Israel Declares War Against Hamas Transcript

We begin tonight with the Middle East in flames. Israel has formally declared war after that unprecedented multi-pronged terror attack from Hamas shocking the nation, catching its intelligence service by surprise. The death toll is mounting and at least 100 taken hostage. Several Americans are now confirmed to be among the dead. And a warning, the details and images are disturbing. Starting at dawn yesterday, Hamas lobbed thousands of rockets from Gaza toward Israel. Armed militants breaching border crossings, gunning down soldiers and civilians. Neighborhoods in flames. Homes and cars destroyed.

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More than 700 killed in Israel. More than 260 mostly young people killed at a music festival. A couple at that festival among the hostages, the woman taken away on a motorcycle, her boyfriend marched away by two men. Israel retaliating with airstrikes on Gaza. More than 400 dead in the territory. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warns there is a long and difficult war ahead. The Pentagon now sending an aircraft carrier strike group to the region, part of President Biden’s promise of rock-solid and unwavering support. We have team coverage tonight from the war zone to Washington. ABC’s chief foreign correspondent Ian Pannell leads us off from Israel.

Tonight, fire and fury in Gaza City, lighting up the night sky. Relentless explosions and panic in the streets as Israel fights back. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declaring, “We’re embarking on a long and difficult war that was forced upon us.” It erupted just after dawn Saturday, air raid sirens sounding across Israel, heralding a massive barrage of Hamas rockets, more than 2,200. A complex and highly coordinated attack was underway, taking Israel completely by surprise, coming by air, by sea, and by land. Hamas video showing armed militants rushing towards the border, breaching Israeli defenses. Militants shooting indiscriminately, leaving bodies in the streets. Some people even shot in their cars.

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And in a rural area near the border, thousands of young Israelis celebrating at a music festival. Look closely. Those lights streaking across the sky, Hamas rockets. The party descending into sheer panic. Hundreds under assault from fighters on the ground. And tonight, the Israeli rescue service reporting that more than 260 bodies were recovered at the scene. Elsewhere, militants kidnapping civilians and taking them back across the border into Gaza. Harrowing scenes, hostages hurrying down a road. This woman forced into a car. An elderly woman in a golf cart. One father spotting his children huddling in this video as they too are driven away. And tonight, the fighting along the border still raging. Israel trying to root out the remaining militants.

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I don’t know if you just heard that. That’s the sound of a mortar coming in from Gaza. This is being fired by Hamas militants while Israelis are trying to deal with Hamas, not just across in Gaza, but also here, still, inside Israel, where they’re trying to clear villages where the militants are holding on. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken saying more than 1,000 Hamas fighters were involved in this complex operation that’s already left more than 700 Israelis dead. It was an unprecedented attack. The United States now trying to clarify reports that Americans are among those killed and taken hostage. Hospitals here overwhelmed.

We have just now had a direct hit from a missile. In the hospital, we are just now trying to evaluate the damages.

Thousands are injured and thousands more today lining up for hours to donate blood. Israel in a state of shock and disbelief. In Ashkelon, Avivit Avram in tears as she looks out at the rubble in her home.

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“It’s not normal to raise children this way,” she says. The Israeli military now calling up its reserves, and soldiers evacuating families from towns that border Gaza. Israeli missiles now raining down on Gaza. Al Jazeera English reporter Yousma Al Sayed live on the air when one missile attacked. In Gaza, Israeli rockets toppling buildings like dominoes. This mosque in ruins, a mass of mangled metal.

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“They made elderly people, children and women scared,” this man says. “Copies of the Koran were shattered. The mosque was completely destroyed. Why?” And tonight in Gaza, the death toll mounting, too. More than 430 dead and their hospitals at breaking point.

Hospitals there clearly overwhelmed. Ian Pannell joins us now from Tel Aviv. And Ian, you were down just near the border with Gaza. What’s the situation there now?

I mean, you really do get this sense that not only is there an active conflict, a war developing, but that it’s evolving. You hear the sound of fighter jets overhead, attack helicopters. Drones are in the air. And as you saw in that report, we heard the sound of Hamas militants firing mortars. We saw rockets. We saw the Iron Dome, this air defense system, in operation. And of course, there are still Hamas militants inside Israel. Linsey.

Ian Pannell for us live in Tel Aviv. Ian, thank you.