'This is a massacre': Horrifying scenes emerge as fatalities rise in Israel-Hamas conflict

WASHINGTON (TND) — Israel has issued a formal declaration of war against Hamas after a surprise attack on Saturday.

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There is new reporting saying that the operation has been in the works for several months now with planning and support provided by Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Across Israel, at least 700 people are believed to have been killed. That includes at least three Americans and more than 260 people whose bodies were recovered at a music festival.

“This is Israel’s 9/11,” said Gilad Erdan, permanent representative of Israel to the United Nations, adding that "blatant barbaric" war crimes taking place.

The fear was palpable at the music festival near the Gaza Strip, where some in attendance are believed to have been taken hostage including Americans, where others were killed instantly.

There’s no code, there’s no mercy,” said Edan Dooga, an Israeli Army reservist. “This was straight up butchering. It’s not even war. This is a massacre."

Sinclair spoke to Dooga, who is now stationed at a settlement near the Gaza Strip.

"They took a grandma in a golf cart, in the family’s golf cart," he said. "You see couples getting torn apart, you see kids dying. Women are getting dragged by their hair, I don’t even want to think what they did to them.”

Snapshots of the aftermath tell a story of fear. One police station was, for a brief time, under the control of Hamas militants before being taken back by Israeli defense forces as the world watches and waits for the next chapter of this war to unfold.

Men and women and children dragged across the border into Gaza, including a Holocaust survivor in a wheelchair. People gunned down in the streets, civilians," said U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

The White House vowed more support, as the U.S. is deploying the largest warship in the world the region for support.

"The United States stands with Israel," he said. "We will never fail to have their back."

It’s a pledge made more difficult by the instability on Capitol Hill with no speaker of the House and more Republicans blaming the Biden administration for what they see as a more lenient position toward Iran.

"We do know that Iran is behind this," said Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, on CNN's "State of the Union." "They have financed this every step of the way and they trained these terrorists.”

That statement is now confirmed by Hamas leaders, with some other critics taking it further.

"The United States is giving and gave to Iran $6 billion, $6 billion over hostages," former President Donald Trump said during a campaign event Saturday in Iowa.

Top White House officials are pushing back.

"Not a single cent has been spent from that account," Blinken said on NBC's "Meet the Press." "When any money is spent from that account, it can only be used for medical supplies, for food, for medicine, and those who are saying otherwise are either misinformed or misinforming."