By Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza and Rachael Bade

With help from Eli Okun and Garrett Ross

Reports indicate that Hamas fired more than 2,200 rockets into Israel while infiltrating the country by land, sea and air. | Fatima Shbair/AP

Today, Israel issued a formal declaration of war against Hamas, as local media report that more than 600 Israelis and 300 Palestinians have been killed.

The war declaration allows the Israeli government to tap into a larger trough of military reserves and also increases the chances of a ground invasion into Gaza.

A bigger concern on the horizon is the possibility of a broader conflict after “a brief exchange of strikes with Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group” in the north, according to the AP.

“The flare-up on Israel’s northern border also threatened to draw into the battle Hezbollah, a fierce enemy of Israel’s which is backed by Iran and estimated to have tens of thousands of rockets at its disposal. Hezbollah fired dozens of rockets and shells on Sunday at three Israeli positions in a disputed area along the border and Israel’s military fired back using armed drones.”

Another sign of possible spread via Reuters: “In Alexandria, two Israeli tourists were shot dead along with their Egyptian guide.”

THE BIG QUESTION: Reports indicate that Hamas fired more than 2,200 rockets into Israel while infiltrating the country by land, sea and air. “So, how was none of the preparation for this assault picked up on?” asks Jamie Dettmer. “Hamas would have used its vast network of tunnels that link the enclave to Egypt, but how did it smuggle in the materials needed for such a huge attack without Israel catching wind of the traffic? And how did Israeli intelligence fail to notice Hamas was making and assembling thousands of home-grown Qassam rockets?”

Here in Washington, our Lara Seligman reports that “members of Congress want to know how Hamas was able to penetrate Israel’s sophisticated network of air defenses, sending hundreds of rockets from Gaza into Israel. The lawmakers are focused on Israel and are avoiding blaming the U.S. intelligence community, at least for now.”

Rep. JIM HIMES (D-Conn.), ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee: “That something of this size could be pulled off, I can tell you that that is not done without a lot of observable signals. It was kind of shocking in its size and ambition.”

THE U.S. ANGLE: “The Palestinian militants who attacked Israel this weekend have done Benjamin Netanyahu a much-needed political favor: They’ve revived his foundering relationship with JOE BIDEN,” writes Nahal Toosi. “In the short term, it’s likely to … [increase] Republican pressure on Biden to do more to support Israel and weaken Iran, which backs Hamas. Pressure that Biden has felt from progressive Democrats to be tougher on Israel could fade temporarily. …

“For now, Biden ‘really has no alternative but to be extraordinarily supportive of Netanyahu,’ said AARON DAVID MILLER, a former U.S. official involved in Middle East peace negotiations.”

President Biden spoke with Netanyahu on Saturday, and offered the Israeli leader “all appropriate means of support.”

“Israel has the right to defend itself and its people. Full stop,” Biden reiterated after the call. “There’s never a justification for terrorist attacks. And my administration’s support for Israel security is rock solid and unwavering.”

That sentiment, paired with pledges to support Israel with more aid, came from across the political spectrum.

But this latest violence comes at a moment when Congress is poorly positioned to act quickly and deliver new assistance to Israel. The Senate is in recess until next week and the House can’t do much of anything until it elects a new speaker. (As our colleagues note, the “speaker is also part of the Gang of Eight, a group of congressional leaders that reviews some of the most sensitive intelligence and is usually the first briefed in a crisis.”)

And here’s a sentence we didn’t expect to write at the end of this week: There’s a longshot, underground effort to reinstate KEVIN McCARTHY as speaker.

“Calls and texts among GOP members picked up dramatically after news of the attacks reached the U.S. overnight Friday,” report Meredith Lee Hill and Katherine Tully-McManus. “The message, per one House Republican lawmaker involved in the long-shot effort: ‘We need to bring back Kevin, immediately.’”

Related read: “Dems want Israel envoy confirmed ‘instantaneously’ after attack”

Good Sunday morning. Thanks for reading Playbook. Drop us a line: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza.

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SUNDAY BEST …

— Secretary of State ANTONY BLINKEN on whether there are U.S. citizens among the dead or hostages in Hamas’ attack on Israel, on NBC’s “Meet the Press”: “We have reports that several Americans may be among the dead. We are very actively working to verify those reports. Similarly, we've seen reports about hostages.”

… On criticism from Republicans suggesting the Biden administration’s release of Iranian funds may have emboldened support for Hamas attack: “Not a single cent has been spent from that account 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. And it's wrong either way.”

… On possible military assistance to Israel, on CNN’s “State of the Union,”: “We are -- we're looking at specific additional requests that the Israelis have made. I think you're likely to hear more about that later today.” CNN’s Dana Bash: “Can you give us a preview?” Blinken: “Let me not get ahead of it, but, again, we’re — we want to make sure that — President Biden’s direction was to make sure that we’re providing Israel everything it needs in this moment to deal with the attacks from Hamas. And, as I said, I would expect that there will be more on that later today.”

