2023 Israel–Hamas War

The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel fought since 7 October 2023. A part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflicts dating back to the 20th century, it follows the wars of 2008–2009, 2012, 2014, and 2021. The war has resulted in the deaths of more than one thousand Israelis and tens of thousands of Palestinians, along with widespread destruction and a humanitarian crisis in Gaza. A growing number of human rights organizations and experts—such as lawyers and academics studying genocide and international law—say that a genocide is occurring in Gaza, though this is debated. Meanwhile, the surrounding region has seen heightened instability and fighting. The first day was the deadliest in Israel's history, and the war is the deadliest for Palestinians in the broader conflict.

On 7 October 2023, Hamas-led militant groups launched a surprise attack on Israel, in which 1,195 Israelis and foreign nationals, including 815 civilians, were killed, and 251 taken hostage with the stated goal of forcing Israel to release Palestinian prisoners. After clearing militants from its territory, Israel launched a bombing campaign and invaded Gaza on 27 October with the stated objectives of destroying Hamas and freeing the hostages. Israeli forces launched numerous campaigns during the invasion, including the Rafah offensive from May 2024, three battles fought around Khan Yunis, and the siege of North Gaza from October 2024, and have assassinated Hamas leaders inside and outside of Gaza. A temporary ceasefire in November 2023 broke down, and a second ceasefire in January 2025 ended with a surprise attack by Israel in March 2025.

Since the start of the Israeli offensive, over 55,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed, over half of them women and children, and more than 128,000 Palestinians have been injured. A study in ''The Lancet'' estimated 64,260 deaths due to traumatic injuries by June 2024, while noting a larger potential death toll when "indirect" deaths are included. Israel's tightened blockade of Gaza cut off basic necessities, causing a severe hunger crisis with a high risk of famine persisting . By early 2025, Israel had caused unprecedented destruction in Gaza and made large parts of it uninhabitable, leveling entire cities and destroying hospitals (including children's hospitals), agricultural land, religious and cultural landmarks, educational facilities, and cemeteries. Gazan journalists, health workers, aid workers and other members of civil society have been detained, tortured and killed. Nearly all of the strip's 2.3million Palestinian population have been forcibly displaced. Over 100,000 Israelis were internally displaced at the height of the conflict.

Various experts and human rights organizations have stated that Israel and Hamas have committed war crimes. A case accusing Israel of committing genocide in Gaza is being reviewed by the International Court of Justice, while the International Criminal Court reviewed and issued arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu, Yoav Gallant and Mohammed Deif, though Deif's warrant was withdrawn when he was killed. Torture and sexual violence have been committed by Palestinian militant groups and by Israeli forces.

Flashpoints during the war attracting global attention include the Nova festival massacre, the kidnapping and killing of the Bibas family, the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital explosion, the Flour Massacre, the Tel al-Sultan attack, the World Central Kitchen aid convoy attack, and the killing of five-year-old Hind Rajab. Israel has received extensive military and diplomatic support from the United States, which has vetoed multiple pro-ceasefire resolutions from the UN Security Council. The war has reverberated regionally, with Axis of Resistance groups across several Arab countries and Iran clashing with the United States and Israel. By late 2024, a year of strikes between Israel and Hezbollah led to an Israeli invasion of Lebanon, as well as the fall of the Assad regime and an ongoing Israeli invasion of Syria. The war continues to have significant regional and international repercussions, with large protests worldwide calling for a ceasefire, as well as a surge of antisemitism and anti-Palestinianism.

Names

The Gaza war is referred to by different names. Israel calls it the "iron swords war" (). It has also been referred to as the "Simchat Torah war", as the war started on the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah, reminiscent of the Yom Kippur War. Palestinian militant groups refer to it as the "battle of al-Aqsa Flood" (), in reference to Operation al-Aqsa Flood. Western media outlets have variably described it as the "Israel–Hamas war" while others use "war on Gaza". Others have used the term "October 7 war". Some have rejected "war" as an adequate framework and call it the "Gaza genocide", "second Nakba", or "Nakba 2023".

Background

The 1948 Palestine war saw the establishment of Israel over most of what had been Mandatory Palestine, with the exception of two separated territories that became known as the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, which were held by Jordan and Egypt respectively. Following the 1967 Six-Day War, Israel occupied the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The upcoming period witnessed two popular uprisings by Palestinians against the Israeli occupation; the First and Second Intifadas in 1987 and 2000 respectively, with the latter's end seeing Israel's unilateral withdrawal from Gaza in 2005.

Since 2007, the Gaza Strip has been governed by Hamas, an Islamist militant group, while the West Bank remained under the control of the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority. After Hamas's takeover, Israel imposed a blockade of the Gaza Strip, that significantly damaged its economy. The blockade was justified by Israel citing security concerns, but international rights groups have characterized the blockade as a form of collective punishment. Due to the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip, UNRWA reported that 81% of people were living below the poverty level in 2023, with 63% being food insecure and dependent on international assistance.

Since 2007, Israel and Hamas, along with other Palestinian militant groups based in Gaza, have engaged in conflict, including in four wars: in 2008–2009, 2012, 2014, and 2021. These conflicts killed approximately 6,400 Palestinians and 300 Israelis. In 2018–2019, there were large weekly organized protests near the Gaza-Israel border, which were violently suppressed by Israel, whose forces killed hundreds and injured thousands of Palestinians by sniper fire. Soon after the 2021 Israel–Palestine crisis began, Hamas's military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, started planning the 7 October 2023 operation against Israel. According to diplomats, Hamas had repeatedly said in the months leading up to October 2023 that it did not want another military escalation in Gaza as it would worsen the humanitarian crisis that occurred after the 2021 conflict.

Hamas officials stated that the attack was a response to the Israeli occupation, blockade of the Gaza Strip, desecration of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, Israeli settler violence against Palestinians, restrictions on the movement of Palestinians, and imprisonment of thousands of Palestinians, whom Hamas sought to release by taking Israeli hostages. Numerous commentators have identified the broader context of Israeli occupation as a cause of the war. The Associated Press wrote that Palestinians are "in despair over a never-ending occupation in the West Bank and suffocating blockade of Gaza". Several human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, B'Tselem and Human Rights Watch have likened the Israeli occupation to apartheid, although supporters of Israel dispute this characterization. However, an advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice published in July 2024 affirmed the occupation as being illegal and said it violated Article 3 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, which prohibits racial segregation and apartheid. The Netanyahu government has been criticized within Israel for granting work permits to Gazan residents, facilitating the transfer of funds to Hamas and pursuing relative calm. These actions have been criticized as having backfired in light of the attacks on 7 October 2023. US President Joe Biden has said the aim of the 7 October attacks was to disrupt the Saudi–Israel normalization talks.

War in Israel and Gaza

7 October Hamas-led attack on Israel

In the morning of 7 October 2023, during the Jewish holidays of Simchat Torah and Shemini Atzeret on Shabbat, Hamas announced the start of what it called "Operation Al-Aqsa Flood", firing between 3,000 and 5,000 rockets from the Gaza Strip into Israel within a span of 20 minutes, killing at least five people. In the evening, Hamas launched another barrage of 150 rockets towards Israel. Simultaneously, around 3,000 Hamas militants infiltrated Israel from Gaza using trucks, motorcycles, bulldozers, speedboats, and paragliders. They took over checkpoints at Kerem Shalom and Erez, and created openings in the border fence in five other places.

Militants massacred civilians in several kibbutzim, where they took hostages and set fire to homes. In a massacre at an outdoor music festival near Re'im, at least 325 people were killed, with more injured or taken hostage. In total, 251 people, mostly civilians, were taken hostage, including children, elderly people, and soldiers. Hamas militants also reportedly engaged in mutilation, torture, and sexual and gender-based violence.

The 7 October attacks were described as "an intelligence failure for the ages" and a "failure of imagination" on the part of the Israeli government. A BBC report commented on Hamas's "extraordinary levels of operational security". It later emerged that abnormal Hamas movements had been detected the previous day by Israeli intelligence, but the military's alert level was not raised and political leaders were not informed.

A briefing in ''The Economist'' noted that "the assault dwarf dall other mass murders of Israeli civilians", and that "the last time before October 7th that this many Jews were murdered on a single day was during the Holocaust." According to both Hamas officials and external observers, the attack was a calculated effort to create a "permanent" state of war and revive the Palestinian cause.

