An ongoing armed conflict between Israel and Hamas-led Palestinian militant groups has been taking place

chiefly in and around the Gaza Strip since 7 October 2023, with clashes also taking place in the West
Bank and Israel–Lebanon border. On that day, Hamas-led Palestinian militants[o] launched a multi-pronged
invasion of southern Israel from the Gaza Strip.[55] The surprise attack comprised a barrage of rockets, while
around 3,000 militants breached the Gaza–Israel barrier and attacked Israeli military bases and civilian
population centers. At least 846 Israeli civilians and 416 soldiers and police were killed during the
attacks,[56] while an estimated 240[57] Israeli and foreign nationals were taken as hostages to the Gaza Strip.
Hamas stated that its attack was in response to the blockade of the Gaza Strip, the expansion of illegal Israeli
settlements, rising Israeli settler violence and recent escalations.[58][59][60][61] After clearing Hamas militants,
the Israeli military responded by conducting an extensive aerial bombardment campaign in which 6,000 bombs
were dropped on Gazan targets[62] over six days and by imposing a total blockade of the Gaza Strip followed by
a large-scale ground invasion of Gaza.[63][64]

Israel's declaration of a state of war marked the start of the most significant military escalation in the region since
the Yom Kippur War in 1973. As of 3 December 2023, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, more than 17,000
Palestinians, including over 7,000 children, have been killed, making this the deadliest war for children in
modern times.[65][66][67][21][68][69] Israel has rejected calls for a permanent ceasefire.[70][71][72] Widespread
civilian deaths have led to both Israel and Hamas being accused of war crimes.[73][74] Israel ordered Gazans
to evacuate northern Gaza, while Hamas called on residents to stay in their homes.[75][74][76] The United
Nations reported that around 1.9 million Palestinians,[77] more than 85% of Gaza's population,[77] and around
500,000 Israelis have been internally displaced.[78] The war has led to a severe humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
The health system is in a state of partial collapse,[79][80] most hospitals are out of service,[81] and there are acute
shortages of drinking water, food, fuel and medical supplies such as anesthetics for C-
sections and amputations.[82][83] The UN has warned of the "immediate possibility" of starvation and spread of
disease in the region, due to the cutoff of water, fuel, food and electricity by Israel.[63][84][85] As of 11 October, at
least 44 countries had condemned the Hamas invasion as a terrorist attack, while other countries placed the
responsibility on Israel and criticized it for occupying Palestinian lands.[86][87][undue weight? – discuss] '

The war has sparked widespread global protests focused on the implementation of a ceasefire.[88][89][90] The United
States vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire;[86] a
week later, the United States stood with Israel in rejecting a non-binding advisory resolution passed
overwhelmingly in the United Nations General Assembly.[91] On 15 November, the UN Security Council
approved a resolution calling for "urgent and extended humanitarian pauses and corridors throughout the Gaza
Strip".[92] Israel agreed to a temporary truce following a deal in which Hamas agreed to release 50 hostages
in exchange for 150 Palestinian prisoners.[93][94][95][96] On 1 December, combat resumed following the expiration of
the truce.[97][98] On 8 December, the US vetoed another UN Security Council ceasefire resolution.[99]

Background
See also: Israeli–Palestinian conflict and Gaza–Israel conflict
The Gaza Strip and Israel have been in conflict since the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza in 2005, which it
had occupied since 1967. The United Nations and several human rights organizations continue to classify Gaza
as held under Israeli occupation, due to its effective military control over the territory.[100][101]

Hamas, an Islamist militant group, won the 2006 Palestinian legislative election and a subsequent battle in the
Gaza Strip between it and Fatah, which led to it taking over governance in the strip, and further escalating
tensions with Israel.[102][103] Israel, along with Egypt, imposed a blockade that significantly damaged Gaza's
economy, citing security concerns as the justification.[104] International rights groups have characterized the
blockade as a form of collective punishment,[105] while Israel defended it as necessary to prevent weapons
and dual-use goods from entering the territory.[106][107]

