Israel Gaza live updates: War alert declared as Hamas launches thousands of rockets in ‘unprecedented’ attack

The Israeli Defence Forces has been quoted as telling reporters that more than 2,200 rockets had been fired into Israel.

A spokesperson told reporters that Hamas militants infiltrated from land, sea and air.

There are at least seven sites of fighting, they said.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declared that “we are at war and we will win”, in his first remarks since Hamas launched its attack at 6:30am.

In a video statement, he warned that Hamas would “pay a price the type of which it has never known”.

His office had previoulsy announced that Mr Netanyahu had called an emergeny meeting with military officials.

In a statement reported by Israeli media, Mr Gallant, Israel’s defence minister, said: “Hamas made a grave mistake this morning and started a war against the State of Israel. IDF soldiers are fighting the enemy at all the infiltration sites.”

Israeli opposition Leader Yair Lapid described the rocket attacks as “relentless”, adding in a statement that “Israel is in an emergency” and backing a “harsh military response” to Hamas’s attack.

Following the initial attack, which began at around 6:30am, a group representing military reservists who had planned to refuse to attend training over their objections to the Israeli government’s heavily contentious plans to overhaul the judiciary instead called on reservists to report for duty.

Hezbollah issued a statement on Saturday saying they were closely following the situation in Gaza and are in “direct contact with the leadership of the Palestinian resistance”.

Following events involving Gaza militants who fired a barrage of rockets into Israel, the statement added that it was a “decisive response to Israel’s continued occupation and a message to those seeking normalisation with Israel.”

Foreign secretary James Cleverly has said that “the UK will always support Israel’s right to defend itself”.

The Times of Israel reports that at least seven people have been killed, while hospitals in Beersheba, Rehovot and close to Tel Aviv have collectively reported receiving more than 100 Israeli casualties.

Ofir Liebstein, leader of the Sha’ar Hanegev regional council, which borders the Gaza Strip, was killed during fighting this morning, the local authority was quoted as saying.

Today’s surprise attack follows four Palestinians being killed in the West Bank on Friday, “relentless” attacks and rising numbers of raids on Al-Aqsa, says Mondoweiss’s Palestine news director.

Here is more from Hamas’s commander Mohammed Deif’s statement:

“Today the people are regaining their revolution,” he said in the recorded message, as he called on Palestinians from east Jerusalem to northern Israel to join the fight and “expel the occupiers and demolish the walls”.

“We must set the earth on fire under the feet of the occupiers,” he said, claiming that Hamas had fired more than 5,000 rockets into Israel.

Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant has approved the call-up of reservists, as the Israeli Defence Forces said they had launched strikes on Gaza and launched operation “Iron Swords” in response to the attack.

“The military declares a state of war alert,” it said in a statement. “In the last hour, the Hamas terrorist organisation had begun a massive shooting of rockets from the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory, and terrorists infiltrated into Israeli territory in a number of different locations.”

In a rare public statement, Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif said 5,000 rockets had been fired into Israel to begin what he called Operation Al-Aqsa Storm.

“We’ve decided to say enough is enough,” he said, urging all Palestinians to confront Israel, and adding: “This is the day of the greatest battle to end the last occupation on earth.”