Initial Israeli counter-operation (October 2023)

The IDF began Israel's counter-attack several hours after the Hamas-led invasion. The first helicopters sent to support the military arrived at the Gaza Strip an hour after fighting began. They encountered difficulties in determining which places were occupied, and distinguishing between civilians, IDF soldiers, and Palestinian militants on the ground. A June 2024 UN report and a July 2024 ''Haaretz'' investigation revealed that the IDF ordered the Hannibal Directive to be used, killing an unknown number of Israeli civilians and soldiers.

The attack was a complete surprise to the Israelis. In a televised broadcast, Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel, announced that the country was at war. He threatened to "turn all the places where Hamas is organized and hiding into cities of ruins", called Gaza "the city of evil", and urged its residents to leave. Overnight, Israel's Security Cabinet voted to act to bring about the "destruction of the military and governmental capabilities of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad". The Israel Electric Corporation, which supplies 80% of the Gaza Strip's electricity, cut off power to the area. This reduced Gaza's power supply from 120 MW to 20 MW, provided by power plants paid for by the Palestinian Authority.

The IDF declared a "state of readiness for war", mobilized tens of thousands of army reservists, and declared a state of emergency for areas within of Gaza. The Yamam counterterrorism unit was deployed, along with four new divisions, augmenting 31 existing battalions. Reservists were reported deployed in Gaza, in the West Bank, and along borders with Lebanon and Syria. Residents near Gaza were asked to stay inside, while civilians in southern and central Israel were "required to stay next to shelters". The southern region of Israel was closed to civilian movement, and roads were closed around Gaza and Tel Aviv. While Ben Gurion Airport and Ramon Airport remained operational, multiple airlines cancelled flights to and from Israel. On 9 or 10 October, Hamas offered to release all civilian hostages held in Gaza if Israel would call off its planned invasion of the Gaza Strip, but the Israeli government rejected the offer.

Blockade, bombardment, and evacuation of northern Gaza

Following the surprise attack, the Israeli Air Force conducted airstrikes that they said targeted Hamas targets, employing its artificial intelligence ''Habsora'' ("The Gospel") software. These airstrikes were killing, on average, 350 persons per day during the first 20 days, totaling over 7,000 deaths during that time. Israel also rescued two hostages before declaring a state of war for the first time since the 1973 Yom Kippur War. On 9 October, Defense Minister Gallant announced a "complete siege" of the Gaza Strip, cutting off electricity and blocking the entry of food and fuel. This order drew criticism from Human Rights Watch (HRW) who described it as "abhorrent" and as a "call to commit a war crime". Gallant backed down under pressure from US President Joe Biden, and a deal was struck ten days later to allow aid into Gaza. The first such aid convoy entered Gaza on 21 October, while fuel did not arrive until November.

On 13 October, the IDF ordered all civilians in Gaza City to evacuate to areas south of the Wadi Gaza within 24 hours. The Hamas Authority for Refugee Affairs responded by telling residents in northern Gaza to defy those orders. The Israeli order was widely condemned as "outrageous" and "impossible", and calls were made for it to be reversed. As a part of the order, the IDF outlined a six-hour window on 13 October for refugees to flee south along specified routes. An explosion along one of the safe routes killed 70 Palestinians. Israel and Hamas blamed each other for the attack. The IDF said Hamas set up roadblocks to keep Gaza residents from evacuating. Israeli officials, foreign governments and intergovernmental organizations condemned Hamas's alleged use of hospitals and civilians as human shields, which has been contested by Amnesty International and by Hamas themselves.

On 17 October, Israel bombed areas of southern Gaza. Late in the evening, an explosion occurred in the parking lot of the Al-Ahli Arabi Baptist Hospital in the center of Gaza City, killing hundreds. The ongoing conflict prevented independent on-site analysis. Palestinian statements that it was an Israeli airstrike were denied by the IDF, which stated that the explosion resulted from a failed rocket launch by Palestinian Islamic Jihad, who denied any involvement.

Initial invasion to first truce (October–November 2023)

On 27 October, after building up an invasion force of over 100,000 soldiers, the IDF launched a large-scale ground incursion into parts of northern Gaza. Israeli airstrikes targeted the area around al-Quds hospital, where around 14,000 civilians were believed to be sheltering. The following day, the IDF struck Jabalia refugee camp, killing 50 and wounding 150 Palestinians. Israel said the attack killed a senior Hamas commander, whose presence Hamas denied, and dozens of militants. The attack resulted in several ambassador recalls.

On 31 October, Israel bombed a six-story apartment building in central Gaza, killing at least 106 civilians including 54 children in what Human Rights Watch called an "apparent war crime". On 1 November, the first group of evacuees left Gaza for Egypt. Five hundred evacuees, comprising critically wounded and foreign nationals, were evacuated over several days. On 18 November, Israel struck a marked Médecins Sans Frontières convoy, killing two aid workers. On 22 November, Israel and Hamas reached a temporary ceasefire agreement, providing for a four-day pause in hostilities to allow for the release of 50 hostages held in Gaza. The deal also provided for the release of approximately 150 Palestinian women and children incarcerated by Israel.

First ceasefire (November 2023)

Following the introduction of a Qatari-brokered truce on 24 November 2023, active fighting in the Gaza Strip ceased. Hamas exchanged some hostages for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. Israel arrested almost as many Palestinians as it released during the truce. Prisoner exchanges continued until 28 November, when both Israel and Hamas accused each other of violating the truce. On 30 November, in a "last-minute agreement", Hamas released eight hostages in exchange for the release of 30 imprisoned Palestinians and a one-day truce extension. The truce expired on 1 December, as Israel and Hamas blamed each other for failing to agree on an extension.

Resumption of hostilities (December 2023 – January 2024)

Israel adopted a grid system to order precise evacuations within Gaza. It was criticized as inaccessible, due to the lack of electricity and internet connectivity in Gaza, and confusing. Some evacuation instructions were vague or contradictory, and Israel sometimes struck areas it had told people to evacuate to. Law experts called these warnings ineffective. Amnesty International found no evidence of Hamas targets at the sites of some strikes, and requested that they be investigated as possible war crimes. On 6 December, Refaat Alareer, a prominent professor and writer in Gaza, was killed by an Israeli airstrike. His poem "If I Must Die" was widely circulated after his death.

By December, IDF troops had reached the centers of Khan Yunis, Jabalia, and Shuja'iyya. Intensified bombing pushed Palestinian civilians south to Rafah. Between 7 and 10 December, Israel detained more than 150 men; according to Israel, they surrendered ''en masse'', but this account was disputed by several publications. On 15 December, the IDF killed three Israeli hostages in a friendly fire incident, after mistakenly identifying them as enemies. The same day, Pope Francis condemned the killing of two women sheltering at a convent as "terrorism."

On 1 January 2024, Israel withdrew from neighborhoods in North Gaza. On 15 January, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said the most intense fighting in the north of the Gaza Strip had ended, and a new phase of low-intensity fighting was about to begin. By 18 January, the IDF, who had previously stated that Hamas control over North Gaza was "dismantled", reported that Hamas had significantly rebuilt its fighting strength in North Gaza.

On 22 January, 24 IDF soldiers died in the deadliest day for the IDF since the invasion began. Of these, 21 died when Palestinian militants fired an RPG at a tank, causing adjacent buildings to collapse. On 29 January, Israeli forces killed Hind Rajab, a five-year-old girl, and six of her family members when the car they were driving was struck by Israeli tank and machine gun fire; two rescue workers who attempted to retrieve Rajab were also killed. The Red Crescent released the audio from Rajab's phone call with rescue workers, causing international outrage over her death.

Build-up to the Rafah offensive (February–April 2024)

Between February and May 2024, preparations to invade Rafah became a dominant theme in Israeli officials' public rhetoric. On 12 February, Israel started a bombing campaign on Rafah. Food supplies increasingly became an issue. On 5 February, Israeli gunboats shelled a clearly marked UNRWA convoy, forcing UNRWA to suspend its operations for almost three weeks, affecting 200,000 people. On 29 February, Israeli forces opened fire on Palestinians waiting for food aid southwest of Gaza City, killing 100 and wounding 750. Some of the victims were run over by trucks as panic spread. Survivors described it as an intentional ambush by Israeli forces. On 1 March, the United States announced it would begin an operation to airdrop food aid into Gaza. Some experts called the initiative performative, saying it would not alleviate the food situation. During his State of the Union Address, Biden announced that a temporary port on Gaza's coast would be constructed to enable aid delivery.

