Gunfire, rockets and carnage: Israelis are stunned and shaken by unprecedented Hamas attack

By ISABEL DEBRE
Associated Press

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israelis living in the country’s south near the volatile frontier with Gaza have grown so used to rounds of fighting between Israel and Hamas militants that they hardly bat an eye when the air raid sirens wail. But this time, Hamas has shaken their steely nerves. Residents of southern Israel described the unprecedented ground assault on Israel – with fighters entering Israeli communities – as a nightmare come true. For Israelis working and living within range of Gaza where the fear of attacks is ever present, Saturday’s intrusions – and reports that Hamas had taken civilians and soldiers captive – marked a terrifying turn of events unlike anything residents had seen.