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The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and Israel, fought as part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflicts. The war began on 7 October 2023, when the Palestinian militant group Hamas led a surprise attack on Israel, in which 1,195 Israelis and foreign nationals were killed and 251 were taken hostage. Since the start of the Israeli offensive that followed, over 71,803 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed and more than 171,500 injured. A study in The Lancet estimated that traumatic injury deaths were undercounted and noting a potentially larger death toll when "indirect" deaths are included.
After clearing militants from its territory, Israel launched a bombing campaign and invaded Gaza on 27 October. Israeli forces launched campaigns, including the Rafah offensive, three battles fought around Khan Yunis, and the siege of North Gaza, culminating in a 2025 offensive in Gaza City; and have assassinated Hamas leaders. The 2023 ceasefire broke down, and a second ceasefire in January 2025 ended with a surprise attack by Israel in March. A third ceasefire came into effect on 10 October after Israel and Hamas agreed to phase one of a US-backed peace plan.
The war has resulted in a humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Israel's tightened blockade cut off basic necessities, causing a severe hunger crisis and imminent to confirmed famine . Around 90% of Gaza's civilian infrastructure has been destroyed and essential services, including water, electricity, and sanitation, have been severely disrupted; large parts are uninhabitable, with most hospitals, religious and cultural landmarks, and educational facilities destroyed. UN experts deeply concerned over 'scholasticide' in Gaza United Nations 18 April 2024 Gazan journalists, health workers, aid workers and other members of civil society have been detained, tortured, and killed. Israel has detained thousands of Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank without charge since the start of the war. 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. The first day, October 7, was the deadliest in Israel's history, and the war is the deadliest for Palestinians in the broader conflict.
A wide consensus of scholarship has concluded that Israel is committing Gaza genocide. The UN Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory concluded that four of the five acts of genocide have been committed. A case accusing Israel of genocide is being reviewed by the International Court of Justice. Experts and human rights organizations have also stated that Israel and Hamas have committed other war crimes. Torture and sexual violence have been committed both by Palestinian militant groups and by Israeli forces.
Israel has received extensive military and diplomatic support from the United States. The war has reverberated regionally, with Axis of Resistance groups across several Arab countries and Iran clashing with the US and Israel, including the 12-day Iran–Israel war. A year of strikes between Israel and Hezbollah led to the Israeli invasion of Lebanon and ongoing Israeli operations in Syria, and contributed to the fall of the Assad regime. The war continues to have regional and international repercussions, with large protests worldwide as well as a surge of antisemitism and anti-Palestinian racism.
Since 2007, the Gaza Strip has been governed by Hamas, an Islamism militant group, while the West Bank remained under the control of the Palestinian Authority. After Hamas's takeover, Israel imposed a blockade that significantly damaged Gaza's economy. Israel justified the blockade by citing security concerns, but international rights groups have characterized it as collective punishment. By 2023, UNRWA reported that 81% of people were living below the poverty line, 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 four wars, in 2008–2009, 2012, 2014, and 2021. Combined, these conflicts killed approximately 6,400 Palestinians and 300 Israelis. In 2018–2019, there were large organized protests near the Gaza-Israel border to call for the right to return. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) violently suppressed the protests, killing hundreds and injuring thousands of Palestinians by sniper fire. Soon after a short 2021 conflict, Hamas's military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, started planning an operation against Israel, which became the 7 October attacks. 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.
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. 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.
At the time of the attack, Israel and Saudi Arabia were conducting negotiations to normalize relations. Hamas leaders cited disrupting this "normalization train" as a motive for the October 7 attacks, with Ismail Haniyeh stating that the normalization efforts would marginalize the Palestinian cause and integrate Israel as "a legitimate entity" in the region.
Militants massacred civilians in several , 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 attack was a complete surprise to the Israelis. 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. 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.
The Economist noted that "the assault dwarfed all 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.
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 Gaza's electricity, cut off power to the area. The IDF declared a "state of readiness for war", mobilized tens of thousands of army , and declared a state of emergency for areas within of Gaza. While Ben Gurion Airport and Ramon Airport remained operational, multiple airlines cancelled flights. 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.
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 killed, on average, 350 persons per day during the first 20 days. Israel 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. 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 told 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 Hamas contested.
