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| 7 October attacks | |||||||
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| Part of the Israel–Hamas war | |||||||
.jpg) Satellite view of widespread fires in Israel around the Gaza Strip on 7 October 2023[6] | |||||||
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 Hamas[1] |
 Israel[1] | ||||||
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Yahya Sinwar[a] Mohammed Deif[a] |
Benjamin Netanyahu | ||||||
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Israeli Defence Forces | ||||||
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On 7 October 2023, Hamas and several other Palestinian militant groups launched coordinated armed incursions from the Gaza Strip into the Gaza envelope of southern Israel, the first invasion of Israeli territory since the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups named the attacks Operation Al-Aqsa Flood (or Deluge; Arabic: عملية طوفان الأقصى, romanized: ʿamaliyyat ṭūfān al-ʾAqṣā, usually romanized as "Tufan Al-Aqsa" or "Toofan Al-Aqsa"),[1] while in Israel they are referred to as Black Saturday (Hebrew: השבת השחורה)[25] or the Simchat Torah Massacre (הטבח בשמחת תורה),[26] and internationally as the 7 October attacks.[27][28][29] The attacks initiated the ongoing Israel–Hamas war.
The attacks began early on 7 October with a barrage of at least 3,000 rockets launched against Israel and vehicle-transported and powered paraglider incursions into Israel.[30][31] Hamas fighters breached the Gaza–Israel barrier, attacking military bases and massacring civilians in 21 communities, including Be'eri, Kfar Aza, Nir Oz, Netiv Haasara, and Alumim. 364 civilians were killed and many more wounded while attending the Nova music festival.[32][33] The IDF estimated that about 3,000 militants invaded southern Israel, with additional waves of Gaza citizens entering through the breached fences later in the day.[34] In total the attackers killed 1,139 people:[f] 695 Israeli civilians (including 38 children),[39] 71 foreign nationals, and 373 members of the security forces.[g][40] About 250 Israeli civilians and soldiers were taken as hostages to the Gaza Strip, including 30 children, with the stated goal to force Israel to exchange them for imprisoned Palestinians, including women and children.[41][42][43][44] Many cases of rape and sexual assault reportedly occurred, but Hamas officials denied the involvement of their fighters.[45][46][47][48]
Hamas said its attack was in response to the continued Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories, the blockade of the Gaza Strip, the expansion of illegal Israeli settlements, rising Israeli settler violence, and recent escalations.[49][50][51]
At least 44 countries denounced the attack as terrorism, while some Arab and Muslim countries blamed Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories as the root cause of the attack.[52][53][54] The day was labeled the bloodiest in Israel's history and the deadliest for Jews since the Holocaust.[55][56][57][58] Some have called the attack a genocidal massacre against Israelis.[59][60][61]
Background
Israel has occupied the Palestinian territories, including the Gaza Strip, since the Six-Day War in 1967.[h][64][65]
Hamas, a Palestinian Islamist movement formed in 1987, is the main Islamist movement in the Palestinian territories.[66] It maintains an uncompromising stance on the "complete liberation of Palestine", often using political violence to achieve its goals.[66] Recent statements suggest a shift in focus toward ending the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories and establishing a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders. Hamas has been responsible for numerous suicide bombings[67][68] and rocket attacks targeting Israeli civilians.[69] Australia, Canada, the EU, Japan, New Zealand, and the UK have designated Hamas a "terrorist organisation". In 2010 it attempted to derail the peace talks between Israel and the PA. In 2017, it adopted a new charter, removing antisemitic language and shifting focus from Jews to Zionists.[70][71][72][73] Scholars differ on Hamas's objectives, with some saying it seeks a Palestinian state within 1967 borders[74] while others believe Hamas still seeks the destruction of Israel.[75][i]
Before the attack, Saudi Arabia warned Israel of an "explosion" as a result of the continued occupation,[76] Egypt had warned of a catastrophe unless there was political progress,[77] and Palestinian Authority officials gave similar warnings.[77] Less than two months before the attacks, King Abdullah II of Jordan lamented that Palestinians had "no civil rights; no freedom of mobility".[77]
Events leading to the attack
Over the course of 2023, there were clashes between Israel and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in May 2023, increased settler attacks had displaced hundreds of Palestinians, and clashes around the Al-Aqsa Mosque, a contested holy site in Jerusalem.[78]
