‘We are at war,’ Netanyahu says, after Hamas launches devastating surprise attack

PM vows to exact ‘unprecedented price’ from terror group after dozens of gunmen cross border, attack homes and IDF bases; thousands of rockets fired; opposition backs gov’t, IDF

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel “is at war” after Hamas launched a devastating surprise attack on the country on Saturday, and vowed to exact an “unprecedented price” from the terror group.

“Citizens of Israel, we are at war. Not an operation, not a round [of fighting,] at war! This morning Hamas initiated a murderous surprise attack against the state of Israel and its citizens,” Netanyahu said in his filmed statement in Hebrew.

The statement, which appeared to have been filmed at the Israel Defense Forces headquarters in Tel Aviv, was posted at around 11 a.m., several hours into the fighting that erupted after Hamas fired thousands of rockets into Israel and dozens of gunmen crossed the border with the Gaza Strip and invaded multiple Israeli towns and communities. (Read More)