2023 Israel–Hamas war
An armed conflict between Hamas-led Palestinian militant groups[28][j] and Israel military forces began on 7 October 2023,[29] 50 years after the start of the 1973 Yom Kippur War.[30][31][32] Hamas's coordinated surprise offensive, codenamed "Al-Aqsa Flood", began in the morning with a barrage of at least 5,000 rockets launched from the Gaza Strip against Israel,[33] while some 2,500 Palestinian militants breached the Gaza–Israel barrier, massacred and set fire to civilian communities, and attacked Israel Defense Forces (IDF) military bases near the Gaza Strip.[34] Hamas stated that its attack was in response to "desecration of the Al-Aqsa Mosque", as well as the blockade of the Gaza Strip, continued Israeli settlements, and Israeli settler violence.[35][36][37][38] Over 1,400 Israelis, mostly civilians, were killed,[19] including 260 people at a music festival in Re'im.[39][40][41] Over 200 people, unarmed civilian hostages and captured Israeli soldiers, were taken to the Gaza Strip.[42][43][44][45] Israeli military forces began conducting retaliatory strikes[46] before the Israeli government formally declared war on Hamas a day later.[46]
The 2023 war, the fiercest since the Yom Kippur War, is part of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict which started in May 1948 and which since 2005 has seen most of its military exertions taking place in or emanating from the Gaza Strip. Hamas, which has been the ruling party of the Gaza Strip since 2007,[47] avoided major engagements with Israel in 2022 and most of 2023. However, in 2023 before the offensive started, an uptick in Israeli–Palestinian violence saw at least 247 Palestinians, 32 Israelis and two foreigners killed.[48][49][50][51][52][53] Some sources say Hamas covertly prepared[54][55] for a major offensive.
After clearing Hamas forces from southern Israel, the IDF conducted airstrikes in the Gaza Strip,[56] which to date have killed over 8,000 Palestinians according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, including more than 50 UN agency staff.[14][15] A total of 6,000 bombs were dropped by Israel during the first six days of the conflict, more than used by the United States over an entire year of operations in Afghanistan and double the number of bombs employed by the US-led coalition against the ISIS over one month.[57] Fears of a humanitarian crisis were heightened after Israel cut off food, water, electricity, and fuel supplies to Gaza, which had already been blockaded by both Egypt and Israel.[58][59] Israel urged 1.1 million Gazans to evacuate northern Gaza, while Hamas called on residents to stay in their homes and, according to the IDF, blocked roads leading south.[60][61][62] The United Nations reported that around a million Palestinians, nearly half of Gaza's population, have been internally displaced.[63]
There has been widespread killing of civilians, and human rights groups and a panel of United Nations special rapporteurs have accused both Israel and Hamas of war crimes.[64][65] A vote at the United Nations General Assembly on 27 October saw an overwhelming majority of the world's nations calling for de-escalation and an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.[66][67][68] As of 28 October, Israel is expanding ground operations, and aid agencies are warning of an unfolding humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.[69]
Background
The attack took place during the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah on Shabbat,[70] and a day after the 50th anniversary of the start of the Yom Kippur War, which also began with a surprise attack.[71]
Israeli politics
Benjamin Netanyahu had been Israel's prime minister for most of the two decades preceding the war, and was criticized for having championed a policy of empowering Hamas in Gaza.[72][73][74][75][76] This policy was part of Netanyahu's strategy, which he communicated during a private cabinet meeting, to sabotage a two-state solution by confining the Palestinian Authority to the West Bank and weakening it, and to demonstrate to the Israeli public and western governments that Israel has no partner for peace.[77] This criticism was leveled by several Israeli officials, including former prime minister Ehud Barak, and former head of Shin Bet security services Yuval Diskin.[77] Saudi Arabia and the Palestinian Authority were also critical of Israel under Netanyahu allowing suitcases of Qatari money to be given to Hamas,[77] in exchange for maintaining the ceasefire.[72] The Times of Israel alleged after the Hamas attack that Netanyahu's policy to treat the Palestinian Authority as a burden and Hamas as an asset had "blown up in our faces".[72]
After Hamas's attack in 2023, Netanyahu proposed an emergency unity government, with the judicial overhaul and all other non-emergency legislation and policy indefinitely suspended.[78] The Israeli war cabinet was formed on 11 October included opposition lawmakers, including Benny Gantz, the former Minister of Defense and former Chief of the General Staff.[79
Palestinian politics
The Gaza Strip and Israel have been in conflict since the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza in 2005. Hamas won the 2006 Palestinian legislative election, and a civil war between Hamas and Fatah in 2007 culminated in Hamas gaining control over Gaza.[80][81] In response to Hamas's takeover, Egypt and Israel imposed an extensive blockade of the Gaza Strip that devastated Gaza's economy.[82] International rights groups have decried the blockade as a form of collective punishment,[83] while Israel defended it as necessary to prevent weapons and dual-use goods from entering the territory.[84][85] Since the blockade, Israel and Palestinian militants have had several clashes and made preemptive attacks on each other.[82][86][29] The Palestinian Authority has not held national elections since 2006.[82][87] A March 2023 poll of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank indicated that a majority supported the use of "armed struggle", the creation of "militant groups", and an intifada against the Israeli occupation.[88]