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.
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 22 November, Israel and Hamas reached a temporary ceasefire agreement, providing for a four-day pause in hostilities, the release of 50 hostages held in Gaza, and the release of approximately 150 Palestinian women and children incarcerated by Israel.
Following the introduction of a Qatari-brokered truce on 24 November 2023, active fighting in Gaza 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.
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.
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 attempting 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.
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 militants in the hospital fighting, including senior Hamas leaders, while also arresting 500 confirmed militants; this account was disputed. Survivors denied that militants had organized on the hospital grounds. Israeli forces were accused of leaving the hospital with blown out walls and blackened frame, and of killing 400 Palestinians.
A 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 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. Displaced Palestinians began to return. Israel planned to initiate its Rafah offensive 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.
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. 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. The IDF denied involvement.
On 6 June, Israel bombed a school in the Nuseirat refugee camp, killing dozens. Two days later, Israel attacked 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.
On 13 July, at least 90 were killed and 300 injured in an Israeli strike on Al-Mawasi, and 22 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 said it had killed 200 militants and discovered dozens of weapons in Tel al-Sultan. On 10 September, Israeli missile strikes on a tent encampment in Al-Mawasi killed 19 to 40 people.
The IDF was 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 Gaza. The Abu Shabab clan, a rival of Hamas, was widely blamed for the attacks. On 1 December, the UN suspended its aid shipments through the crossing, blaming Israel for failing to "ensure safe conditions for delivering relief supplies."
On 16 October, IDF ground forces killed Yahya Sinwar in a shootout in Tal as-Sultan. Biden urged Israel to end the war after Sinwar's death.
The IDF continued its encirclement of Jabalia by sending tanks to Beit Lahia and Beit Hanoun and issuing evacuation orders. 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. 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. 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 24 November, Israel issued new evacuation orders, triggering another round of displacements in Jabalia. UNRWA said in November that Israel had rejected nine attempts and obstructed an additional 82 to deliver aid to the 60,000 to 70,000 civilians remaining in north Gaza. On 5 December, Israeli Army Radio announced that 18,000 Palestinians had been evacuated from Beit Lahia.
Negotiations for implementing the second phase of the ceasefire, 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 begin in February, but never happened. Israel endorsed a US plan to extend the Gaza truce for the Ramadan and Passover periods, but Hamas refused and demanded the second phase be implemented; Netanyahu ceased the entry of aid to Gaza the next day. This was condemned by 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.
In January, Hamas said it had recruited thousands of new fighters during the war. Then U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken estimated that "Hamas has recruited almost as many new militants as it has lost." Reuters reported the number of new recruits, based on U.S. intelligence, was 10,000 to 15,000.
On 19 March, the IDF said that it had created a "partial buffer" and partially recaptured the center of the Netzarim Corridor. On 23 March, IDF troops fired on humanitarian vehicles, in southern Rafah, killing 15 medics; their bodies were found one week later. On 9 April, Israeli warplanes bombed a residential building in Shuja'iyya, killing over 35 Palestinians and wounding at least 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 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. In a series of subsequent attacks on aid seekers, more than 1,300 were killed. On 30 June, an Israeli airstrike on al-Baqa cafeteria killed at least 41 Palestinians—including photojournalist Ismail Abu Hatab—and injured another 75. On 20 July, the IDF issued evacuation orders for the city of Deir al-Balah, where it had not launched a ground offensive since the start of the war. On the following day, Israeli forces advanced into the outskirts of Deir al-Balah as airstrikes hit the city.
In early August 2025, the Israeli security cabinet approved a plan to occupy Gaza City. The plan drew condemnation from the UN, the European Council president, and several countries. On 10 August, Israeli forces struck a press tent outside al-Shifa Hospital, killing six Al-Jazeera journalists including Anas Al-Sharif, bringing the number of journalists killed by Israel during the war to 192. On 20 August, Israel began the first stages of the offensive, calling up 60,000 reservists for the beginning of September. On 25 August, an Israeli double tap strike on Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza killed 22 people, including five journalists. Subsequently, Netanyahu said he "deeply regretted" the strike, describing it as a "mishap". On 9 September, Israel ordered the full evacuation of Gaza City, citing plans for intensified operation. Six days later, the IDF launched the full offensive, deploying units from two armored and infantry divisions.
