Swords of Iron: Here is what happened on days 1 and 2

A man who was killed on Route 4 at the Eminim Junction after a car chase, was an Israeli citizen and not a Hamas terrorist, Israeli media reported.

A police source told Ynet that it is still unclear why the man drove wildly and started the chase.

The chase lasted for approximately a half hour on Route 4 around the Gaza Strip going northbound. The police initially thought the vehicle was hijacked by more terrorists. The police then cut off the vehicle at the Emunim junction where the man got out of the vehicle and ran towards the field. 

Israel Police then shot at him and killed him. The initial investigation showed that the man was not a terrorist, but was an Israeli citizen who was trying to evacuate the area surrounding the Gaza Strip.

This is a developing story.

A little over a month ago the former counter-terrorism adviser to two Israeli Prime Ministers authored a prescient essay, outlining an invasion of the Hamas terrorist movement into Israel.

The counter-terrorism adviser, Yigal Carmon, the founder and president of the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), wrote on August 31 the “Signs Of Possible War In September-October.”

 Carmon noted “There has also been an increase in efforts by Iran and Hezbollah to smuggle weapons into the West Bank, similar to the smuggling of weapons into Gaza.”

"Lately there have been growing indications that a war against Israel may break out in September or October 2023. The trigger may be spiraling violent clashes resulting in many casualties, or the use of new weapons leading to many fatalities on the Israeli side,” wrote  Carmon, who worked to combat terrorism for Yitzhak Shamir and Yitzhak Rabin.

The counter-terrorism expert noted  “There has also been an increase in efforts by Iran and Hezbollah to smuggle weapons into the West Bank, similar to the smuggling of weapons into Gaza.”

Predicting the attacks

Carmon added  “There have recently been increasing reports about the potential use of new weapons by Hezbollah, Hamas and the PIJ that can cause a large number of Israeli fatalities, such as extra-powerful explosive charges and rockets fired on Israeli localities, as mentioned above. In this situation, Israel will likely be compelled to undertake a large-scale response, above and beyond its routine counterterrorism measures, even at the cost of an all-out war.”

A British citizen is missing after Palestinian Islamist group Hamas attacked a music festival near Gaza, Israel's embassy in the United Kingdom said on Sunday.

Jake Marlowe, 26, went missing early on Saturday, the embassy said.

His mother, Lisa, told the Jewish News he was providing security at a party and she last heard from her son via text message.

"He was doing security at this rave and called me at 04:30 to say all these rockets were flying over," she said. "Then, at about 05:30, he texted to say, 'signal very bad, everything OK, will keep you updated I promise you,' and that he loves me."

British citizen in Gaza

Tzipi Hotovely, the Israeli ambassador to the United Kingdom, earlier told Sky News a British citizen was in Gaza. But she did not identify the name of the individual.

"I know that Israel is doing everything to make sure all the people being kept hostage at the moment in the hands of Hamas will be released," she said.

An Israeli Patriot missile was launched in Israel's North on Sunday afternoon, over the city of Safed, according to Israeli reports.

This is a developing story.

The security cabinet approved a declaration of war on Saturday night in accordance with article 40 of the Basic Law: The Government, the cabinet said Sunday.

Article 40 allows the government to order “significant military action that may lead, with a level of probability close to certain, to war." The prime minister will be able to make certain decisions with only the approval of the security cabinet as well.

The cabinet also requested that the Knesset approve the activation of emergency regulations which would allow detainees to be held for extended periods without the detainee being brought before a court.

IDF Chief Spokesman Brig. Gen. Daniel Hagari on Sunday morning said that the military is in the process of calling up hundreds of thousands of reservists in preparation for an eventual ground counter-invasion of Gaza, the largest call up in decades.

Despite that call-up there was no timeline on when the counter invasion of Gaza - following Hamas' massive invasion of Israel's Gaza border villages Saturday morning - would start.

The sense from Hagari was that the focus Sunday would still be completing retaking control of any of the 22 villages and 29 entry points which Hamas used to invade Israel a day earlier.

In 2014, the IDF's ground invasion only took place during the second week of the war.

In addition, Hagari said that the IDF would continue non-stop airstrikes on Gaza terror command and weapons centers, with the attacks having started in high volumes midday on Saturday.

War aims unclear

Further, Hagari was still unclear on what the IDF's final war aims would be despite an announcement of war aims by the security cabinet a few hours before.

The security cabinet announcement mentioned destroying Hamas' fighting capability, but was unclear on the question of whether Hamas would eventually be left in control of Gaza and on how long Israel would be willing to fight to destroy the terror group's armed forces and military infrastructure, including the additional cost in IDF soldiers' lives and any ongoing diplomatic and public relations damage to Israel.

Although as of Saturday night, much of the world supported Israel's self-defense operations, in virtually every past conflict, once reports started to come out of Gaza of killed civilians, support for Israel globally plummeted fast into pressure to end its operations.

Hagari said that there were no more active known hostage situations and that the IDF had restored control in almost all areas invaded by Hamas, including, but not limited to: Sderot, Zikim, Beeri, Kisufim and at 29 invasion entry points.

