War in Gaza between Israel and Hamas reaches 100 days
The war in Gaza has continued for 100 days since gunmen from the terrorist group Hamas ran amok in southern Israel, prompting a fierce military campaign in which almost 24,000 Palestinians are reported to have been killed.
Days after Oct. 7, the destruction can be seen after the assault by Hamas terrorists in Kibbutz Be’eri, near Gaza border in southern Israel, Oct. 11, 2023. Photo by Oren Ben Hakoon/Flash90.
Here is a timeline of how the conflict has unfolded.
October 7, 2023: Hamas gunmen storm into southern Israel from Gaza and rampage through communities, killing 1,200 people and taking 240 hostages according to Israeli tallies. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel is at war and begins retaliatory airstrikes and a total siege of the Gaza strip.
October 13: Israel tells residents of Gaza City, where more than 1 million of the enclave’s 2.3 million people live, to evacuate and move south. Over the course of the next weeks, Israel will push for the evacuation of the entire north. Hundreds of thousands of Gazans have to leave their homes, beginning a process that will soon uproot nearly the entire population of Gaza, with families often forced to flee several times as Israeli forces advance.
October 17: An explosion at al-Ahli al-Arabi Baptist Hospital in Gaza City triggers outrage in the Arab world. Palestinians say hundreds died and blame the blast on an Israeli airstrike; Israel says it was caused by a misfiring Palestinian rocket, an assertion later backed by Washington.
October 19: A US navy warship intercepts missiles and drones launched from Yemen over the Red Sea in the direction of Israel. Yemen’s Houthi group, like Hamas an Iranian ally, continues sporadic long-range attacks on Israel and against Red Sea shipping in what it says is solidarity with Gaza.
October 21: Aid trucks are allowed through the Rafah border crossing from Egypt into Gaza after days of diplomatic wrangling. It is only a small fraction of what is required in Gaza, where food, water, medicines and fuel are running out. Israel’s blockade persists through coming months as the humanitarian crisis worsens.
October 27: Israel launches a broad ground offensive in Gaza, beginning with an assault on the north, vowing to free all its hostages and eradicate Hamas.
November 1: Evacuations begin from Gaza through the Rafah crossing for an estimated 7,000 foreign passport holders, dual nationals and their dependents, and people needing urgent medical treatment. The overwhelming majority of Gaza residents still have no way out of the enclave.
November 15: Israeli troops enter the Al Shifa hospital in Gaza City after a siege of several days during which medical staff say patients, including newborn babies, died from a lack of power and supplies. The Israelis say the hospital had been used to conceal an underground Hamas base, which staff deny. Within a few more weeks, all hospitals serving the northern half of Gaza will have ceased functioning.
November 21: Israel and Hamas agree to pause fighting for four days to exchange women and children hostages held in Gaza for Palestinian women and teenagers detained or jailed by Israel on security grounds and allow in more aid. The ceasefire is extended for a week in total, freeing 105 hostages and about 240 Palestinian detainees, before it collapses and war resumes on December 1.
Around December 4: Israeli forces launch their first big ground assault in southern Gaza, on the outskirts of Khan Younis. International organisations say the extension of the military campaign from the north to the entire length of the enclave drastically worsens the humanitarian situation.
December 12: Biden says Israel’s “indiscriminate bombing” of Gaza is costing it international support, a clear shift in rhetoric from Israel’s closest ally. Over the coming weeks, several senior US officials visit Israel, urging it to do more to protect civilians, scale down the war, and shift to a more targeted campaign against Hamas leaders
December 15: Israeli forces mistakenly kill three hostages in Gaza. The incident leads to some of the most pronounced criticism of the conduct of the war within Israel, although the campaign still has widespread domestic support.
Around December 26, Israeli forces launched a major ground assault on areas in the central Gaza Strip, preceded by a campaign of air strikes that again sent hundreds of thousands of people fleeing, most of them already displaced.
From January 1, 2024: Israel signals it will start withdrawing some troops from Gaza in a new phase of its campaign that it says will last for many months. Officials say this transition in tactics will begin in the north of Gaza, while intense fighting continues in southern areas.
January 11: US and British warplanes, ships and submarines launch dozens of airstrikes across Yemen in retaliation for Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping. The Houthis say five of their fighters were killed in the initial strikes, and that they will continue their attacks on shipping.
Also on January 11, the International Court of Justice hears opening statements in a case in which South Africa accuses Israel of committing a state-led genocide campaign against the Palestinian population. Israel denies the accusation.
The statistics:
SOLDIERS/TERRORISTS
– Number of Israeli soldiers killed on October 7: 314
– Number of militants killed by Israel: more than 8000
– Number of Israeli soldiers killed in the Gaza ground offensive: 187
– Number of Israeli soldiers killed on the northern front: nine
– Number of Israeli soldiers killed by friendly fire or “accidents” in Gaza and the north: 29
INJURIES
– Palestinians injured in Gaza: 60,005
– Palestinians injured in West Bank: more than 4000
– Total Israeli injuries: 12,415
– Israeli soldiers injured in ground offensive: 1085
– Israeli soldiers injured since October 7: 2496
DISPLACEMENT
– Number of Palestinians displaced in Gaza: 1.9 million (85 per cent of Gaza’s population)
– Number of Israelis displaced from northern and southern border communities: 249,263 (2.6 per cent of the population)
HOSTAGES/PRISONERS
– Hostages taken by Hamas on October 7: about 250
– Hostages released: 121
– Hostages taken October 7 who remain in the Gaza Strip: 132 (111 men, 19 women and two children; 121 of them Israeli and 11 foreigners)
– Hostages who were killed or died in Hamas captivity: 33
– Palestinian prisoners released during a week-long pause in fighting: 240
MUNITIONS
– Number of rockets launched toward Israel: 14,000.
AAP