Al-Shifa Hospital, previously besieged in November 2023, was raided again between 18 March and 1 April. Israeli forces killed Faiq al-Mabhouh, who they said was head of the operations directorate of Hamas's internal security service. Hamas said al-Mabhouh was in charge of civil law enforcement and had been coordinating aid deliveries to north Gaza. The IDF said it killed 200 people in the hospital fighting, including senior Hamas leaders; this account was disputed. Survivors denied that militants had organised on the hospital grounds. Israeli forces were accused of reducing the hospital to a "blown out, fire-blackened" state, and of massacring 400 Palestinians.

A 25 March UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza for Ramadan was ignored by the IDF. On 1 April, seven international aid workers from World Central Kitchen (WCK) were killed in an Israeli airstrike south of Deir al-Balah. WCK, who said their vehicles were clearly marked and their location known to Israel, subsequently withdrew from operating in Gaza alongside ANERA and Project HOPE. On 4 April, Israel opened the Erez Crossing for the first time since 7 October after US pressure.

By 6 March, Israel had completed a new east–west road in Gaza. It was intended to mobilize troops and supplies, to connect and defend IDF positions on al-Rashid and Salah al-Din streets, and prevent people in the south of Gaza from returning to the north. On 7 April, Israel withdrew from the south Gaza Strip, with only one brigade remaining in the Netzarim Corridor in the north. Palestinians displaced from that city began to return from the south of the Gaza Strip. Israel planned to initiate its ground offensive in Rafah around mid-April, but postponed to consider its response to the Iranian strikes on Israel. On 25 April, Israel intensified strikes on Rafah ahead of its threatened invasion.

Beginning of the Rafah offensive (May–July 2024)

On 6 May, the IDF ordered 100,000 civilians in eastern Rafah to evacuate to Al-Mawasi, west of Khan Yunis. Later that day, Hamas announced that it had accepted the terms of a ceasefire brokered by Egypt and Qatar. The deal included a 6-week ceasefire and exchange of prisoners. However, Israel rejected this deal. Israel said that it found the terms unacceptable, but that it would continue to negotiate while the military operation on Rafah was ongoing to "exert military pressure on Hamas". On 31 May, the United States announced a ceasefire framework for ending the war.

The same day, the IDF entered the outskirts of Rafah, seizing control of the Gaza side of the Rafah Crossing to Egypt the following day. On 11 May, the IDF ordered more residents to evacuate eastern and central Rafah. By 15 May, an estimated 600,000 had fled Rafah and another 100,000 from the north, according to the United Nations.
On 24 May, the United Nations said only 906 aid truckloads had reached Gaza since Israel's Rafah operation began. Israel bombed the Tel al-Sultan displacement camp in Rafah on 26 May, killing at least 45 people, allegedly including two senior Hamas officials. This provoked a skirmish between Egyptian and Israeli soldiers at the Gaza border in which one Egyptian soldier was killed. Less than 48 hours afterwards, another evacuation zone, the Al-Mawasi refugee camp, was bombed, killing at least 21 people. The IDF denied involvement in the attack.

On 6 June, Israel bombed a school in the Nuseirat refugee camp, killing dozens. Two days later, Israel conducted an attack on Nuseirat refugee camp which resulted in the rescue of four hostages and the deaths of 274 Palestinians. On 27 June, Israeli forces re-invaded the al-Shuja'iyya neighborhood. According to Middle East Monitor and ReliefWeb, between 4 July and 10 August, Israel attacked 21 schools in Gaza, killing 274 people.

Rafah, Khan Yunis, and general bombardment (July–September 2024)

On 22 July, the IDF began a brief second invasion of Khan Yunis. Israel ordered the evacuation of the eastern part of Khan Yunis; 73 people were killed during the first day of the attack. Footage from an Israeli drone surfaced showing the destruction of the Grand Mosque in Khan Yunis. A third, month-long battle ended on 30 August when the IDF withdrew its 98th battalion from Khan Yunis and Deir el-Balah, stating it had killed over 250 Palestinian militants.

On 13 July, at least 90 people were killed and 300 were injured in an Israeli strike on Al-Mawasi and 22 people were killed in an Israeli strike targeting people gathered to pray in the Al-Shati refugee camp. On 10 August, at least 80 Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes on Al-Tabaeen school. The IDF claimed to have killed 200 militants and discovered dozens of weapons in Tel al-Sultan in one week. On 10 September, Israeli missile strikes on a tent encampment in Al-Mawasi killed 19 to 40 people. An IAF UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter crashed in Rafah while trying to evacuate a critically injured combat engineer, killing two Israeli soldiers and injuring seven others.

An Israeli airstrike on Nuseirat refugee camp on 11 September killed at least 18 people.

Continued operations throughout Gaza (October–December 2024)

In October, Israeli airstrikes on Shuhada al-Aqsa mosque in Deir el-Balah and a school in central Gaza killed at least 26 Palestinians and injured over 93. An Israeli strike on Rufaida school, which was serving as a shelter for displaced people in Deir el-Balah, killed at least 28 people and injured 54 others. Oxfam condemned the killing of four engineers working with one of its partners by an Israeli airstrike, despite prior coordination of their activities with Israeli authorities.

On 8 October, the IDF began to encircle Jabalia camp, killing several Palestinian militants and civilians in air strikes and street battles. On 10 October, the IDF issued evacuation orders for three hospitals in northern Gaza. The IDF's air and ground operations in Jabalia continued for the rest of October. During that month and November, strikes on Jabalia killed hundreds of people. On 10 December, the IDF said that it killed 10 Hamas operatives who were involved in the killing of three Israeli soldiers one day prior. On 30 December, the IDF said that it killed dozens of militants in Jabalia.

The IDF has been accused of blocking aid delivery to the Gaza Strip by allowing looting gangs to target aid convoys. On 16 November 98 out of 109 food trucks carrying UN aid from Kerem Shalom crossing were looted in Israeli-controlled areas of the Gaza strip. The Abu Shabab clan, a rival of Hamas, was widely blamed for the attacks. On 1 December, the UN suspended its aid shipments to Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing, blaming Israel for failing to "ensure safe conditions for delivering relief supplies." On 12 December, two Israeli strikes on an aid convoy in southern Gaza killed 13 people and wounded at least 30 people, several of them seriously.

On 30 November, a strike on a World Central Kitchen vehicle transporting supplies killed three aid workers. An Israeli airstrike on a group of Palestinians waiting for food from an aid convoy in Khan Yunis killed at least 12 and injured several others. On 9 December, an Israeli strike hit people who lined up for buying flour in Rafah, killing 10 people.

On 16 October, IDF ground forces killed Yahya Sinwar in a shootout in Tal as-Sultan. The conscript soldiers who participated in the shootout were initially unaware of Sinwar's presence, and he was identified the following day by his dental records. There were no hostages in Sinwar's vicinity at the time of his death, and no civilian casualties were reported. Biden urged Israel to end the war after Sinwar's death.

Siege of northern Gaza

On 13 October, senior IDF officials told ''Haaretz'' that the government was not seeking to revive hostage talks and that political leadership was pushing for the annexation of parts of the Gaza Strip. In the later weeks of October, Israel's siege of North Gaza intensified and daily aid shipments dropped significantly. Eyewitnesses reported the shelling of hospitals, razing of shelters, and abductions of men and boys by the Israeli military, leading to speculation that Israel had decided to implement a plan by a group of retired generals to turn the northern Strip into a closed military zone and declare all who refuse to leave as combatants. On 5 November, Israeli Brigadier General Itzik Cohen told reporters that "there is no intention of allowing the residents of the northern Gaza Strip to return" and that no food aid had entered northern Gaza because there were "no more civilians left".

