Israeli envoy to Kenya condemns Gaza rockets attack

Israeli Ambassador to Kenya Michael Lotem on Saturday conveyed his government's condemnation of a fresh wave of attacks from Gaza.

Speaking to Nation.Africa in Nairobi, Mr Lotem said the incidents blamed on the Hamas group in southern parts of Israel were horrific and deserved global condemnation.

Kenya, through its Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Korir Sing’oei, condemned the attack but called for an amicable solution.

“Kenya strongly condemns the despicable terror attack against Israel and regrets the carnage and senseless loss of life. We repudiate the planners, funders and implementers of this heinous attack. While Israel has a right to retaliate, a peaceful path to resolving this unfortunate development is urged,” said the PS on Twitter.

The spate of violence, including shootings and rocket attacks on Saturday morning, prompted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to declare "war" on Hamas, the militant group that runs the Gaza Strip in Palestine.

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said in a statement that casualties were massive, with at least one person killed and 100 others seriously injured.

Hamas confirmed the attacks, which could escalate its long-running feud with Israel.

Israeli territory

“In the last hour, the Hamas terrorist organisation had begun a massive shooting of rockets from the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory, and terrorists infiltrated into Israeli territory in a number of different locations,” the IDF said.

Footage shared on social media showed the injured being taken to nearby hospitals.

In Nairobi, Mr Lotem said the violence was "unbelievable".

“It is coming 50 years after we were caught by the Syrian-Egyptian army and this time it is the Gaza Strip. This time it is from Jihad-led Palestinian military group Hamas,” said Mr Lotem.

The rocket launches came on the 50th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War of October 6 1973, when an Arab coalition launched a joint surprise attack on Israel on the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur.

According to the ambassador, the attack was camouflaged as dozens of Hamas gunmen sneaked into various kibutz (local villages) and towns inside Israel.

“It is a big puzzle how a militia group like Hamas could hide near our border without easily being tracked by satellite drones and eliminating them,” he added.

The ambassador admitted that Hamas' modus operandi often involves infiltrating civilian areas, including setting up "offices" near hospitals or civilian residential areas.

“You can’t identify them because they are not wearing militia uniforms and carrying weapons. Things are more complicated this time around. We shall deal with this failure internally to make sure it will never happen again,” said Mr Lotem.

“This time it will be a big operation and unfortunately civilians will be hit because Hamas hides among the civilians.”

Israel, he added, would uproot all Hamas militias from its territory.

Hamas claimed to have fired up to 5,000 rockets into Israel in response to alleged attacks on children.

The IDF warned civilians to stay away from the fighting.