One week of war

Days after Hamas’ deadly assault on Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to “crush and eliminate” every member of the militant group.
 
In response to Saturday’s terror attacks that killed more than 1,300 Israelis, Israel’s government has launched a siege of the Gaza Strip, a densely populated Palestinian territory of 2 million people that is ruled by Hamas, designated as a terrorist group by the U.S. As the retaliatory attacks continue, Palestinian and Israeli civilians are caught in the crossfire.
 
After a devastating week of violence, Gaza is out of power, blocked from water, food and medical supplies, and hospital workers have warned they are at a breaking point. Israel’s military warned the more than a million people living in northern Gaza to leave their homes, as a ground invasion loomed, an action the U.N. warned was impossible with borders closed and at risk of exacerbating an already devastating humanitarian situation.

This newsletter was compiled by Joshua Barajas.

The PBS News special report — “War in the Holy Land” — is a one-hour look at the historic first week of violence in Israel and Gaza.
 
Co-anchored by PBS NewsHour’s Amna Nawaz from Israel and Geoff Bennett from the nation’s capital, the special report includes interviews and analysis on the long history of the conflict, as well as the origins of Hamas, the intelligence failures of Israel and its allies, and wider tensions in the region.
 
Nawaz, along with correspondents Nick Schifrin and Leila Molana-Allen, have been reporting from the Middle East.
 
Follow the PBS NewsHour’s continued and live stream coverage of the ongoing conflict on our homepage as well as on YouTube, X (formerly Twitter), and Facebook.

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FEARS OF A BIGGER WAR GROW

Families along both sides of the Gaza border face the threat of more violence and death.
 
Block by block, Israel’s bombardment has leveled neighborhoods in Gaza. There will soon be no electricity, no water or sanitation, and food is starting to become scarce.
 
The Odeh family’s home is now shattered. An Israeli airstrike reduced the apartment complex into a pile of debris. The family sent the NewsHour video of the room where its two children — aged 1 and 4 — used to sleep.
 
“No place in Gaza is now safe. People are running in the streets looking for a cover from the bomb,” Diana Odeh said, adding that most of the people who are dying from the Israeli airstrikes are women and children. “When a bomb starts, we all cover our head. We all go to the same room. We all get to the ground, hugging my kids, singing for them, telling them this is a huge storm, that's not a bomb.”
 
Dr. Rob Lobel spent hours hiding from Hamas fighters during Saturday’s attack in Israel. He’s located in a village less than a quarter-of-a-mile from the Gaza border. Since then, he’s been working long shifts at the border area's biggest hospital in Ashkelon.
 
“The main thing that we have lost, especially people who live in the surrounding area of Gaza, is our sense of security, maybe our illusion of security,” he said.
 
Other highlights from our recent reporting:

• Death tolls continue to mount. Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack killed more than 1,300 people in Israel, including 247 soldiers. Israel’s ongoing bombardment has killed about 1,800 Palestinians, including nearly 600 children, Gaza’s health ministry said. Thousands more have been injured since Saturday.
• Hostages. Israel estimates that 150 people are being held prisoner by Hamas in Gaza. We spoke with two women who have been enduring the horror of missing loved ones.
• Americans among the dead. The death toll of U.S. citizens in the Hamas attack has risen to 27. The number of those missing is at 14.
• Hospitals overwhelmed. As the siege of Gaza intensifies, there’s a never-ending procession of stretchers and hospital hallways are crammed with injured people with staff scrambling to treat them.
• The origins of Hamas. The Council on Foreign Relations explains the history, leaders and funding behind a group best known for its armed resistance to Israel.
• U.S. response. The Biden administration has already supplied munitions, air defense capabilities and other equipment to Israel. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Friday that the Pentagon was prepared to provide more military assistance to Israel.
• What the U.S. public thinks. Nearly 8 in 10 Americans fear the war that erupted this week between Israel and Hamas will lead to a broader war in the Middle East, according to the latest PBS NewsHour/NPR/Marist poll.
• Perspectives. How do young people living through this war feel about what is happening? We spoke with three Israelis, as well as three Palestinians, as the fighting continues.