10 key moments in the Israel-Hamas war

After Palestinian militant group Hamas carried out the deadliest attack in Israeli history on October 7, 2023, Israel responded with a devastating military campaign in Gaza.

The air and ground operation has killed more than 40 000 people, according to the Hamas-ruled territory’s health ministry, which does not give details of civilian and militant deaths.

AFP looks back at key moments in the war.

– Hamas attacks –

At dawn on October 7, hundreds of Hamas fighters infiltrate Israel.

The unprecedented attack results in the deaths of 1,198 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

The militants kill civilians in the streets, in their homes and at a desert music festival, and attack troops in army bases.

They seize 251 hostages and take them back to Gaza, with 111 still detained including 39 the military says are dead.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vows to destroy Hamas, which is blacklisted as a terrorist organisation by the European Union and the United States.

– North Gaza exodus –

Israel begins bombing and besieging Gaza. On October 13, it calls on civilians in northern Gaza to move south ahead of an expected ground offensive.

By the beginning of July, the United Nations estimates that nearly all of Gaza’s population has been displaced at least once by the war.

– Ground invasion –

On October 27, Israel launches a ground offensive.

On November 15, Israeli troops raid Al-Shifa hospital, Gaza’s biggest medical facility, where Israel says Hamas has a command centre, something the militants deny.

– Truce and hostage swap –

On November 24, a week-long truce between Israel and Hamas takes effect.

Hamas releases 80 Israeli hostages in return for 240 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons. Twenty-five other hostages, mainly Thai farm workers, are also set free.

Israel allows more aid into Gaza but the humanitarian situation in the territory remains dire.

When the war resumes, Israel expands its actions into southern Gaza.

– Court order to prevent ‘genocide’ –

In an interim ruling on January 26, 2024 in a case brought by South Africa, the International Court of Justice orders Israel to do “everything” to prevent any acts of genocide.

– Deadly food stampede –

On February 29, Israeli forces open fire on residents of northern Gaza who rush towards a convoy of food aid trucks, saying they believed they “posed a threat”.

Gaza’s health ministry says 120 people were shot dead and hundreds wounded, calling it a “massacre”.

Israel’s military says most of the dead were trampled or run over by the trucks.

From early March, several countries airdrop aid into Gaza as the United Nations warns of imminent famine. A first aid ship from Cyprus arrives on March 15.

– Aid workers killed –

On April 1, seven aid workers from the US charity World Central Kitchen are killed in an Israeli strike, which the military calls a “tragic mistake”.

Netanyahu repeatedly threatens to send ground troops into Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city where a majority of the territory’s 2.4 million people have sought shelter.

– Iran attacks Israel –

On April 13, Iran launches a swarm of drones and missiles at Israel in retaliation for a deadly strike on Tehran’s consulate in Damascus that was blamed on Israel.

On April 19, strikes target central Iran. Tehran plays down the incidents without blaming Israel, which does not claim responsibility.

– Operations in the south –

On May 7, the Israeli army launches a ground offensive in Rafah, taking control of the border crossing with Egypt, effectively blocking a key entry point for aid.

A deadly Israeli strike late on May 26 is blamed for starting a fire in a tent camp.

During eight days in July, the Israeli army hits five schools sheltering displaced people.

On July 13, a strike in southern Gaza kills the chief of Hamas’s armed wing, Mohammed Deif, according to Israel.

– Regional flare-up feared –

Yemen’s Iran-backed Huthi rebels, who have repeatedly attacked ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden since November in solidarity with Gaza, claim a drone strike on Tel Aviv on July 19 that kills one civilian.

The next day, Israel bombs the Huthi-controlled Red Sea port of Hodeida, causing a huge fire and killing six people, the rebels say.

On the Israel-Lebanon border, almost daily exchanges of fire between the Israeli army and Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah intensify.

On July 27, a rocket strike kills 12 children in the Druze Arab town of Majdal Shams in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights. Israel blames Hezbollah, which denies responsibility.

Israel retaliates with several strikes, including one on Beirut’s southern suburbs on July 30 that kills Hezbollah’s top commander, Fuad Shukr.

On July 31, Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh is killed in a strike in Iran, stoking fears of a regional flare up. The operation is blamed on Israel, which declines to comment.

On August 6, Hamas names Yahya Sinwar, its leader in Gaza, as its new political chief.

The day after a new Israeli raid on a school sheltering displaced people, Hamas on August 11 urges Gaza mediators to implement a truce plan presented by Washington in May.

Israel accepts an invitation from the United States, Qatar and Egypt for ceasefire talks to resume on August 15.

© Agence France-Presse