Several videos showing Hamas militiamen on Israeli territory, armed clashes, and a captured HMMWV military vehicle are circulating on social media.

The group took the Army by complete surprise, the Israeli news portal Walla reported on its front page, which criticized the failures in intelligence collection by numerous security agencies.

“The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the State of Israel were surprised this morning in every possible way (…) a surprise on land, sea and especially in the air,” it stressed.

“The attack took the IDF completely by surprise, without warning or reserve forces. The time will come to find out who is responsible for this failure, and whether there was negligence or complacency,” the Ynet website noted.

Shortly before, Hamas had announced an operation against Israel due to the systematic raids by settlers on the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem and the ongoing attacks on the Palestinian people.

“The enemy desecrated Al Aqsa and dared to attack the Prophet’s Sanctuary (…) we had previously warned them,” Muhammad Al-Deif, head of the Al Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, said in a statement.

“Hundreds of martyrs and wounded died this year due to the crimes by the occupation, while our calls for a humanitarian exchange agreement were rejected and violations in the West Bank continue every day,” he added.

Al-Deif pointed out that about 5,000 rockets were launched in some 20 minutes, killing at least one person in Tel Aviv and wounding 16 people in various cities, according to the Red Star of David.

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