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The October 7 attacks -

On October 7, 2023, during the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah on Shabbat, Hamas-led Palestinian militant groups launched a surprise attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip. The onslaught began with a barrage of rockets fired from the Gaza Strip into Israel.

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Israeli border breached -

At the same time, thousands of armed Hamas militants breached a border security fence separating Gaza from Israel. The gunmen targeted Israeli citizens in their homes, as well as soldiers, caught off guard, at observation posts and on military bases.

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Attack on Supernova music festival -

One of the targets was the Supernova desert music festival, taking place 3 mi (nearly 5 km) from the Gaza border. Pictured in the aftermath of the terrorist assault are abandoned and torched vehicles near Kibbutz Reim in the Negev desert in southern Israel. Hundreds of bodies were later retrieved from this area.

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Massacres unfold -

A baby stroller, along with other personal belongings are left on the side of the road next to a car after multiple civilians, allegedly including children and infants, were killed by Hamas militants near Kfar Aza kibbutz. In the wake of the attacks, which targeted many other towns and rural settlements, numerous Israelis had been adducted, taken hostage by the militants.

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Israeli towns and cities targeted -

Hundreds of rockets, meanwhile, found their target in cities such as Ashkelon, in southern Israel. In fact, Ashkelon was a main target of Hamas missile barrages.

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Gunfights and rocket attacks -

Advancing Hamas gunmen attacked the southern Israeli city of Sderot, gunning down residents and members of the local police force. Buildings and vehicles were also targeted.

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Widespread death and destruction -

Here, Israeli security forces check the scene of a rocket attack from the Gaza Strip that targeted the historic port city of Jaffa.

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Hostages taken -

The atrocities of October 7 left at least 1,400 people dead. Around 250 Israelis were abducted. In this image, pictures of over 1,000 persons abducted, missing, or killed in the Hamas attack are displayed on empty seats in the Smolarz Auditorium at Tel Aviv University in late October 2023.

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Retaliation -

In the immediate aftermath of the October 7 Hamas attack, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) began its campaign of retaliation, bombarding Gaza with airstrikes.

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Gaza Strip bombed -

Pictured: a Palestinian resident walks near the rubble of residential buildings after Israeli airstrikes hit the al-Zahra neighborhood in the Gaza Strip.

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Retaliatory attacks continue -

Smoke and flames rise as a result of Israeli illumination flare attacks on Al-Shati refugee camp in the Gaza Strip.

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Casualty numbers overwhelming -

The bombardment of Gaza continued. A number of hospitals were hit, with medical staff overwhelmed by the number of casualties. In this photograph, a Palestinian paramedic sheds tears outside Al-Shifa hospital. By mid-November Al-Shifa was completely encircled by the IDF, amid claims that Hamas maintained a command center inside and under the hospital.

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A warning from the air -

On October 13, 2023, the Israeli military dropped flyers over Gaza City, warning residents to flee "immediately" to the south. A map featured on the flyers showed an arrow pointing south across a line in the central Gaza Strip. The message signed by the Israeli military ordered residents to "evacuate public shelters in Gaza City."

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Large areas of Gaza destroyed -

Palestinians check the destruction in the aftermath of an Israeli strike the previous night in the Jabalia camp for Palestinian refugees in the Gaza Strip, on November 1, 2023.

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Building up -

By the second week of October, Israel had deployed tanks and armored vehicles along the border with the Gaza Strip with the aim of dismantling the Hamas military system in the northern Gaza Strip.

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Armed incursion -

Throughout October, the IDF continued to gather strength. Here, tanks maneuver near Zikim kibbutz in southern Israel.

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Devastating effects of war -

An Israeli soldier rests his head on the gun barrel of a self-propelled artillery howitzer as Israeli soldiers take positions near the border with Gaza in southern Israel. Israeli security personnel numbered many among the victims of the October 7 attacks and subsequent firefights with Hamas militants.

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Threat of war escalating -

The Israel-Hamas War threatened to escalate after Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and militant group Hezbollah intervened in the conflict. Here, smoke is seen rising following Israeli artillery shelling on the outskirts of the village of Kfarshuba, along Lebanon's southern border with northern Israel on November 16, 2023.

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Fleeing south -

As fighting continued in northern Gaza, Palestinian citizens—effectively refugees—displaced from Gaza City gathered in their hundreds on Salah al-Din Street in the Al-Mughraqa area to make their way south.

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"Bring Them Home" -

At the same time in Israel, thousands of people and families of kidnapped people held protests outside the Museum of Modern Art known as the 'The Hostages and Missing Square' in Tel Aviv demanding that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu secure the release of Israeli hostages. They used torch light from their mobile phones to dramatic effect.

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"Ceasefire Hostage Deal Now" -

Israeli citizens upped the ante by holding the Israeli government responsible for the kidnapping of their relatives held captive in the Gaza Strip by Hamas' Al-Qassam Brigades. They organized a demonstration with banners in front of the Israel ministry of defense building in Tel Aviv variously reading "Ceasefire Hostage Deal Now" and "Bring Them Home."

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Northern Gaza devastated -

By the middle of November, the IDF had completed its phased incursion into northern Gaza. Pictured is an Israeli flag flying over a destroyed building next to a mosque.

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Casualties of war -

The IDF operation was not without casualties. Here, relatives and friends of an Israeli army soldier mourn during his funeral at Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem.

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Humanitarian crisis -

In Gaza, thousands were dead. Israel had sealed off the Gaza Strip, leaving the entire population without fuel, water, or aid. A humanitarian crisis was unfolding, and the rest of the world was watching.

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The world reacts -

On October 28, hundreds of thousands rallied across cities in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia to show support for the Palestinians as Israel's military widened its air and ground offensive on the Gaza Strip. Pictured is the scene in London.

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Worldwide protest -

But there was also widespread support for Israel. Here, demonstrators gather on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. on November 14 to denounce anti-Semitism and call for the release of Israeli hostages.

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Aid finally arrives -

A temporary ceasefire took effect on November 24. Mediated by Qatar, the truce saw 50 Israeli hostages held in Gaza and 150 Palestinian prisoners in Israel released and more humanitarian aid allowed to enter Gaza. Pictured are Egyptian medics on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing standing by with incubators to receive premature Palestinian babies evacuated from Gaza.

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Medical supplies delivered -

Pictured: humanitarian aid trucks operated by the United Nations arrive at a storage facility in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip to deliver vital medical supplies.

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Ceasefire agreed -

The ceasefire was extended, during which Hamas released more Israeli hostages. Here, former captives are seen arriving at an army base in Ofakim in southern Israel.

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Fragile truce -

As per the agreement, Israel released Palestinian prisoners from jail. Pictured is a Red Cross bus carrying former inmates arriving in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank.

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The conflict continues -

According to Al Jazeera, as of November 24, the Palestinian death toll from Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip has soared to 14,854. Seen here is the Jewish settlement of Halamish pictured behind a Palestinian flag. The uneasy truce remains in place, for now. But the Israel-Hamas War is far from over, with no end in sight to resolving a decades-old conflict.

Sources: (ABC News) (The Guardian) (Associated Press) (Carnegie Endowment For International Peace) (Reuters) (Al Jazeera) 

See also: The Israel-Hamas War: the origins behind the current attacks

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