Hamas leadership
According to Israeli security scholar, Ely Karmon of Reichmann University, Hamas leadership decided in May 2021 during the Temple riots to position itself as the defender of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the holy city of Jerusalem.[89][90]Ismail Haniyeh is a prominent figure associated with Hamas. He serves as the group's political leader and has been based abroad since 2019, with an unknown location. Haniyeh previously worked closely with Hamas's founder, Ahmed Yassin, who was killed in an airstrike in 2004. Haniyeh was elected as the head of Hamas's political bureau in 2017 and was reelected in 2021. In 2018, the U.S. State Department designated Haniyeh as a terrorist due to his close ties to Hamas' military wing and advocacy for armed struggle, including against civilians.[91]
Mohammed Deif, the commander of the military wing of Hamas, has a history of audacious and deadly attacks against Israel. He is known for his ability to outwit the Israeli military, such as by adapting to Israeli military advancements by deploying low-tech responses, and operate with a long-term perspective, including holding Israeli hostages to create public pressure over time. Deif's background and personal details are largely shrouded in mystery, and he operates from the shadows of Palestinian militancy.[92]
Gaza tunnels
The tunnel network serves Hamas for storage, movement, and command. Hamas used hardwired phone lines within the tunnels for covert communication over two years, evading Israeli intelligence.[93] The construction of these tunnels was a significant, multi-year effort involving Palestinian workers.[94] Hamas initially began building its vast underground network of tunnels for smuggling in 2001, but they have since become multi-functioned. In 2014, Hamas employed 900 people for tunnel construction, funding came from commercial schemes with contributions from Iran and North Korea.[95]
Events leading up to the war
See also: 2023 Neve Yaakov shooting, 2023 Al-Aqsa clashes, May 2023 Gaza–Israel clashes, and July 2023 Jenin incursion
Over the course of 2023, before the attack, at least 247 Palestinians had been killed by Israeli forces, while 32 Israelis and two foreign nationals had been killed in Palestinian attacks.[96] Increases in settler attacks had displaced hundreds of Palestinians, and there were clashes around the Al-Aqsa Mosque, a contested holy site in Jerusalem.[97]
Tensions between Israel and Hamas rose in September 2023, and the Washington Post described the two "on the brink of war".[54] Israel found explosives hidden in a shipment of jeans and halted all exports from Gaza.[54] In response, Hamas put its forces on high alert, and conducted military exercises with other groups, including openly practicing storming Israeli settlements.[54] Hamas also allowed Palestinians to resume protests at the Israel-Gaza barrier.[54] On 13 September, five Palestinians were killed at the border. According to The Washington Post, Palestinians were attempting to detonate the device, whereas Al-Jazeera reported that a Palestinian Explosives Engineering Unit was working to deactivate the device.[k] On 29 September, Qatar, the UN, and Egypt mediated an agreement between Israel and Hamas officials in the Gaza Strip to reopen closed crossing points and deescalate tensions.[99][100][101]
Egypt said it warned Israel days before the attack that "an explosion of the situation is coming, and very soon, and it would be big".[102] Israel denied receiving such a warning,[103] but the Egyptian claim was corroborated by Michael McCaul, Chairman of the US House Foreign Relations Committee, who said warnings were made three days before the attack.[104]
According to US intelligence reports, approximately 500 militants from Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, received specialized combat training in Iran. The training was conducted by officers from the Quds Force, the foreign-operations arm of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Senior Palestinian officials and Iranian Brig. Gen. Esmail Qaani, the head of Quds Force, were also in attendance.[105]
Israel–Saudi normalization talks
At the time of the attack, Israel and Saudi Arabia were conducting negotiations to normalize relations. Saudi Arabian crown prince Mohammed bin Salman said normalization was "for the first time real".[106] Saudi Arabia's Foreign Ministry said it had "repeatedly warned that Israel's ongoing occupation of Gaza would propel further violence".[106] Following the 2013 Egyptian coup d'état in which military general Abdel Fattah el-Sisi deposed president Mohamed Morsi, Egypt–Hamas relations soured, with Egypt suggesting that ties between Hamas and the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood could pose a national security threat.[107][108]
Historical context
Main article: Israeli–Palestinian conflict
Further information: Arab–Israeli conflict, Israeli-occupied territories, and Blockade of the Gaza Strip
Israeli and Palestinian deaths preceding the war. Most were civilians.[109][110]
Rocket attacks fired at Israel from the Gaza Strip, 2001–2021[111]
In 2005, Israel unilaterally withdrew its troops and citizens from the Gaza Strip, aiming to lessen its direct control over the area, though the United Nations and several human rights organizations continue to consider Gaza is held under Israeli occupation due to what they consider Israel's effective military control over the territory.[112][113] However, in 2007, Hamas seized control of Gaza by force, escalating tensions. Israel imposed a blockade, while Hamas tunneled under the border wall to launch cross-border attacks and fired rockets into Israeli territory. This led to multiple conflicts, escalating into multiple outright wars, wreaking havoc on civilians from both sides, and a preponderance of Palestinian deaths. Despite the violence, the Israeli leadership found this arrangement manageable, relying on the Iron Dome rocket defense system for defense and utilizing targeted strikes, euphemistically dubbed "mowing the grass", to keep Hamas in check, aiming to minimize the militant threat to a tolerable extent.[29]
