Photography

In photos: Israel strikes Gaza Strip as Hamas continues unprecedented attack

Hamas militants from the Gaza Strip carried out an unprecedented, multifront attack on Israel this weekend, firing thousands of rockets as fighters infiltrated the heavily fortified border in several locations and catching the country off-guard on a major holiday. Israel formally declared war against the Palestinian militant group on Sunday, opening the way for a major escalation, and the Israel Defense Forces were still battling to repel Hamas militants in the south on Monday.

Mohammed Abed/AFP/Getty Images

Oct. 10 | Gaza City

Palestinians sit and walk among rubble of a damaged residential building in Gaza City.

Mohammed Salem/Reuters

Mohammed Salem/Reuters

Oct. 10 | Ashkelon

Israeli border police walk past a burned-out car as rockets are launched from the Gaza Strip toward Israel, in Ashkelon, southern Israel.

Violeta Santos Moura/Reuters

Violeta Santos Moura/Reuters

Oct. 10 | Gaza Strip

Mourners react during the funeral of Palestinians killed in the Israeli strikes, Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip.

Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters

Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters

Oct. 10 | Kfar Azza, Israel

Israel Defense Forces soldiers outside a damaged house.

Lorenzo Tugnoli for The Washington Post

Lorenzo Tugnoli for The Washington Post

Oct. 10 | kibbutz Reim, Israel

The site of an attack at a music festival.

Baz Ratner for The Washington Post

Baz Ratner for The Washington Post

Oct. 10 | Gaza City

Palestinians walk through the rubble of buildings destroyed by Israeli airstrikes.

Hassan Eslaiah/AP

Hassan Eslaiah/AP

Oct. 10 | Gaza

A Palestinian mother screams after the death of her two children, who were killed by an Israeli airstrike, in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood.

Loay Ayyoub for The Washington Post

Loay Ayyoub for The Washington Post

Oct. 10 | Israel border

Israeli soldiers patrol a road near the border fence with Gaza.

Jack Guez/AFP/Getty Images

Jack Guez/AFP/Getty Images

Oct. 9 | Beitar Illit, West Bank

Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men inspect a damaged road after it was hit by a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip.

Maya Alleruzzo/AP

Maya Alleruzzo/AP

Oct. 9 | Gaza Strip

A missile explodes in Gaza City during an Israeli airstrike.

Mahmud Hams/AFP/Getty Images

Mahmud Hams/AFP/Getty Images

Oct. 9 | Al-Shati camp, Gaza Strip

Palestinians inspect damage from an Israeli airstrike.

Mahmud Hams/AFP/Getty Images

Mahmud Hams/AFP/Getty Images

Oct. 9 | Gaza City

Emergency workers at Al-Shifa Hospital move people injured by the strike on the Ahmed Yassin Mosque.

Loay Ayyoub for The Washington Post

Loay Ayyoub for The Washington Post

Oct. 9 | Gaza City

A person looks over the destroyed Ahmed Yassin Mosque.

Loay Ayyoub for The Washington Post

Loay Ayyoub for The Washington Post

Oct. 9 | Ashkelon, Israel

Baroch Barell, right, walks next to a relative carrying his son, 9, after a rocket fired from Gaza hit next to their house.

Baz Ratner for The Washington Post

Baz Ratner for The Washington Post

Oct. 9 | Abu Ghosh, Israel

Israeli security forces inspect damaged to a house after it was hit by a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip.

Mahmoud illean/AP

Mahmoud illean/AP

Oct. 9 | Ashkelon, Israel

A photo from a wedding lies in the rubble of a building hit by rockets fired from Gaza.

Amir Cohen/Reuters

Amir Cohen/Reuters

Oct. 9 | Gaza City

Palestinians evacuate the area following an Israeli airstrike on the Sousi mosque.

AFP/Getty Images

AFP/Getty Images

Oct. 9 | Sderot, Israel

An Israeli soldier takes cover from rockets fired from the Gaza Strip.

Menahem Kahana/AFP/Getty Images

Menahem Kahana/AFP/Getty Images

Oct. 9 | Southern Israel

Israeli soldiers on military vehicles maneuver in an area along the border with Gaza.

Atef Safadi/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

Atef Safadi/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

Oct. 9 | Gaza City

Relatives mourn people killed in an Israeli airstrike.

Fatima Shbair/AP

Fatima Shbair/AP

Oct. 9 | Gaza City

An Israeli F-16 jet launches flares to counter antiaircraft missiles from Palestinian forces. CORRECTION: A previous version of this caption misidentified this aircraft as an Israeli F-35 jet. The caption has been corrected.

Loay Ayyoub/For The Washington Post

Loay Ayyoub/For The Washington Post

Oct. 9 | Kfar Menahem, Israel

Family and friends attend the funeral of Afik Rozental, an Israeli soldier killed during fighting with Gaza militants.

Kobi Wolf/Bloomberg News

Kobi Wolf/Bloomberg News

Oct. 8 | Ashkelon, Israel

Israelis take cover in a shelter while sirens warn of incoming rockets fired from the Gaza.

Ohad Zwigenberg/AP

Ohad Zwigenberg/AP

Oct. 8 | Burj Al-Aklouk, Gaza Strip

Palestinians inspect a building destroyed in Israeli strikes.

Loay Ayyoub for The Washington Post

Loay Ayyoub for The Washington Post

Oct. 8 | Tel Aviv

Israelis inspect the rubble of a building a day after it was hit by a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip.