Tensions between Israel and Hamas rose in September 2023, and The Washington Post wrote that the two were "on the brink of war".[79] On 13 September, five Palestinians were killed at the border.[j] Israel said it found explosives hidden in a shipment and halted all exports from Gaza;[79] Hamas denied this.[81] Reuters quoted Palestinians who said that the several-day ban affected thousands of families.[81] In response to the ban, Hamas put its forces on high alert and conducted military exercises with other groups, including openly practicing storming Israeli settlements.[79] Hamas also allowed Palestinians to resume protests at the Gaza–Israel barrier.[79] On 29 September, Qatar, the UN, and Egypt mediated an agreement between Israel and Hamas officials in the Gaza Strip to reopen closed crossing points and deescalate tensions;[82] the total number of Gazans with work permits in Israel stood at 17,000.[83]
Egypt said it warned Israel days before the attack that "an explosion of the situation coming, and very soon, and it would be big."[84] Israel denied receiving such a warning,[85] although Michael McCaul, Chairman of the US House Foreign Relations Committee, said that warnings were given three days before the attack.[86]
Operational planning
For two years, Hamas used hardwired phone lines within Gaza's tunnel network, nicknamed the "Gaza metro", to covertly communicate, evade Israeli intelligence, and plan Operation Al-Aqsa Flood. The specific plans were disclosed only shortly before the operation, catching intelligence agencies off guard and enabling a surprise attack.[87]
In the months preceding the attack, Hamas publicly released videos of its militants preparing to attack Israel. A video released in December 2022 showed Hamas training to take hostages, while another video showed Hamas practicing paragliding.[88] On 12 September, Hamas posted a video of its fighters training to blast through the border.[89] After the attack, the IDF said that Hamas had extensively studied the military bases and settlements near the border.[90][91]
The Wall Street Journal has accused Iran of being behind the attack.[92] U.S. officials[93] and Iran have denied this.[94]
The IDF has reported seizing over 10,000 weapons following the attack. The arsenal included RPGs, mines, sniper rifles, drones, thermobaric rockets, and other advanced weapons. According to Israeli sources, documents and maps seized from Hamas militants indicated that Hamas intended a coordinated, month-long operation to invade and occupy Israeli towns, cities, and kibbutzim, including attacking Ashkelon by sea and reaching Kiryat Gat, 20 miles into Israel. The scale of weapons, supplies, and plans indicated, according to Israel, that Hamas intended to inflict mass casualties on Israeli civilians and military forces over an extended period.[95][96] Western and Middle Eastern security officials gathered evidence suggesting that Hamas intended to invade as far as the West Bank, had the initial attack been more successful.[97]
Israeli intelligence failure
According to The New York Times, Israeli officials had obtained detailed attack plans more than a year before the attack. The document described operational plans and targets, including the size and location of Israeli forces, and raised questions in Israel about how Hamas learned these details. The document provided a plan that included a large-scale rocket assault before an invasion, drones to knock out the surveillance cameras and automated guns that Israel has stationed along the border, and gunmen invading Israel, including with paragliders. The Times reported, "Hamas followed the blueprint with shocking precision." According to The Times, the document was widely circulated among Israeli military and intelligence leadership, who largely dismissed the plan as beyond Hamas's capabilities, though it was unclear whether the political leadership was informed. In July 2023, a member of the Israeli signals intelligence unit alerted her superiors that Hamas was conducting preparations for the assault, saying, "I utterly refute that the scenario is imaginary". An Israeli colonel ignored her concerns.[98]
According to Haaretz, Israel's domestic intelligence agency, Shin Bet, and IDF military commanders discussed a possible threat to the Nova music festival near kibbutz Re'im just hours before the attack, but the festival's organizers were not warned.[99][100]
According to a BBC investigation, surveillance reports suggested that Hamas was planning a significant operation against Israel, but senior IDF officers repeatedly ignored the warnings.[101]
A Ha'aretz investigation found that incompetence in the IDF's higher ranks, including refusal to acknowledge Hamas's preparations for the attacks, was a major cause of the October attacks. The IDF had reduced funding and manpower dedicated to observing Hamas, focusing primarily on rocket sites and ignoring Hamas training and troop movements as well as the activities of the Hamas military leadership. Simulated exercises of Hamas attacks found the Gaza division's response lacking. Cultural conformity was fostered among officers and dissent discouraged. Officers often silenced subordinates to maintain their positions, contributing to a toxic atmosphere where questioning higher-ups' decisions about Hamas was met with apprehension, resulting in most junior officers giving up.[102]
Attacks
