Military forces, Hamas gunmen clash in parts of southern Israel

[superadmin]

JERUSALEM: Israeli forces clashed with gunmen from the Palestinian group Hamas today, 24 hours after the militants launched a surprise attack on Israel in which nearly 500 people were killed in the deadliest day of violence in Israel for 50 years.

The biggest incursion into Israel in decades could undermine US-backed efforts to forge regional security alignments that could threaten Palestinian aspirations for statehood and the ambitions of the group’s main backer, Iran.

Hamas fighters began their attack at dawn yesterday with a huge barrage of rockets into southern Israel, giving cover to an unprecedented, multi-pronged infiltration of fighters into Israel from Gaza, a narrow strip that is home to 2.3 million Palestinians.

Hamas fighters killed at least 250 Israelis in clashes throughout the day and escaped back into Gaza with dozens of hostages. More than 230 Gazans were killed when Israel responded with one of its most devastating days of retaliatory strikes.

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