The relationship and situation between Israel and Palestinian's Hamas in 2023 is always complex and volatile. Both sides have engaged in military conflict, and that the two have been at each other's neck for years.

At every single moment, every day, there is a constant risk of renewed violence.

This time however, things have escalated to a different level, when Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip launched deadly barrage of attacks, consisting of thousands of rockets into the unsuspecting Israel. Hamas, which is considered an armed terror group, also infiltrated into Israel's land by land and sea, and also through the air using paragliders.

Multiple explosions and blasts were heard over Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and in southern Israel. Inside buildings and on the streets, people were killed.

This surprise attack has angered Israel, and sent its officials into a fury.

Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli politician who has been serving as the Prime Minister of Israel since December 2022, having previously held the office from 1996 to 1999 and again from 2009 to 2021, has expressed his anger.

"Israel is at war," he said.

Netanyahu said that the war was "forced upon us in the most brutal and savage way," adding that the "Hamas will understand that by attacking us, they have made a mistake of historic proportions. We will exact a price that will be remembered by them and Israel’s other enemies for decades to come."

Netanyahu also referred to the Hamas as "savages" and "ISIS."

The savage attacks that Hamas perpetrated against innocent Israelis are mindboggling, the Prime Minister said.

Netanyahu said that the Hamas has slaughtered families in their homes, killing civilians, including women and children, as well as elderly, and Holocaust survivors.

"Hamas terrorists bound, burned and executed children," he said.

While the relationship between Israel and Palestine is never in good terms, this attack by Hamas is considered a surprise and devastating attack, because it effectively caught the Israeli off guard.

Partly, this happened because the combined arms attack breached the Gaza–Israel barrier.

This surprise attack was unprecedented in recent history in its scale and scope, and that it happened during the the 50th anniversary of the 1973 War, in which Arab states blitzed Israel on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar.

Sources in Hamas and Israel's military establishment said that the attack was the culmination of a campaign to deceive Israel into thinking that the group was primarily interested in economic and governance issues instead of waging war.

Hamas fighters also massacre hundreds of civilians and take hostages in Southern Israel.

During the attack, among others, the militants also led a massacre at Re'im music festival.

In other words, the Hamas had been misleading Israeli intelligence for months.

Abu Obeida, spokesman of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, announced that the Hamas would begin livestreaming executions of Israeli people and foreign hostages, only if Israel continued to launch missile strikes against Hamas in Gaza.

According to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), the Hamas had taken “hostages and prisoners of war” but did not give a figure.

But it's said casualties were hundreds, and thousands were wounded on the first attack.

Israel responded by launching strikes to Gaza, including to The Palestine Tower, a high-rise building which hosts residential apartments and media offices in Gaza City.

Netanyahu called for allies, and also issued a call-up of reservists.

"What happened today has never been seen in Israel, we will take mighty vengeance for this black day," Netanyahu said.

"I tell Hamas, you are responsible for the wellbeing of captives, Israel will settle the score with anyone who harms them," Netanyahu said, adding that Israel would turn Hamas-associated locations "into islands of ruins."

"Residents of Gaza: Leave now because we will operate forcefully everywhere," he said.

A former IDF international spokesperson, Jonathan Conricus, described the massive surprise attack as a "Pearl Harbor type of moment" for the country.

"The entire system failed. It’s not just one component. It’s the entire defense architecture that evidently failed to provide the necessary defense for Israeli civilians," he said.

In respond, yet more round of rockers were fired by Hamas militants, making direct hits on multiple locations inside Israel, including in Tel Aviv, according to Israeli authorities.

Hamas said it had fired an additional 150 rockets in response to the bombing of the residential tower.

Dubbed as the operation "Al-Aqsa Storm," Hamas military commander Muhammad Al-Deif said in a recorded message that the group had "targeted the enemy positions, airports and military positions with 5,000 rockets," and that the assault on Israel was a response to attacks on women, the desecration of the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem and the ongoing siege of Gaza.

The violence has also been driven by frequent Israeli military raids in Palestinian towns and cities, which Israel has said are a necessary response to a rising number of attacks by Palestinian militants on Israelis.

"If you have a gun, get it out. This is the time to use it – get out with trucks, cars, axes, today the best and most honorable history starts," Al-Deif added.

In the past, both sides have been sending many, many attacks and assaults, and launched many, many rockets towards each other.

But this attack here, is considered one of the deadliest attacks ever to the land of Israel.

Government leaders from around the world has expressed their support for Israel, and that others also called for parties involved to act with restrain in order to prevent escalated tensions.

Others that denounce the violence, said that they're initiating communications with both parties, and also other international officials to help this tension from getting worse.

Celebrities have also expressed their support for Israel.

Among others, the key points that created the tension between the two sides, is the status of Jerusalem.

Israel claims the entire city as its capital, while Hamas and the Palestinian Authority claim East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state. Because Jerusalem is considered a highly-symbolic place for both sides, it has been a major obstacle to peace negotiations in the past.

Another major issue is the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip, which was first imposed in 2007, after Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip.

Gaza is one of the most densely packed places in the world, an isolated coastal enclave of almost 2 million people crammed into just a few hundred square kilometers, and Israel said that the blockade is necessary to prevent Hamas from smuggling weapons into the Gaza Strip.

Hamas said that the blockade is a collective punishment on the Palestinian people.

Because of the Israel's placed restrictions, the freedom of civilian movement is limited, and that there are limitations and extreme controls regarding the importation of basic goods into the narrow coastal strip.

As a result, the blockade has had a devastating impact on the economy and infrastructure of the Gaza Strip.

In terms of firepower and military arsenal, Hamas is said to be underequipped. Because of this, it's rare for Palestinian militants to be able to make such successful devastating attack to Israel, especially from Gaza, since the area is literally sealed off and heavily watched by Israel’s military.