Israel has ordered a “complete siege” of Gaza and mobilised 300,000 reservists two days after an unprecedented attack by Hamas.
Israel’s military said on Monday it was moving to the offensive after regaining control of territory neighbouring the Palestinian enclave.
“I have given an order — Gaza will be under complete siege,” said Yoav Gallant, defence minister. “There will be no electricity, food or fuel [delivered to Gaza]. We are fighting barbaric [terrorists] and will respond accordingly.”
Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Daniel Hagari said the call-up of 300,000 reservists was the largest in the country’s history, although not all would be sent to the border with Gaza.
“We have never drafted so many reservists on such a scale,” Reuters quoted him as saying. “We are going on the offensive.”
More than 1,100 people have died since Hamas’s surprise attack, with Israel saying more than 700 civilians and troops have been killed and what health officials in Gaza say are 560 deaths in the Mediterranean enclave. At least 100 people have also been abducted in what has become the deadliest conflict inside Israel since 1948.
“What Hamas will experience will be difficult and terrible; we are already in the campaign and we are just getting started,” prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a meeting with council leaders in the south of Israel. “I ask that you stand steadfast because we are going to change the Middle East.”
In a bid to prevent the conflict from escalating, Qatar has held talks with Israel and Hamas to secure a deal in which the militant group would agree to release women and children it is holding hostage, a person briefed on the talks said.
They added that in return the Jewish state could release Palestinian women and children held in its prisons and that the talks were supported by the US.
But on Monday the conflict appeared to widen. The IDF said that its helicopters were “currently striking in Lebanese territory”, shortly after it said it had killed “a number of militants” who had crossed into Israel from Lebanon.
The Israeli military has also ordered civilians in towns near the Lebanese border to remain in their homes.
Several news outlets said that the Al Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement, which is present in both Gaza and Lebanon, claimed responsibility for an attack at the Lebanon-Israel border.
The US state department said nine Americans had been killed since Saturday, adding that more remain unaccounted for. France said two of its citizens had died.
The IDF press department told the Financial Times that “we have gained full control over the communities in southern Israel”. But it added: “The border is not fully sealed yet, which means the terrorists still have the ability to invade this country.” It said there had been 22 breaches in the fence since Saturday.
Israel’s Energy minister Israel Katz said on Monday he had instructed authorities to cut off water to Gaza. The country already tightly restricts movement in and out of the territory, but in recent years had loosened some of these rules as part of indirect negotiations with Hamas.
The escalation in restrictions marks a dramatic blow for Gaza, which is heavily reliant on its neighbour for essential supplies including electricity and fuel.
Chevron said on Monday it had been instructed by Israel’s energy ministry to halt production at its offshore Tamar gasfield in the Mediterranean but would continue to supply its customers in Israel.
On Monday, the EU said it was putting all of its development financing for Palestine under review in response to Hamas’ attack, affecting €691mn in aid. “The scale of terror and brutality against #Israel and its people is a turning point. There can be no business as usual,” said Oliver Varheyli, EU neighbourhood commissioner, on X.
Richard Hecht, another IDF spokesperson, had said earlier in the day that there were seven or eight places in Israel’s southern border area with Gaza “where we have still warriors fighting terrorists”.
He also referred to Israel’s lack of preparedness as a “failure”. Hamas entered Israel through the high-tech border fence on foot, in vehicles and paragliders in the early hours of Saturday, when some Israeli soldiers had gone home to celebrate the Jewish Simchat Torah holiday.
UN officials said more than 123,000 people had been displaced in Gaza as of Saturday night following Israeli air strikes, some of which hit residential buildings. The UN agency for Palestine refugees estimated that more than 73,000 people were sheltering in 64 schools in Gaza.
Israel has fought wars in Gaza since Hamas gained control of the territory of 2mn in 2007. In 2021, an 11-day conflict between Israel and Hamas sparked communal violence between Jewish and Palestinian groups within Israel and spread to the West Bank, where protesters clashed with Israeli security forces.
European gas futures rose about 16 per cent after the news that Israel had ordered the suspension of production from the Tamar field.
Oil prices rose about 4 per cent on Monday to just below $88 a barrel, after previously going as high as $89 on concerns that fallout from the conflict could widen across the region.
“Obviously everyone’s reaction was to buy oil given the heightened political risk,” said Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management, adding that there were concerns that Iran’s potential involvement in planning the Hamas attack could lead to stronger US sanctions on Iranian oil exports.
Several international airlines — including Cathay Pacific, easyJet and Lufthansa — have suspended flights to Israel following the outbreak of the conflict, with 23 per cent of flights from Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion International Airport cancelled on Monday, according to data from FlightRadar 24.
Israeli-Palestinian conflict
Asked on Monday about whether Iran had provided Hamas support for its lightning attack, Hecht said the Iranians were likely to have been involved but “we are not focusing on that right now”.
“We are fighting against Hamas,” he said, adding that “we are making sure that our northern border is secured and ramped up”.
Iran denies any role in the surprise attack and the foreign ministry said on Monday that it would respond to any threats and accusations about its alleged involvement. US officials also said that they had no information to suggest Iran was directly involved.
The US on Sunday said it would move an aircraft carrier strike group and fighter jets into the eastern Mediterranean and supply Israel with munitions to support the IDF’s efforts to restore control over the area.
The Bank of Israel on Monday announced a plan to sell up to $30bn in foreign exchange to stabilise volatility in the shekel exchange rate and provide liquidity “for the continued proper functioning of the markets”.
Additional reporting by Neri Zilber in Tel Aviv and Henry Foy in Brussels
