At around 06:00 local time on October 7, an unspecified number of armed militants from the Islamist group Hamas broke through the fortified border around the Gaza Strip to carry out a large-scale attack in southern Israel. The militants entered Israel from six different points and subsequently began targeting civilians and military personnel across 27 different Israeli towns and cities in the region. As a result of the attacks, widespread transportation disruptions have been reported in parts of southern Israel, particularly in the road and air transportation sectors. Although information on business disruptions remains limited at the time of writing, operational impacts in sectors such as technology, industrial machinery or chemicals caused by the fighting itself or due to security measures implemented in response to it are likely as well.
Hamas launches widespread attacks in southern Israel
The scale of the attack appears to have caught the Israeli Defence Forces by surprise as Hamas fighters quickly took control of several military bases in the area. The militants raided towns up to 15 miles (24 km) beyond the Gaza border with the apparent goal to kill and kidnap Israeli citizens. So far, more than 100 people have been kidnapped and taken back into Gaza while more than 700 Israeli citizens have been killed and a further 2,300 wounded as a result of the armed attacks.
In addition to land incursions, Hamas launched large-scale missile attacks into Israel with an estimated 2,200 rockets fired into the country during the early morning of October 7 alone. Most of the missiles have been intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome system. In total, the Israeli military estimated that more than 4,400 rockets have been fired from the Gaza Strip into the country as of the morning of October 9. The rocket attacks also encouraged the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah to launch a mortar attack into the Shebaa Farms area of the Israeli occupied Golan Heights in an expression of solidarity with Hamas.
In response to the attack, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a declaration of war against Hamas on October 8. The Israeli military has been engaged in operations to clear Hamas militants from the country since the morning of October 7 and fierce fighting has been reported through October 8 and into October 9. Israeli forces appear to have been largely successful in retaking territory occupied by Hamas as of the morning of October 9 with all communities said to be under Israeli control again. The Israeli military has also evacuated 24 villages near the Gaza border due to security concerns.
At the same time, Israel launched a retaliatory air campaign targeting Hamas infrastructure within the Gaza Strip, with military sources indicating that over 1000 targets have been struck over the past days. The air strikes displaced nearly 74,000 residents in the Gaza Strip and killed more than 500 Palestinians so far. Electrical supplies to the enclave have also been cut off and sources expect that the region will be completely without power within the next few days once the area’s only remaining 60 MW power plant runs out of fuel.
Military conflict likely to result in widespread business disruptions in southern Israel
As of October 9, the exact extent of business disruptions in southern Israel and beyond remains unclear as fighting between the Israeli military and members of Hamas continues. However, industry representatives have already warned that the technology sector, the country’s fastest growing industry, which accounts for roughly a fifth of Israel’s gross domestic product (GDP), is at risk of operational impacts due to the crisis.
While details about operational impacts remain limited, the county’s technology sector is not the only one at risk of business disruptions amid the crisis. Sectors that could also see operational impacts include the automotive, industrial manufacturing, plastics, and pharmaceutical sectors, all of which have local companies based near the Gaza Strip. Companies with locations in the endangered areas include plastics maker Kafrit Industries (1993) Ltd., chemicals producer Chemada Industries Ltd. and Ditron Precision Ltd., an industrial machinery company. Several of the towns, where attacks by Hamas have been confirmed, are also home to larger industrial zones, such as the North and South Industrial Zones in Ashkelon and the Sderot Industrial Zone located north and northeast of the Gaza Strip.
Fighting disrupts air and road transportation in parts of Israel
The crisis has also resulted in transportation disruptions, particularly in the road and air transportation sectors since the fighting broke out on October 7. The United States Federal Aviation Administration and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency have both asked airlines to operate with caution amid the conflict but did not yet suspend flight operations with Israel.
Meanwhile, the civil aviation authority in Israel changed some flight routes in response to the crisis and asked airlines to carry extra fuel to account for flight delays. Several major international airlines have reportedly chosen to cancel flights to and from Israel due to security concerns. For example, three major U.S.-based airlines have confirmed changes to their flight schedules. Delta Air Lines has warned passengers that all flights to, from and through Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv, Israel’s main international airport, will likely be impacted until at least October 14, while United Airlines has cancelled all connections to Tel Aviv until further notice. American Airlines has also suspended flight routes. Similarly, in Europe and Asia, the flag carriers of Germany, France, Portugal, Finland, Greece, South Korea, Hong Kong, and India all temporarily cancelled direct flight connections to Israel. However, more than half of scheduled flights to and from Tel Aviv reportedly continued as of October 8.
Road transport has been disrupted since the fighting broke out, particularly in the most affect areas in the country’s southern regions. According to reports on October 9, Israeli authorities have set up check points along major highways that have resulted in traffic congestion in some areas. Further disruptions to road transportation activities are likely as long as the crisis continues.
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