On October 7, 2023, Hamas and several other Palestinian nationalist militant groups launched coordinated armed incursions from the Gaza Strip in the southern part of Israel - the first invasion of Israeli territory since the Arab-Israeli war in 1948.
The attack coincided with the Jewish religious holiday of Simchat Torah. Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups refer to the attacks as Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, while in Israel they are called Black Shabbat. or “Simchat Torah Massacre”, and internationally - “The October 7 Attacks”.
The attacks marked the beginning of the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.
The attacks began early on October 7 with at least 4,300 rockets fired at Israel and an incursion into Israel by vehicles and paragliders.
Hamas fighters breached the barrier between Gaza and Israel, attacked military bases and massacred civilians in 21 municipalities, including Beeri, Kfar Azza, Nir Oz, Netiv Haasara and Alumim.
According to an IDF report, which revised the estimate of the number of attackers, 6,000 people from Gaza breached the border at 119 places and entered Israel, including 3,800 people from the “elite Nuhba Force” and 2,200 civilians and other combatants.
In addition, the IDF report stated that 1,000 Gazans fired rockets from the Gaza Strip, bringing the total number of Hamas participants to 7,000.
A total of 1,139 people were killed: 695 Israeli civilians (including 38 children), 71 foreign nationals and 373 members of the security forces.
364 civilians were killed and many more injured while attending the “Nova” music festival.
At least 14 Israeli civilians were killed in the use of the “Hannibal” by the IDF.
About 250 Israeli civilians and soldiers were taken hostage in the Gaza Strip, dead or alive, including 30 children, with the stated aim of forcing Israel to exchange them for imprisoned Palestinians, including women and children. 97 of them are still hostages a year later, with roughly a third of that group now believed to be dead.
Dozens of cases of rape and sexual assault have been reported, but Hamas officials deny the involvement of their fighters.
A BBC investigation revealed that preparations for the attack began in 2018, when all armed groups in Gaza came under a single command. Practical training begins in 2020. Dozens of fighters are trained in specially built grounds in different parts of Gaza.
The governments of 44 countries condemned the attack and described it as terrorism, and some Arab and Muslim-majority countries blamed Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories as the main cause of the attack.
Hamas said its attack was in response to the ongoing Israeli occupation, the blockade of the Gaza Strip, the expansion of illegal Israeli settlements, increasing violence by Israeli settlers and the recent escalation.
The day was described as the bloodiest in Israel's history and “the deadliest for Jews since the Holocaust” by many personalities and media in the West, including US President Joe Biden.
The attack prompted Israel's strongest response in decades, with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launching airstrikes and a ground invasion aimed at eliminating Hamas and its capabilities, which continue to this day.
The Gaza Strip, which has been ruled by Hamas since 2007 and has been under an Israeli blockade for nearly two decades, has suffered widespread destruction and infrastructure damage. Since the beginning of the war, around 42,000 people have died and at least 98,000 have been injured, AFP reported.
The agency cited data from the Hamas-run Ministry of Health. The humanitarian situation in Gaza has reached catastrophic levels, with Gazans facing massive food shortages, spreading disease and the displacement of 1.9 million people.