The IDF continued its encirclement of Jabalia by sending tanks to Beit Lahia and Beit Hanoun and issuing evacuation orders to residents. On 24 October, an IDF attack destroyed at least 10 residential buildings in the Jabalia refugee camp. According to an assessment by Gaza Civil Defense, 150 people were killed or injured. On 25 October, the WHO said it had lost contact with Kamal Adwan hospital, and UN human rights chief Volker Türk called recent developments in North Gaza the "darkest moment" in the war so far. Food aid to Gaza reached a new low in October at an average of 30 trucks per day, or less than 6% of the daily pre-war average. Residents of northern Gaza said in November that no aid had reached their cities since 5 October. The UN warned that the situation had become "apocalyptic" and that "The entire Palestinian population in North Gaza is at imminent risk of dying from disease, famine and violence". On 2 November, UNICEF said that over 50 children were killed in Israeli strikes in Jabalia in the past two days. On 12 November, aid in Gaza fell to its lowest level in 11 months despite a US ultimatum that it be restored.

On 24 November, Israel issued a new wave of evacuation orders, triggering another round of displacements in Jabalia. UNRWA said that Israel had rejected nine attempts to deliver aid to north Gaza in the month of November and obstructed an additional 82 attempts; they added that the survival conditions were diminishing for the 60,000 to 70,000 civilians remaining in north Gaza. Mahmoud Almadhoun, a chef who founded the Gaza Soup Kitchen, was targeted and killed by an Israeli quadcopter near Kamal Adwan hospital. On 5 December, Israeli Army Radio announced that 18,000 Palestinians were evacuated from Beit Lahia and that soldiers killed approximately 20 militants during fighting on the previous day.

On 13 December, Israeli tank fire killed Dr. Sayeed Joudeh, the last orthopedic surgeon in northern Gaza. On 26 December, an Israeli air strike hit a building in the vicinity of Kamal Adwan Hospital, killing about 50 people, including five staff. Over the next days, the World Health Organization announced that the hospital had been put out of service by Israeli attacks and the hospital's director, Hussam Abu Safiya, had been abducted: the IDF forced patients to evacuate to an already-destroyed hospital by cutting off their oxygen. The IDF claimed to have killed 19 militants during its raid; Gaza Health Ministry said that 50 people including hospital staff were killed.

Second ceasefire (January–March 2025)

On 15 January 2025, an agreement was announced between Israel and Hamas, through the mediation of Qatar, in which Hamas agreed to release a number of Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip in exchange for Hamas militants and other Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons. The two parties also agreed to a ceasefire for the second time during the war; it went into effect on the morning of 19 January 2025. On 27 January, tens of thousands of Palestinians began a mass return to northern Gaza after Israel opened a corridor for civilian movement following a 48-hour delay. Hamas claimed that Israel had violated the terms of the ceasefire, and announced the suspension of the release of Israeli hostages on 10 February. After Netanyahu and Trump threatened to restart fighting in Gaza, Hamas relented on 13 February, allowing the release of hostages to begin again two days later. On 22 February, Hamas released six Israeli hostages; however, Israel refused to release the 600 Palestinian prisoners, with Netanyahu objecting to the "use of hostages for propaganda" and saying that Israel would release the prisoners once the next hostage release was guaranteed without the ceremonies. On 25 February, Israel and Hamas reached a deal to exchange the bodies of Israeli hostages who were agreed to be handed over during the first phase for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, without public ceremony.

On 1 March, the day the first phase of the ceasefire was scheduled to end, Hamas rejected an Israeli proposal to extend it to release more hostages, calling for the implementation of the second phase. Negotiations for implementing the second phase of the ceasefire agreement, intended to see the release of all remaining living hostages, the withdrawal of the Israeli military from Gaza and a permanent end to the war, were supposed to have begun in February, 16 days after the initial ceasefire began, but never happened. Netanyahu's office said that Israel endorsed a US plan to extend the Gaza truce for the Ramadan and Passover periods. Under this plan, half of the living and dead hostages would be released on the first day of the extended truce and the remaining hostages would be released at the end of the period if a permanent truce was reached. It claimed that the initial deal allowed Israel to resume war at any moment after 1 March if negotiations were deemed ineffective. Following Hamas's refusal to accept the US proposal, Netanyahu ceased the entry of aid to Gaza the next day.

The humanitarian aid blockade was condemned by mediators, namely Egypt, as a violation of the ceasefire, which stipulated that phase one would automatically be extended as long as phase two negotiations were in progress. On 9 March, Israeli Energy Minister Eli Cohen ordered a halt to supply of Israeli electricity to Gaza. On 14 March, Hamas said that it agreed to a proposal from mediators to release Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander and the bodies of four dual-national hostages. The US and Israel rejected the offer, which did not conform to their joint proposal calling for the release of five living hostages on the first day of an extended ceasefire.

Israeli attacks resume (March–April 2025)

On 18 March, Israel launched a surprise attack which included airstrikes across Gaza, killing over 400 (per Gaza officials) and ending the ceasefire. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz then declared that Israel has "returned to fighting in Gaza". Israel stated the attack was due to the refusal of Hamas to extend the first phase of the ceasefire by releasing more hostages, and was also in response to Hamas's rearming and reorganizing over the course of the two months of ceasefire. Hamas said that it had adhered to the ceasefire agreement, implementing it precisely, and that Israel had resumed aggression and war. Internationally, the strikes were seen to stymie hopes for a lasting ceasefire. Observers have noted that Israel chose to launch the attack on the day Netanyahu would testify in his corruption trial, forcing the legal proceedings to be postponed.

Multiple senior members of Gaza's government and the Hamas political bureau were killed during this round of fighting, including Issam al-Da'alis, whose position is akin to the Prime Minister of Gaza, Salah al-Bardawil and Ismail Barhoum (members of the political bureau), Mahmoud Abu Watfa (undersecretary of the Interior Ministry of the Gaza Strip) and Bahjat Abu Sultan (chief of internal security). Palestinian Islamic Jihad spokesman Abu Hamza was also killed in the airstrikes. The Popular Resistance Committees announced the death of Muhammad al-Batran, commander of its artillery unit and a member of its Central Military Brigade Council.

On 19 March, the IDF said that it had launched "targeted ground activities" in the Gaza Strip to create a "partial buffer" in the territory, partially recapturing the center of the Netzarim Corridor. The IDF also bombed the UN Office for Project Services building in Deir al Balah, killing a UN staffer and six other international workers. Two days later, the IDF destroyed the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital via controlled demolition. On 23 March, IDF troops fired on several humanitarian vehicles, including five ambulances, a fire truck, and a United Nations vehicle, in Al-Hashashin area in southern Rafah, killing 15 Palestinian medics. It was not until 30 March that their bodies were discovered in a mass grave.

On 25 March, amid the Israeli operation, hundreds to thousands of Palestinians in Gaza rose up in protest against Hamas and the continued war, calling for an end to the war and an end to Hamas's rule over the Gaza Strip. The protests were caused by war-weariness and dissatisfaction with Hamas, specifically their alleged misuse of humanitarian aid intended for Gazans, suppression of the freedom of speech and of the press, and abuse of Palestinian civilians.

On 27 March, an Israeli airstrike on a tent in Jabalia killed Hamas spokesman Abdel-Latif al-Qanoua. The same day, a World Central Kitchen volunteer was killed in an Israeli strike on a WCK supported community kitchen as meals were being served. On 9 April, Israeli warplanes bombed a multi-story residential building in Shuja'iyya, killing over 35 Palestinians and wounding at least another 70. On 12 April, the IDF announced that it had encircled Rafah, and planned to seize portions of it while ordering large-scale evacuations of its population. On 13 April, two Israeli missiles hit Al-Ahli Arab Hospital, forcing patients to evacuate and destroying its emergency department. On 15 April, Yahya Fathi Abd al-Qader Abu Shaar, the head of Hamas' weapons smuggling network, was killed by the Israeli army in the area of Khan Younis. On 22 April, an attack on a residential building in Khan Younis started a fire that killed at least 11 Palestinians. On 23 April, Israel bombed a school in Gaza City sheltering displaced families, killing at least 10.

Renewed Israeli offensive (May 2025–present)

On 3 May, Israel announced its plans to expand the Gaza offensive and mobilized thousands of reservists. On 7 May, World Central Kitchen said it was forced to stop food distribution in Gaza because it ran out of supplies. On 8 May, two Israeli airstrikes on the last restaurant in Gaza City and a simultaneous strike on a crowded nearby market killed at least 33 people. At least 143 people were killed in Gaza on 15 May, making it the deadliest day of the war since the end of the ceasefire in March. On 13 May 2025, Israeli airstrikes struck the compound of the Gaza European Hospital in Khan Yunis and the surrounding area, killing at least 28 people and injuring at least 40 others. Israel claimed to have killed Mohammed Sinwar and Muhammad Shabana in the strike, although this was denied by Hamas.