American political scientist Stephen M. Walt said Palestinians feel they have no choice but to resist in response to Israel's decades long oppressive treatment of Palestinians, even though they acknowledge attacking civilians is wrong and the methods Hamas has chosen are illegitimate.[114] The Hindu wrote that the Israeli occupation was "the longest in modern history" and created a "fuming volcano".[115] The Associated Press wrote that Palestinians are "in despair over a never-ending occupation in the West Bank and suffocating blockade of Gaza".[116] ABC News reported the August 2023 UNRWA figures for Gaza of 81% of people living below the poverty level, and 63% being food insecure and dependent on international assistance. ABC News also reported the UN OCHAoPt numbers of roughly 6,400 Palestinians and 300 Israelis killed in the ongoing Israeli–Palestinian conflict since 2008 through September 2023, before this war.[110][117][109]
Roger Cohen wrote that the increasing Israeli control over millions of Palestinians "incubated bloodshed".[118] Prior to the attack, Saudi Arabia had warned Israel of an "explosion" as a result of the continued occupation,[119] Egypt had warned of a catastrophe unless there was political progress,[120] and similar warnings were given by Palestinian Authority officials.[120] Less than two months before the attacks, King Abdullah II of Jordan lamented that Palestinians have "no civil rights; no freedom of mobility".[120] Cohen wrote that many Israelis assumed the Palestinian question had become a nonissue, and it had disappeared from the global agenda.[118]
Simon Tisdall pointed to the uptick in Israeli–Palestinian violence in 2023 as portending war,[121] and claimed that Benjamin Netanyahu refused to negotiate the peace process, adding fuel to the fire,[121] and that the rights of Palestinians were ignored.[121] Yousef Munayyer wrote that the Biden administration had ignored the Palestinian issue.[122] As late as 29 September, Jake Sullivan, the US National Security Advisor, proclaimed that "the Middle East region is quieter today than it has been in two decades".[122] Iranian officials publicly boasted for years about their role in arming militants in Gaza, and a 2020 U.S. State Department report said Iran funnels roughly $100 million a year to Hamas.[123] At a White House news conference on 12 October, Sullivan said Iran was "complicit" in the attacks, but the U.S. could not confirm whether Iran knew about the attack in advance or helped coordinate it.
According to an analysis in The Independent, the blockade on Gaza created hopelessness among Palestinians, which was exploited by Hamas, convincing young Palestinian men that violence was the only solution.[124] Daoud Kuttab writes that Palestinian attempts to solve the conflict via negotiations or non-violent boycotts have been fruitless.[120] For The Times of Israel, Tal Schneider wrote: "For years, the various governments led by Benjamin Netanyahu took an approach that divided power between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank—bringing Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to his knees while making moves that propped up the Hamas terror group. The idea was to prevent Abbas—or anyone else in the Palestinian Authority's West Bank government—from advancing toward the establishment of a Palestinian state."[125]
Hamas said its attack was in response to the blockade on Gaza, continued settlements, Israeli settler violence, and restrictions on movement between Israel and Gaza.[126] Following the attack, American counterterrorism analyst Bruce Hoffman pointed to the 1988 Hamas Charter, alleging that Hamas had always had "genocidal" intentions and that it had no intentions for "moderation, restraint, negotiation, and the building of pathways to peace".[127] Michael Milshtein, head of the Palestinian Studies Forum at Tel Aviv University and a former Israeli military intelligence officer, argued that the attacks were "part of the long-term vision of Hamas to eradicate Israel" and that "Hamas is not ready at all to give up on the jihad".[128]
Timeline of the 2023 Israel–Hamas war
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The 2023 Israel–Hamas war began on October 7, 2023 when Hamas launched an unprecedented multi-faceted and sustained assault on Israel from the Gaza Strip, on the 50th Anniversary of the Yom Kippur War.[1]
As some developments may become known or fully understood only in retrospect, this is not an exhaustive list. Events on the ground for which the precise time is known are in Israel Summer Time (UTC+3).
October 7
At 6:30 a.m. IST, the first air raid sirens were activated in southern and central Israel in response to Hamas missiles.[2] Concurrently, Hamas's first public statement was made by Muhammad Deif, the leader of the group's military wing, in a ten-minute recorded message published online during which he declared the start of "Operation Al-Aqsa Flood", and that "the enemy will understand that the time of their rampaging without accountability has ended,"[3] urging Palestinians to attack Israeli settlements with whatever weapons they had.[4][5]
07:00: The Supernova Music Festival near the Re'im secular kibbutz was attacked by Hamas militants, some of whom arrive via motorized paragliders.[6] Of the approximately 3,000 to 5,000 people at the festival, at least 260 were killed and many others abducted.[7]
07:40: The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced that Hamas militants had entered southern Israel and asked residents of Sderot and other cities to remain indoors. Hamas in the attack 1,400 are killed and two hundred kidnapped.[8]
08:15: Sirens were activated in Jerusalem following a rocket barrage that landed in the forested hills on the city's western edge.
08:23: Israel declared a state of alert for war, activating its reservists, in response to continued rocket attacks.
