statement where he declared that “dozens” of Americans are being held as hostages in Gaza by Hamas.
“I know that there are dozens—dozens, ok? of Israelis holding American citizenship who are being held hostage in Gaza. Dozens. There are many Israelis who have American citizenship, we don’t have all the names yet. We’re still working to get the names of all the missing people. But dozens are Americans,” Erdan told the American press.
In another report, a daughter and son-in-law of a professor at Massachusetts-based Brandeis University were slain while defending their adolescent son from Hamas gunfire.
RECAP– 2005: More than 30 years after capturing the region from Egypt in the Six-Day War, Israel unilaterally withdraws from the Gaza Strip.
2006: Hamas wins a parliamentary election in Palestine.
2007: Gaza is taken over by Hamas in a civil war in 2007.
2008: Following a missile attack by Palestinian militants on the town of Sderot, Israel conducts a military incursion against Gaza.
2023: The largest attack on Israel in fifty years is launched by Hamas.
In disturbing images online, Hamas terrorists can be seen kidnapping female hostages and parading them down the street.
Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, declared, “We are at war” and threatened Hamas with “a price it has never known.” Despite cautioning Israelis that the conflict would be “long and difficult,” Netanyahu promised to assert “mighty vengeance” upon Hamas.
In the aftermath of the deadly attack, security at Jewish institutions and synagogues in New York City has increased.
However, there is also a pro-Palestine, pro-Hamas rally reportedly taking place at Times Square.
Nikki Haley, a Republican candidate for the 2024 presidency, ripped into Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday for denying that any connection existed between the attack on Israel by Hamas and the prisoner exchange arrangement struck by the Biden administration that released $6 billion in frozen Iranian assets.
“I actually think it was irresponsible for Secretary Blinken to say that the $6 billion doesn’t weigh in here,” Haley said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” program on Sunday. “I mean, let’s be honest with the American people and understand that Hamas knows and Iran knows they’re moving money around as we speak because they know $6 billion is going to be released.”
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
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