Israel-Palestine war: First week ends with over 2,500 Palestinians, 1,400 Israelis killed

Scores of people are feared to have been killed at the site of an Israeli music festival after the surprise attack by Palestinians on Saturday morning. 

Thousands of people were attending a morning festival in the Israeli desert, some 5km away from Gaza, when Palestinians breached the boundary and attacked the area.

There has been no official account of what happened or a clear tally of the number of people killed. 

Israeli security officials said up to 109 people were believed to have been killed at the festival, according to the New York Times. 

The spokesperson of Zaka, an unofficial Israeli emergency response group made up of community volunteers, told Israeli media they have collected 260 bodies from the site of the festival. 

Good morning Middle East Eye readers.

Fighting between Palestinians and Israelis has entered its third day, with a wider escalation looming. 

The ground fighting so far has been concentrated inside Israeli territory, in several sites along the frontier with Gaza. 

Meanwhile, Israel has launched an ongoing, massive aerial assault on Gaza, targeting residential towers, mosques, hospitals, banks, and other civilian infrastructure. 

Here's a recap of the latest updates you need to know:

• At least 700 Israelis and 450 Palestinians have been killed. Nearly 2,500 wounded on each side. The numbers are likely to rise significantly

• Fighting is ongoing in at least six locations inside Israeli territory. The Israeli army is taking longer than anticipated to regain control. More Palestinian fighters continue to cross the boundary into Israel for reinforcements 

• Israel has amassed around 100,000 reserve troops around Gaza. US officials believe a ground invasion of the besieged strip is coming soon 

• The US has moved navy ships and warplanes closer to Israel in the Eastern Mediterranean

• An American military transport aircraft has reportedly landed in Israel from a US base in Jordan. More American enforcement are expected 

• Tensions are high in the West Bank. Palestinian have carried at least 50 shootings attacks on Israeli targets in two day. 15 Palestinian have been killed. 

• Well over 100 Israelis have been taken prisoners by Palestinians, according to initial Palestinian and Israeli estimates. They possibly include US citizens and other foreigners 

For more updates, keep an eye on Middle East Eye "Live" throughout the day and follow our social media page on Facebook, X, Instagram and YouTube.

Here are some stories to help you understand the situation more: 

• Gaza: Everything you need to know about the besieged Palestinian enclave

• Why Gaza's attack on Israel was no surprise

• Israel 'can no longer control its own fate' after stunning Palestinian attack

• 'The first time I felt freedom': When a Palestinian journalist crossed into Israel

• Israelis describe chaos and panic as Palestinian fighters stage shock assault

The Palestinian death toll from Israeli air strikes has jumped to 436, including 91 children and 61 women, the Palestinian health ministry said on Monday morning. 

At least 2,300 more people have been wounded, including 244 children and 151 women. 

Another 15 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in the occupied West Bank since the flare-up started on Saturday, bringing the total Palestinian death toll to 451

The Israeli military is engaging Palestinian fighters at six points outside Gaza, with Israel taking longer to push back against the surprise attack than previously anticipated.

"It's taking more time than we expected to get things back into a defensive, security posture," Lt. Col. Richard Hecht told a briefing with journalists on Monday.

The Israeli military’s top spokesperson, Daniel Hagari, said the Israeli military and Hamas were fighting at six sites in southern Israel.

Fighting was reported in Israeli towns of Beeri, Kfar Aza, Nirim and Alumim. Hagari said that an additional 70 Palestinian fighters had entered Beeri Sunday night.

A tunnel used by Palestinian fighters from Gaza was also found in Kfar Aza, he added.

The ground fighting accompanied massive Israeli bombardments on the besieged Gaza Strip, with the Israeli military deploying fighter jets, helicopters, aircraft and artillery.

Israeli air strikes and artillery shelling struck more than 500 targets, the Israeli military said Monday.

Democratic Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib was slammed by some on the far-right and in Israel for saying she grieved the loss of Palestinian and Israeli lives amid fighting in the region. 

Tlaib, the only Palestinian-American member of Congress said,  “I grieve the Palestinian and Israeli lives lost yesterday, today and every day” after Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel following months of escalating violence against the Palestinians.

Tlaib added that Israel was carrying out an apartheid system, echoing judgements made by the UN's special rapporteurs and several human rights organisations, such as Amnesty International, which have also concluded that Israel practises apartheid.

To address the escalating violence, Tlaib called for “lifting the blockade, ending the occupation, and dismantling the apartheid system that creates the suffocating dehumanising conditions that can lead to resistance.”

One user of X, formerly known as Twitter, said Tlaib was the “most disgusting member of Congress.”

Michael Herzog, the Israeli ambassador to the US, also criticised Tlaib on X. 

Fierce battles continued to rage between Palestinian fighters and the Israeli military in southern Israel early on Monday. 

