After members of the Palestinian group Hamas launched the worst attack in Israeli history on October 7, 2023, Israel responded with a devastating military operation in the Gaza Strip.
At least 39,480 people have been killed in the air and ground campaign, according to the Hamas-ruled territory’s health ministry, though the ministry did not provide a breakdown of civilian and militant deaths.
AFP looks at the key moments of the war.
Hamas attacks
On the morning of October 7, hundreds of Hamas fighters infiltrate Israel.
They kill civilians in the streets, in homes and at desert concerts, and attack soldiers at military bases.
They captured 251 hostages and took them back to Gaza, 111 of whom are still in custody, 39 of whom the military says are dead.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to destroy Hamas, which is considered a terrorist organisation by the United States, the European Union and Israel.
Northern Gaza exodus
Israel resumes bombing and siege of Gaza. On 13 October, it called on civilians in northern Gaza to move south ahead of an expected ground assault.
The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees says only 14 percent of areas in Gaza were not subject to evacuation orders as of the end of July, and the UN reports that about 90 percent of Gazans remain displaced.
Ground invasion
On October 27, Israel launched a ground assault.
On 15 November, Israeli troops raided Al-Shifa Hospital, Gaza’s largest medical center, where Israel claims a Hamas command center is located, although Hamas denies this.
Ceasefire and hostage exchange
A week-long ceasefire between Israel and Hamas will come into effect on November 24.
Hamas released 80 Israeli hostages in exchange for 240 Palestinians held in Israeli jails. 25 other hostages, mainly Thai farm workers, were also released under the deal.
Israel has allowed more aid into Gaza during the pause, but the humanitarian situation in the besieged territory remains dire.
As the war resumes, Israel increases its activities in southern Gaza.
Call to stop ‘genocide’
In an interim ruling handed down on January 26 in a case brought by South Africa, the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to do “everything possible” to prevent any occurrence of genocide.
Deadly food stampede
On February 29, the Israeli army opened fire on residents of northern Gaza who were marching toward a convoy of food aid trucks, saying they believed they were “posing a threat.”
Gaza’s health ministry described it as a “massacre”, saying 120 people were killed and hundreds injured.
The Israeli military says most of the victims were either crushed by trucks or killed.
Since early March, several countries, including the United States, have delivered aid to Gaza, which the UN says is facing famine. A first aid ship from Cyprus arrived on 15 March.
Aid workers killed
On April 1, seven aid workers from the US charity World Central Kitchen were killed in an Israeli attack, which the military claimed was a “tragic mistake”.
Netanyahu has repeatedly threatened to send ground troops into Gaza’s far southern city of Rafah, where most of the territory’s 2.4 million people have taken refuge.
Iran attacks Israel
Fears of escalation of regional tensions arose on April 13, when Iran attacked Israel with drones and missiles in retaliation for a deadly attack on Iran’s Damascus consulate on April 1, for which Israel was blamed.
On April 19, attacks targeted central Iran, which downplayed the incidents without blaming Israel. Israel did not take responsibility.
Operations in the south
On May 7 Israeli forces launched an assault on Rafah, where the UN says 1.4 million people are sheltering, and seized control of the border crossing with Egypt, blocking a major entry point for aid.
Gaza officials say the attack on the night of May 26-27 hit a tent camp, killing 45 people. Israel says two senior Hamas activists were targeted.
Hamas and Gaza sources say Israeli forces targeted five schools sheltering displaced people over eight days in July, killing dozens.
Hamas says 92 people were killed in an attack near Khan Younis on July 13 and another 70 on July 22.
There is a possibility of escalation of tension at regional level
Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels have carried out 90 attacks on ships in the Gulf since November in solidarity with Gaza. They claimed a rare drone strike on Tel Aviv on July 19 that killed one person.
The next day, Israel bombed Yemen’s Houthi-controlled port of Hodeida, causing a massive fire at the strategic port and killing six people, rebels say.
There has been almost daily exchanges of gunfire between the Israeli military and the Lebanese Islamist group Hezbollah along the Israel-Lebanon border since October, with the fighting intensifying in July.
On 27 July a rocket attack on Majdal Shams, a Druze Arab town in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, killed 12 young men.
Israel has blamed Hezbollah for the attack, which has denied the claim.
The group says Israel retaliated with a series of attacks, including one in Beirut’s southern suburbs on Tuesday that killed top Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr and five civilians.
On July 31, an attack in Iran killed Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh. The attack was blamed on Israel, which declined to comment.
On 1 August, Israel confirmed that Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif was killed in an attack on Gaza in July.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
