Palestinians look for survivors after an Israeli airstrike in Rafah refugee camp, southern Gaza Strip, on Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023.Hatem Ali/The Associated Press
Early in the morning of Oct. 7, the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas unleashed a barrage of rockets and militants from the Gaza Strip stormed into nearby Israeli towns in an unprecedented surprise attack. In response, Israel launched thousands of air strikes in Gaza, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calling for a “full siege” last Monday.
The Israeli government says around 1,200 Israelis have been killed, the vast majority of them civilians killed in the Hamas attack on Oct. 7. In the West Bank and Gaza, the small enclave of 2.3 million sealed off by an Israeli-Egyptian blockade since 2007, at least 11,000 Palestinians have been killed, about two-thirds of them women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not differentiate between civilian and militant deaths.
Six Canadians are confirmed to have been killed during the Oct. 7 attack and at least three are missing.
The attacks are the largest and deadliest incursion into Israel since the Yom Kippur War of 1973, when Egypt and Syria launched a sudden assault in an effort to reclaim lost territory.
Here’s what we know about how the attacks unfolded, Israel’s retaliation, the current hostage situation in Gaza and Hamas’s reason for the assault.
Israelis run to take cover as a siren sounds a warning of incoming rockets in Ashkelon, Israel.Tsafrir Abayov/The Associated Press
1 of 32
How did the attacks in Israel unfold?
At about 6.30 a.m. local time Saturday, Hamas fired thousands of rockets across southern Israel, striking targets as far away as Tel Aviv, Beersheba and the outskirts of Jerusalem. Hamas said it had fired 5,000 rockets in a first barrage. Israel’s military said 2,500 rockets were fired.
The barrage served as cover for a multi-pronged attack of Palestinian fighters crossing into Israel at around 7:40 a.m. local time, according to the Israeli military. The gunmen rampaged for hours, gunning down civilians in towns, along highways and at a music festival being held in the desert near Gaza, which was attended by thousands of young people. Around 260 bodies from the festival have been found, but the total figure is expected to be higher as paramedic teams work in the area.
Israeli festivalgoer rescued by father after hiding in bushes from Hamas gunmen
Thousands of Israelis were killed, and thousands more wounded. Hamas fighters entered as many as 22 locations outside the Gaza Strip, including towns and other communities as far as 24 kilometres from the Gaza border. The Israeli military has confirmed that a “substantial” number of Israelis were abducted during the initial attacks.
Most fighters breached land security barriers separating Gaza and Israel. But at least one was filmed crossing on a powered parachute, while a motorboat was filmed heading to Zikim, an Israeli coastal town and military base. Several captured Israeli military vehicles were later pictured being driven into Gaza and paraded there.
Israeli tanks and drones were deployed to guard breaches in the Gaza border fence to prevent new incursions.
Israel-Hamas war
As of Oct. 16
Rocket strikes by Hamas
Israeli air strikes
Military base
Closed bordercrossings
3
4
WEST
BANK
Tel Aviv
Jerusalem
DEAD
INJURED
Israel
Gaza
1,400
2,670
3,500
9,714
1,500 Hamas militants killed
in Israel Oct. 7–8
Closed
military
zone
Mediterranean
Sea
Ashkelon
Israeli-ordered
evacuation zone
Zikim
Evacuation routes
Sderot
Wadi Gaza
Kfar Aza
1
Refugee
camps
Nahal Oz
Be’eri
Rahat
Re’im
ISRAEL
GAZA
STRIP
Ofakim
Magen
2
Sufa
EGYPT
8 KM
1
Gaza: Reports of truce denied by Hamas and Israel. Israel says Hamas is not allowing people to evacuate.
Four hospitals no longer functioning, 21 told to evacuate – WHO says this may breach humanitarian law.
2
Rafah: Situation remains unclear at border crossing.
3
Israel: Israeli Defense Forces confirm Hamas holding 199 hostages in Gaza.
Twenty-eight communities within 2 km of Lebanese border to be evacuated as Hezbollah attacks escalate.
4
West Bank: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas says Hamas does "not represent the Palestinian people."