On 16 May, Israel announced the launch of Operation Gideon's Chariots, a military offensive aimed at taking control of the entire Gaza Strip. The move was widely condemned by several of Israel's allies, a number of whom threatened sanctions. On 25 May, an Israeli airstrike on the Fahmi al-Jawjawi school in Daraj, Gaza City, killed at least 36 people—including 18 children and six women—and injured over 55. In late May a new militia in Gaza, Popular Forces, began operating under the authority of the Abu Shabab clan in opposition to Hamas. Avigdor Lieberman accused Netanyahu and the Israeli government of funding and arming this militia. On 27 May, the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation began operations in Tel al-Sultan to deliver humanitarian aid. As thousands of starving Palestinians overwhelmed the distribution center, Israeli forces fired into the crowd, killing ten and injuring at least 62 Palestinians.

Post-war plans

Israeli leaders' plans

In February 2025, the leader of the Israeli opposition, Yair Lapid, proposed that Gaza be returned to Egypt for up to 15 years in exchange for the cancellation of its external debt. Egypt rejected the proposal stating it undermined the Palestinian cause.

On 2 April, Israel Katz announced the Israeli government's intention to "seize large areas" of Gaza as large air and ground operations resumed following the end of the March ceasefire. On 17 April, Katz said that Israeli forces would remain in areas of Gaza, Lebanon and Syria indefinitely. On 5 May, the Israeli cabinet approved plans to capture the entire Gaza Strip and occupy it for an unspecified amount of time. Far-right Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich said that Gaza would be "entirely destroyed" in Israel's new offensive and that the population would be expelled to other countries.

Trump Gaza proposal

After the announcement of a second ceasefire in January 2025, Donald Trump announced his intention to displace the Palestinian population of Gaza, reiterating his position that they should be resettled in neighboring Arab countries three more times that month. Ahead of a 4 February meeting with Netanyahu, Trump specified his intention to permanently displace Gaza's Palestinian inhabitants, which would be in violation of international law. He proposed a US takeover of Gaza that evening during a press conference with Netanyahu.

Trump insisted that neighboring countries would pay for Gaza's reconstruction and that "world people" would live there. He did not rule out deploying US troops if necessary. On 5 and 6 February, Trump aides and Trump himself walked back some of his comments, including his willingness to deploy US soldiers. On 10 February, Trump said that Palestinians who leave Gaza would have no right of return. In a meeting with King Abdullah II of Jordan, Trump said that the US would take rather than buy Gaza because "It's a war torn area. It's Gaza. There is nothing to buy." Trump had proposed Jordan take in the displaced Palestinians from Gaza, which Jordanian foreign minister Ayman Safadi categorically rejected, stating "They don't want to come to Jordan and we don't want them to come to Jordan."

Trump's statements were met with condemnation from world leaders; however, in Israel, far-right national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir praised Trump, saying that Palestinian "migration" was the only solution to the war. Netanyahu and Ben-Gvir characterized the planned displacement of Gazans as a "voluntary migration", but communications minister Shlomo Karhi said the transfer will be forced rather than voluntary.

Trump has rejected the Arab League plan claiming that "The current proposal does not address the reality that Gaza is currently uninhabitable and residents cannot humanely live in a territory covered in debris and unexploded ordnance," and that the Trump administration will go ahead with seizing the territory "to bring peace and prosperity to the region".

In May 2025, US special envoy Steve Witkoff proposed a ceasefire in Gaza. This proposal reportedly included a 60-day truce, freeing of 28 hostages, release of over 1000 Palestinian prisoners and supply of humanitarian aid. Israel accepted the proposal. Hamas requested amendments to the plan and reiterated calls for the complete withdrawal of the IDF from Gaza.

Arab League proposal

Arab governments rejected Trump's transfer plan, instead backing an Egyptian proposal. The Arab League, meeting on 4 March in Cairo, devised a $53bn plan detailing the reconstruction of Gaza while keeping its population in place. The proposal also included the requirement that Hamas disarm, step down and fresh elections to a reformed Palestinian Authority be held. Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune boycotted the league meeting claiming that it was "monopolized by a limited and narrow group of Arab countries" namely the Arab states of the Persian Gulf. Hamas also reiterated that the group's arms were non-negotiable and rejected the plan.

Others

In March 2025, the United States and Israel claimed to have contacted officials from Egypt, Jordan, Sudan, Syria, Morocco, Puntland, and Somaliland to discuss the resettlement of Gaza residents in their territories. Egypt, Jordan, and Sudan, rejected the proposal while Somalia and Somaliland denied that they had been contacted. In May 2025, reports emerged that the Trump administration was working on a plan to permanently relocate 1 million Gazans to Libya, while offering the release of around $30 billion in funds frozen by the US since the toppling of the regime of Muammar Gaddafi in exchange for Libyan authorities agreeing to the deal.

On 9 April, French president Emmanuel Macron said that France could recognise a Palestinian state by June, adding that he wanted to be part of a collective dynamic where those who defend Palestine also recognise Israel in turn.

Spillover

The war's spillover has resulted in a major escalation of existing tensions between Israel and Iran, with groups in the Axis of Resistance launching attacks on American military bases, and the Yemeni Houthi movement attacking commercial vessels in the Red Sea and incurring a US-led military operation. Hezbollah in southern Lebanon and the Houthi movement in Yemen launched limited attacks against Israel shortly after the start of the war. Iranian-backed militias in Iraq and Syria have also traded attacks with the US and IDF.

Israel has bombed targets in and around Damascus throughout the war, with an attack on the Iranian embassy in Damascus on 1 April 2024 leading to a series of retaliatory airstrikes on Israel in response. On 31 July, Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in Tehran, where he had traveled to attend the inauguration of President Masoud Pezeshkian, and on 1 October, Iran fired approximately 200 missiles at Israel.

By the end of 2024, a year-long exchange of strikes between Israel and Hezbollah escalated into an Israeli invasion of Lebanon, before it was paused after a ceasefire. Under the November 2024 agreement, Israeli forces were to withdraw from Lebanon by January 2025, but Israel refused and the deadline was extended to February 2025, where Israel withdrew its forces from Lebanese villages but kept Israeli forces maintaining five military outposts on highlands in Southern Lebanon, against Lebanon's wishes. The crisis has also seen the fall of the Assad regime and an ongoing Israeli invasion of Syria. Israeli defense minister Israel Katz in April 2025 declared that Israeli forces would indefinitely remain in "security zones" that they "cleared and seized" in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria.

West Bank and Israel

Amnesty International released a report on 5 February 2024 stating that Israel is carrying out unlawful killings in the West Bank and displaying "a chilling disregard for Palestinian lives" and that Israeli forces are carrying out numerous illegal acts of violence that constitute clear violations of international law.

Before the war, 2023 was the deadliest year for Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank in 20 years. Violence in the West Bank has increased since the war began with more than 607 Palestinians and over 25 Israelis killed. At the same time, Israeli settler violence further increased to around 1,270 attacks, against 856 for all of 2022. About 1,000 Palestinians have been forcibly displaced by settlers since 7 October and almost half of the clashes have included "Israeli forces accompanying or actively supporting Israeli settlers while carrying out the attacks" according to a U.N. report. According to the West Bank Protection Consortium, since the 7 October attacks six Palestinian communities have been abandoned due to the violence.

On 19 October, more than 60 Hamas members were arrested and 12 people were killed in overnight Israeli raids across the West Bank. Those arrested included the movement's spokesperson in the West Bank, Hassan Yousef.

In July, Israeli authorities approved the seizure of 12.7 square kilometers of land in the occupied West Bank. According to Peace Now, this was the largest single appropriation approved since the 1993 Oslo accords." Israeli authorities also approved plans for almost 5,300 new houses in occupied West Bank. By July 2024, Israeli land seizures exceeded the combined total of the previous 20 years. The following month, the Israeli government approved new settlements in the occupied West Bank, and it was reported that Israeli settlers had taken advantage of the ongoing war to expand settlement activity supported by a far-right Israeli government, including land seizure and large scale settlement plans.

