Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant attends a news conference with U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin at Ben Gurion Airport in Lod, Israel, March 9, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen/File Photo

i24 News – Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant instructed the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to begin preparations for evacuating the north, as a state of war was officially passed by the government cabinet.

The IDF were earlier instructed to evacuate residents living in the south, within two and a half miles from the Gaza Strip, following the war that erupted on Saturday when the Hamas terrorist group attacked, but had to halt the efforts on Sunday.

As such, Gallant instructed the IDF to start arming residents in the area with weapons and ammunition. In addition, there would now be a army officer responsible for communicating all the mayors and regional councils in the area bordering the Gaza Strip, “to assist in the management of the situation on the home front.”

Palestinians from the Gaza Strip were able to break through the border security fence and infiltrate Israel on Saturday, led by Hamas and with the participation of other terror groups from the coastal enclave.

The aerial attack included sophisticated drone attacks on IDF positions, paragliders penetrating into Israeli territory, and rubber boats landing on the shores of Israel. After the infiltrators breached the border fence, streams of terrorists in jeeps with machine guns started massacring civilians on the streets.

The surprise assault has left more than 600 dead, hundreds taken hostage, and thousands wounded, all from many different nationalities and ages. Some U.S officials have compared the brutal Hamas onslaught to Pearl Harbor and 9/11.