October 7 attacks

On 7 October 2023, Hamas/Palestinian Islamic Jihad and several other Palestinian militant groups launched armed attacks from the Gaza Strip into the Gaza Envelope. Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups named the attacks Operation Al-Aqsa Flood (or Deluge; Arabic: عَمَلِيَّةُ طُوفَانِ الْأَقْصَى, romanized: ʿamaliyyat ṭūfān al-ʾAqṣā, usually romanised as "Tufan Al-Aqsa" or "Toofan Al-Aqsa"),^[1] while in Israel they are known as Black Sabbath (Saturday) (Hebrew: הַשַּׁבָּת הַשְּׁחוֹרָה)^[2] or the October 7 Massacre (טֶבַח הַשְּׁבִיעִי בְּאוֹקְטוֹבֶּר),^[3] and internationally as the October 7 attack^[4][5][6] and the October 7 Massacre.^[7] The attacks started the ongoing Israel–Hamas war.

Map of the attacks on 7–8 October

The attacks began early on October 7th with a launch of at least 3,000 rockets launched toward Israeli cities and villages.^[8][9] Hamas fighters entered the Gaza–Israel barrier, attacking both military bases and villages, and killing civilians in 21 communities. 364 civilians were killed and many more wounded while attending a music festival.^[10][11]

Hamas gunmen capturing civilian hostages from Kibbutz Beéri on October 7, 2023.

Hamas militant storming the kibbutz Alumim in southern Israel during Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on October 7, 2023.

Dashcam photo of a Hamas militiant capturing an Israeli civilian at the Supernova Sukkot Gathering, held near Re’im in the southern an-Naqab desert during Operation Al Aqsa Flood.

Home in Kibbutz Nahal Oz infiltrated by Hamas terrorists on 7 October, 2023.

As of November 2023, the IDF said that about 3,000 terrorists invaded southern Israel.^[12] In total the attackers killed 1,189 people: 815 Israeli civilians (including 38 children),^[13] 71 foreign nationals, and 373 members of the security forces.^[14] About 250 Israeli civilians and soldiers were taken as hostages to the Gaza Strip, including 30 children.^{[15][16][17][18]}

Extreme allegations and incitement

In 2023 and early 2024 Israeli sources accused Hamas and other Palestinians of "systematic use of rape as a weapon of war". In early 2024 these accusations were repeated in some U.K. and U.S. media including The Guardian and The New York Times.^[19][20]

Attack locations

Attack	Location		Israelis and foreign nationals				Physical destruction	Palestinian militants			References
	Name	Pop.[A]	Total killed	Civilians killed [B]	Combatants killed[C]	Hostages & POWs		Killed	POWs	Claimed the attack
7 October attacks on Israel	Gaza Envelope and Southern Israel	total pop. =	total = 1,187 [24]	total =	total =	total =	Gaza–Israel barrier + military bases + kibbutzim + moshavim [en]				[25][26]
Rocket attacks [en]	48 Israel
Attack on Erez crossing	Military: Erez crossing						crossing allegedly made unusable				[27][28][29]
Battle of Sderot [en]	Police station in Sderot						computer server and connections[D]				[30][31][32]
	The town of Sderot	33,002		15+							[33]
Re'im music festival massacre	Music festival near Re'im	~3500[E]	357+			40	cars				[36][37][38]
	Kibbutz Re'im	422
Battle of Re'im	Military: Re'im headquarters[F]										[39][40][41]
Be'eri massacre [en]	Kibbutz Be'eri	1,071	117+				Surveillance tower[42]				[43]
Nahal Oz attack [en]	Military: Nahal Oz lookout base	100+ [44]	66[45]	none	15+		Base set on fire.				[46][47]
	Kibbutz Nahal Oz	479		12+							[48]
Kfar Aza massacre [en]	Kibbutz Kfar Aza	787	52+				Weeapons tower destroyed[42]				[49][50]
Zikim attack [en]	Zikim Beach		35+	19						Qassam naval commandos [51][52]	[53][54][55][56]
	Military: Zikim Training Base [en]	134[G]			7[H]						[58][59]
	Military: Yiftach outpost	5+[I]									[60]
	Kibbutz Zikim	918
Nir Oz massacre	Kibbutz Nir Oz	380	27+			[J]					[61]
Psyduck massacre	Music festival between Nir Oz and Nirim	~100[K]	17								[62]
Nirim attack	Kibbutz Nirim	416	5+								[63][64]
Netiv HaAsara massacre [en]	Moshav Netiv HaAsara	948	21+								[65][66]
Alumim massacre	Kibbutz Alumim	531	19+								[67][68]
Kissufim massacre	Kibbutz Kissufim	294	16+								[69][70]
Holit massacre	Kibbutz Holit	210	13+								[71]
Ein HaShlosha attack	Kibbutz Ein HaShlosha	353	5+								[72]
Nir Yitzhak attack	Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak	633	5+								[72]
Defence of Nir Am [he]	Kibbutz Nir Am	726	none	none	none	1
Battle of Yated	Moshav Yated	570	none	none	none	none	Communications and electricity infrastructure	15			[73][74][75]
Battle of Ofakim [he; ru; de; en]	The town of Ofakim	35,506	47

Table footnotes:

1. Civilian population data from 2022.^[21][22]
2. Most of the civilian areas on the Israeli side of the Gaza border had lightly armed volunteer security teams.^[23]
3. Usually includes only on duty police, military, and other professional armed security forces.
4. The militants destroyed the computer system and communications in the Sderot police station, which disabled emergency services communications for the region.^[30][31][32]
5. Attendance at the festival was reported to be 3,500 but figures vary.^[34] After the attack, relatives searching for missing loved ones said more than one thousand were at the event at the time of the attack.^[35] Some festival attendees estimated 3,000–4,000 people.^[35]
6. Headquarters of the Gaza Division.^[39]
7. There were 14 soldiers in combat, plus 90 recruits and 30 administrative staff sheltering in place.^[57]
8. Six officers and one recruit were killed in the fighting before the militants withdrew.^[58]
9. Five soldiers in combat, but more were sheltering in place.^[60]
10. including the Bibas family.
11. Approximately 100 people took part in the event.^[62]