Israel-Hamas War is an ongoing conflict between the nation of Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. The war is part of the larger Arab-Israeli conflict. In October 2023, Hamas launched a major attack against Israel from the Gaza Strip. The attack marked the first direct fighting inside Israel since the Arab-Israeli War of 1948. In response to the attack, Israel vowed to eradicate Hamas and launched a campaign of devastating attacks inside Gaza. Thousands of people, including many civilians, have been killed or injured in the conflict. The war has also led to a severe humanitarian crisis.
Background
The Arab-Israeli conflict has been ongoing since the founding of Israel in 1948. Direct conflict with Hamas traces its roots in part to Israel’s withdrawal of troops and settlers from the Gaza Strip in 2005. In early 2006, Hamas, a radical Islamist group, won elections in Gaza and took over the government of the territory. Hamas rejects the existence of Israel and seeks to establish an Islamic state in Palestine. In 2007, Hamas won full control of Gaza by defeating Fatah, another Palestinian political organization, in armed conflict. Under Hamas control, tensions between Israel and Gaza escalated. Violent clashes between Israelis and Palestinians happened frequently over the next several years.
Notable outbreaks of violence took place in 2014 and 2021. Over 2,000 people, mostly Palestinians, were killed in this fighting. Since the 2007 takeover by Hamas, Israel and Egypt—which shares a border with Gaza—have blockaded the Gaza Strip. They have patrolled its borders to prevent the free movement of people and goods into and out of it. Barrier walls and fences built by Israel and Egypt along their borders with Gaza also restrict this movement.
Relations between Israel and Palestinians worsened throughout 2023. Several violent clashes took place. In September, Israel halted exports from Gaza after explosives were found hidden in a shipment of clothing. In response, Hamas put its forces on high alert, and the group and its allies conducted military exercises.
Fighting
October 7 attack.
On Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas launched a large-scale surprise attack against Israel from the Gaza Strip. The group not only fired rockets into Israel but also broke through the border wall and invaded Israel by land.
The attack included launching at least 3,000 rockets against Israel from inside Gaza, as well as invasions of the Israeli territory surrounding Gaza. Palestinian militants entered Israel using vehicles including bulldozers, trucks, and powered paragliders. They attacked military bases, towns, kibbutzim (Israeli collective communities), and a music festival. About 1,200 people, mostly Israeli civilians, were killed, and more than 200 were taken to Gaza as hostages.
Israel’s intelligence services claimed that they had not known the attack would take place. But, the United States and Egypt had both received word that the attack was being planned and warned Israel several days in advance. A later report showed that the Israeli government had known about Hamas’s plan for the attack in great detail almost a year before it happened but had dismissed it as beyond Hamas’s capabilities.
Israeli response.
Following the attack, Israel declared war for the first time since the Yom Kippur War in 1973. The country’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, vowed that Israel would destroy the military and governmental powers of Hamas. Israeli airstrikes against targets in Gaza began immediately after the attacks. Over the next six days, Israeli forces dropped over 6,000 bombs on Gaza, causing widespread destruction and killing many civilians as well as Hamas fighters.
On October 9, Israeli forces began a siege of the Gaza Strip, cutting off the territory’s supplies of food, water, fuel, medicine, and electricity. The Israeli government stated that the siege would not be lifted until all the Israeli hostages were released. On October 18, United States President Joe Biden announced that Israel would allow humanitarian aid to enter Gaza from Egypt. Israeli airstrikes on Gaza continued into late October.
War continues.
On October 27, Israel began a ground invasion of Gaza. At the same time, further airstrikes cut off Gaza’s internet access and mobile communications. The invasion began in the northern parts of the Gaza Strip and pushed southward. Netanyahu described the invasion as the “second phase” of the war, and Israel’s defense minister, Yoav Gallant, said that he expected the invasion to last for months. On November 2, Israel began a siege of Gaza City, the largest city in the Gaza Strip.
On November 24, a ceasefire (temporary halt in fighting) between Israel and Hamas began. The ceasefire was arranged by Qatar, Egypt, and the United States. Originally intended to last for four days, the ceasefire lasted until December 1. Its main purpose was to allow the exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian political prisoners. On December 1, Israel and Hamas accused each other of failing to agree on an extension of the ceasefire, and fighting began again.
Humanitarian crisis
The war has created a humanitarian disaster in the Gaza Strip. Electricity has largely been cut off, and many hospitals, sewage plants, and desalination plants have been destroyed or put out of service. Desalination plants, which turn seawater into fresh water, supply most of Gaza’s drinking water. Food, fuel, medication, and medical supplies have all become scarce. International humanitarian organizations, including the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council, the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), UNICEF, the World Health Organization (WHO), and Doctors Without Borders, have expressed strong criticism of and concern for the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
Thousands of people have been killed and injured in the conflict, including many civilians. Most casualties have been in Gaza.
International response
The October 7 attack was strongly condemned by the United States, an ally of Israel. Other countries and international organizations that condemned the attack included Canada, France, India, Japan, the United Kingdom, the UN, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and the European Union (EU).
Some countries and organizations expressed support for the Palestinian fighters or blamed Israel for the attack. These included many countries with largely Muslim populations, including Afghanistan, Algeria, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, and Libya. Many countries and organizations have strongly criticized both Hamas’s attack and Israel’s actions in Gaza during the war.
Popular protests related to the war broke out around the world in the days and weeks following the attack. Some of these protests expressed support for Israel and others supported Palestinians. Many pro-Palestinian protesters called for a ceasefire.
