The most serious escalation between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas in 50 years has dominated global headlines.

At least 250 Israelis have died in Hamas attacks, Israeli officials have said. Meanwhile, at least 230 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza by Israeli retaliation.

The Observer’s headline “Hundreds die and hostages held as Hamas assault shocks Israel” is accompanied by a picture of Palestinians celebrating on a tank at the Gaza Strip fence. Bethan McKernan reports from Jerusalem that no one on either side foresaw the scale and ferocity of what Hamas has dubbed “Operation al-Aqsa Deluge”, an unprecedented sea, air and ground offensive by Hamas that has opened a frightening new chapter in the decades-old conflict.


The Sunday Times has an image of the Israeli Defence Force assisting a civilian above the headline: “Hostages dragged from homes in Israel as families flee slaughter”. In the lead story, the reporters, covering the story from Tel Aviv, describe the Hamas capture of Israeli hostages as “scenes ripped from a nightmare”.


Arab News, the Saudi Arabia-based English newspaper reporting news in the Middle East, has revived memories of the Yom Kippur war between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by Saudi Arabia and Egypt in 1973. Its headline: “50 years on, another Yom Kippur war stuns Israel” lies under an image of a destroyed tank in 1973, next to an image from Saturday with Palestinians of celebrating atop a burning Israeli military vehicle.

The front page also features a story from Arab News Editor and chief, Faisal J Abbas, under the headline “Hamas has crossed the Rubicon. What Now?”. He argues, no matter the outcomes, Hamas will declare victory, but it’s unlikely to change the reality in Gaza and Palestinians will suffer at the hands of the Israeli army.

Front page of the Arab News, Sunday 8 October
Front page of the Arab News, Sunday 8 October Photograph: Arab news

The front page of the Independent leads with several arresting images from the conflict: a man fleeing a Hamas attack, a retaliatory strike from Israel hitting Gaza, and Palestinian militants posing with an Israeli tank. Underneath is the headline: “Hamas ‘takes up to 50 hostages’ as Israeli declares: We are at war”.


The Sunday Telegraph splashes with the headline: “Hamas terrorists butcher civilians as stunned Israel suffers ‘9/11 moment’”.

The front page also includes a first-person account from a 43-year-old Israeli hairdresser who was hiding in a safe room with his family in his home in Yesha, located near the Israeli border with Gaza.


“Human Shield Horror” is blared across the Sunday Express over a picture of Hamas militants atop an Israeli tank. It says: “Hamas terrorists kidnap grandmas and children as hundreds slaughtered in brutal attack on Israel”.

Australia’s Sun Herald has dedicated a portion of its front page to news of the escalation with the headline: “Israel ‘declares war’” after Hamas rocket attacks. Underneath, is a picture of rockets being fired towards Israel from Gaza.

The Sun Herald front page, Sunday 8 October
The Sun Herald front page, Sunday 8 October Photograph: The Sydney Morning Herald
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