… On American engagement in Israel, on ABC’s “This Week”: “The entire government has been engaged throughout the region and well beyond, both to build support for Israel and to make sure that every country was using whatever means it has, whatever influence it has, to pull Hamas back and also to make sure that we don’t see conflict erupt in other areas. The president sent a very clear message that no one should try to take advantage of this elsewhere.”

— CHRIS CHRISTIE on some House GOP members’ support of DONALD TRUMP as the new House speaker, on ABC’s “This Week”: “This is them doing what they know Donald Trump likes, which is kiss his rear end in public. And if you do that, then he says nice things about you, even if what you’re saying is not — is demonstrably untrue, right? So, that's part of the problem with all this.”

 — NIKKI HALEY on Republican criticism of the Biden administration’s decision to release Iranian funds, on NBC’s “Meet the Press”: “I actually think it was irresponsible for Secretary Blinken to say that the $6 billion doesn't weigh in here. I mean, let's be honest with the American people and understand that Hamas knows, and Iran knows they're moving money around as we speak, because they know six billion is going to be released. That's the reality.”

… on whether the speakership drama in the House makes the U.S. look weak: “I would remind Republicans, you know, don't chase Democrat chaos with Republican chaos.”

TOP-EDS: A roundup of the week’s must-read opinion pieces.

• “Republicans Should Stop Expecting Democrats to Fix Their Problems, Speaker Edition,” by Josh Barro on Substack
• “Without a College Degree, Life in America Is Staggeringly Shorter,” by Anne Case and Angus Deaton for NYT
• “The Moral Case for No Longer Engaging With Elon Musk’s X,” by Bloomberg’s Dave Lee
• “America doesn’t need more God. It needs more atheists,” by WaPo’s Kate Cohen
• “Inside Bankman-Fried’s last year in the crypto game,” by Michael Lewis for WaPo
• “Virginia Could Decide the Future of the GOP’s Abortion Policy,” by The Atlantic’s Ron Brownstein 
• “How Gerontocracy Explains the Matt Gaetz Clown Show,” by NYT’s Ross Douthat 

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At the White House

Biden will deliver remarks on the terrorist attacks in Israel from the East Room his afternoon.

VP KAMALA HARRIS has nothing on her public schedule.

9 THINGS FOR YOUR RADAR

1. 100 DAYS UNTIL IOWA: “Republican candidates confront Trump’s enduring popularity in Iowa with 100 days to go until caucuses,” by CNN’s Steve Contorno, Alayna Treene, Jeff Zeleny, Daniel Strauss and Kristen Holmes: “Former President Donald Trump’s enduring popularity in Iowa and across the early Republican presidential nominating map has forced much of the field to aggressively turn their attention to the state in hopes of stopping his march toward the nomination. Florida Gov. RON DeSANTIS in particular has approached the state as a must-win, but others increasingly view it as a last stand to demonstrate that a viable alternative to Trump can emerge before it’s too late.”

2. DEVASTATION IN AFGHANISTAN: “Powerful Earthquakes Kill More Than 2,400 in Afghanistan: ‘This Is a Huge Disaster,’” WSJ’s Esmatullah Kohsar and Shan Li

3. NEW RULES: House Rules Chair TOM COLE (R-Okla.) says Republicans can now void the funding slashes dictated under Kevin McCarthy now that he’s no longer speaker, David Rogers reports. “This agreement was faulty from the beginning. It’s changed over time, and now in a sense, it doesn’t exist at all because McCarthy isn’t the speaker anymore,” Cole said. “[W]e’re not really bound by this agreement now. That will be an interesting thing the new speaker will have to hash out.”

“Cole’s comments are striking because of his stature in the House … The Oklahoma Republican is also vice chair of the funding panel, the second-highest-ranking appropriations post. The fact that he should speak out so directly now could embolden GOP centrists to do the same in the party fight now over who will be the next speaker.”

4. NO LABELS, NO CRY: Fearing potential third party candidates could threaten President Biden’s chances of reelection in 2024, Democratic allies are on the offensive, ramping up their efforts to push back against centrist groups like No Labels, NYT’s Reid Epstein and Lisa Lerer report.

“No Labels has focused its recent polling on eight states that are expected to be competitive in a Biden-Trump contest … If a third-party or independent candidate were to gain serious traction, it could reshuffle the entire presidential map, potentially turning states like New York or Texas into true battlegrounds.”

The context: “The broad Democratic unease is rooted in a core belief that Mr. Trump has both a high ceiling and a low floor of general-election support — meaning that his voters are less likely to be swayed by a third-party or independent candidate. Mr. Biden has wider appeal, but his supporters are not as loyal.”