On 7 August, Wafa reported that Israeli forces destroyed the regional headquarters of Fatah in the Balata Camp. On 28 August, Israel launched the largest military operation into the northern West Bank in more than 20 years. Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said that the operation was a "full-fledged war". Israeli forces carried out simultaneous operations in Jenin, Tubas, Nablus, Ramallah and Tulkarem. In Jenin, Israeli forces destroyed the city's infrastructure and carried out mass arrests of men and boys. Civilians were trapped in their homes and denied access to food, water and medicine. Members of the press were denied access to the city and the army blocked access to hospitals and ambulances. A day later, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called for a halt to the operations, and EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the operations "must not constitute the premises of a war extension from Gaza, including full-scale destruction." On 3 September, Israeli media reported that the IDF had classified the West Bank as a "combat zone" and now viewed it as the second most important front in the war. Yoav Gallant said that Israel was " mowing the lawn" with its West Bank operations, but that it would eventually need to "pull out the roots". On 6 September, Turkish-American protestor Ayşenur Eygi was killed by an Israeli sniper at a demonstration near Nablus.

On 3 October, an Israeli airstrike in Tulkarm Camp killed at least 20 people. On 13 November, Israeli far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich said that with Donald Trump's victory in the 2024 United States presidential election, Israel was "a step away" from "sovereignty in Judea and Samaria." Later comments by Mike Huckabee, chosen by Trump as the next ambassador to Israel, corroborated the possibility of an Israeli annexation of the West Bank. On 21 January 2025, the IDF said it launched a major raid in West Bank. On 29 January, the IDF said that it conducted a drone strike targeting a group of militants in Tammun, killing at least 10 people.

Attacks in Israel

On 30 November, two Palestinian gunmen killed three and wounded 11 Israeli civilians at a bus stop on the Givat Shaul Interchange in Jerusalem. Hamas claimed responsibility. On 16 February 2024, a Palestinian gunman shot and killed two Israeli civilians and injured four others in Kiryat Malakhi, Israel. The shooter was killed by an off-duty IDF reservist at the scene. On 12 April, a 14-year-old Israeli shepherd went missing near Ramallah and was found dead a day later. On 15 April, two Palestinians were killed by Israeli settlers in Aqraba. On 13 May, at the Tarqumiya checkpoint, a convoy of trucks carrying food supplies to Gaza was attacked by Israeli settlers, who damaged the trucks and threw supplies on the ground.

Israeli prisons and detention camps

Israel has increased its administrative detention of Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza, as well as Palestinian citizens of Israel, since the start of the war. Administrative detention was already at a 20-year high before October 2023. More than 11,000 Palestinians are held in Israeli jails, not counting detainees taken from Gaza during the war. At least 60 Palestinians have died in Israeli detention since 7 October. They are held without charge or trial, which violates international law.

In December 2023, a military base at Sde Teiman in the Negev Desert was converted to a detention camp by the IDF. Whistleblowers and detainees reported beatings and torture of Palestinian detainees at the camp, as well as amputations of limbs due to injuries sustained from handcuffing, medical neglect, arbitrary punishment and sexual abuse. Prisoners have been coerced to make confessions that they are members of Hamas. After conditions in the camp came to light in May 2024, the Supreme Court of Israel held a hearing and the IDF began transferring 1,200 of the prisoners to Ofer Prison. Detainees have reported severe instances of violence during transfers between prisons.

Several Palestinian healthcare workers have been abducted from Gaza hospitals during sieges by Israeli forces. On 5 December, Israeli forces abducted the adult men present at Al-Awda hospital and took them to Sde Teiman camp. Dr. Adnan Al-Bursh was detained and later died in Israeli custody. In March, Israeli forces abducted Khaled Alser, lead author of the first Lancet paper on trauma among Gazan ER patients and doctors, from Nasser Hospital. As of 31 August, he remains in detention and his whereabouts are unknown.

Al-Araby TV correspondent Mohammed Arab was abducted from the Gaza strip in March 2024 and transferred to Ofer prison in July. After reports of his treatment were leaked to al-Araby, he was beaten, threatened and tortured. According to Arab's testimony, prison guards used dogs and fire extinguishers to enact sexual violence on other prisoners.

In July 2024, military police raided Sde Teiman to arrest ten soldiers "suspected of the serious sexual abuse" of a Palestinian detainee. Israeli national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and other members of the far-right Otzma Yehudit party condemned the arrests. Supporters of the arrested soldiers including Ben Gvir, Amihai Eliyahu, Zvi Sukkot, and Nissim Vaturi stormed Sde Teiman that night in protest. Hours later, protestors broke into Beit Lid where the soldiers were being held.

On 7 October 2024, American journalist Jeremy Loffredo and three other international and Israeli journalists were detained at a checkpoint in the West Bank on suspicion of "assisting an enemy in war" for their reporting on the October 2024 Iranian strikes against Israel. The journalists' cameras and phones were confiscated. Loffredo was released after four days in detention, and barred from leaving the country until 20 October.

As of February 2025, at least 160 healthcare workers from Gaza were believed to be held in detention by Israel, with another 24 missing after being taken from hospitals in Gaza. Al-Shifa hospital director Mohammed Abu Selmia, who was detained for 7 months and released without charges, detailed many of the abuses he faced and said that "no day passes without torture" in Israeli prisons.

American involvement

The extent of American support for Israel has led the war to be labelled as 'the first US-Israeli joint war'. Alongside substantial military, financial, and diplomatic support, the US also intervened in the war directly. 100 American soldiers were deployed in combat to man a THAAD anti-air battery. In addition, America piloted drones over Gaza in order to provide intelligence to Israel. This intelligence was aimed at locating Palestinian militant leaders in Gaza and the location of hostages; this also included information on Sinwar's location.

On 18 March 2025, Israel launched a surprise attack on the Gaza Strip, ending the 2025 Gaza war ceasefire. These attacks killed more than 400 Palestinians, including 263 women and children. Israel's government spokesman David Mencer revealed that operation was "fully coordinated with Washington" and thanked the Trump administration "for their unyielding support for Israel".

On 6 April, a second THAAD system was deployed to Israel by the US.

Casualties

According to the Israeli Ministry of Defense's Rehabilitation Division, about 1,000 soldiers are wounded every month. On 14 August 2024, the ministry predicted that it would have to account for 100,000 disabled IDF veterans by 2030 due to the war.

Humanitarian crisis

The Gaza Strip is experiencing a humanitarian crisis as a result of the war, including a hunger crisis, in which famine-like conditions occurred in some areas of the strip and a high risk of famine persists as of October 2024, as well as a healthcare collapse. At the start of the war, Israel tightened its blockade on the strip, resulting in significant shortages of fuel, food, medication, water, and essential medical supplies. This siege resulted in a 90% drop in electricity availability, impacting hospital power supplies, sewage plants, and shutting down the desalination plants that provide drinking water. In July 2024, available water worked out to 4.74 litres per person per day, just under a third of the recommended minimum in emergencies. Doctors warned of disease outbreaks spreading due to overcrowded hospitals. A polio epidemic was the target of mostly-successful vaccination campaigns.

Heavy bombardment by Israeli airstrikes caused catastrophic damage to Gaza's infrastructure, further deepening the crisis. Direct attacks on telecommunications infrastructure by Israel, electricity blockades, and fuel shortages caused the near-total collapse of Gaza's largest cell network providers. Lack of internet access has obstructed Gazan citizens from communicating with loved ones, learning of IDF operations, and identifying both the areas most exposed to bombing and possible escape routes. The blackouts impeded emergency services, making it harder to locate and access the time-critical injured, and have impeded humanitarian aid agencies and journalists. By December 2023, 200,000 Gazans (approximately 10% of the population) had received internet access through an eSIM provided by Connecting Humanity.The Gaza Health Ministry reported over 4,000 children killed in the war's first month. UN Secretary-General António Guterres stated that Gaza had "become a graveyard for children." Indirect Palestinian deaths are expected to be much higher due to the intensity of the conflict, destruction of healthcare infrastructure, lack of food, water, shelter, and safe places for civilians to flee to, and reduction in UNRWA funding, with a '' Lancet'' study stating that the death toll in Gaza, including future deaths indirectly caused by the war, may exceed 186,000.

In mid-April 2025, 12 CEOs of humanitarian organizations signed a statement that aid systems were in danger of collapsing.

