‘Never before have this many Israelis been killed in a single day,’ says IDF representative

Approximately 48 hours into the combat operations, the situation in Israel is dire, stated Jonathan Conricus, spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), as reported by The Guardian.

He noted that combat operations are still ongoing in southern Israel. “This is taking us more time than we expected…”

It is also possible that Hamas militants are still infiltrating Israel from the Gaza Strip, he said, adding that Israeli airstrikes are targeting areas where militants congregate to cross the border.

Conricus reported that according to IDF estimates, more than 1,000 Hamas militants infiltrated Israeli territory during Saturday’s attack. 700 Israelis—both civilians and military personnel—have been killed, with over 2,100 injured. He stated that given the number of serious injuries, it is expected that the death toll will rise. “This was undoubtedly the worst day in Israel's history. Never before have this many Israelis been killed in a single day.”

In drawing a comparison to the United States, he said that the weekend attack could be seen as Israel’s equivalent to both September 11 and Pearl Harbor combined.

Conricus noted that a significant number of Israeli civilians and soldiers have been taken hostage and sent to the Gaza Strip. While he did not provide a specific number, he asserted that “many Israelis [have been forcibly taken] out of Israel.”

According to him, the IDF’s military response to Hamas’s attack aims to achieve two main objectives: “By the end of this war, Hamas will no longer have any military capability to threaten Israeli civilians... Hamas will not be able to govern the Gaza Strip.”

On Monday, Israeli military forces announced that overnight they had struck hundreds of Hamas and Islamic Jihad targets in the Gaza Strip. Fighters, helicopters, and artillery overnight attacked over 500 targets associated with Hamas and Islamic Jihad, including the residence of a senior Hamas official, Rouhi Mashteh, who is believed to have helped orchestrate the infiltration into Israel.