Israel on War Alert - Operation Swords of Iron enacted, page-7462

"About ten in the morning, the commander of the 190 squadron told the other pilots “to shoot at everything they see in the fence area,” which divided Israel from Gaza, after landing his Apache to replenish ammunition.

The same commander once opened fire near houses in a kibbutz in support of an officer from the Sinai division who had parachuted into battle against Hamas militants, and assaulted an Israeli military station that had besieged soldiers inside to aid the Israeli army in regaining it from Hamas.

About 300 targets, the majority of which were on Israeli territory, were targeted by helicopters and fighter jets in the first four hours of combat, according to the air force.

Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari hinted at Israel’s response to the Hamas attack and the prisoner situation in remarks made on October 7. He explained how the Israeli army used both airstrikes and ground forces to deal with “hostage situations.”

Hagari declared that there was “no community in southern Israel where we do not have forces, in all the towns,” and that the armed forces were “fighting in 22 locations.”

“There are special forces there with senior commanders, and live firefights are going on there,” he said.

According to Hagari, there have been strikes by Israel’s air force in “several locations,” resulting in “hundreds of deaths, including many terrorists.”

According to him, the primary goal was to “eliminate” everyone who had “infiltrated Israel and were attempting to return to the Gaza Strip.” “We will launch an air strike first, followed by a heavy ground strike,” he continued.

The safety of the hostages themselves was not a priority while responding to hostage situations with such overwhelming force.

According to The Guardian, late on October 7, while the Hamas attack was still going on, Israel’s powerful finance minister and settler leader, Bezalel Smotrich, urged the Israeli army to “hit Hamas brutally and not take the matter of the captives into significant consideration” during a cabinet meeting,