08:34: Israel announced that it had begun counteroffensive operations against Hamas.
10:47: The first Israeli Air Force (IAF) fighter jets attacked Gaza.
11:35: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made his first statement about the conflict via Twitter,[9] declaring that Israel is at war.
At 12:21, the IDF began operations to relieve cities in southern Israel as the number of rockets launched from Gaza increased to over 1,200.
12:29: The United States made its first statement, through the National Security Council, which condemned the terrorist attack and reaffirmed U.S. support for Israel.
16:08: President Joe Biden spoke with Netanyahu and expressed his condolences and support, later declaring during a speech that U.S. support for Israel was "...solid and unwavering".
October 8
Israel formally declares a state of war under article Article 40A, the first time it has been invoked since the 1973 Yom Kippur War, half a century ago;[10] 300,000 reservists are called up, the most in the nation's history. The declared aim: eliminating Hamas's military capabilities and ending its rule over the Gaza Strip.[11]
Evacuations of residents in Israel living near the Gaza Strip were ordered,[12][13] and Netanyahu appointed former brigadier general Gal Hirsch as the government's point man on missing and kidnapped citizens.[14] A total lockdown was imposed on the West Bank by the IDF.[15]
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin orders the deployment of the USS Gerald Ford carrier strike group to the eastern Mediterranean.[16] US Air Force, F-35, F-15, F-16, and A-10 squadrons are augmented.[17] Hamas condemns the US Navy deployment as "aggression against the Palestinian people".[18
October 9
See also: October 2023 Hezbollah strike and October 2023 Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip
Alim Abdallah, deputy commander of the Israeli 300th Brigade of the 91st Division, was killed by a Hezbollah attack at the Lebanese border.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced a "total" blockade of the Gaza Strip that would cut electricity and block the entry of food and fuel, adding that "We are fighting human animals and we are acting accordingly."[19]
The IAF deployed C-130 and C-130J heavy transport planes across Europe to collect hundreds of off-duty IDF personnel to be deployed in the conflict.[20]
October 10
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) announces that four of its employees have died in airstrikes in Gaza.[21]
The IAF strikes more than 70 targets in and around Daraja Tuffah.[21]
Advanced weaponry from the U.S. arrives in Israel, its first such shipment of the war.[21]
President Biden noted in an afternoon briefing that "Hamas does not stand for the Palestinian people's right to dignity and self-determination. Its stated purpose is the annihilation of the State of Israel and the murder of Jewish people,"[22][23][24] and characterized its assault as "an act of sheer evil".[25]
Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi announced that any intervention in Gaza by the United States would result in a Houthi intervention.[26]
October 11
Israeli warplanes attacked and destroyed several buildings in and around the Islamic University of Gaza.[27]
Children were first reported to be amongst the dead in the aftermath of the Kfar Aza massacre from four days prior.[28]
The Ministry of Health of Palestine reported the death toll from Israeli airstrikes at 1,055, with 5,184 wounded. 2,600 Gazans had reportedly left their homes since October 7.[citation needed] The death toll in Israel was adjusted to 1,200.
The sole power plant in Gaza ceased operations after running out of fuel because of Israel's blockade.[29]
Pope Francis called for the release of all hostages held by Hamas and expressed concern over Israel's "total siege" of Gaza.
Hezbollah took responsibility for attacks made against IDF forces with "precision missiles."
Seventeen UK nationals were reported dead or missing, and fourteen Thailand nationals were reported to have been taken hostage.
The Israel Border Police fatally shot two Palestinians in East Jerusalem.
The United States held talks with Egypt regarding a humanitarian corridor via its Gaza border crossing near the city of Rafah.[30]
Israeli forces bombed the Gaza–Egypt Rafah border crossing.[31]
October 12
See also: October 2023 Israel–Syria exchanges
The IDF announced on social media that more than 1,000 Israelis had been killed and confirmed 50 people were hostages or missing.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health announced that more than 900 were dead in Gaza.
U.S. military equipment arrived at Nevatim Airbase, and the USS Gerald Ford strike group was stationed in the eastern Mediterranean.
Australia and Canada made plans to airlift their citizens out of Israel via Tel Aviv.
More than 260,000 Palestinians were displaced due to Israeli airstrikes on Gaza per the UN. The IAF had attacked more than 200 targets.
IDF soldiers were carrying out artillery strikes in Syria after a number of mortars were launched toward northern Israel.[32]
Around 1500 bodies of militants of Hamas fighters had been accounted for in Israel.[33] Some militants had not fled back to Gaza and were being sought out by the IDF using military dragnets, killing 18 in the past day.[verification needed]
Israel announced that Gaza would not receive water, fuel, or electricity until the hostages were freed.[34][35][36][37]
Israel confirmed the bombing of Damascus and the Aleppo International Airport in Syria.[38]
October 13
An internal leaked U.S. State Department e-mail advised senior diplomats to avoid three phrases in their public statements: "de-escalation/ceasefire", "end to violence/bloodshed", and "restoring calm".[39] Accordingly "ceasefire" was scarcely mentioned on U.S. new reportage.[40]
Gazans flee to the south of the enclave (de facto beyond Wadi Gaza)[41] after an IDF warning the day before of combat operations of 24 hours notice. The UN, warning of a humanitarian catastrophe, urges[42] Israel to rescind its evacuation order,[43] as does Amnesty International.[44]
One evacuation route on Salah al-Din street is bombed; the Gaza health ministry claims 70 dead.[45]
Hamas told Gazans in the northern region (some 1.1 million people) to remain in place.[46]
The Vatican offered mediation.[47]
The IDF launched localized raids on Hamas cells. On the first week of the war the death toll in Gaza stands at 1,900 and the number of wounded at 7,696 according to the Gaza health ministry.[48]
Turkish aid arrived in Egypt.[49]
October 14
The IDF announced two routes with safe passage between 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. IDT (07:00–13:00 UTC) for mass evacuation.
