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. It began on 7 October 2023, when Hamas led an attack on Israel that killed 1,195 Israelis and foreign nationals and took 251 hostages. The Israeli offensive that followed has killed over 74,000 Palestinians in Gaza according to reported figures, which several studies in The Lancet consider a significant undercount. Many scholarly sources and international organizations have concluded that Israel's actions in Gaza constitute genocide, a claim Israel and the United States deny.
Background to the conflict
The war grows out of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, which dates to the 1948 Palestine war, when more than 700,000 Palestinians fled or were expelled. After the 1967 Six-Day War, Israel occupied the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Since 2007, Hamas has governed Gaza, and Israel has imposed a blockade that severely damaged the territory's economy. Israel and Hamas and other militant groups fought several earlier wars in Gaza, in 2008–2009, 2012, 2014 and 2021, before the October 2023 attack.
Humanitarian impact
The war has caused severe humanitarian harm. A tightened blockade cut off basic necessities and led to a partial famine. Around 90% of Gaza's civilian infrastructure has been destroyed, including hospitals, schools and religious sites, and water, electricity and sanitation services have been badly disrupted. Nearly all of the strip's 2.3 million Palestinians have been forcibly displaced. Thousands of Palestinians have been detained by Israel, and the war is the deadliest for Palestinians in the broader conflict.