Mattarella 'firmly condemns traitorous attack' on Israel

(ANSA) - ROME, OCT 7 - Italian President Sergio Mattarella on Saturday strongly condemned the "traitorous attack" unleashed by Hamas against Israel in which several dozen people are reported to have died and hundreds have been injured.
    "I have learned with deep consternation the news of the attack that since dawn this morning has involved several regions of the State of Israel," said Mattarella in a message to his Israeli counterpart President Isaac Herzog.
    "In these dramatic circumstances, let Italy's expressions of solidarity reach you, Mr. President, and all Israeli citizens.
    We sincerely sympathise with the bereaved families of the victims and wish the many injured a speedy and complete recovery," he continued. "I would also like to reiterate my firmest and most convinced condemnation of this traitorous attack, which attacks Israel's security and distances the prospect of a lasting peace - hoped for and felt to be necessary by all - between Israelis and Palestinians," concluded Mattarella.
    On Saturday afternoon the emergency first aid service Magen David Adom reported that more than 40 Israelis had been killed by the rocket shower from the Gaza Strip and other attacks by armed groups linked to Hamas.
    The same source said 740 people have also been injured in the attacks, which Israeli Premier Benyamin Netanyahu has described as "a war".
    "Citizens of Israel, we are at war and it is not just an operation, it is really a war," said Netanyahu, adding that he had given the order to the army to call up reservists and to "respond to the war with impetuosity and on a scale that the enemy has not known until now".
    "The enemy will pay a price it has never had to pay. We will win," he added.
    Meanwhile, the health ministry in Gaza said that so far 161 Palestinians had been killed and 931 injured.
    Gaza sources say these numbers include Hamas fighters who entered Israel at the start of the attack and were killed in fighting with the Israeli army. (ANSA).