''This Is Our 9/11'': Israeli Ambassador After Hamas Launches Surprise Attack On Israel

The Palestinian militant group Hamas has launched an unprecedented attack on Israel, with its fighters taking Israeli civilians and soldiers hostage. Over 300 Israelis have been killed, while the Palestinian death toll in Gaza climbed to a minimum of 232 as a result of intense air strikes on the coastal enclave.

Condemning the attack, the Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations called it an "unprecedented" escalation and compared it with the 9/11 terror attack on the United States. In an interview on  "Fox News Live" on Saturday, Gilad Erdan called Hamas terrorists ''animals'' and condemned the military group for killing civilians.

''Babies, women, and the elderly were dragged outside of their homes, were taken hostage. Civilians were shot and most were massacred in cold blood walking on the streets. This is something that, I mean, is truly unprecedented,'' he told Fox News' Eric Shawn.

The diplomat explained that because Israel's population is smaller than the United States, the amount of casualties is proportional to the lives lost on 9/11.

''We already suffered 250 fatalities [which is] like having here, 7500 fatalities. We already have 1500 casualties. It's like 50,000 casualties here in the United States. This is our 9/11. We are committed to change the equation, to shatter the old paradigm. These animals will pay a heavy price and they will learn that these atrocities cannot be committed again against our civilians,'' he added. 

The violence erupted a day after Hamas said that the "people had to draw a line to end the occupation" and added that Israel continued to commit crimes across Palestinian land, and especially on the holy site of Al-Aqsa in Jerusalem.

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country is at war and Hamas will pay an unprecedented price. "Citizens of Israel, we are at war. This is not an operation, not an escalation - this is war. And we will win. Hamas will pay an unprecedented price," he said in a video message.

Notably, the 9/11 attacks in 2001 on one of the then-iconic sites in New York, the World Trade Center,  were the deadliest attacks on US soil since the Pearl Harbour bombing.  On September 11, 2001, planes crashed into New York City's World Trade Center, the Pentagon in Washington, DC, and a field in Pennsylvania. The terror attacks claimed the lives of nearly 3,000 people and injured countless others.