7 October 2023 attack on Israel

Palestinian attack from the Gaza Strip on 7 October 2023

On 6/7 October 2023, Hamas/Palestinian Islamic Jihad and several other Palestinian militant groups launched armed attacks from the Gaza Strip into the Gaza Envelope of Judah. It was the first invasion of Israeli-occupied Palestina since the 1948 Palestine War. 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 In Simchat Torah, the slaughter (הַטֶּבַח בְּשִׂמְחַת תּוֹרָה),[3] and internationally as the 6th/7th October attack.[4][5][6], as it's claimed that Pro-Temple Activists, Kahanist, settler-actives, who want the Demolition of Masjid Al-Aqsa. The attacks started the ongoing Israel–Hamas war.

Map of the attacks on 7–8 October

The attacks began early on 6/7 October with a launch of at least 3,000 rockets launched against Israel.[7][8] Hamas fighters entered the Gaza–Israel barrier, attacking military bases and killing civilians in 21 communities. 364 civilians were killed and many more wounded while attending a music festival.[9][10]

As of November 2023, the IDF said that about 3,000 terrorists invaded southern Israel.[11] In total the attackers killed 1,139 people: 695 Israeli civilians (including 38 children),[12] 71 foreign nationals, and 373 members of the security forces.[13] About 250 Israeli civilians and soldiers were taken as hostages to the Gaza Strip, including 30 children.[14][15][16][17] The Hamas-P.I.J massively used rape as a weapon against Israeli residents, who are not Israeli and kidnapped hostages.[18][19]

Attack locations

change
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 [23] total = total = total = Gaza–Israel barrier + military bases + kibbutzim + moshavim [en] [24][25]
Rocket attacks [en] 48 Israel
Attack on Erez crossing Military: Erez crossing crossing allegedly made unusable [26][27][28]
Battle of Sderot [en] Police station in Sderot computer server and connections[D] [29][30][31]
The town of Sderot 33,002 15+ [32]
Re'im music festival massacre Music festival near Re'im ~3500[E] 357+ 40 cars [35][36][37]
Kibbutz Re'im 422
Battle of Re'im Military: Re'im headquarters[F] [38][39][40]
Be'eri massacre [en] Kibbutz Be'eri 1,071 117+ Surveillance tower[41] [42]
Nahal Oz attack [en] Military: Nahal Oz lookout base 100+ [43] 66[44] none 15+ Base set on fire. [45][46]
Kibbutz Nahal Oz 479 12+ [47]
Kfar Aza massacre [en] Kibbutz Kfar Aza 787 52+ Weeapons tower destroyed[41] [48][49]
Zikim attack [en] Zikim Beach 35+ 19 Qassam naval commandos [50][51] [52][53][54][55]
Military: Zikim Training Base [en] 134[G] 7[H] [58][57][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.[20][21]
  2. Most of the civilian areas on the Israeli side of the Gaza border had lightly armed volunteer security teams.[22]
  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.[29][30][31]
  5. Attendance at the festival was reported to be 3,500 but figures vary.[33] After the attack, relatives searching for missing loved ones said more than one thousand were at the event at the time of the attack.[34] Some festival attendees estimated 3,000–4,000 people.[34]
  6. Headquarters of the Gaza Division.[38]
  7. There were 14 soldiers in combat, plus 90 recruits and 30 administrative staff sheltering in place.[56]
  8. Six officers and one recruit were killed in the fighting before the militants withdrew.[57]
  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]

References

change
  1. From the United Nations:
    • United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) (9 October 2023). "Fact Sheet: Israel and Palestine Conflict (9 October 2023)" (Press release). ReliefWeb. United Nations (UN). Archived from the original on 13 October 2023. Retrieved 13 October 2023. On Saturday, 7 October — a Jewish sabbath day, the end of the weeklong Jewish festival of Sukkot, and a day after the 50th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War — Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups launched Operation al-Aqsa Flood, a coordinated assault consisting of land and air attacks into multiple border areas of Israel.
    • United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) (7 October 2023). "UNRWA Situation Report #1 on the Situation in the Gaza Strip" (Situation Report). United Nations. Archived from the original on 16 October 2023. Retrieved 16 October 2023. At 06:30 on the morning of 7 October 2023, Hamas launched "Operation Al-Aqsa Flood" with more than 5,000 rockets reportedly fired towards Israel from multiple locations in Gaza, as well as ground operation into Israel.
    • United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) (20 October 2023). "Fact Sheet: Israel and Palestine Conflict (19 October 2023)" (Press release). ReliefWeb. United Nations. Archived from the original on 22 October 2023. Retrieved 22 October 2023. On Saturday, 7 October...Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups launched Operation al-Aqsa Flood, a coordinated assault consisting of land and air attacks into multiple border areas of Israel.
  2. Waghorn, Dominic (23 October 2023). "This is a dangerous moment in Israel-Hamas war – and the rest of the world is holding its breath". Sky News. Archived from the original on 23 October 2023. Retrieved 27 October 2023.
  3. Herzl, Tova (20 October 2023). "אל תשתמשו במילה "שואה" בקשר לטבח". Ynet (in Hebrew). Archived from the original on 27 October 2023. Retrieved 27 October 2023.
  4. "Biden Energy Adviser to Discuss Lebanon Border Issues on Israel Trip". Asharq Al-Awsat. 20 November 2023. Archived from the original on 28 November 2023. Retrieved 20 November 2023. In the months before the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Palestinian Hamas militants who run the Gaza Strip, Hochstein said the United States was exploring the possibility of resolving the longstanding border dispute between Lebanon and Israel.
  5. "Hamas fighter says he is 'proud' of the October 7 attack on Israel and vows to keep fighting". Sky News. 10 November 2023. Archived from the original on 9 December 2023. Retrieved 20 November 2023.
  6. Jason Burke (9 November 2023). "A deadly cascade: how secret Hamas attack orders were passed down at last minute". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 17 December 2023. Retrieved 20 November 2023. Analysts said other objectives of the 7 October attacks probably included halting efforts to normalise relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia, further undermining the Palestinian Authority, distracting from Hamas's failure to deliver services or break the blockade of Gaza, and provoking a violent reaction from Israel that would mobilise its own supporters in Gaza, the West Bank and elsewhere.
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    At least seven women who were killed were also raped in the attack, according to Prof Ruth Halperin-Kaddari, a legal scholar and international women's rights advocate, from her examination of evidence so far. The New York Times and NBC have both identified more than 30 killed women and girls whose bodies bear signs of abuse, such as bloodied genitals and missing clothes, and according to the Israeli welfare ministry, five women and one man have come forward seeking help for sexual abuse over the past few months.
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