THE GLOBE AND MAIL, SOURCE: GRAPHIC
NEWS; OPENSTREETMAP; REUTERS
Israel-Hamas war
As of Oct. 16
Rocket strikes by Hamas
Israeli air strikes
Closed border crossings
Military base
3
4
WEST
BANK
Tel Aviv
Jerusalem
DEAD
INJURED
Israel
Gaza
1,400
2,670
3,500
9,714
1,500 Hamas militants killed
in Israel Oct. 7–8
Closed
military
zone
Mediterranean
Sea
Ashkelon
Zikim
Israeli-ordered
evacuation zone
Evacuation routes
Sderot
Wadi Gaza
Kfar Aza
1
Refugee
camps
Nahal Oz
Be’eri
Rahat
Re’im
ISRAEL
Ofakim
GAZA
STRIP
Magen
2
Sufa
EGYPT
8 KM
1
Gaza: Reports of truce denied by Hamas and Israel. Israel says Hamas is not allowing people to evacuate.
Four hospitals no longer functioning, 21 told to evacuate – WHO says this may breach humanitarian law.
2
Rafah: Situation remains unclear at border crossing.
3
Israel: Israeli Defense Forces confirm Hamas holding 199 hostages in Gaza.
Twenty-eight communities within 2 km of Lebanese border to be evacuated as Hezbollah attacks escalate.
4
West Bank: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas says Hamas does "not represent the Palestinian people."
THE GLOBE AND MAIL, SOURCE: GRAPHIC NEWS;
OPENSTREETMAP; REUTERS
Israel-Hamas war
As of Oct. 16
Rocket strikes by Hamas
Israeli air strikes
Military base
Closed border crossings
3
Mediterranean
Sea
ISRAEL
Ashkelon
Closed military zone
4
Tel Aviv
WEST
BANK
Israeli-ordered
evacuation zone
Zikim
Jerusalem
Evacuation routes
Sderot
Kfar Aza
Wadi Gaza
1
Nahal Oz
Be’eri
Refugee
camps
Netivot
Rahat
Re’im
Kisufim
GAZA
STRIP
Ofakim
Magen
2
DEAD
INJURED
Sufa
1,400
2,670
3,500
9,714
Israel
Gaza
EGYPT
1,500 Hamas militants killed
in Israel Oct. 7–8
8 KM
1
3
Gaza: Reports of truce denied by Hamas and Israel. Israel says Hamas is not allowing people to evacuate.
Israel: Israeli Defense Forces confirm Hamas holding 199 hostages in Gaza.
Twenty-eight communities within 2 km of Lebanese border to be evacuated as Hezbollah attacks escalate.
Four hospitals no longer functioning, 21 told to evacuate – WHO says this may breach humanitarian law.
4
West Bank: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas says Hamas does "not represent the Palestinian people."
2
Rafah: Situation remains unclear at border crossing.
THE GLOBE AND MAIL, SOURCE: GRAPHIC NEWS; OPENSTREETMAP; REUTERS
How has Israel responded?
A missile explodes in Gaza City during an Israeli air strike on Oct. 8.MAHMUD HAMS/AFP/Getty Images
The Israeli military launched air strikes in Gaza on the morning of Oct. 7 and ordered a complete siege, vowing to “demolish” Hamas. Israel has told the entire population of northern Gaza, about 1.1 million people, including hospital staff and patients, to move to the southern half of the enclave as it prepares for an expected ground invasion.
The air strikes in Gaza have reportedly destroyed more than 22,000 residential buildings, forcing more than one million people to flee from their homes. Many have sought shelter in United Nations schools, while others are on the streets. Israel has blockaded Gaza since the Hamas attacks, preventing supplies of food, fuel, water and medicine from entering the territory. Convoys of humanitarian supplies from Egypt have been organized, but they have been blocked by Israeli air strikes on the Egyptian border crossing.
The air strikes, coupled with the blockades, have sparked growing international concern. The United Nations warned that Gazans will soon begin dying of severe dehydration if the blockade continues. Some are already forced to drink dirty water, increasing the risk of water-borne diseases, the UN said.
Gaza’s only power station shut down after it ran out of fuel. Hospitals are relying on backup generators, which have just days of fuel before they shut down as well.
In Gaza and the West Bank, thousands of Palestinians have been killed and nearly 10,000 people have been wounded.
How many Canadians have been killed or are missing?