Since the blockade, Israel and Palestinian militants have had several clashes and made attacks on each
other.[104][108][109] The Palestinian Authority has not held national elections since 2006.[104][110] Hamas tunneled under
the border wall to launch cross-border attacks and fired rockets into Israeli territory. This led to multiple conflicts,
escalating into outright wars. Israel relied on the Iron Dome rocket defense system for defense, and responded
with targeted strikes into Gaza, aiming to minimize the militant threat.[109] Surveys in 2023 of Palestinians in Gaza
and the West Bank before the war indicated that a majority supported the use of "armed struggle", the creation
of "militant groups", and an intifada ("uprising") against the Israeli occupation.[111][112]

Hamas is designated as a terrorist entity by Great Powers like the United States, the United Kingdom,
the European Union.[113][114][55] but not by other great powers like China[115] and Russia.[116][86][87] Other countries
like Turkey also do not recognise it as a terrorist organisation.[117] A 2018 attempt to condemn Hamas for "acts of
terror" at the United Nations failed to achieve the required two thirds majority, with 87 votes in favor, 58 votes
against, 32 abstentions and 16 non-votes.[118]

In February–March 2021, Fatah and Hamas reached agreement to jointly conduct elections for a new
Palestinian legislative assembly, in accordance with the Oslo Accords. Hamas committed to upholding
international law, tranferring control of Gaza to the Palestinian Authority and to allowing it to negotiate with Israel
to establish a Palestinian state along the 1967 ceasefire lines, with East Jerusalem as its capital. According to
Menachem Klein, Israeli Arabist and political scientist at Bar-Ilan University, Mahmood Abbas subsequently
cancelled the elections under pressure from Israel and the United States.[119] Soon after, the 2021 Israel–
Palestine crisis exploded and the Al-Aqsa Brigades started planning the operation which would break out on 7
October 2023.[119][120]

Hamas motivations
Further information: 1988 Hamas charter, 2017 Hamas charter, and Governance of the Gaza Strip
Hamas officials said their attack was a response to the Israeli occupation, blockade of the Gaza Strip, Israeli
settler violence against Palestinians, restrictions on the movement of Palestinians, and imprisonment of
thousands of Palestinians.[58][59][61][60]

Mohammad Deif, the head of Hamas's military wing, the Qassam Brigades, said in a recorded message on the
first day of the 2023 Israel–Hamas war, that it was in response to what he called the "desecration" of the Al-Aqsa
Mosque, and Israel killing and wounding hundreds of Palestinians in 2023.[121] He called on Palestinians and
Arab Israelis to "expel the occupiers and demolish the walls".[121][122] He continued, "in light of the continuing
crimes against our people, in light of the orgy of occupation and its denial of international laws and resolutions,
and in light of American and western support, we've decided to put an end to all this, so that the enemy
understands that he can no longer revel without being held to account."[123][124]

Following the attack, American counterterrorism analyst Bruce Hoffman pointed to the 1988 Hamas charter,
commenting that Hamas had always had "genocidal" intentions and that it had no intentions for "moderation,
restraint, negotiation, and the building of pathways to peace".[125] Michael Milshtein, head of the Palestinian
Studies Forum at Tel Aviv University and a former Israeli military intelligence officer, argued that the attacks
were "part of the long-term vision of Hamas to eradicate Israel" and "Hamas is not ready at all to give up on the
jihad."[126] In 2017, Hamas published its "General Principles and Policies", a revised organizational document that
significantly deviated from the fundamentalist principles of the group's original charter, and that effectively
accepted the Oslo Accords as an existing political fact.[127]

Other Hamas officials said that they expected a severe Israeli retaliation and were "proud to sacrifice
martyrs."[128] Hamas hoped that the attack would trigger a wider war against Israel.[129][128] The attack was also
seen as a resolution of internal tensions within Hamas as to whether the group's main goal is governing the
Gaza Strip or fighting against Israel.[129]

Israeli policy