Israel and Egypt announced that the Rafah crossing will be open for foreign nationals from noon to 5:00 p.m.[50]
The US authorized the departure of non-emergency personnel from its embassy.[51]
Of the more than 1,300 killed by Hamas in Israel, more than 100 are foreigners.[52] The UN announces that more than 1,000 buildings have been destroyed in Gaza.[53]
Red Crescent ambulances are deliberately struck by IAF.[54]
The IAF bombs a building in southern Khan Younis.[55]
The commander of Hamas's aerial unit, who was intimately involved in planning the attack, is killed.[56]
United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) announced on Twitter that its shelters are no longer safe, which it deems an unprecedented situation.[42] Furthermore, water was running out.[57]
Israel deems that the war could take months. A record number of 360,000 reservists had reported for duty.[53]
During a meeting with UN diplomat Tor Wennesland, Iranian foreign minister asserted that Iran will intervene in the war if Israel continues its military operations or launches a ground invasion against Gaza.[58]
UN Humanitarian Aid chief Martin Griffiths says, "the noose around the civilian population in Gaza is tightening".[59]
October 15
Israel Border Police arrest more than 50 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank as per Wafa (Palestinian New Agency). One million people have been displaced in Gaza in one week. Iran's foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian declares in remarks in a meeting with Qatar's Emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani that "If the attacks of the Zionist regime [Israel] against the defenseless citizens and people of Gaza continue, no one can guarantee the control of the situation and the non-expansion of the conflict,"; furthermore, minor Hezbollah/IDF action and reaction continues in and around Sheeba Farms[60] and elsewhere at the Lebanon–Israel border.[60]
The IDF confirms 126 Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, and to date some 279 of its soldiers killed.[61]
The stated aim of Operation Iron Swords according to unclassified documents is to destroy the current leadership of Gaza: Hamas.[62][63]
Israel informs the White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan that water pipes have been turned back on in southern Gaza.[64]
The Egyptian Red Crescent, WHO, and other assorted NGOs and volunteer groups stockpile humanitarian supplies at Rafah Crossing (which has remained closed from the Egyptian side since the beginning of hostilities).[61]
UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini notes Gaza's supply of clean drinking water is running out, stating at a press conference, "Gaza is running out of water, and Gaza is running out of life."[65]
Four Gazan hospitals are no longer functional and the IDF demands that 21 hospitals in northern Gaza evacuate according to WHO. A Gazan surgeon working for Doctors Without Borders notes that Al Shifa hospital is going through a month to a month-and-a-half of supplies daily.[66]
As per the Committee to Protect Journalists at least twelve journalists have been killed and eight wounded to date. Furthermore, two are missing.[67] They variously free-lanced or worked for Agence France-Press, Ain Media, Al-Aqsa Radio, Al-Ghad, Al-Jazeera TV, Al-Khamsa News, Fourth Authority News Agency, Khabar Agency, Israel Hayom, Sky News Arabia, Reuters, Sowt Al-Asra Radio (Radio Voice of the Prisoners, and Smart Media.[68]
October 16
October 16
The carrier USS Eisenhower leaves Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia to join USS Gerald R. Ford as an added measure of deterrence for state and non-state actors.[69][70]
Iran threatened "pre-emptive" attacks against Israel, indicating further region-wide escalation of the war. Iranian foreign minister stated: "The possibility of pre-emptive action by the resistance front is expected in the coming hours... All options are open and we cannot be indifferent to the war crimes committed against the people of Gaza."[71][72]
President Biden in an interview on 60 Minutes says that an Israeli occupation of Gaza "would be a big mistake", adding "I am confident Israel will act under the rules of war".[73][74] He also said that Hamas must be eliminated, that there must be a path to a Palestinian state,[45] and regarded the initial Hamas attack as consequential as "The Holocaust".[75] (It is later announced that Biden will visit Israel on Wednesday.[76]
Khan Younis, a city of 400,000, is swamped by a million refugees.[45]
Hamas releases its first video of a hostage (an Israeli). Abu Obeida, the spokesperson for the military wing of Hamas, claims that it (Hamas) holds ~200 hostages, with "dozens" in the hands of various factions.[77][78][79]
Israel attacked the Al-Rafah border crossing at the Egyptian-Gazan border.[80]
Israeli prime minister Gideon Sa'ar states that "Gaza must be smaller at the end of the war".[81]
The World Health Organization states there were only "24 hours of water, electricity and fuel left" before "a real catastrophe".[82]
October 17
See also: October 2023 UNRWA school airstrike and Al-Ahli Arab Hospital explosion
An explosion occurred at the al-Ahli Arab Hospital where thousands of displaced Palestinians were seeking shelter; the initial estimated fatalities range in the hundreds. The IDF claims that a Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) rocket attack had failed, whereas the Gazan Health ministry claims that it was an IAF air strike;[1][83] independent analysis indicated that it was likely a failed rocket attack.[84][85] Protests erupted worldwide,[86] including in Ramallah and Hebron in the occupied West Bank.[87][88] Protestors from Ramallah demanded the "downfall" of Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas.[89]
