“Thank you to the Azerbaijani people for this heartfelt gesture of friendship,” Ambassador George Deek wrote on X on October 8, according to Caliber.Az.
“The flood of messages of love, the flowers at our embassy’s gate, the posts on social media – these give us strength in this dark hour of our history. Thank you. We shall prevail,” he concluded.
The Israeli government formally declared on October 7 war and gave the green light for “significant military steps” to retaliate against Hamas for its surprise attack, as the military laboured into October 9 to crush fighters still in southern towns and intensified its bombardment of the Gaza Strip, per AP. The toll passed 1,100 dead and thousands wounded on both sides.
More than 40 hours after Hamas launched its unprecedented incursion out of Gaza on October 7, Israeli forces were still battling with militants holed up in several locations. At least 700 people have reportedly been killed in Israel — a staggering toll on a scale the country has not experienced in decades — and more than 400 have been killed in Gaza.
Israel said it brought in special forces to try to wrest control of four Israeli sites from Hamas fighters, including two kibbutzim that militants entered earlier in their attacks. Footage released by Israeli police from one area showed forces kneeling in tall grass as they exchanged fire with Hamas militants across an open field.
The Israeli military estimated that 1,000 Hamas fighters took part in the initial incursion on October 7. The high figure underscored the extent of planning by the militant group ruling Gaza, which has said it launched the attack in response to mounting Palestinian suffering under Israel’s occupation and blockade of Gaza.
