Israel-Palestine conflict live: Hamas ‘takes dozens hostage’ after storming border as Netanyahu declares war

What led to Hamas’s surprise attack on Israel, and what will be the outcome of the conflict?

It’s all too easy of course to reel off the genuine grievances of ordinary Palestinians that Hamas can claim to be responding to. These include the long siege of Gaza which has all but demolished its internal economy and the recent block, in response to demonstrations along the border separation barrier, on up to 20,000 people being allowed out each day to work in Israel.

There has been a serious spike in violence in the occupied West Bank – on both sides, but seriously fuelled by growing aggressiveness often with tacit acceptance by the Army – against their Palestinian neighbours by the Jewish residents of settlements judged by most Western governments to be illegal in international law.

And the one most frequently claimed by Hamas leaders this weekend – the “desecration” of Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque by hard-right Israel settlers choosing to pray in its vicinity. Palestinians see this as a violation of the delicately maintained status quo around the mosque compound, which Arabs know as Haram al-Sharif and Jews as the Temple Mount.

But none of that fully explains – nor in the eyes of many of the Palestinians’ friends as well as their enemies justifies – the escalation of its modus operandi to the ground onslaught on southern Israeli communities that began yesterday.

Donald Macintyre analyses the conflict from many angles.

Journalists at the Israeli outlet Haaretz waited anxiously for over 12 hours as one of their colleagues, Amir Tibon, was in a kibbutz under siege by Hamas.

He was later rescued, according to Haaretz editor-in-chief said on Saturday.

“All of us @haaretzcom were waiting for this – our colleague @amirtibon and his family has been rescued from a 12+ hour siege on his kibbutz home by Gaza infiltrators,” she said. “So relieved. Too many others in Gaza border communities are dead, missing, taken hostage.”

”We are alive,” Amir Tibon wrote, originally in Hebrew, on X. “Our children are world heroes. Lay quietly in the dark in a dimension without electricity for ten hours. The soldiers who arrived at the end are heroes. They saved us. Five terrorists were waiting for them. And the most heroic is my father, who came especially from Tel Aviv, led the force to the house and helped kill the bad guys. We will tell more later. Praying for neighbours who are missing and injured.”

Families described the horror of losing contact with loved ones or learning of their fate by watching abductions captured on video and later shared on social media.

A man named Yoni Asher told CNN after losing touch with his wife Doron and the couple’s two daughters, he later saw them on video being loaded into a cart by militants. By tracking their phones, he realised they had been taken to Gaza.

“Later on when I saw the video there was no doubt,” said. “My wife and my two little daughters were on this cart. I know for sure they are taken.”

Germany lit up Berlin’s iconic Brandenburg Gate as a show of support to Israel on Saturday, following Hamas militants’ suprise assault.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the gesture was “in solidarity with Israel.”

An Israeli strike on a high-rise tower in Palestine was captured during a live news report.

As the tower was struck, she initially shrieked and moved off camera before the presenter asked her to take cover. Ms El Sayed could then be heard breathing heavily and signalling she was able to continue.

Sadiq Khan has warned of a rise in hate crime following the unrest in Israel.

In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, The Mayor of London said he “condemns” Hamas’ “terrorist acts”.

He added: “Tragically, we know that violence in the Middle East can lead to a rise in hate crime in London.”

Speaking at a live address today, US President Joe Biden said: “In the face of these terrorist assaults, Israel has the right to defend itself and his people, full stop.”

He added: “There’s never justification for terrorist attacks and my administration’s support for Israel’s security is rock solid and unwavering.”

An Israeli commander, Lieutenant Colonel Yonatan Steinberg, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said.

Major airlines have cancelled dozens of flights to Tel Aviv, following Hamas’ surprise attack on Israel on Saturday morning.

American Airlines, Air France, Lufthansa, Emirates, Ryanair and Aegean Airlines were among those pulling flights.

“Lufthansa is cancelling all flights to and from Tel Aviv up until and including Monday,” a spokesman for the German carrier told AFP. “The airline was “monitoring the security situation in Israel,” he added.

BBC reported that Air France have also halted Tel Aviv flights “until further notice”.

“Commercial measures are in place, allowing customers to postpone or cancel their trip free of charge”, an Air France spokesman said.

After Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel on Saturday morning, Donald Macintyre asks will the group achieve?