At around 6:30 a.m. Israel Summer Time (UTC+3) on Saturday, 7 October 2023, Hamas announced the start of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood.[103] Qassam commander Mohammed Deif gave a speech mentioning Israel’s 16-year blockade of Gaza, Israeli incursions in West Bank cities, violence at Al-Aqsa mosque, Israeli settler violence with the army’s support, the confiscation of property and demolition of homes, arbitrarily detaining Palestinians for years until “they wither from cancer and disease”, Israel’s neglect for international law, American-Western support, and international silence. He then described the operation, that they had drawn the line, and that it was to end “the last occupation on Earth”.[104][103] Shortly thereafter, Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh made a similar announcement in a televised address.[105]
Rocket fire
Deif said more than 5,000 rockets had been fired from the Gaza Strip into Israel in a span of 20 minutes at the start of the operation. Israeli sources reported the launch of 3,000 projectiles from Gaza, killing five.[31][107][43][108] Explosions were reported in areas surrounding Gaza and in the Sharon Plain, including Gedera, Herzliyya,[6] Tel Aviv, and Ashkelon.[108] Air raid sirens were activated in Beer Sheva, Jerusalem, Rehovot, Rishon Lezion, and Palmachim Airbase.[109][110][111] Hamas issued a call to arms, with Deif calling on "Muslims everywhere to launch an attack".[43]
Palestinian militants also opened fire on Israeli boats off the Gaza Strip, while clashes broke out between Palestinians and the Israel Defense Forces in the eastern section of the Gaza perimeter fence.[109] In the evening Hamas launched another barrage of about 150 rockets towards Israel, with explosions reported in Yavne, Givatayim, Bat Yam, Beit Dagan, Tel Aviv, and Rishon Lezion.[107]
Incursions into Southern Israel
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Simultaneously, around 2,900[112] Palestinian militants infiltrated Israel from Gaza using trucks, pickup trucks, motorcycles, bulldozers, speedboats, and powered paragliders.[113][103][114]
The Sderot police station was reported to have come under Hamas control, with militants killing 30 Israelis, including policemen and civilians.[109][115] Early in the attack they deliberately destroyed the computer systems at the police station. This disabled communication and delayed the response to the attacks.[116][117][118]
Images and videos appeared to show heavily armed and masked militants dressed in black fatigues riding pickup trucks[108][111] and opening fire in Sderot, killing dozens of Israeli civilians and soldiers and setting homes on fire.[119] Other videos appeared to show Israelis taken prisoner, a burning Israeli tank,[120][43] and militants driving Israeli military vehicles.[108] Israeli first responders reportedly recovered documents from killed militants' bodies with instructions to attack civilians, including elementary schools and a youth center, to "kill as many people as possible", and to take hostages for use in future negotiations.[121][90][122][123] Some of the militants wore body cameras to record the acts, presumably for propaganda purposes.[124] According to reports, some militants used Captagon during the attacks—a stimulant produced in Syria and used throughout the Middle East.[125][126][127]
The morning of the attack, an Israeli military spokesman said that the militants from Gaza had entered Israel through at least seven locations[113] and invaded four small rural Israeli communities, the border city of Sderot, and two military bases from both land and sea.[114] Israeli media reported that seven communities came under Hamas control, including Nahal Oz, Kfar Aza, Magen, Be'eri, and Sufa.[128] The Erez Crossing was reported to have come under Hamas control, enabling militants to enter Israel from Gaza.[107] Israeli Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai said there were 21 active high-confrontation locations in southern Israel.[129]
The New York Times reported that an Israeli intelligence document prepared weeks after the attack found that Hamas had breached the border fence in over 30 separate locations.[130]
Starting at 6.30 a.m. the same day, a massacre unfolded at an outdoor music festival near Re'im, resulting in at least 360 dead and many others missing. Witnesses recounted militants on motorcycles opening fire on fleeing participants, who were already dispersing due to rocket fire that had wounded some attendees; some were also taken hostage.[131][132][133] Militants killed civilians at Nir Oz,[111][134] Be'eri, and Netiv HaAsara, where they took hostages[135][136] and set fire to homes,[6] as well as in kibbutzim around the Gaza Strip.[6] Around 50 civilians were killed in the Kfar Aza massacre, 108 in the Be'eri massacre, and 15 people in the Netiv HaAsara massacre.[137][138] Militants killed 16 or 17 Thai and Nepalese employees during the Kibbutz Alumim massacre.[139][140]
Other Hamas militants carried out an amphibious landing in Zikim.[108][141] Palestinian sources claim that the local Israeli army base was stormed.[142] The IDF said it had killed two attackers on the beach and destroyed four vessels, including two rubber boats. Militants also attacked a military base outside Nahal Oz, leaving at least 18 dead and taking seven hostage.[143][144] An IDF fire investigation found that the militants had "ignited substances... that contain toxic gasses which can cause suffocation within minutes, or even less" both at the base and in civilian locations.[144]