Six Canadians are confirmed to have been killed during the Hamas attack on Saturday: Ben Mizrachi, a 22-year-old man from Vancouver, 33-year-old Alexandre Look of Montreal, 33-year-old Adi Vital-Kaploun and 22-year-old Shir Georgy. Global Affairs did not provide details of the fifth person who died or those who are missing, citing privacy reasons.
The exact number of Canadians missing is still unknown, though the federal government says it is aware of one unaccounted for. And it is not clear how many people are being held hostage in Gaza.
Among those missing is Vivian Silver, a 74-year-old peace activist and humanitarian who originally hails from Winnipeg.
The Canadians killed and missing during the Hamas attacks in Israel
What do we know about the current hostage situation?
Palestinians transport a reportedly captured Israeli, in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, on Oct. 7.-/AFP/Getty Images
Hamas said it abducted 100 people during the cross-border attack. Islamic Jihad, a separate militant formation that joined Hamas in the assault, said it is separately holding 30 hostages. The two groups said they would trade their hostages for the thousands of Palestinians being held in Israeli prisons.
Abu Obeida, a spokesman for the armed wing of Hamas, said in a statement that the group would start executing hostages if Israel didn’t halt its attacks on Gaza’s civilians. Earlier, Hamas said four of the Israelis it had taken hostage died because of the air strikes.
Qatari mediators have held urgent calls to try to negotiate the release of Israeli women and children seized by the militant group in exchange for 36 Palestinian women and children from Israel’s prisons, a source briefed on the talks told Reuters.
Israel is not now making any effort to negotiate for the release of hostages taken by Hamas during its attacks, Lior Haiat, a spokesperson for Israel’s foreign ministry.
Why Hamas says it attacked Israel
The leader of Hamas’s military wing, Mohammed Deif, said the assault, named “Operation Al-Aqsa Storm,” was in response to the 16-year blockade of Gaza, the Israeli occupation and a series of recent incidents that have brought Israeli-Palestinian tensions to a fever pitch.
Over the past year, Israel’s far-right government has ramped up settlement construction in the occupied West Bank. Israeli settler violence has displaced hundreds of Palestinians there, and tensions have flared around the Al-Aqsa mosque, a flashpoint Jerusalem holy site.
Palestinian citizens inspect the damage after the Watan Tower, which contains offices and shops, was bombed by Israeli warplanes in downtown Gaza City, Gaza Strip on Oct. 8.SAMAR ABU ELOUF/The New York Times News Service
Hamas, or the Islamic Resistance Movement, was founded in 1987 during the first Palestinian intifada, or uprising. It is backed by Shi’ite Iran and shares the Islamist ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood, which was established in Egypt in the 1920s. It is designated as a terrorist organization by Israel, the United States, European Union, Canada, Egypt and Japan.
Hamas has run the Gaza Strip since 2007, after a brief civil war with forces loyal to the Fatah movement led by President Mahmoud Abbas, who is based in the West Bank and also heads the Palestine Liberation Organization. Gaza has been under an Israeli blockade since 2007, which restricts the import of goods.
The Hamas takeover of Gaza followed its win in Palestinian parliamentary elections in 2006 – the last time they were held. Hamas accused Mr. Abbas of conspiring against it. Mr. Abbas described what happened as a coup.
Since then, there have been numerous rounds of conflict with Israel, often involving Hamas rocket attacks from Gaza into Israel, and Israeli air strikes and bombardment of Gaza.
Hamas refuses to recognize the state of Israel, and violently opposed the Oslo peace accords negotiated by Israel and the PLO in the mid-1990s. It is part of a regional alliance comprising Iran, Syria and the Shi’ite Islamist group Hezbollah in Lebanon, which all broadly oppose U.S. policy in the Middle East and Israel.
More reading from The Globe:
Israel-Hamas war: Maps and graphics that show how the conflict is unfolding
Israelis, Palestinians recount the chaotic hours of Oct. 7 and its first sparks of war
The journalists to follow on Twitter to get the latest news and facts from Israel and Gaza
Shawn Barber: Israel must act within the bounds of international law
With reports from Mark MacKinnon, Geoffrey York, Ian Bailey, Laura Stone, Adrian Morrow, Robert Fife, Reuters and the Associated Press