Approximately 1,000 Palestinian fighters crossed from Gaza into Israel by land, sea and air an Israeli army spokesperson said on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

Meanwhile, Israel has continued to pound the besieged territory with airstrikes ahead of a looming ground invasion.

The army spokesperson said Israel has amassed around 100,000 reserve troops around Gaza, with the aim of ensuring that “Hamas will not be able to govern the Gaza Strip.”

An Israeli airstrike in Rafah city in southern Gaza killed 19 members of the same family, as the Israeli military pummels the besieged territory. 

Nasser Abu Quta told the Associated Press that an Israeli bomb hit his home full of civilians, including women and children. He told the AP his family was not warned to evacuate.

The UN has said that Israel is bombing houses and apartment buildings in Gaza after fighters from the territory launched a coordinated attack on southern Israel.

The Israeli military says it has destroyed 800 military targets in Gaza as part of its bombing campaign

Palestinian officials have rejected this. Salama Marouf, head of government media for Hamas, which governs Gaza, said the statement was "cover to justify the occupation's aggression against civilian people and property."

The bombing campaign may be a precursor to a looming Israeli ground invasion, which US officials estimate could come within the next 48 hours.

The United Nations humanitarian agency says 123,538 Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip have been displaced by fighting.

Israeli airstrikes and shelling in Gaza have targeted houses and apartment buildings, with some struck without warning for residents to evacuate, the UN said on Sunday.

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees estimates that 73,538 people are sheltering across 64 schools in Gaza, some of which are designated emergency shelters.

Compounding the dire humanitarian situation, Israel cut electricity supplies to the impoverished territory after armed groups from Gaza launched a coordinated attack on southern Israel.

The Gaza Power Plant is now the only source of power and could run out of fuel within days, the UN said. 

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken held a second phone call in less than two days with Saudi foreign minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan al-Saud.

Blinken on Sunday also held a call with his Emirati counterpart Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed and Turkish foreign minister Hakan Fidan.

The Biden administration has been working for months to normalise ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia. The surprise attack by Hamas is widely seen as a blow to those efforts. 

Blinken's calls with his regional counterparts focused on halting attacks by Hamas and securing the release of hostages, according to a US State Department readout of the calls.

Earlier on Sunday, Blinken said the US was working to verify reports that Americans had been killed or taken hostage by Hamas, saying, “We’ve got reports that several Americans are among the dead,” and was “working overtime to verify that.”

A National Security Council spokesman said Sunday that several US nationals have died since the start of Hamas' surprise attack. CNN reported an internal US government memo that said at least three US citizens have been killed. 

US President Joe Biden has ordered ships and warplanes to move closer to Israel in a show of support with Washington’s ally.

The US also promised to provide munitions and equipment to Israel, US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement Sunday.

Israel is likely to launch a ground attack on the besieged Gaza Strip within the next 48 hours, sources in the Biden administration believe, according to the Washington Post. 

Israel has also requested the Biden administration provide it additional iron dome missile interceptors, small diameter bombs, and machine gun ammunition, the Washington Post added. 

Separately, the Wall Street Journal reported that Egyptian officials have warned Israel against launching a ground assault on the besieged Gaza Strip because it would trigger a military response from the Lebanese group Hezbollah, risking a wider conflagration of fighting. 

Israel has asked the Biden administration to boost intelligence sharing along its northern border with Lebanon, the Washington Post also reported. 

The United Arab Emirates condemned the Hamas movement for its “serious and grave escalation”.

“The Ministry is appalled by reports that Israeli civilians have been abducted as hostages from their homes,” the UAE said in a statement. “Civilians on both sides must always have full protection under international humanitarian law and must never be a target of conflict.”

Offering condolences to the families of the victims, the UAE called on “both parties” to de-escalate and avoid “an expansion of the heinous violence with tragic consequences affecting civilian lives and facilities”.

“The UAE underscored that the international community needs to work together to prevent the violence risking wider instability and spillover, including the involvement by other groups,” the statement continued, underlining the importance of returning to negotiations for a two-state solution.

Hamas say they have targeted Ben Gurion airport in Israel, Al Jazeera Arabic reported. 

The attack is in response "to the occupation's ongoing crimes", the group said.

Israeli forces have killed a fourth Palestinian in the occupied West Bank today, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

The victim arrived at the Rafidia Public Hospital in the occupied West Bank town of Beita.
 

A spokesperson for the Al-Quds Brigades (Saraya al-Quds), the military wing of the Palestinian Jihad, appeared on a televised speech late on Sunday, saying that Palestinians are “closer than ever to freedom than we have ever been before”.

He added that the al-Quds Brigades are still present inside Israel, and “are involved in ongoing fighting”.

“Our fight is ongoing,” he said. 
 

Major US airlines, United Airlines, say Tel Aviv flights will remain suspended until conditions allow them to resume, according to Reuters. 

United Airlines joins a growing list of airlines that have suspended flights in and out of Israel since the fighting started Saturday morning.