100 days on, devastation in Gaza mounts and hostage families grow desperate
Protests erupted around the world this weekend calling for an end to the war between Israel and Hamas as the deadly conflict reached a bitter milestone of 100 days on Sunday and as the death toll in Gaza neared 24,000 people.
TEL AVIV — One hundred days ago, Hamas terrorists evaded Israeli security and surveillance to pierce the fence enclosing the Gaza Strip.
Under cover of a barrage of rockets that began before dawn, they stormed into Israel in pickup trucks, motorcycles and paragliders carrying out a vicious, hourslong assault that resulted in more than 1,200 people killed, according to Israeli officials. NBC News has reviewed evidence, primarily from the Israel Defense Forces and Israeli officials, that suggests dozens of Israeli women were raped, sexually abused or mutilated during the attack.
Another 240 people were taken hostage, with more than 100 still in Hamas’ captivity.
Israel responded to the surprise terror attack with a military onslaught on Gaza in what has become one of the most destructive wars in recent history, killing Palestinians at an average of about 250 a day — a rate unseen in previous conflicts. So far, about 24,000 people have been confirmed killed, with thousands more buried under the rubble and presumed dead.
The violence has displaced the vast majority of Gaza’s 2.2 million people and is driving widespread hunger and devastation. The ongoing assault is inflaming tensions, threatening to pitch the region into a wider war, and polarizing global politics and populations.
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