According to a December 2023 Ynet article, there was also an "immense and complex quantity" of friendly-fire incidents during the 7 October attack that "it would not be morally sound to investigate" given their number and the challenges soldiers were facing at the time.[35][36] In January 2024, an investigation by Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth concluded that the IDF had in practice applied the Hannibal Directive, ordering all combat units to stop "at all costs" any attempt by Hamas militants to return to Gaza, even if there were hostages with them.[38][37] It is unclear how many hostages were killed by friendly fire as a result of the order.[38][37] According to Yedioth Ahronoth, around 70 burnt-out vehicles on roads leading to Gaza had been fired on by helicopters or tanks, killing all occupants in at least some cases.[38][37]
Re'im music festival massacre
As part of the Hamas-led attack, 364 civilians were killed and many more wounded at the Supernova Sukkot Gathering, an open-air music festival celebrating the Jewish holiday of Sukkot near kibbutz Re'im. At least 40 hostages were also taken.[145][146][147][148][149] This mass killing had the largest number of casualties out of a number of massacres targeting Israeli civilians in settlements adjacent to Gaza that were part of the 7 October invasion, alongside those at the settlements of Netiv HaAsara, Be'eri, Kfar Aza, Nir Oz, and Holit.[150]
At 6:30 am, around sunrise, rockets were noticed in the sky. Around 7:00 am, a siren warned of an incoming rocket attack, prompting festival-goers to flee.[151] Subsequently, armed militants, dressed in military attire and using motorcycles, trucks and powered paragliders, surrounded the festival grounds and indiscriminately fired on people attempting to escape. Attendees seeking refuge nearby, in bomb shelters, bushes, and orchards, were killed while in hiding. Those who reached the road and parking lot were trapped in a traffic jam as militants fired at vehicles. The militants executed some wounded people at point-blank range as they crouched on the ground.[152][153]
The details of the hostages' whereabouts and conditions are not publicly known.[148][149][154] The massacre at the festival has been described as the largest terror attack in Israel's history[155][156][153] and the worst Israeli civilian massacre ever.[157]
Kfar Aza massacre
During the Hamas-led attack, around 70 Hamas militants attacked Kfar Aza, a kibbutz about 3 kilometers (1.9 mi) from the border with the Gaza Strip, massacring residents and abducting several hostages.
The kibbutz had more than 700 residents, and it took the IDF two days to wrest back full control of it.[158][159] While the exact number of Israelis killed is unknown, as of 15 October, 52 were listed as dead and another 20 or more were missing.[160][161]
Be'eri massacre
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On the morning of the attack, around 70 Hamas militants[162][163] carried out a massacre at Be'eri, an Israeli kibbutz near the Gaza Strip. At least 130 people were killed in the attack,[6] including women (such as peace activist Vivian Silver),[164] children, and infants,[165] claiming the lives of 10% of the community's residents. Dozens of homes were also burned down.[166] Several newspapers called the massacre an act of terrorism; some compared the brutality of the atrocities to that of ISIS.[167][168][169][170] Hostages were taken, leading to a standoff with the IDF.[171][172][173] According to survivors, there were also deaths from friendly fire; an Israeli tank fired on a house known to contain around 40 Hamas fighters and 14 hostages, among them two children, killing all hostages in the house but one.[174]
Rahat incursion
A number of Qassam brigades militants infiltrated the Bedouin city of Rahat 30 kilometres from Gaza, representing the furthest extent of the incursions by Palestinian militant groups on October 7. Over a month after the initial attack, two militants were arrested by Israeli police.[175]
Moshav Yakhini
A squad of Hamas militants that arrived in a van attacked the moshav of Yakhini.[176][177][178] There were seven casualties in the moshav,[176][179][180] including a border police officer.[181][182] An IDF major in the Maglan unit was also injured.[183] The community leader's was on holiday in Thailand at the time, and remotely directed the moshav's 18-person protection team's response.[176] YAMAM and Sayeret Matkal IDF units eventually arrived and killed all the attackers.[176]
Ein HaShlosha kibbutz
Approximately 90 militants infiltrated kibbutz Ein HaShlosha, killing four civilians, looting, shooting, and burning houses.[184][185] An 80-year-old Argentinian woman died after her home was set on fire and she was unable to escape.[186] A standoff between the attackers and the residents' security team lasted six hours.[187] The leader of the security team, who was in his sixties, was killed in the firefight.[187] A 63-year-old grandmother was also among those killed in the attack.[188] A 39-year-old Israeli-Chilean woman was shot eight times.[189]