Related read: “RFK Jr.’s Ultimate Vanity Project,” by POLITICO Mag’s David Freelander

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5. HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS: “Biden's support of labor has imperiled support from the business world,” by NBC News’ Peter Nicholas and Peter Alexander: “Advisers have directly urged Biden to state bluntly that he wants to help business succeed — a message that tends to get lost as he courts working-class voters and embraces their cause for better pay and working conditions … Perhaps most worrying for Democrats is that neither workers nor business seem enthused about what the president brands as ‘Bidenomics,’ a program to build the economy from ‘the middle out.’”

6. DEFICIT ATTENTION: Wall Street investors have had a longstanding belief that the U.S. government can’t sell too many Treasury bonds, but “[n]ow, the steep declines in prices of Treasurys — meant to be the world’s safest and easiest-to-trade investment — are forcing markets to confront the possibility that the rates required to place all this debt will be higher than anyone expected,” WSJ’sEric Wallerstein reports. “Few expect a U.S. default or a Treasury auction to fail … but the latest surge has raised worries that the onslaught of new debt could pressure bond prices for years to come.”

7. AI ON THE BRAIN: As major tech companies continue to grapple with concerns around artificial intelligence and misinformation, Amazon’s Alexa device is routinely repeating the false claim that the 2020 election was stolen, WaPo’s Cat Zakrzewski reports. “Multiple investigations into the 2020 election have revealed no evidence of fraud ... Yet Alexa disseminates misinformation about the race, even as parent company Amazon promotes the tool as a reliable election news source to more than 70 million estimated users.”

The bigger picture: “The answers foreshadow a new information battleground in the 2024 elections, as Trump — the GOP front-runner — campaigns for the White House on the false claim that election fraud drove his 2020 loss.”

8. DEEP IN THE HEART: As Texas state lawmakers prepare to enter their third special session of the year, infighting over border security and “school choice” vouchers have pitted sects of Lone Star state Republicans against each other, WaPo’s Molly Hennessy-Fiske reports this morning: “The GOP has ruled all three branches of state government for decades, but this year tensions within the party have boiled over into very public battles — mirroring the fractures in Washington.”

9. THE NEW GOP: “Some GOP candidates propose acts of war against Mexico to stop fentanyl. Experts say that won’t work,” by AP’s Adriana Gomez Licon: “Ron DeSantis wants suspected drug smugglers at the U.S.-Mexico border to be shot dead. NIKKI HALEY promises to send American special forces into Mexico. VIVEK RAMASWAMY has accused Mexico’s leader of treating drug cartels as his ‘sugar daddy’ and says that if he is elected president, ‘there will be a new daddy in town.’” But but but:  “[A]nalysts and nonpartisan experts warn that military force is not the answer and instead fuels the racism and xenophobia that undermine efforts to stop drug trafficking.

WEEKEND WEDDING — DJ Judd, CNN White House producer, and Brian Walsh, an aide to Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), got married Saturday evening at a former train depot in Southern Pines, N.C. The ceremony was officiated by NBC News’ Priscilla Thompson The proud dads to Trivia walked out to Taylor Swift and had their first dance to “Woke Up in Love.” SPOTTED: Phil and Chelsea Mattingly, Kaitlan Collins, Jeff Zeleny, Arlette Saenz, Ali Zaslav, Jasmine Wright, Annie Grayer, Jessica Dean, Alex Katz, Ryan and Karey Nobles, Maura Barrett, Allie Malloy, Betsy Klein, Daniella Diaz, Justin Gomez, Caroline Kenny, Jack Turman, Alan He, Carolyn Walser, Savanna Peterson, Anaisy Tolentino, Laura Epstein, Paxton Delano, Sara Hennessey, Meg Platt and Meredith Shevitz, Austin Cook and Tom Hassan. Pic … Another pic … Another pic

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Reps. David Kustoff (R-Tenn.), Marc Molinaro (R-N.Y.) and Kelly Armstrong (R-N.D.) … Adrienne Watson of the NSC … Rev. Jesse Jackson … Steve Coll of the Columbia Journalism School and The New Yorker … Axios’ Mackenzie Weinger … Dan Dunham … Dan Gallo of MSNBC … Brianne Gorod of the Constitutional Accountability Center … POLITICO’s Katherine Herbert and Andrew Howard … Caroline Nonna Holland … Aaron Hiller of House Judiciary … David Burstein … Shripal Shah of Left Hook … Larry Calhoun of Rep. Kat Cammack’s (R-Fla.) office … Kirk Schwarzbach … Joe Gilson of Sen. Chuck Grassley’s (R-Iowa) office … Nicole Schlinger … Bully Pulpit Interactive’s Ivanka Farrell … Blain Rethmeier … Abdul Dosunmu ... Dennis Alpert … former Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) … former HHS Secretary Tom Price … Sofia Ramirez … Brian Frosh … LSG’s Caroline Carpenter … Adam Weiss of FIO 360

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