Israelis stunned and shaken by unprecedented Hamas attack

Palestinians on an Israeli military vehicle taken by an army base overrun by Hamas militants near the Gaza Strip fence (Abed Abu Reash/AP)

Israelis in the country’s south near the volatile frontier with Gaza have grown so used to rounds of fighting between Israel and Hamas militants that the wail of air raid sirens has taken on a grim routine.

But this time, Hamas has shaken their steely nerves. Residents of southern Israel described Saturday’s unprecedented ground assault, with fighters entering their communities in lorries, on boats and by hang-gliders, as a nightmare come true.