IN October 2023, Hamas launched surprise land, air, and sea attacks on Israel.

Here we take a look at what Hamas is and why they attacked Israel.

What is Hamas and where is it based?

Hamas is a Palestinian Islamist militant group which rules the Gaza strip and came into being in 1987.

Its name is an Arabic acronym for the Islamic Resistance Movement.

Hamas as a whole, or in some cases its military wing, is designated a terrorist group by Israel, the US, the EU, and the UK, as well as other powers.

Over the years, Hamas has carried out a number of attacks in Israel.

Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza have fought multiple cross-border wars and have had numerous skirmishes since the group seized control of Gaza in 2007.

Why did Hamas attack Israel?

Israel was stunned when Hamas launched its multi-pronged offensive on Saturday – with at least 3,000 rockets raining down as fighters infiltrated towns and stormed a music festival.

A rocket attack was followed by a pincer ground assault as militants attacked the crowds from either side.

The festival was one of the first sites attacked when the Palestinian militant group Hamas stormed across the border on Saturday with paragliders and armed soldiers.

Shocking pictures and video footage show hundreds of terrified Israelis fleeing for their lives as gunmen fired indiscriminately into the crowds at the festival.

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Israel also came under attack on Sunday when Lebanon’s Hezbollah launched missiles “in solidarity” with Hamas.

Hamas military commander Muhammad Al-Deif called the operation ”Al-Aqsa Storm” and said that the assault on Israel was a response to attacks on women, the desecration of the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem and the ongoing siege of Gaza,” CNN reports.

In response to the attack, Israel blitzed Gaza City overnight, striking multiple high rise towers and striking compounds where Hamas fighters are thought to be hiding.

Israel is now massing tanks and troops on the border with Gaza.

Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to reduce the area to ”rubble” as he blitzes Hamas strongholds in revenge for the terror bloodbath dubbed “Israel’s 9/11”.

Netanyahu said in a powerful statement on social media: “All of the places which Hamas is deployed, hiding and operating in, that wicked city, we will turn them into rubble.

“I say to the residents of Gaza: Leave now because we will operate forcefully everywhere.”

How many people have died in the attack?

More than 1,100 people in Israel and Gaza have been killed since the Palestinian militant group stormed across the border on Saturday and massacred hundreds at a music festival.

Up to 700 people have reportedly been killed in Israel while more than 400 are confirmed dead in Gaza – with the death toll set to soar on both sides.

Israeli rescue service Zaka said its paramedics recovered about 260 bodies from the music festival which was located in Sukkot, southern Israel.

Around 750 others were reported missing, including Brit Jack Marlowe.