Swords of Iron: Here is what happened on days 3, 4 and 5

Sderot residents were asked to shelter in their homes due to a suspected terrorist infiltration in the southern city.

Israeli media reported that gunshots were heard throughout the city.

This is a developing story.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog called on the international community to demand the immediate release of Israeli hostages from Hamas on Tuesday during a tour to the southern Israeli town of Sderot. 

"We demand from the international community, and today I will meet with more leaders who are coming here and I will talk with more leaders who will come, to demand the immediate release of the hostages who are in Gaza," the president said. "This is a minimal, basic, and reasonable demand of every human being and we will stand by it."

Herzog arrived in Sderot on the fifth day of the war at a community center in the city that has been transformed into an area overflowing with donations for the community, and where police and first responders are now gathered. After meeting with the community, with police who helped stop the terrorist invasion on October 7, and with rescue workers, he gave a statement to media.  

 “Our people are showing bravery, courage and stamina. We will prevail against our enemies,” Herzog said.

He said Israel’s enemies thought Israel was weak and divided. “The spirit of the nation of Israel has awoken.”

He said Israel would overcome its enemies.

“People are here to show solidarity and fight and stand for our nation and defend our nation," the president said.

He thanked US President Joe Biden for supporting Israel.  

 Herzog: The people of Sderot are heroes

Sderot following the Oct. 7 attack (credit: Seth Frantzman)

Herzog praised the city for its courage and heroism. He called it the line of courage.

The city of 30,000 had suffered in the attack on October 7. Hundreds of terrorists infiltrated the city and attacked the police station, killing officers.

It took a day to kill the terrorists in the station, demolishing it in the process. People in the city have mostly stayed home over the last five days. Terrorists were found last night near the city. Rocket sirens sound often. But the city is ballooning with a surge in support from volunteers and it is a hive of activity for police, soldiers, first responders, volunteers and others.

In the city, people were wearing shirts from the protest movement that not long ago had been protesting in intersections, standing next to ultra-orthodox Jews and volunteers from West Bank communities, all of them now together as volunteers for the people. The young and old had come to this city.  

He then said he wanted to also thank the Jewish community around the world for support.

“I can tell them the spirit of Israel is strong and we will have an iron fist,” he said.

“They are coming in. I love you all. It’s over,” Ron Sherman, 19, texted to his parents on Saturday morning after Hamas terrorists invaded his military base along Israel’s southern border.

“I sure he was dead,” Ron’s mother Maayan said, as she detailed the events of that morning that to her son’s kidnapping in a conversation with British Foreign Minister Jame Cleverly during his solidarity visit to the southern city of Ofakim on Wednesday.

“We ask, politely, that other governments like yours do whatever you can to bring him back to us safe and alive,” Maayan pled.

She issued the same call to the Israeli government.

Ron had been texting with his parents since the moment he woke up to the sound of explosions outside his base.

Israelis throughout the north of the country were ordered to shelter in place amid a large-scale attack involving drones coming from the direction of the northern border on Wednesday evening. No injuries or rocket falls have been reported as of yet.

Shortly after the attack began, reports were received of terrorists on paragliders landing in northern Israel. Rocket alerts were issued throughout northern Israel as well, including in Haifa. Haifa's al-Qassam Brigades said it fired a rocket toward Haifa amid the attack.

Terrorist infiltration alerts were issued in Maalot Tarshicha and Maayan Baruch in northern Israel simultaneously. Shortly afterward, an all-clear was given in Maalot Tarshica.

A shelter in place alert was issued to the entirety of the State of Israel due to a malfunction on Wednesday evening.

The United States has confirmed the deaths of at least 22 U.S. citizens following Hamas' attack on Israel, a State Department spokesperson said on Wednesday.

Israelis throughout the country were ordered to shelter in place amid a large-scale attack involving drones coming from the direction of the northern border on Wednesday evening. No injuries or rocket falls have been reported as of yet.

Shortly after the attack began, reports were received of terrorists on paragliders landing in northern Israel. Rocket alerts were issued throughout northern Israel as well, including in Haifa. Haifa's al-Qassam Brigades said it fired a rocket toward Haifa amid the attack.

Terrorist infiltration alerts were issued in Maalot Tarshicha and Maayan Baruch in northern Israel simultaneously. Shortly afterward, an all-clear was given in Maalot Tarshica.

Rambam Medical Center entered emergency mode after the attack began, with the departments of the hospital transferring patients to underground facilities.

Iran was likely aware that the Palestinian militant group Hamas was planning "operations against Israel" but Washington has no information for now that Tehran directed or orchestrated the devastating attack by Hamas gunmen, a US official said on Wednesday.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the US would look at additional intelligence, including "whether there were at least some within their system that either had a clearer sense of what was coming or even contributed to aspects of the planning.” But the official told Reuters it was premature to draw any final conclusions.

King Charles spoke with President Isaac Herzog on Wednesday, expressed his deepest condolences to the citizens of Israel and and deep shock at Hamas's attack on Saturday.

Herzog thanked the king for his support and the two talked at length about the massacre conducted by Hamas.