October 7 Attacks

Hamas — whose full Arabic name, Harakat al-Muqawamah al-Islamiyya, translates as "the Islamic Resistance Movement" — had controlled the Gaza Strip for approximately 16 years before the attack.[7][8] Iran had provided Hamas with funding, weapons, training, and political support for decades.[9] The October 7 assault was unprecedented in its scope and lethality during Hamas's rule in Gaza.[8]

The attack occurred on a Saturday morning — the Jewish Sabbath — that also coincided with Simchat Torah.[1] It came just over 50 years after the surprise attack that began the 1973 Yom Kippur War, which was launched on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar.[7]

The U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence assessed in February 2024 that Iranian leaders did not orchestrate or have foreknowledge of the specific October 7 operation. U.S. and Israeli officials distinguished Iran's longstanding material support for Hamas from direct planning or execution of the attack.[9] Iran's decades of support nonetheless formed part of the wider regional context.

Hamas named the operation "Al-Aqsa Flood." It began at approximately 6:00 a.m. on October 7, 2023, with a rocket barrage and ground, sea, and air infiltration across the Gaza-Israel border.[3] More than 3,000 rockets were fired in the opening barrage, and more than 4,300 had been fired by the end of the day.[3][10] Hamas, other Gaza-based terrorist groups, and Hezbollah fired an estimated 6,000 rockets at Israel between October 7 and October 16.[7]

A later IDF investigation estimated that approximately 6,000 people entered Israel through 119 breaches in the border fence, including approximately 3,800 identified members of Hamas's Nukhba strike forces and another 2,200 Palestinian participants, including terrorists and looters.[3] A separate IDF-based account estimated that 5,400–5,600 Hamas invaders crossed at 114 locations.[11] Earlier estimates had placed the number of attackers at approximately 3,000 to 3,500.[3][2]

The later IDF investigation documented three principal waves. Between 6:29 and 7:00 a.m., approximately 1,175 Hamas invaders entered Israel while 1,406 rockets were fired. Between 7:00 and 9:00 a.m., another 660 entered while 937 rockets were fired. Between 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., a further 435 entered while 1,084 more rockets were fired.[11] These figures excluded many non-Hamas participants who entered in a less organized manner.[11]

The attackers used personnel-capable gliders, machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades, hand grenades, explosives, trucks, motorcycles, bicycles, and other equipment.[10][12] They targeted military bases, civilian communities, roads, and observation infrastructure along the Gaza-Israel line of control.[10]

The first wave targeted IDF positions, the Gaza Division Forward Headquarters at Re'im, a Unit 8200 base, and the Sderot police station.[11] Hamas forces began moving hostages into Gaza by approximately 8:00 a.m. Israeli forces began blocking further advances between 11:00 and 11:30 a.m.; by approximately 1:00 p.m., most Hamas forces had retreated, although about 1,000 attackers remained at 27 locations in Israel.[11] Israeli forces continued clearing localized cells through October 12, and operational control of the border area was restored on the night of October 9.[3][11]

The attack struck 22 Israeli civilian communities near the Gaza border, approximately a dozen IDF bases and posts, and the Nova music festival near Kibbutz Re'im.[1] An Israeli government report described unprecedented damage to civilian homes and infrastructure, including the destruction of entire communities.[2]

Among the hardest-hit kibbutzim, Be'eri suffered 134 people killed and 33 hostages taken; Kfar Aza had 64 residents killed and 19 taken hostage; and Nir Oz had 31 residents killed and 86 taken hostage.[11] Hamas also attacked the Sderot police station during the initial wave.[11] Reported violence across the attacked communities included shooting, mutilation, burning, torture, rape, decapitation, and dismemberment.[1] The Israeli government reported that civilians, including infants, were burned alive beyond recognition and cited graphic evidence, firsthand testimony, and the UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict's report.[2]

Thousands of civilians had gathered at the Nova music festival near Re'im when sirens sounded. Many attempted to flee as hundreds of attackers converged on the area. The Israeli government reported that 364 civilians were killed there.[13] An earlier account had cited at least 260 deaths, illustrating how site-specific totals changed as identification progressed.[3] A later IDF-based account reported 364 civilians killed and 44 hostages taken at the festival.[11]