A peace summit on 13 October in Sharm El Sheikh was attended by representatives of over 30 countries and organizations. A prisoner exchange took place, with Hamas releasing the remaining 20 living Israeli hostages, while Israel released 1,718 Palestinian detainees held without charge and an additional 250 Palestinian prisoners convicted of crimes in Israeli courts.
On 19 October, two IDF soldiers were killed in Rafah; al-Qassam Brigades denied responsibility. Israel resumed bombardment of Gaza in response, killing at least 29 Palestinians before reaffirming the ceasefire the same day. On 28 October, one Israeli soldier was killed in Rafah; al-Qassam Brigades denied involvement. Netanyahu ordered Israeli forces to immediately conduct "powerful strikes" in Gaza: the attacks killed at least 104 people. The IDF said it targeted dozens of Hamas targets, including 21 commanders and militants who participated in the 7 October attacks. On 13 December, an Israeli attack west of Gaza City killed five people and injured at least 25 others. It targeted the al-Qassam Brigades commander Ra'ad Sa'ad, who was killed.
The military strategies employed by Hamas have historically encompassed a blend of conventional and insurgent tactics. As a result of the war, the group has shifted "back into a guerrilla fighting force", employing the use of hit-and-run operations and operating in smaller cells of fighters, aiming to demonstrate that they are capable of continuing to fight a prolonged war. Hamas's strategy also relies on the underground tunnel system, which can be used as shelter for Hamas militants and leaders, storing weapons, and detaining hostages.
Sources close to Hamas leadership said that they counted on the international pressure for Israel to end the siege due to mounting civilian casualties and achieve a ceasefire. Hamas believed that together with strikes by Hezbollah and Iran and the uprising in the West Bank, they would cause Israel to collapse, while Israeli retaliation against Gaza would kill many civilians but undermine their crucial international support. Some, including Israel, have accused Hamas of deliberately using Palestinian civilians as human shields. Such claims have been disputed. In February 2024, Forensic Architecture (FA) examined the evidence that Israel provided at the ICJ regarding Hamas's alleged use of civilian facilities for military use. FA said that much of the Israeli evidence was misleading or false.
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. On 31 July, Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in Tehran, 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. In February 2025, Israel largely withdrew but maintained 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.
On 13 June 2025, Israel launched large-scale attacks against targets in several areas in Iran, killing Iran's top military leadership, including Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander Hossein Salami, Iranian Armed Forces Chief of Staff Major General Mohammad Bagheri, and nuclear scientists Fereydoon Abbasi and Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi were killed in the attacks, according to Iranian state media. The US joined Israel in bombing Iran on 22 June 2025, saying to have destroyed several nuclear sites.
On 9 September 2025, Israel bombed the Hamas headquarters in Qatar, reportedly targeting several members of the Hamas temporary committee, including Khalil al-Hayya, Khaled Mashal, Muhammad Ismail Darwish, Mousa Abu Marzook, and Zaher Jabarin. The attack failed to assassinate the Hamas leadership in Qatar. The stated Israeli reason for the bombing was the Ramot Junction shooting in East Jerusalem the day prior.
In July 2024, Israeli authorities approved the seizure of 12.7 square kilometers in the West Bank, the largest single land seizure since the 1993 Oslo accords. Israeli authorities also approved plans for almost 5,300 new houses in occupied West Bank. By this point, Israeli land seizures exceeded the combined total of the previous 20 years. The following month, the Israeli government approved new settlements in the area.
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 called the operation a "full-fledged war". Israeli forces carried out simultaneous operations in Jenin, Tubas, Nablus, Ramallah and Tulkarm. The IDF classified the West Bank as a "combat zone" in early September, viewing 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 finance minister Bezalel Smotrich said that with Trump's victory in the 2024 United States presidential election, Israel was "a step away" from "sovereignty in Judea and Samaria," with later comments by Mike Huckabee corroborating the possibility of annexation of the West Bank. On 21 January 2025, the IDF launched a major raid in the West Bank. On 8 September, two Hamas militants opened fire inside a bus, killing six Israelis and injuring 21 in East Jerusalem.