Rear admiral Daniel Hagari claims that the damage to the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital was caused by the exploding fuel of a misfired Islamic Jihad rocket, not an Israeli aerial munition; he cites the lack of a crater and the nature of the structural damage.[90] A purported intelligence intercept of two Hamas operatives discussing the matter is released.[91]
The US State Department raises its travel advisory to Lebanon to Level 4: Do Not Travel.[92]
October 18
- President Biden arrives in Tel Aviv.[93] (The planned summit in Amman, Jordan with Jordanian, Egyptian, and Fatah leaders had been cancelled due to the hospital bombing of the previous day, however.)[94] He expresses support for Israel and for the "legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people", but notably does not call for a ceasefire. Nearly 800 people have been killed.[95][96]
October 19
- Footage shows a newly established displacement camp in Gaza.[97]
- US officials claims that a Palestinian Islamic Jihad rocket misfires into a Gaza hospital.[98]
- British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak visits Israel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu states "Hamas are the new Nazis".[99]
- The IDF updates the total of hostages held by Hamas to 203.[100]
- The USN destroyer USS Carney[101] whilst patrolling the Red Sea[102] shoots down three cruise missiles and several drones launched from Yemen by Houthi, apparently towards Israel.[103]
- The campus of the Greek Orthodox St. Porphyrius Church in Gaza is struck by the IAF.[104]
- The US State Department issues a rare world-wide alert advising American citizens "to exercise increased caution".[105]
- Biden delivers his second Oval Office speech, which he begins with "We are facing an inflection point in history", tying the 2022 Russian Invasion of Ukraine to the crisis.[106]
- The Israeli Air Force bombs around 100 targets in multiple airstrikes over the night of October 18-19.[107]
October 20
- Over 4000 Gazans are reported dead by the Gaza Health Ministry.[108] Some 13,260 have been wounded.[109][110]
- 30 Thai are reported to have been killed in the initial Hamas attack; 17 are missing.[111] More than 1000 Chinese nationals have left Israel. (To date nationals of Brazil,[112] Poland,[113] Hungary, Romania,[114] Nigeria[115] and the United Kingdom have been repatriated.[116] Australia announced repatriation flights, and India set Operation Ajay in motion.)[117] Furthermore, The Netherlands is the latest nation to urge its citizens to leave Lebanon.[110]
- Two more UNRWA workers are killed, bringing that toll to 16.[118]
- United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appears at Rafah Crossing.[106]
- Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announces that after the destruction of Hamas (including its governmental capabilities) Israel shall relinquish control of the Gaza Strip and that a new security regime shall be set up for Israel.[109][111]
- US President Joe Biden says the first trucks of humanitarian aid to Gaza would be delivered within "24 to 48 hours."[119]
West Bank
In the West Bank, related violence during the conflict killed 61 Palestinians and wounded at least 300.[411] Several thousand Gazan workers were in Israel at the time when the conflict started. As of 16 October some of them were detained at a "holding facility" in the West Bank while others sought refuge in the Palestinian communities of the West Bank.[412] The Minister of Labour for the Palestinian Authority estimated 4,500 workers are unaccounted for while Israeli media outlet N12 reported 4,000 Gazans were in Israeli holding facilities. The Palestinian Prisoners Society said that Israeli forces had arrested over 1,450 West Bank Palestinians since October 7.[413] On 29 October, thirty Israeli human rights organizations addressed settler violence in the West Bank, asking the international community to "act urgently" to end it.[414] On 30 October, the German government called on Israel to protect Palestinians in the West Bank.[415]
Death toll
On 25 October, US President Joe Biden stated he had "no confidence" in the death totals reported by the Gaza Health Ministry.[416][417] In response, Human Rights Watch stated that after three decades working in Gaza and conducting its own investigation, it considers Gaza Health Ministry's totals to be reliable.[417] Matthew Miller made a similar claim to Biden, despite the fact that the US Department of State cites the Gaza Health Ministry's death tolls in its own internal reports.[418] On 26 October, the Gaza Health Ministry responded by releasing a 212-page document of 6,747 individual names and ID numbers as well as the mention of 281 unidentified people killed in the conflict so far.[419]
Every death registered in Gaza is the result of a verified change in the population registry approved by the Government of Israel.[420] The Israeli government notes that the Israeli "Population Registry Office works to update population registry files located on the Israeli side to match the files that are held" in the West Bank and Gaza.[421] On 26 October, the United Nations humanitarian office added they use the Gaza Ministry of Health's death totals because they are "clearly sourced".[422] Yara Asi, a professor at the University of Central Florida, called Biden's statement "appalling."[423]