Bedouin driver Youssef Ziadna reportedly returned to the festival area under fire and rescued approximately 30 people. He later said, "I said no way, I will throw myself at death if it means I can save lives."[3] The victims came from diverse backgrounds, including Jews, Muslims, Arabs, Bedouin, Druze, and people of at least 33 nationalities. They included migrant workers, agricultural students, interns, construction workers, and caregivers.[1][10]

The attack killed approximately 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals, most of them civilians. At least 843 victims were civilians, more than 5,400 Israelis and foreigners were injured, and the dead included at least 42 U.S. citizens and 36 children.[10] The Israeli government reported that 43 children and youths under 18 were murdered, consisting of 25 boys and 18 girls. It also reported that 221 children and youths lost one parent and 17 lost both parents on October 7.[2]

Totals changed as victims were identified and early figures were reassessed. Academic reports published closer to the attack cited more than 1,300 or more than 1,400 deaths, while later official accounts generally reported approximately 1,200.[14][15] Injury figures also varied: the U.S. Department of State reported more than 5,400 injured, while a Jerusalem Center for Foreign and Security Affairs account gave a figure of 6,900.[10][12]

More than 1,500 Gazan terrorists were killed during fighting in Israel, and 149 additional Gazans were arrested.[11] During the first 24 hours, 1,457 casualties were evacuated to hospitals. Soroka University Medical Center received 673 injured people, reaching a peak arrival rate of 83 per hour.[14] Their mean age was 29.6 years, gunshot and shrapnel wounds predominated, and the mortality rate among those admitted alive was 2.9 percent.[14]

As of June 27, 2024, approximately 130,000 residents of southern and northern Israeli towns remained displaced from their homes because of the attack and subsequent conflict.[2]

Hamas and other terrorist organizations took 251 Israelis and foreign nationals hostage into Gaza.[2] Hostages were abducted from civilian communities, the Nova festival, and army bases.[10] They included 159 males and 92 females, among them 32 infants, children, and youths — 13 boys and 19 girls between nine months and 18 years old at the time of capture. Ninety-seven children and youths had one or both parents taken hostage.[2] A medical case study reported that 13 percent of those abducted were over 65 and that one-third of this older group were octogenarians.[16] An Israeli government press kit stated that Hamas did not permit the Red Cross to visit the remaining hostages.[13]

The Jerusalem Center for Foreign and Security Affairs described the hostages as leverage against Israel and reported that most were taken alive, although some were already dead when brought into Gaza.[12] During an operational pause from November 24 through December 1, 2023, 110 hostages were released.[13] At the end of 2023, 136 Israelis and foreigners remained held in Gaza, including 132 people abducted on October 7 and four hostages held there before that date.[10]

The first four hostages released through Qatari mediation were Judith Raanan and Natalie Raanan on October 20, 2023, and Yocheved Lifshitz and Nurit Cooper on October 23. On October 30, Israeli soldier Ori Megidish was rescued by the IDF in the first successful hostage rescue of the war.[1] As of July 30, 2024, 115 hostages remained in Gaza, including the children Ariel and Kfir Bibas.[2] An October 2024 USHMM statement reported that 35 hostages were known to have been killed and 101 remained unaccounted for, including seven Americans.[4]

The U.S. Department of State reported that some human-rights organizations and the Israeli government described the October 7 attacks as war crimes and crimes against humanity.[10] It also reported evidence from Israeli authorities, civil-society organizations, survivors, eyewitnesses, medical personnel, search-and-rescue workers, and videos indicating sexual assault, rape, gang rape, mutilation, and other conflict-related sexual violence. Reported locations included private homes, the Nova festival, roadsides, and a military base, while evidence collection and investigation continued.[10]