Thirty survivors were discovered in the kibbutz three days after the massacre,[190] 14 of whom were Thai nationals.[191]
Psyduck music festival massacre
Psyduck was a small trance music festival that took place in the open fields near kibbutz Nir Oz, about 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) from the border of Gaza. The event drew around 100 participants. Hamas militants attacked the festival, killing 17 Israelis. Some were fatally shot at the festival site, while others were killed as they attempted to escape to nearby kibbutzim. Most survivors hid under small bushes until Israel Defense Forces rescued them a few hours later.[192]
Attack on Re'im military base
At 10 a.m., less than five hours after the attacks began, fighting was reported at Re'im military base, headquarters of the Gaza Division.[193][194] It was later reported that Hamas took control of the base and took several Israeli soldiers captive[193] before the IDF regained control later in the day.[195][196] The base was reportedly the location of IDF drone and surveillance operations. Hamas reportedly posted video of dead Israeli soldiers it had killed at the base.[197]
Attack on kibbutz Nir Am
Nir Am was attacked but no residents were harmed. Inbal Rabin-Lieberman, the 25-year-old security coordinator, alongside her uncle Ami, led a guard detail that killed multiple militants attempting to infiltrate a nearby chicken farm. They successfully deterred the rest of the invading militants from entering the community.[198][199][200]
Participating and supporting organizations
In addition to Hamas, several Palestinian militant groups voiced support for the operation and participated in it to some extent. The National Resistance Brigades, the armed wing of the Maoist Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), confirmed their participation in the operation through their military spokesman Abu Khaled,[201] saying it had lost three fighters in combat with the IDF.[202] The PFLP (a Palestinian Marxist–Leninist / Secular Nationalist political party)[203] and the Lions' Den group (a nonpartisan militant group based in the West Bank) voiced support for the operation and declared maximum alertness and general mobilization among their troops. The Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, the PFLP's armed wing, published videos of two of their militants storming Israeli watchtowers.[203][failed verification]
Hostages taken
Soon after the start of the Hamas operation, there were reports that many civilians and soldiers had been taken as captives back to the Gaza Strip. Later in the day Hamas announced it had captured enough Israeli soldiers to force a prisoner swap,[204] and Israel confirmed hostages had been taken.[205]
In Be'eri, up to 50 people were taken hostage; after an 18-hour standoff between militants and IDF forces, they were freed.[206] Hostages were also reported taken in Ofakim, where policemen led by Chief Superintendent Jayar Davidov engaged Palestinian militants in a shootout; Davidov and three of his men were killed, and the IDF later rescued two Israeli hostages in the suburb of Urim.[206] There were reports of militants killing and stealing family pets.[207]
Hamas took many hostages back to Gaza. On 16 October, they said they were holding 250 hostages[208] and that it had done so to force Israel to release its Palestinian prisoners.[209] In addition to hostages with only Israeli citizenship, almost half of the hostages were foreign nationals or held multiple citizenships.[210] Some hostages were Negev Bedouins.[211] Some of the hostages, including three members of the Bibas family, were subsequently handed over to other militant groups. Palestinian Islamic Jihad ended up holding at least 30 of the hostages, but it is unclear whether they or Hamas originally kidnapped them.
According to Ariel Merari, the raiders "were ordered to kidnap as many as possible... they intentionally kidnapped a populace that is sensitive from the aspect of Israeli public opinion".[212] Merari doubts that Hamas will agree to releasing all of the hostages in "one go" regardless of how many of its prisoners are released, since the hostages are its only guarantee against complete destruction at Israel's hands.[212] He believes Hamas will try to force a ceasefire and protract the release for weeks or months, until an Israeli offensive is no longer seen as viable.[212]
Failed plans
A Hamas group carried intelligence information and maps guiding it to the border of the West Bank.[213] Shikma Prison was among Hamas's targets, but the group that headed there with the aim to free Palestinian inmates could not find it.[214]
Contrasting stories about the event
The attacks on 7 October included both civilian and military targets. The film Bearing Witness depicts civilian and military casualties. Hamas's propaganda videos posted to Al-Qassam Brigades' Telegram channel and website depict the operation as primarily, or solely, focused on the destruction of the border fence and other military targets.[215] In the months leading up to 7 October, Al-Qassam posted video of themselves and some of their allies training for the attacks against military and ambiguous targets.[216]