Journalists in Gaza
Main articles: Violence against journalists in the 2023 Israel–Hamas war and List of journalists killed in the 2023 Israel–Hamas war
At least six Palestinian journalists in Gaza were reported to have been killed by Israeli attacks while in the line of duty. Ibrahim Mohammad Lafi, a photographer for Ain Media, was fatally shot during the attack on the Erez crossing on 7 October, while Mohammad Jarghoun, a reporter with Smart Media, was killed east of Rafah on the same day. Freelance journalist Mohammad el-Salhi was also shot dead on the border east of Bureij refugee camp on 7 October. On 9 October, Saeed al-Taweel, editor-in-chief of Al-Khamsa News website, Mohammed Subh and Hisham Alnwajha were killed by an airstrike while filming an anticipated attack in Gaza City. Two other journalists were reported missing, and another was injured by shrapnel. The homes of two journalists were destroyed by shelling, and the offices of four media outlets were destroyed by airstrikes.[395] On 19 October, the Committee to Protect Journalists stated 21 journalists were confirmed dead, eight were injured, and three were missing or detained.[424] On 22 October, Rushdi Sarraj was killed by an Israeli airstrike on his home.[425] On 27 October, the IDF told Reuters and Agence France Presse it would not guarantee their journalists' safety in Gaza.[426]
Health and aid workers
Palestine Red Crescent Society ambulance hit by an Israeli missile in Khan Yunis
On 11 October, UNRWA reported that nine of their workers were killed in an Israeli airstrike, and that its headquarters were being targeted by Israel.[427] It said a school sheltering more than 225 people was struck.[178] 11 members of UNRWA and five members of the Red Cross and Red Crescent were killed in Gaza since the start of the fighting.[216] MSF said it had counted 16 medical personnel killed since 7 October.[428] MSF said a nurse and an ambulance driver were killed, and several others injured in Israeli strikes on the Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis and the Indonesia Hospital in Gaza City.[131] A paramedic was reported to be in critical condition.[129][429][430] The Indonesian Medical Emergency Rescue Committee (MER-C) confirmed a staff member was killed near an operational MER-C vehicle.[431][432] On 22 October, UNRWA stated 29 staff members had been killed in Gaza.[433] On 30 October, the Palestinian Ministry of Health stated 120 medical staff had been killed in Gaza.[434]
Militants
The Israeli Defense Forces estimated on 10 October that the bodies of approximately 1,000 Palestinian militants had been found inside Israel.[16] Several Hamas leaders have been reported killed.[435] Hamas co-founder, Abdul Fatah Dukhan, was killed. The following day, the head of Hamas's National Relations Office, Zakaria Abu Muammar, was reportedly killed in Khan Yunis.[436] On 11 October, the IDF confirmed the death of Jawad Abu Shamala, who served as Hamas's economy minister, in a drone strike.[437][438] Further, on 14 October, the IDF announced the killing of Hamas's head of aerial operations, Murad Abu Murad, in an overnight airstrike.[247][439]
On 16 October, another member of the Hamas political bureau, Osama Mazini, was killed in an airstrike at his home.[440] In addition to the targeted strikes on Hamas leaders. On 9 October, an airstrike in Rafah killed a local armed group leader.[178] On 17 October, Ayman Nofal was killed.[441] On 18 October, Jamila Al-Shanti, the first woman to be elected to Hamas's political bureau and a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, was killed in an airstrike in Jabalia.[442] On 19 October, Jihad Muheisen was killed. Rafat Harb Hussein Abu Hilal was killed by an airstrike. On 22 October, the New York Times estimated that 13 Hamas officials were killed in airstrikes.[443]
Lebanon
During clashes along the Israel–Lebanon border, an Israeli artillery strike on 13 October killed Reuters videographer Issam Abdallah and injured six other journalists from Reuters, Agence France-Presse and Al Jazeera.[444] On 29 October, Reporters Without Borders reported Israel had intentionally targeted Abdallah.[445] In addition, between 24 and 26 people have been killed in Lebanon.[citation needed] On 23 October, Vice reported that an intervention by Hezbollah following the start of a ground invasion of Gaza would lead to Israeli army's resources being heavily stretched and that sustained rocket attacks by Hezbollah could greatly damage Israel's economy and military.[446]
Israel-Hamas war in Gaza: What is the history of the conflict?
Oct 30 (Reuters) - The war between Israel and Hamas, which stormed Israeli towns and kibbutzes bordering Gaza in a shock attack on Oct. 7, is the latest in seven decades of conflict between Israelis and Palestinians that has destabilised the wider Middle East.
In Hamas' rampage, some 1,400 Israelis, mainly civilians, were killed and 229 taken hostage. In response, Israel hammered Gaza with air strikes before troops and tanks poured into the small coastal enclave in a ground assault expected to meet fierce resistance from Hamas and other Islamist militants. Medical authorities in Hamas-run Gaza said on Monday that 8,306 people - including 3,457 minors - had been killed in the enclave.
WHAT ARE THE ORIGINS OF THE CONFLICT?
The intractable conflict pits Israeli demands for security in what it has long regarded as a hostile Middle East against Palestinian aspirations for a state of their own.