Despite that improved position, Hagari said that there were still a number of smaller battles and ongoing searches for terrorists who were trying to hide in invaded areas.

He said that tens of thousands of IDF forces, along with special forces, were involved in the Gaza corridor fighting.

Next, he expressed hope that within hours, all of the Gaza corridor would be fully cleansed of invaders, though an IDF source had said on Saturday night that this might be accomplished already in the middle of the night between Saturday and Sunday.

For example, he said there are still smaller battles going on in Beeri.

Moreover, Hagari said that the IDF had started gradually evacuating civilians from the Gaza corridor areas, but that this would take time.

To date, the IDF has initiated over 500 air strikes against Hamas and Islamic Jihad, including a variety of command centers, tunnels, and 10 large buildings. Hagari said at a press conference that this afternoon airstrikes would significantly intensify and would eliminate all Hamas terror infrastructure, all houses of terror commanders, and all symbols of Hamas' rule.

So far, the IDF has killed over four hundred of Gaza terrorists, wounded thousands, and captured dozens. Likewise, Hamas had killed over 300 Israelis, wounded close to 1,800, and captured at least dozens.

Hagari expected that tens of thousands of Gazan civilians would be evacuated from their homes starting Sunday, possibly finishing the evacuation sometime Monday, as IDF air strikes, but also artillery strikes would escalate. The IDF plans to bring in large numbers of buses for the evacuation, but each village is only being evacuated once security forces are confident that there will not be a group ambush from Hamas terrorists who may have remained within Israel in hiding even as most forces retreated to Gaza.

Within those targets, the IDF has identified an increased use by terror groups of mosques and other civilian locations to host its military activities, in violation of international law.He said that the IDF continues to thwart attempts by Hamas to penetrate Israel by land and sea, with ongoing aerial and troop operations.

Hagari promised that the IDF would soon launch a website with names and faces of killed IDF soldiers, though cautioning that it would take the IDF longer to establish a special call center to help families resolve questions about soldiers whose whereabouts were still unclear. 

At his press conference, Hagari noted that Hamas was systematically violating international law when it killed and kidnapped women, elderly persons, and children.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a situation assessment with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, and other leaders in the defense establishment on Sunday morning.

One Israeli was seriously wounded after a barrage of rockets was fired toward Sderot on Sunday morning, according to Magen David Adom.

The IDF has conducted 500 airstrikes in the Gaza Strip and killed at least 400 terrorists, IDF Spokesperson Daniel Hagari said on Sunday morning.

The parents of American-Israeli Hersh Golberg-Polin are looking for their son, who went missing at the nature party in the northern Negev on Saturday, October 7 when Hamas militants attacked. 

The California-born 23-year-old was enjoying the festivities in the desert, having only just celebrated his birthday this week. He left his family on Friday night at 11 PM to enjoy the festivities and hasn’t been heard from since Saturday morning. 

On Saturday at 08:11, his parents received only two short messages from their beloved son: “I love you” and “I’m sorry.”

Hersh Goldberg-Polin (Courtesy Goldberg-Polin Family)

@yuuuot3 שבת שלום #tribeofnova  #עוטףעזה  #פיצוצים  #ירוטים ♬ original sound - Rttttdf

Who is Hersh Goldberg-Polin?

Hersh is an oleh from Berkeley, California. He made aliyah alongside his family at 7 years old in 2008. He has two sisters aged 20 and 17 and two loving parents; who are all deeply missing their son.

Hersh is much like many other young adults in Israel. His father, Jonathon Polin, told The Jerusalem Post that Hersh enjoys travelling, music festivals and is an avid supporter of the Hapoel Jerusalem soccer team. Hersh’s dream is to visit India, and he has been working as a medic and waiter to make that dream a reality in a planned trip for December.

No doubt, Hersh was enjoying his well-earned youth at the party having been released from his Army service at only the end of April. He served in 7th Armored Brigade.

Hersh first spent his service driving tanks and later trained to become a medic. When asked why Polin thought his son wanted to be a medic, he answered simply that it was “[m]ore interested than driving a tank.” 

Polin said that his family had been experiencing “[c]oncern” and “[w]orry” since learning about the events of the rave. 

“We just want him home and safe,” Polin told the Post.

Polin said that if he could deliver a message to his son now, he would say “We love you. Come home to us.”

Missing loved ones in Israel

Distressing footage has circulated online showing militants kidnapping Israeli civilians and transporting them to Gaza. The exact number of Israelis being held hostage is unknown. However Israeli officials have confirmed that at least 300 have been killed in the conflict and a further 1700 injured.

On Saturday night, Israel Police and the IDF Home Front Command asked relatives of missing people to bring DNA samples and photos of their loved ones. 

If the relatives find themselves under assault, they have been advised to call the police hotline number: 105.
Civilians have been desperately looking for a way to find their loves ones, with many using social media to spread information quickly. The Post reported that an Instagram account, named @WeAreOneIsrael, was set up to help in families’ quests for knowledge on their missing.  

The Post article also noted that the Kirya airport has been transformed into an assistance hub to help the Home Front command locate the missing.

JOANIE MARGULIES and SAM HALPERN contributed to this report.