The Israel Defense Forces reported to Haaretz that a broad air operation in the Gaza Strip targeted a large number of sites as part of a sustained military campaign. The official explanation described the effort as an extensive strike on roughly 800 distinct locations within the Gaza Strip, illustrating the scale of the action and the authorities’ intent to degrade capabilities they deem a threat to security. The statement from the IDF presented the operation as a significant, coordinated military response to ongoing events, emphasizing the breadth of targets engaged during this period and underscoring the readiness to sustain pressure on what they identify as hostile infrastructure and apparatus supporting hostile activity.
On the morning of 7 October, reports indicated that Hamas launched a substantial salvo of rockets toward Israel, with thousands of projectiles reportedly fired in a rapid sequence. In conjunction with the rocket fire, a military campaign titled Operation Al-Aqsa Flood was publicly announced, signaling a major escalation in hostilities. In response to the evolving security situation, Itamar Ben-Gvir, who holds a senior national security post, declared a state of emergency within the country, signaling heightened readiness across various security and civilian channels as authorities prepared for what they described as a heightened phase of conflict.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly stated that the nation had entered a state of war, framing the moment as a direct confrontation with organized threats and vowing to pursue aggressive action against those responsible for the attacks. The IDF described its operation against Hamas as Iron Swords, a name meant to reflect resolve and the intention to apply strategic force against hostile factions. In the course of ongoing air operations, Israeli forces identified and attacked a series of targets in the Gaza Strip, with 21 Hamas sites reportedly hit in the course of a single phase of retaliation, a figure communicated to the public to illustrate the level of sustained military activity in response to the initial wave of hostilities.
Earlier, the Israeli Navy reported engagements with a number of threats and individuals, reflecting the multi-domain approach employed by the security forces. Dozens of actions were described as conducted against various terrorists and related targets, signaling a broad set of measures designed to curb the capabilities of groups considered to be destabilizing factors in the region. The sequence of events highlighted a rapid mobilization of different branches of the armed forces, with air, sea, and ground components coordinating to meet the challenges manifested in the opening stages of the conflict. The overall narrative presented by Israeli officials stressed a commitment to defending civilian communities and restoring calm through a combination of preventive operations and targeted strikes against perceived threats within the Gaza Strip and surrounding areas.