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 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 confess 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. In July, ten soldiers "suspected of the serious sexual abuse" of a Palestinian detainee were arrested at Sde Teiman. Israeli national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. In protest, Ben-Gvir and other supporters of the arrested soldiers stormed both Sde Teiman and Beit Lid, where the soldiers were being held.
Several Palestinian healthcare workers have been abducted from Gaza hospitals during sieges by Israeli forces. 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. For example, in December 2024, Israeli forces abducted Hussam Abu Safiya, the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, and 57 of the hospital's staff.
Alongside substantial, 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, the US piloted drones over Gaza to provide intelligence to Israel, aimed at locating hostages and Palestinian militant leaders in Gaza; this also included information on Sinwar's location. During the Biden administration, the US sent a Marine three-star general and other U.S. military officers to Israel to advise on its operations in Gaza. In November 2023, US special forces and commandos were deployed to help Israel track down hostages held in Gaza. On 18 March 2025, after Israel's surprise attack on the Gaza Strip, Israeli government spokesman David Mencer stated that the operation had "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.
During negotiations for an end to the war, American officials said there were plans to send 200 US soldiers to Israel to oversee the implementation of the ceasefire, though they said they would not enter Gaza, but instead Central Command will establish a "civil-military coordination center".
In December 2025, IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir said that the Yellow Line would be Israel's new border line in the Gaza Strip, despite the Gaza peace plan's stipulation that Israel will not occupy or annex Gaza. Zamir said that Israel would remain in operational control over territory beyond the Yellow Line, which amounts to 53% of the Gaza Strip. Israel has moved the Yellow Line further into Gaza and applies a shoot-to-kill policy toward anyone approaching or crossing the line. The Trump administration has said that it plans to build prefabricated structures on Israel's side of the Yellow Line; the plan was met with skepticism from Israeli officials and Arab diplomats. Arab diplomats have expressed reluctance to deploy ISF troops on the Palestinian side of the Yellow Line, suggesting that it would be better to deploy the ISF in lieu of Israeli soldiers first. An analysis by Forensic Architecture and Drop Site News showed that Israel had built 13 new outposts in Gaza since the start of the ceasefire. Palestinian property in eastern Khan Younis was systematically destroyed in areas where new military infrastructure was built. On 24 December, Defense Minister Israel Katz suggested that Israel would build settlements in Gaza, but later walked back his comments. In a joint statement on Israeli recognition of Somaliland, several Arab and Muslim states including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and Turkey expressed concern that Israel intended to expel the Palestinian population in Gaza and resettle Palestinians in East Africa.
| + ! rowspan="2" | Event ! rowspan="2" | Total ! colspan="2" | Civilians ! colspan="2" | Children | |
| October 7 attacks | 1,195 | 828 | 68.2% | 36 | 3.2% |
| Gaza genocide | 71,391 | ~80% | 20,179 | 28.27% | |
| Israeli attacks in the West Bank | 1,046 | 229 | 21.89% |
, over 73,600 people (72,437 Palestinians and 2,038+ Israelis) have been reported killed in the according to the Gaza Health Ministry (GHM) and Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including 248 journalists and media workers, 120 academics,Rachel Hall, "I am physically here, but mentally in Gaza" says lecturer now living in UK The Guardian 10 October 2024 and over 224 humanitarian aid workers, a number that includes 179 employees of UNRWA. Scholars have estimated 80% of Palestinians killed are civilians. A study by OHCHR, which verified fatalities from three independent sources, found that 70% of the Palestinians killed in residential buildings or similar housing were women and children.
The majority of casualties have been in the Gaza Strip. The GHM total casualty count does not distinguish how Palestinians were killed, whether from Israeli airstrikes and artillery barrages or other means, like errant Palestinian rocket fire, but describes all casualties as victims of "Israeli aggression". Doctors in Gaza say that it largely excludes people who have died from a lack of adequate treatment, disease and other impacts from the war. An analysis by the Gaza Health Projections Working Group predicted thousands of excess deaths from disease and birth complications.Zeina Jamaluddine, Zhixi Chen, Hanan Abukmail, Sarah Aly, Shatha Elnakib, Gregory Barnsley et al. (2024). Crisis in Gaza: Scenario-based health impact projections. Report One: 7 February to 6 August 2024. London, Baltimore: London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Johns Hopkins University. The GHM demographic breakdown is a subset of those individually identified. On 31 May 2025, the GHM published the names, gender and birth date of 60,199 individual Palestinians whose identities were confirmed and continues to attempt to identify all casualties.