Israel's founding father David Ben-Gurion proclaimed the modern State of Israel on May 14, 1948, establishing a safe haven for Jews fleeing persecution and seeking a national home on land to which they cite deep ties dating to antiquity.
Palestinians lament Israel's creation as the Nakba, or catastrophe, that resulted in their mass dispossession and blocked their own dreams of statehood.
In the war that followed, some 700,000 Palestinians, half the Arab population of what was British-ruled Palestine, fled or were driven from their homes, ending up in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria as well as in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Israel, a close U.S. ally, contests the assertion that it drove Palestinians from their homes and points out it was attacked by five Arab states the day after its creation. Armistice agreements halted the fighting in 1949 but there was no formal peace.
Palestinians who stayed put in the war, and their descendants, today make up about 20% of Israel's population.
WHAT MAJOR WARS HAVE BEEN FOUGHT SINCE THEN?
In 1967, Israel made a pre-emptive strike against Egypt and Syria, launching the Six-Day War. Israel captured the West Bank and Arab East Jerusalem from Jordan and the Golan Heights from Syria and occupied them ever since.
In 1973, Egypt and Syria launched a surprise attack on Israeli positions along the Suez Canal and Golan Heights, touching off the Yom Kippur War. Israel pushed both armies back within three weeks.
Israel invaded Lebanon in 1982 and thousands of Palestinian fighters under Yasser Arafat were evacuated by sea after a 10-week siege. In 2006, Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah militants captured two Israeli soldiers in the volatile border region and Israel launched military action, triggering a six-week war.
In 2005 Israel unilaterally withdrew settlers and soldiers from Gaza, which it had captured from Egypt in 1967. But Gaza saw major flare-ups of fighting in 2006, 2008, 2012, 2014 and 2021 that involved Israeli air raids and Palestinian rocket fire, and sometimes also cross-border incursions by either side.
As well as wars, there have been two Palestinian intifadas (uprisings), in 1987-93 and again in 2000-05. The second saw waves of Hamas suicide bombings against Israelis, and Israeli tank and air strikes on Palestinian cities.
WHAT ATTEMPTS HAVE THERE BEEN TO MAKE PEACE?
[1/3]Smoke rises after Israeli strikes on the seaport of Gaza City, in Gaza, October 10. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem Acquire Licensing Rights
In 1979, Egypt and Israel signed a peace treaty, ending 30 years of hostility. In 1993, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Arafat, the Palestine Liberation Organization leader, shook hands on the Oslo Accords on limited Palestinian autonomy. In 1994, Israel signed a peace treaty with Jordan.
President Bill Clinton, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Arafat took part in the Camp David summit in 2000, but failed to reach a final peace deal.
In 2002, an Arab League plan offered Israel normal relations with all Arab countries in return for a full withdrawal from the lands it took in the 1967 Middle East war, the creation of a Palestinian state and a "just solution" for Palestinian refugees. The presentation of the plan was overshadowed by Hamas, which blew up an Israeli hotel full of Holocaust survivors during their Passover seder.
Further peace efforts have been stalled since 2014, when talks failed between Israelis and Palestinians in Washington.
Palestinians boycotted dealings with the 2017-21 administration of U.S. President Donald Trump since it reversed decades of U.S. policy by refusing to endorse the two-state solution - the peace formula that envisages a Palestinian state established in territory that Israel captured in 1967.
WHERE DO PEACE EFFORTS STAND NOW?
The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden has focused on trying to secure a "grand bargain" in the Middle East that includes normalisation of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia, custodian of Islam's two holiest shrines.
The latest war is diplomatically awkward for Riyadh as well as for other Arab states, including some Gulf Arab states next to Saudi Arabia, that have signed peace deals with Israel.
WHAT ARE THE MAIN ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN ISSUES?
A two-state solution, Israeli settlements on occupied land, the status of Jerusalem, agreed borders, and the fate of Palestinian refugees are at the core of the dispute.
Two-state solution: An agreement that would create a state for the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip alongside Israel. Hamas rejects the two-state solution and is sworn to Israel's destruction. Israel has said a Palestinian state must be demilitarized so as not to threaten its security.
Settlements: Most countries deem Jewish settlements built on land Israel occupied in 1967 as illegal. Israel disputes this and cites historical and Biblical ties to the land. Continued settlement expansion is among the most contentious issues between Israel, the Palestinians and international community.
Jerusalem: Palestinians want East Jerusalem, which includes the walled Old City's sites sacred to Muslims, Jews and Christians alike, to be the capital of their state. Israel says Jerusalem should remain its "indivisible and eternal" capital.
Israel's claim to Jerusalem's eastern part is not recognised internationally. Trump recognised Jerusalem as Israel's capital, without specifying the extent of its jurisdiction in the disputed city, and moved the U.S. embassy there in 2018.
Refugees: Today about 5.6 million Palestinian refugees - mainly descendants of those who fled in 1948 - live in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza. About half of registered refugees remain stateless, according to the Palestinian foreign ministry, many living in crowded camps.
Palestinians have long demanded that refugees should be allowed to return, along with millions of their descendants. Israel says any resettlement of Palestinian refugees must occur outside of its borders.
Compiled by Reuters journalists; editing by Edmund Blair, Stephen Farrell and Mark Heinrich
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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