On 16 May, Donald Trump acknowledged starvation in Gaza and promoted a US-Israeli humanitarian aid plan where food would be distributed through a system of hubs run by private contractors and protected by Israeli soldiers. The US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation was set up to carry out this plan and announced it would be ready to begin operations by the end of May. International aid agencies have rejected US-Israeli aid plans, saying that they weaponize humanitarian aid, violate principles of neutrality, will exacerbate mass displacement and would not be able to meet the scale of aid that is required.

On 25 May, the UN's World Food Programme Executive Director Cindy McCain said only about 100 trucks a day were getting through, whereas prior to the blockade it had been upwards of 600 trucks a day.

Scale of destruction

The scale and pace of destruction and damage of buildings in the Gaza Strip ranks among the most severe in modern history, surpassing the bombing of Dresden, Hamburg, and London combined during World War II, and included apartment buildings, hospitals, schools, religious sites, factories, shopping centres, and municipal infrastructure. As of January 2024, researchers at Oregon State University and the City University of New York estimated that 50–62% of buildings in the Gaza Strip had been damaged or destroyed. The damage to buildings in northern Gaza reportedly exceeds that in Bakhmut and Mariupol in the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Aleppo in the Battle of Aleppo, and Mosul and Raqqa in the War against the Islamic State. The 29,000 munitions Israel had dropped on Gaza in three months exceeded the amount (3,678) dropped by the US between 2004 and 2010 after its invasion of Iraq. According to satellite analyses, 68% of roads, 70% of greenhouses, and nearly 70% of tree crops have been damaged or destroyed. After a year, the UN estimates that a total of 42m tonnes of rubble clutter the Strip, to clear and rebuild which might take 80 years and cost over $80bn.

''The Guardian'' reported that the scale of destruction has led international legal experts to raise the concept of domicide, which it describes as "the mass destruction of dwellings to make territory uninhabitable". The term urbicide has also been used to refer to the destruction of Gazan cities and their institutions. In October 2024, after monitoring and analyzing Israel's war conduct in Gaza for more than a year, Forensic Architecture published a cartographic map platform detailing Israel's campaign in Gaza titled "A Cartography of Genocide", accompanied by an 827-page text report that concludes that "Israel's military campaign in Gaza is organised, systematic, and intended to destroy conditions of life and life-sustaining infrastructure".

War crimes

A UN Commission to the Israel–Palestine conflict stated that there is "clear evidence that war crimes may have been committed in the latest explosion of violence in Israel and Gaza, and all those who have violated international law and targeted civilians must be held accountable." On 27 October, a spokesperson for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) called for an independent court to review potential war crimes committed by both sides.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) said that its mandate to investigate alleged war crimes committed since June 2014 in the State of Palestine extends to the current conflict. On 20 May, ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan announced his intention to seek arrest warrants against Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif and Ismail Haniyeh, as well as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant, for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity during the war. On 21 November, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant, and Deif for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity. The ICC canceled Deif's arrest warrant after confirming his death.

On 7 June 2024, both Israel and Hamas were added to the ''list of shame'', an annex attached to an annual report submitted by the UN Secretary-General documenting rights violations against children in armed conflict. While past reports accused Israel of grave rights violations against children, the country was never included in the annex.

On 19 June 2024, the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory presented a detailed report to the United Nations Human Rights Council covering the war from 7 October to 31 December 2023, affirming that both Hamas and Israel committed war crimes and that Israel's actions also constituted crimes against humanity. In a second report, the Commission found that Israel had carried out a policy of destroying Gaza's healthcare system.

The June report found that the military wing of Hamas and six other Palestinian armed groups were responsible for the war crimes of intentionally directing attacks against civilians, murder or willful killing, torture, inhuman or cruel treatment, destroying or seizing property, outrages upon personal dignity, and taking hostages, including children. In relation to IDF operations and attacks in Gaza, the commission concluded that Israeli authorities are responsible for the war crimes of starvation as a method of warfare, murder or willful killing, intentionally directing attacks against civilians and civilian objects, forcible transfer, sexual violence, torture and inhuman or cruel treatment, arbitrary detention and outrages upon personal dignity. It also found that Israel committed numerous crimes against humanity, including carrying out the extermination of Palestinians and gender persecution targeting Palestinian men and boys. The commission said that they had submitted 7,000 pieces of evidence to the ICC related to crimes committed by Israel and Hamas, as part of the International Criminal Court investigation in Palestine.

In another report published in October 2024, the commission accused Israel of "committing war crimes and the crime against humanity of extermination with relentless and deliberate attacks on medical personnel and facilities" as well as accusing the IDF of deliberately killing and torturing medical personnel, targeting medical vehicles, and restricting patients from leaving Gaza. The report also addressed the detention of Palestinians in Israeli military camps and facilities, finding that thousands of child and adult detainees, many arbitrarily detained, faced widespread abuse, including physical and psychological violence, rape and other forms of sexual and gender-based violence, and conditions amounting to torture, highlighting that deaths resulting from such abuse or neglect constituted war crimes and violations of the right to life. Israel refused to cooperate with the investigation, contending that it had an "anti-Israel" bias.

On 5 December 2024, Amnesty International published a report concluding that Israel was committing genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip; and on 19 December 2024, Human Rights Watch published a 179-page report concluding that Israel is responsible for the crime of genocide by intentionally depriving Palestinians in Gaza of access to safe water for drinking and sanitation needed for basic human survival.

On 13 March 2025, the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory released a report stating that Israel's attacks on women's healthcare facilities in Gaza amounted to genocidal acts, destroying "in part the reproductive capacity of Palestinians in Gaza as a group". Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the report as "false and absurd", and accused UN Human Rights Council of being anti-Israel and anti-Semitic.

Diplomatic impact

The war sparked a diplomatic crisis, with countries around the world reacting strongly to the conflict, that affected the momentum of regional relations. At least nine countries withdrew their ambassadors or cut diplomatic ties with Israel. The war has also resulted in a renewed focus on a two-state solution to the broader conflict. Global public opinion of Israel dropped during the war; a Morning Consult poll published in January 2024 indicated that the United States was the only remaining wealthy country in which Israel had net positive approval.

Negotiations have focused on the possibility of a ceasefire, with United States, Egypt and Qatar serving as negotiation mediators between Israel and Hamas. The United Nations Security Council passed resolution 2728 in March 2024, calling for an immediate ceasefire and the unconditional release of hostages for the month of Ramadan. The United Nations Security Council passed resolution 2735 in June 2024, calling for acceptance of the three-phase ceasefire proposal.

Following talks mediated by China, on 23 July 2024, Palestinian groups including Hamas and Fatah reached an agreement to end their divisions and form a unity government for Gaza, which they announced in the Beijing Declaration.

At the UNGA, Saudi Arabia announced a global alliance to push for a two-state solution. Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said almost 90 countries were at the launch of ''The Global Alliance for the Implementation of a Palestinian State and a Two-State Solution.'' On 29 September, Saudi Arabia said they would send aid to the Palestinian Authority, $60million in six installments according to a senior PA official. The aid is seen as means of keeping the PA solvent and maintaining the push for a two-state solution, notwithstanding Israeli financial restrictions.

Reactions

Israel

The Israeli government's response to the 7 October Hamas-led attack on Israel has multiple aspects, including a military response leading to the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip. In October, the Knesset approved a war cabinet in Israel, adding National Unity ministers and altering the government; Benjamin Netanyahu and Benny Gantz froze non-war legislation, establishing a war cabinet with military authority.

Settler expansions and officials' remarks heightened unrest, leading to protests within Israel. The Knesset's law criminalizing "terrorist materials" consumption drew criticism.

In an interview to the Wall Street Journal on 25 December, Netanyahu said that Israel's objectives were to "destroy Hamas, demilitarize Gaza and deradicalize the whole of Palestinian society".

There was broad support in Israeli society for military operations in Gaza. A public opinion poll conducted in December 2023 by the Israel Democracy Institute found that 87% of Jewish Israelis supported the war in Gaza.

In another Israel Democracy Institute survey of 510 Israeli citizens in early February 2024, 68% of respondents supported preventing all international aid from entering Gaza.

A poll commissioned by Penn State University and conducted in March 2025 among a representative sample of 1,005 Israeli Jews found that 82% supported the forced expulsion of Gaza residents. Additionally, 47% responded affirmatively to the question: "When conquering an enemy city, should the IDF act like the Israelites led by Joshua when they conquered Jericho, that is, kill all its inhabitants?"

