On October 7, 2023, Israel launched a devastating military operation in the Gaza Strip, after the Palestinian group Hamas carried out the worst attack in Israel’s history.
Before Sunday’s ceasefire, only the second in 15 months of war, Israel’s air and ground campaign killed at least 46,899 people, according to health ministry figures in the Hamas-run territory that the UN considers reliable. Is.
Following are the major moments of the conflict:
Hamas attacked
At dawn on 7 October, hundreds of Hamas fighters cross into Israel, killing civilians in the streets, in their homes and at a desert music festival, and attacking soldiers at bases.
They captured 251 hostages and took them back to Gaza. At present 94 people are still detained there, out of which three women are to be released on Sunday. The Israeli military says 34 of the 94 hostages are dead.
More than 1,200 people were killed in Hamas attacks.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to destroy Hamas, which is considered a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union and Israel.
ground offensive
Israel begins bombing and siege of Gaza. On 13 October, it called on citizens in the north of the region to move south.
According to the United Nations, most of the people of Gaza have been displaced during the war.
On 27 October, Israel launched a ground offensive.
Ceasefire and hostage exchange
A week-long ceasefire between Israel and Hamas begins on November 24.
Hamas released 105 hostages, mostly Israeli but also Thai activists, in exchange for 240 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.
When the war resumes, Israel expands its activities into southern Gaza.
Deadly Food Stampede
On February 29, 2024, Israeli forces fired on northern Gaza residents who were escorting a convoy of food aid trucks, killing 120 and wounding hundreds.
Since early March, military aircraft from several countries, including the United States, have been dropping aid on Gaza, which the United Nations says is at risk of famine.
On 1 April, seven aid workers from the American charity World Central Kitchen were killed in an attack that Israel’s military calls a “tragic mistake”.
Iran attacked Israel
On April 13, Iran attacked Israel with drones and missiles – its first direct attack on Israeli soil. The attacks are in retaliation for a deadly attack on the Damascus Consulate on April 1, which was blamed on Israel.
On July 20, Israel bombed Yemen’s Hodeida port, following a drone attack on Tel Aviv by Iran-backed Houthi rebels, who have been targeting shipping since November 2023 in solidarity with Gaza.
Hamas political leader murdered
On the Israel-Lebanon border, almost daily exchanges between Israel and the Lebanese group Hezbollah since October 2023 intensified in July.
Israel retaliated with several attacks, including the killing of Fuad Shukr, a top Hezbollah commander.
On July 31, Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated during a visit to Iran. Israel accepts responsibility months later.
lebanon spillover
On September 17 and 18, hundreds of pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah exploded in an Israeli operation, which Lebanese officials say killed 39 people and injured thousands.
Israel increased its air campaign in Lebanon and killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in southern Beirut on 27 September.
A few days later, Israel launched a ground offensive against Hezbollah strongholds in southern Lebanon.
Iran fired 200 missiles at Israel on 1 October in response to the assassination of Nasrallah and Haniyeh.
new head of hamas killed
On October 16, Hamas’s new leader Yahya Sinwar, whom Israel accused of plotting an October 7, 2023 attack, was killed in southern Gaza.
On the 26th, Israeli airstrikes hit military targets in Iran in response to the October 1 missile attack.
On 14 November, a UN special committee says Israel’s war in Gaza meets the characteristics of “genocide”. Israel accused the United Nations of bias.
The International Criminal Court on November 21 issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu, former Defense Minister Yoav Galant and Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif, whom the Israeli military says it killed in Gaza.
lebanon ceasefire
The ceasefire began on November 27 after two months of open war between Israel and Hezbollah, which has left more than 4,000 people dead on the Lebanese side since October 2023, according to official Lebanese figures.
The fragile ceasefire is violated several times, with both sides sharing blame.
After Islamist-led rebels ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in December, Israel has also carried out hundreds of strikes on Syrian military sites, saying it was aimed at preventing weapons from falling into the hands of “extremists.” Is.
Israel also sends troops to the UN-patrolled buffer zone in the Golan Heights.
Yemen’s Houthi rebels have stepped up missile and drone attacks on Israel, which it responds with new attacks on Yemen.
new ceasefire begins
On January 19, a long-awaited ceasefire between Israel and Hamas began, with 33 hostages to be freed during the first phase in exchange for the release of approximately 1,900 Palestinians in Israeli custody.
Thousands of war-weary displaced Palestinians begin returning to their homes through the debris of the devastated Gaza Strip, under a ceasefire brokered by Qatar, the United States and Egypt.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