Oded Balilty/AP

Oded Balilty/AP

Oct. 8 | Khan Younis, Gaza Strip

Palestinians inspect a mosque destroyed in Israeli strikes.

Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters

Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters

Oct. 8 | Khan Younis, Gaza Strip

Palestinians search under the rubble of a house.

Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters

Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters

Oct. 8 | Netivot, Israel

Israeli tanks head toward Netivot, near the border with Gaza.

Baz Ratner for The Washington Post

Baz Ratner for The Washington Post

Oct. 8 | Gaza Strip

Palestinians inspect the rubble of the Watan Tower.

Loay Ayyoub for The Washington Post

Loay Ayyoub for The Washington Post

Oct. 8 | Sderot, Israel

An excavator begins demolition of the Sderot police station after it was overtaken by Hamas militants.

Baz Ratner for The Washington Post

Baz Ratner for The Washington Post

Oct. 8 | Gaza

A man sits near the rubble of his Gaza home, which was destroyed by Israeli airstrikes.

Loay Ayyoub for The Washington Post

Loay Ayyoub for The Washington Post

Oct. 8 | Gaza City

A Palestinian family flees on a motorcycle.

Loay Ayyoub for The Washington Post

Loay Ayyoub for The Washington Post

Oct. 8 | Northern Israel

An Israeli soldier rests on an artillery cannon near the Lebanon border after Lebanon's Hezbollah fired rockets into the disputed Shebaa Farms region to show solidarity with Hamas.

Jalaa Marey/AFP/Getty Images

Jalaa Marey/AFP/Getty Images

Oct. 7 | Gaza City

A rocket is launched from Gaza toward Israel.

Loay Ayyoub for The Washington Post

Loay Ayyoub for The Washington Post

Oct. 7 | Gaza-Israel border

Palestinians break into the Israeli side of Gaza border fence after gunmen infiltrated areas of southern Israel.

Reuters

Reuters

Oct. 7 | Gaza-Israel Border

Palestinians take control of an Israeli tank after crossing the border fence in the southern Gaza Strip.

Said Khatib/AFP/Getty Images

Said Khatib/AFP/Getty Images

Oct. 7 | Gevim, Israel

Journalists take cover behind cars as Israeli soldiers take position during clashes with Palestinian fighters near the Gaza border.

Oren Ziv/AFP/Getty Images

Oren Ziv/AFP/Getty Images

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday that “we are at war, and we will win it,” after Hamas launched an assault and took captives following the 50th anniversary of the start of the 1973 Yom Kippur War.

Oren Ziv/AFP/Getty Images

Oct. 7 | Gaza City

An Israeli airstrike destroys the Palestine Tower.

Loay Ayyoub for The Washington Post

Loay Ayyoub for The Washington Post

Oct. 7 | Gaza City

The aftermath of the strike on the Palestine Tower.

Loay Ayyoub for The Washington Post

Loay Ayyoub for The Washington Post

Oct. 7 | Khan Yunis, Gaza Strip

Palestinians transport a reportedly captured Israeli.

AFP/Getty Images

AFP/Getty Images

Oct. 7 | Netivot, Israel

A missile from the Iron Dome defense system intercepts a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip.

Gil Cohen-Magen/AFP/Getty Images

Gil Cohen-Magen/AFP/Getty Images

Oct. 7 | Tel Aviv

A building burns following rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip.

Itai Ron/Reuters

Itai Ron/Reuters

Oct. 7 | Tel Aviv

People take refuge in a shelter as sirens sound.

Amir Levy/Getty Images

Amir Levy/Getty Images

Oct. 7 | Tel Aviv

Israeli police and other security officials work where Gaza Strip rockets hit.

Itai Ron/Reuters

Itai Ron/Reuters

Oct. 7 | Tel Aviv

People react at the site where a rocket landed from the Gaza Strip.

Itai Ron/Reuters

Itai Ron/Reuters

Oct. 7 | Tel Aviv

Injured soldiers are brought to Sourasky Medical Center.

Amir Levy/Getty Images

Amir Levy/Getty Images

Oct. 7 | Tel Aviv

Israelis donate blood at the Sourasky Medical Center.

Amir Levy/Getty Images

Amir Levy/Getty Images

Oct. 7 | Gaza Strip

The funeral of a Hamas militant who was killed by Israeli forces.

Mahmoud Issa

Mahmoud Issa

Oct. 7 | Gaza City

A mother hugs her sister after her son was killed in an Israeli strike.

Loay Ayyoub for The Washington Post

Loay Ayyoub for The Washington Post

Oct. 7 | Gaza-Israel Border

Flares from the Israeli army.

Mahmud Hams/AFP/Getty Images

Mahmud Hams/AFP/Getty Images

Oct. 7 | Gaza City

Rockets head toward Israel.

Eyad Baba/AFP/Getty Images

Eyad Baba/AFP/Getty Images

Oct. 7 | Tel Aviv

Israeli security forces gather in front of a building damaged by a rocket fired by Palestinians.

Jack Guez/AFP/Getty Images

Jack Guez/AFP/Getty Images

Oct. 7 | Gaza City

A man finds his way along a debris-strewn street following Israeli airstrikes.

Mohammed Abed

Mohammed Abed

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Credits

Photo editing and production by Stephen Cook and Jintak Han