In January 2025, a peer-reviewed analysis of deaths in the Gaza war between October 2023 and 30 June 2024 was published in The Lancet. The paper estimated 64,260 deaths from traumatic injury during this period, and likely exceeding 70,000 by October 2024, with 59.1% of them being women, children and the elderly. It concluded that the GHM undercounted trauma-related deaths by 41% in its report, and also noted that its findings "underestimate the full impact of the military operation in Gaza, as they do not account for non-trauma-related deaths resulting from health service disruption, food insecurity, and inadequate water and sanitation." A comparable figure for May 2025 would be 93,000 (77,000 to 109,000), representing 4–5% of Gaza's pre-war population.
A survey by PCPSR reported showed over 60% of Gazans have lost family members since the war began.Azza Guergues, How 100,000 Palestinians Are Surviving in Egypt Without Refugee Status, Foreign Policy 15 August 2024 Thousands of more dead bodies are thought to be under the rubble of destroyed buildings. The number of injured is greater than 100,000; United Nations agencies have reported an unprecedented surge in amputations during the conflict and that Gaza is home to the highest number of child amputees per capita in the world.
An investigation by The Guardian, +972 Magazine, and Local Call found that, in May 2025, a classified IDF database listed 8,900 Palestinian fighters as dead or likely dead, or 17% of the 53,000 death toll at the time, which if correct would indicate that 83% of the dead were civilians—a rate higher only in the Srebrenica massacre (though not the Bosnian war overall), the siege of Mariupol, and the Rwandan genocide. In response, the IDF said that the numbers in the article are incorrect.
In May 2024, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that almost 30,000 Palestinians had been killed, including 14,000 militants and probably almost 16,000 civilians. In September 2025, former IDF commander Herzi Halevi said that more than 200,000 Palestinians had been killed or injured in Gaza, and that legal advice had not affected military decisions. In January 2026, the IDF acknowledged the Gaza Health Ministry's estimate of about 70,000 Palestinians killed during the war, emphasising that the figure does not distinguish between members and non-members of militant groups, does not indicate how many people died as a result of the fighting, and does not include missing residents who may be buried under rubble. The IDF also rejected the ministry’s figures that 440 Palestinians had died because of malnutrition and starvation during the war.
The October 7 attacks on Israel killed 1,195 people, including 815 civilians. Casualties have also occurred in other parts of Israel, as well as in southern Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, and Iran. As reported by the Defense Ministry, the total number of Israeli fatalities as of October 2025 is 1,152. This figure encompasses soldiers, police personnel, Shin Bet operatives, and civilian security officials who died on duty, as well as those who succumbed to accidents, illness, or suicide. Notably, around 42% of the deceased were individuals under the age of 21. According to the Israeli Ministry of Defense's Rehabilitation Division, about 1,000 soldiers are wounded every month. In August 2024, the ministry predicted that it would have to account for 100,000 disabled IDF veterans by 2030 due to the war.
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 agencies and journalists.
In May 2025, Donald Trump acknowledged starvation in Gaza and backed the promoted the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation to distribute food through hubs run by private contractors and protected by Israeli soldiers. International aid agencies warned that the plans weaponized humanitarian aid and would not be able to meet the scale of aid that was required. UN humanitarian representatives Cindy McCain and Tom Fletcher noted that only about 100 trucks a day were getting through, compared to more that 600 trucks a day before the blockade.
Trump said Gaza is experiencing "real starvation", while Netanyahu blamed Hamas. In August 2025, an IPC analysis confirmed famine, or IPC Phase 5, in some parts of Gaza including Gaza City. This analysis predicted that a further 640,000 people would face Phase 5 conditions by September 2025. Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories issued a counter-report which it said refuted the contents of the IPC brief. On 19 December 2025, the IPC released a report stating that famine conditions in Gaza no longer existed following improved food deliveries after the ceasefire, though the situation remained "fragile".
