In at least two towns, Israeli civilians were also held captive by terrorists in their homes, while some were taken hostage and driven to Gaza.
Israelis living in the south are begging the army to send security forces, saying they are desperate for help.
“We are being slaughtered. There is no army. It has been 6 hours,” one Israeli in a southern kibbutz said. “People are begging for their lives.”
A group of male Palestinian militants take selfies in front of and climb over a captured Israeli tank.
“My sister said militants entered her home,” a Tel Aviv resident named Gaia told Haaretz said about her family, which lives in the southern Kibbutz of Nir Oz. “I’m unable to reach her.”
“She told me that she and my brother and father were hiding in the shelter,” Gaia added. “She said the [militants] walked out after a few minutes, but I haven’t been able to reach my family since.”
Gaia reported that her brother had texted her that there were many casualties in the kibbutz but no police or Israeli army forces to be seen.
A house in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon burns following a rocket attack, and a man in the background is seen running for cover.
Her comments echo mounting criticism by Gaza-area residents that hours after the infiltrations took place, there was no sign of Israeli security forces and they felt abandoned.
Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai said that the Israeli Defense Force, along with special units , were managing “a number of war zones and all the additional forces that have been launched towards the Gaza Strip.”
“We know about civilians who are barricaded in all kinds of places,” Shabtai added. “We call on everyone to stay behind closed doors, we will reach everyone in the end. We are moving from one scene to another. There are quite a few terrorists who have been killed in the various scenes.”
“Unfortunately, there are also casualties from our forces and civilians who were nearby,” he continued. “I call the public to show restraint and patience and to lock themselves in their homes.”
A Palestinian journalist who managed to enter Israel during the attack said in a video that that Hamas members have “infiltrated two of the most important kibbutzim” in southern Israel: Nir Oz and Nir Am.
He said that they tried to kidnap Israeli civilians and soldiers into the Gaza Strip. He further stated that the terrorists entered the Gaza Border communities after “walking for about an hour.”
Residents of the southern Bedouin city of Rahat were panicking as they appeared to be in one of the epicenters of rocket fire and terrorist infiltration — with almost no means of protection from attack.
“There are maybe 10 shelters here in all of Rahat,” in an area of about 11.3 million acres, Mayor Ata Abu Mediam told The Marker, a Hebrew-language news outlet. “I asked for 50 protective shield in the previous round of rockets, they brought me two.” he added.
“After this round, I am not sending the children back to school. In the meantime, the schools in the settlement are open, and those who do not have a home or shelter should stay in the schools,” the mayor added, saying that five residents of Rahat were hit by arms fire while working on farms around the Gaza Strip.
“One woman working in agriculture was seriously injured in the neck. I have no verification whether the weapons were fired by Gazans or security forces,” he added. A shooting attack on the Albat neighborhood has been reported, resulting in an unspecified number of deaths and injuries.
Tens of thousands of Israeli army reserve personnel were being mobilized.
The Israeli army is responding to the attacks by striking Hamas positions in the Gaza Strip.
From New York Post.