The Israeli government cited graphic evidence, firsthand testimony, and the report of the UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict as documenting rape, sexual and gender-based violence, extreme degradation, torture, and hostage-taking.[2] It also reported that civilians, including infants, were burned alive beyond recognition.[2] Other reported victims included elderly people, people with disabilities, and Holocaust survivors taken hostage.[1][2]

The Israeli government formally declared war on Hamas on October 8.[6] Approximately 350,000 reservists were called up following the attack.[1] Israeli forces also continued operations against terrorists who remained inside Israel after the initial assault.[3][11]

Israel launched a counteroffensive against Hamas targets in northern Gaza, initially by air, and began a ground operation on October 27, 2023.[1] The government's stated objectives were the safe return of all hostages and the degradation or destruction of Hamas so that it could no longer threaten Israelis.[1] A government press kit reported more than 14,000 rockets launched into Israel since October 7 and more than 12,000 rockets and mortars fired at Israeli cities, towns, and kibbutzim during the conflict.[13]

As of June 27, 2024, approximately 130,000 residents of southern and northern Israeli towns remained displaced, while a Knesset Research and Information Center update cited approximately 143,000 people as eligible for evacuation.[2] Entire communities had been destroyed or rendered uninhabitable, leaving bereaved and hostage families to cope simultaneously with displacement.[2]

The attack took Israel by surprise and exposed serious failures in its security and intelligence systems.[1] Former intelligence officer Yossi Alpher said, "It took troops more than half a day to enter the kibbutzim and the town of Sderot. The army completely failed as a quick-reaction force."[3]

A preliminary assessment by the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point concluded that the failure to anticipate the attack likely resulted from an accumulation of problems rather than one isolated error.[17] It examined political assessments, intelligence collection and analysis, the dissemination of warnings, and senior decision-making. Factors discussed included underestimation of Hamas's capabilities and intentions, overreliance on technological superiority, cognitive biases, bureaucratic deficiencies, and failures to interpret warning signals.[17]

A UK parliamentary commission summarized by CAMERA UK sought to create an independent chronological record of the attack amid misinformation and disputes over the historical record.[18] The inquiry drew on survivor testimony, eyewitness statements, and expert analysis and reported 1,182 deaths and more than 4,000 injuries.[18] Assessments of intelligence and policy failures remained subject to official investigations and competing interpretations when the cited sources were compiled.

The National Library of Israel established its "Bearing Witness: The October 7 Archive" to preserve the documentary record of the attack and subsequent war.[19] The archive reports approximately 44 terabytes of digital material harvested from about 1,500 internet addresses, including 266,185 videos, 1,440 personal testimonies, 1,430 books, and material associated with 112 institutional partners.[19] Its collection includes Arabic-language sources from the Palestinian Authority territories, Gaza, and the broader Middle East.[19]

The library also began creating authority records for every person murdered or killed on October 7 and for relevant attack sites and combat zones.[19] Individual records may include names, dates of birth, family relationships, and causes of death, while place records include precise geographic data. The library described the project as both documentation of the events and preservation of victims' memories for future generations.[19]

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum characterized October 7 as the single deadliest attack on Jews since the Holocaust.[4] Jewish Policy Research described it as the deadliest and most violent attack against Jewish people since the Holocaust and, citing statistics attributed to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, as the third-deadliest terrorist attack worldwide since 1970.[5] The attack also prompted responses across Jewish communities worldwide and extensive examination of its effects on Jewish life and identity.[19][8]

Statistical claims changed as identification and investigation progressed. Earlier academic reports cited more than 1,300 or more than 1,400 deaths, whereas later official accounts generally reported approximately 1,200.[14][15] Estimates of entrants likewise ranged from approximately 3,500 in an Israeli government report to approximately 6,000 in a later IDF investigation.[3][2] Hostage totals included 251 in the later Israeli count and 253 in the 2023 U.S. State Department report.[2][10]

Legal and evidentiary descriptions should also be read with their stated qualifications. The State Department reported that some organizations and the Israeli government described the attacks as war crimes and crimes against humanity, but these descriptions were not final judicial rulings.[10] Its discussion of sexual violence noted that evidence collection and investigations were continuing.[10]