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 a territory uninhabitable". The term urbicide has also been used to refer to the destruction of Gazan cities and their institutions. In October 2024, Forensic Architecture published a map platform detailing Israel's campaign in Gaza titled "A Cartography of Genocide", accompanied by a report that concludes that "Israel's military campaign in Gaza is organised, systematic, and intended to destroy conditions of life and life-sustaining infrastructure".
The International Criminal Court (ICC) said that its mandate to investigate alleged war crimes committed since June 2014 in Palestine extends to the current conflict. 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. 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 commission 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 operations 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" and accused 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.
In July 2025, Brazilian minister of foreign relations Mauro Vieira announced that Brazil would officially join South Africa's ICJ case accusing Israel of committing Gaza genocide. Israeli human rights groups B'Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights–Israel released reports calling Israel's campaign in Gaza a genocide. The B'Tselem report also found that European and US leaders were enabling the genocide. Various genocide studies and international law scholars have also said that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.
On 16 September 2025, the UN Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory concluded that Israel had Gaza genocide, and that top Israeli officials including Netanyahu, Gallant, and Herzog had incited these acts. The report said that four of the five acts of genocide have been committed, as defined under the 1948 Genocide Convention. Israel rejected the report as distorted and false, and called for the abolition of the Commission. The genocide has also been recognized by a United Nations special committee and the International Association of Genocide Scholars, multiple human rights groups, numerous genocide studies and international law scholars, and other experts.
On 29 November, as per a UN report that draws on data from the two years following the onset of the Gaza conflict, Israel has faced allegations from the UN Committee on Torture regarding instances of severe beatings, dog attacks, electric shocks, simulated drowning, the imposition of prolonged stressful conditions, and sexual violence. It has been reported that Palestinian detainees are subjected to humiliation by being forced to act like animals or being urinated upon, and they are systematically denied medical treatment, which in certain instances has led to amputations.
Negotiations have focused on the possibility of a ceasefire, with the US, Egypt and Qatar serving as mediators. 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 agreed 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. 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.
On 9 August 2025, the Qatari Prime Minister met with U.S. Envoy Steve Witkoff regarding a potential deal for the return of all hostages, living and dead, in return for an end to the war. The meeting is towards making "workable" a joint Egyptian-Qatari proposal. The Director of Israel's spy agency Mossad traveled to Qatar on 14 August for negotiations. In addition to Qatar and Egypt, Turkey is also involved in negotiations to end the war.
Throughout the war, multiple protests have been held in Israel. As of September 2025 weekly protests took place in Tel Aviv and other locations in Israel with thousands of protestors calling for an end to the war and a hostage release deal. The Knesset's law criminalizing "terrorist materials" consumption drew criticism.
In December, Netanyahu said that Israel's objectives were to "destroy Hamas, demilitarize Gaza and Deradicalization 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?"
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. Poll shows Palestinians back Oct. 7 attack on Israel, support for Hamas rises. Reuters. December 14, 2023. 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.
In contrast, the Muslim 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 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.
The US and Germany have supplied Israel with substantial military and medical aid. The UK 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.
On 10 September 2025, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen proposed measures against Israel because of the war in Gaza, including suspending financial support (excluding Israeli civil society and Yad Vashem), partially suspending its association agreement, and sanctions against extremist Israeli ministers and settlers. She added that the commission would also set up a Palestinian donor group next month to aid in Gaza's reconstruction.
On 21 September 2025, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and Portugal formally recognised a Palestinian state. France, Luxembourg, Monaco, Malta, and others did so the following day.
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. India launched Operation Ajay to evacuate its citizens. Ukraine facilitated the evacuation of ~450 of its citizens from Israel as of 18 October, with additional evacuation flights planned for the near future.
According to UNCTAD's 2025 report, prolonged restrictions on movement, coupled with the war in October 2023, have resulted in significant long-term devastation in both Gaza and the West Bank. The per capita GDP has plummeted to $161 annually and unemployment rates have soared to 80 percent. It has been calculated that the Carbon price in terms of climate impact of rebuilding Gaza would exceed the annual greenhouse emissions of 135 countries.
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