Gaza war
Updated: Wikipedia source
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 70,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed, almost half of them women and children, and more than 171,000 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. The Israeli forces launched numerous campaigns, including the Rafah offensive from May 2024, three battles fought around Khan Yunis, and the siege of North Gaza from October 2024, culminating in a 2025 offensive in Gaza City; and have assassinated Hamas leaders in and outside Gaza. A temporary ceasefire in November 2023 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. On 19 October, after alleged Hamas violations, Israel briefly resumed bombing Gaza before reaffirming the ceasefire the same day, doing the same on 28 October. 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 as of October 2025. By early 2025, Israel had caused unprecedented destruction in Gaza and made large parts uninhabitable, leveling entire cities and destroying hospitals, religious and cultural landmarks, educational facilities, agricultural land, and cemeteries. 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 2.3 million Palestinian population have been forcibly displaced. Over 100,000 Israelis were internally displaced at the height of the conflict. The first day 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 genocide in Gaza. 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 significant regional and international repercussions, with large protests worldwide calling for a ceasefire, as well as a surge of antisemitism and anti-Palestinian racism.