Occupied Palestinian territories

Initially, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas asserted the Palestinian people's right to self-defense against the "terror of settlers and occupation troops" and condemned the orders by Israel for residents to evacuate north Gaza, labeling it a "second Nakba". Later, Abbas rejected the killing of civilians on both sides, and said that the Palestinian Liberation Organization was the sole representative of the Palestinian people.

A December 2023 poll by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research found that 72% of respondents (52% of Gazans and 85% of West Bank residents) approved of the October 7 attacks. A 2024 follow-up poll found that two-thirds of respondents continued to approve of the attacks.Stern, Itay
"A pollster sheds light on Palestinian attitudes toward the U.S., Israel and Hamas."
''National Public Radio''. July 26, 2024. About 90% of respondents did not believe that Hamas committed atrocities (killing women and children, sexual violence) during the October 7 attacks, seeing this as enemy propaganda. Half of respondents in Gaza expected Hamas to win the war, while a quarter expected Israel to win.

International

Significant geopolitical divisions emerged during the war. Israel's traditional Western allies provided diplomatic backing and weaponry to Israel; including the United States, United Kingdom, and Germany. However several European nations have been less supportive of Israel's actions, most notably Spain, Norway, and Ireland who formally recognised the State of Palestine in a coordinated move in June 2024. Spain and Ireland have also supported South Africa's genocide case against Israel. This has led to retaliatory action by Israel, who recalled its ambassadors to all three countries and later announced that it would be closing its embassy in Dublin. Hugh Lovatt of the European Council on Foreign Relations says that during the Cold War, Israel sided with the West against the Arab countries supported by the Soviets, and Western leaders generally see Israel "as a fellow member of the liberal democratic club" and that this partially "explains the continued strong Western support for Israel – which has now largely become reflexive". At least 44 nations denounced Hamas and explicitly condemned its conduct on 7 October as terrorism, including a joint statement by the US, UK, France, Italy, and Germany.

In contrast, the Islamic world and much of the Global South denounced the actions of Israel and its allies, criticizing the "moral authority of the West" and alleging that it holds double standards surrounding human rights. The double standards, in their view, is condemning Russia's invasion and occupation of Ukrainian land while standing firmly behind Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory. Bolivia has cut all ties with Israel as a result of the conflict, while Colombia and Chile recalled their ambassadors to the country.

The United States and Germany have supplied Israel with substantial military and medical aid. The United Kingdom issues licenses for British companies to sell weapons to Israel, supplying less than 1% of Israel's military imports. In September 2024, the UK suspended some military exports to Israel because there was a "clear risk" they might be used to violate international law.

The Israeli government's response prompted international protests, arrests, and harassment.

Evacuations of foreign nationals

Brazil announced a rescue operation of nationals using an air force transport aircraft. Poland announced that it would deploy two C-130 transport planes to evacuate 200 Polish nationals. Hungary evacuated 215 of its nationals from Israel using two aircraft on 9 October, while Romania evacuated 245 of its citizens, including two pilgrimage groups, on two TAROM planes and two private aircraft on the same day. Australia also announced repatriation flights. 300 Nigerian pilgrims in Israel fled to Jordan before being airlifted home.

On 12 October, the United Kingdom arranged flights for its citizens in Israel; the first plane departed Ben Gurion Airport that day. The government had said before that it would not be evacuating its nationals due to available commercial flights. However, most commercial flights were suspended. Nepal arranged a flight to evacuate at least 254 of its citizens who were studying in Israel. India launched Operation Ajay to evacuate its citizens from Israel. Ukraine facilitated the evacuation of ~450 of its citizens from Israel as of 18 October, with additional evacuation flights planned for the near future.

Impacts

Regional impact

According to Daniel Byman and Alexander Palmer, the attack showcased the decline of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the rise of Hamas as a power center in Palestinian politics. They predicted the PLO's further decline if the ''status quo'' held. Laith Alajlouni wrote that the immediate effect of the Hamas offensive was to unite Hamas and PLO.

Amit Segal, chief political commentator for Israel's Channel 12, said that the conflict would test Benjamin Netanyahu's survival as prime minister, noting that past wars had toppled the governments of several of his predecessors such as that of Golda Meir following the 1973 Yom Kippur War, Menachem Begin following the 1982 Lebanon War, and Ehud Olmert following the 2006 Lebanon War. Citing the Israeli intelligence failure, which some observers attributed to the incumbent government focusing more on internal dissent, the judicial reform, and efforts to deepen Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories, some commentators criticized Netanyahu for putting aside the PLO and propping up Hamas, and described him as a liability.

In an analysis by ''The Times of Israel'', the newspaper wrote, "Hamas has violently shifted the world's eyes back to the Palestinians and dealt a severe blow to the momentum for securing a landmark US-brokered deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia." Andreas Kluth wrote in his Bloomberg News column that Hamas "torched Biden's deal to remake the Middle East", arguing that the deal that was being discussed between Saudi Arabia, Israel, and the US would have left Palestinians in the cold, so the group decided to "blow the whole thing up". He added that viewed from Gaza, things were only going to get worse, considering that Netanyahu's coalition partners opposed a two-state solution. He suggested they would prefer to annex the entirety of the West Bank, even at the expense of turning Israel into an apartheid state.

Economic impact

The Bank of Israel estimates that by 2025, the war will have cost the country US$67billion, notwithstanding a $14.5billion US aid package, part of the $22.76billion the US has so far allocated for military assistance.

As early as 9 November 2023, the Bank of Israel reported that the drop in labor supply caused by the war was costing the Israeli economy $600million a week, or 6% of weekly GDP. The bank also stated that the estimate did not include damage caused by the absence of Palestinian and foreign workers. In the final quarter of 2023, the Israeli economy shrank by 5.2% quarter-to-quarter due to labour shortages in construction and from the mobilization of 300,000 reservists. While Israel did still see economic growth of 2%, this was down from 6.5% growth in the year before the war. Consumer spending declined by 27%, imports declined by 42% and exports declined by 18%.

Israel's high-tech factories reported in December that recent bureaucratic obstacles with electronic imports from China had led to higher import costs and delayed delivery times. Israeli officials also reported that China had refused to send workers to their country during the war against the backdrop of a worker shortage in Israel's construction and farming sectors. China's actions were described as a '' de facto'' sanction.

The 3,500-member Water Transport Workers Federation of India said it would refuse to operate shipments carrying weapons to Israel. The declaration came a few months after one Indian company halted production of Israeli police uniforms due to the war in Gaza.

About 9,855 Thai workers in the agricultural sector, 4,331 workers in the construction sector and 2,997 in the nursing sector left Israel following the 7 October attack. In addition, the prevention of 85,000 Palestinian workers from entering Israel created a shortage of about 100,000 foreign and Palestinian workers.

It has been calculated that the carbon cost in terms of climate impact of rebuilding Gaza would exceed the annual greenhouse emissions of 135 countries.

Media coverage

In reporting on the conflict, foreign media have limited access to Gaza and only in the presence of Israeli soldiers. '' Vox'' reported that the news organizations "have to submit all materials and footage to the IDF for review before publication". The conflict has also seen large numbers of journalists wounded or killed in action. On 14 December, CBS reported on a statement from the International Federation of Journalists that "the number of journalists killed in the past two months in the war in Gaza has surpassed the amount killed in the Vietnam War, which lasted two decades". Reporters Without Borders filed a complaint with the International Criminal Court under section 8.2.b of the Rome Statute, accusing Israel of committing war crimes against eight journalists. It also lodged a complaint against Hamas under section 8.2.a of the Rome Statute for the killing of a reporter covering the 7 October attack. The Committee to Protect Journalists accused Israel of targeting journalists reporting from Gaza and their families, saying that in at least two cases, "journalists reported receiving threats from Israeli officials and Israel Defense Forces officers before their family members were killed".

See also

* Misinformation in the Gaza war
* Outline of the Gaza war
* List of modern conflicts in the Middle East
* List of wars involving Israel
* List of wars involving the State of Palestine
* Timeline of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict in 2023
* Timeline of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict in 2024
* List of companies involved in the Gaza war

Notes

References

External links

*

Israel–Hamas war
at Google News
*
Hostilities in Gaza and Israel, Humanitarian Situation Updates
', OCHA.
*
Monthly Bulletin (Action by UN System and IGOs Relevant to Question of Palestine)
', UNRWA

Swords of Iron
Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaza war


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