At least 750 Israelis missing since clashes began Saturday: Report
A resident stands with an Israeli soldier near a cordoned-off Israeli police station near the blockaded Gaza Strip, Palestine, Oct. 8, 2023. (AFP Photo)


At least 750 Israelis have been missing since fighting broke out early Saturday morning, according to local media reports Sunday.

"According to an unofficial report, approximately 750 Israelis are currently missing," the daily Jerusalem Post said on X.

The reports come after Palestinian resistance groups claimed to have captured an unconfirmed number of Israeli soldiers during a Hamas-led operation against Israel.

The Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian resistance group Hamas, on Saturday claimed capturing a number of Israeli soldiers.

"We have captured many Zionist soldiers who are now our prisoners," Abu Hamza, a spokesman for Saraya al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad group, said in a statement.

He added that the Al-Quds Brigades, alongside other Palestinian factions, carried out a series of operations as part of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood.

Hamas launched Operation Al-Aqsa Flood earlier Saturday and said the surprise attack was in response to the storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and increased settler violence. It said it fired rockets and captured many Israelis.

In turn, the Israeli army initiated Operation Swords of Iron against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: "We are at war," and urged civilians in Gaza to leave as the Israeli military is going to turn "all Hamas hiding places into rubble."

At least 256 Palestinians have been killed in the attacks, according to medical sources in Gaza, while the Israeli death toll climbed to 300.

More than 3,000 rockets have been launched by Hamas toward Israel since Saturday morning, according to the Israeli army.

It acknowledged in a statement on X that soldiers had been captured and taken hostage in Gaza, and confirmed that more than 1,000 Israelis were injured.