Timeline of the 2023 Israel–Hamas war

October 7

At 6:30 a.m. IST, the first air raid sirens were activated in southern and central Israel in response to Hamas missiles. Concurrently, Hamas’s first public statement was made by Muhammad Deif, the leader of the military wing of Hamas, in a ten-minute recorded message published online. In it, Deif declared the start of “Operation Al-Aqsa Flood”, and that “the enemy will understand that the time of their rampaging without accountability has ended,” urging Palestinians to attack Israeli settlements with whatever weapons they had.
07:00: The Supernova Music Festival near the Re’im secular kibbutz was attacked by Hamas militants, some of whom arrived via motorized paragliders. Of the approximately 3,000 to 5,000 people at the festival, at least 260 were killed and many others abducted.
07:40: The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced that Hamas militants had entered southern Israel and asked residents of Sderot and other cities to remain indoors. Hamas in the attack 1,400 were killed and a hundred kidnapped.
08:15: Sirens were activated in Jerusalem following a rocket barrage that landed in the forested hills on the city’s western edge.
08:23: Israel declared a state of alert for war, activating its reservists, in response to continued rocket attacks.
08:34: Israel announced that it had begun counteroffensive operations against Hamas.
10:47: The first Israeli Air Force (IAF) fighter jets attacked Gaza.
11:35: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made his first statement about the conflict via Twitter,^[9] declaring that Israel is at war.
At 12:21, the IDF began operations to relieve cities in southern Israel as the number of rockets launched from Gaza increased to over 1,200.
12:29: The United States made its first statement, through the National Security Council, which condemned the terrorist attack and reaffirmed U.S. support for Israel.
16:08: President Joe Biden spoke with Netanyahu and expressed his condolences and support, later declaring during a speech that U.S. support for Israel was “…solid and unwavering”.

October 8

Israel formally declares a state of war under article Article 40A, the first time it has been invoked since the 1973 Yom Kippur War, half a century ago; 300,000 reservists are called up, the most in the nation’s history. The declared aim: eliminate Hamas’s military capabilities and end its rule over the Gaza Strip.
Evacuations of residents in Israel living near the Gaza Strip were ordered, and Netanyahu appointed former brigadier general Gal Hirsch as the government’s point man on missing and kidnapped citizens. A total lockdown was imposed on the West Bank by the IDF.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered the deployment of the USS Gerald Ford carrier strike group to the eastern Mediterranean. US Air Force, F-35, F-15, F-16, and A-10 squadrons are augmented. Hamas condemns the US Navy deployment as “aggression against the Palestinian people”.

October 9

Alim Abdallah, deputy commander of the Israeli 300th Brigade of the 91st Division, was killed by a Hezbollah attack at the Lebanese border.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced a “total” blockade of the Gaza Strip that would cut electricity and block the entry of food and fuel, adding that “We are fighting human animals and we are acting accordingly.”
The IAF deployed C-130 and C-130J heavy transport planes across Europe to collect hundreds of off-duty IDF personnel to be deployed in the conflict.

October 10

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) announced that four of its employees have died in airstrikes in Gaza.

The IAF strikes more than 70 targets in and around Daraja Tuffah.
Advanced weaponry from the U.S. arrives in Israel, its first such shipment of the war.
President Biden noted in an afternoon briefing that “Hamas does not stand for the Palestinian people’s right to dignity and self-determination. Its stated purpose is the annihilation of the State of Israel and the murder of Jewish people,” and characterized its assault as “an act of sheer evil”.
Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi announced that any intervention in Gaza by the United States would result in a Houthi intervention.

October 11

Israeli warplanes struck and destroyed several buildings of the Islamic University of Gaza.
Children were reported among the dead at the Kfar Aza massacre.
The Ministry of Health of Palestine reported the death toll from Israeli airstrikes at 1,055, with 5,184 wounded, while more than 2,600 Gazans had left their homes. The death toll in Israel was adjusted to 1,200.
The sole power plant in Gaza ceased operations after running out of fuel because of Israel’s blockade.
Pope Francis called for the release of all hostages and expressed concern over the “total siege” of Gaza.
Hezbollah took responsibility for attacks with “precision missiles”.
Seventeen UK nationals were reported dead or missing, and fourteen Thailand nationals were reported to have been taken hostage.
The Israel Border Police fatally shot two Palestinians in East Jerusalem.
The United States held talks with Egypt regarding a humanitarian corridor via its Gaza border crossing near Rafah.
The Israeli army bombed the Gaza–Egypt Rafah border crossing.

October 12

The IDF announced on social media that more than 1,000 Israelis had been killed and confirmed 50 people were hostages or missing.
The Palestinians announced that more than 900 were dead in Gaza.
U.S. military equipment arrived at Nevatim Airbase, and the USS Gerald Ford strike group was stationed in the eastern Mediterranean.
Australia and Canada made plans to airlift their citizens out of Israel via Tel Aviv.
More than 260,000 Palestinians were displaced due to Israeli airstrikes on Gaza per the UN. The IAF had attacked more than 200 targets.
IDF soldiers were carrying out artillery strikes in Syria after a number of mortars were launched toward northern Israel.
Around 1,500 bodies of militants of Hamas fighters had been accounted for in Israel. Some militants had not fled back to Gaza and were being sought out by the IDF using military dragnets, killing 18 in the past day.
Israel announced that Gaza would not receive water, fuel, or electricity until the hostages were freed.
Israel confirmed the bombing of Damascus and the Aleppo International Airport in Syria.

October 13

An internal leaked U.S. State Department e-mail advised senior diplomats to avoid three phrases in their public statements: “de-escalation/ceasefire”, “end to violence/bloodshed”, and “restoring calm”. Accordingly “ceasefire” was scarcely mentioned in U.S. new reportage.

Gazans fled to the south of the enclave (de facto beyond Wadi Gaza) after an IDF warning the day before of combat operations of 24 hours notice. The UN, warning of a humanitarian catastrophe, urges Israel to rescind its evacuation order, as does Amnesty International.
One evacuation route on Salah al-Din Street is bombed; the Gaza health ministry claims 70 dead.
Hamas told Gazans in the northern region (some 1.1 million people) to remain in place.
The Vatican offered mediation.
The IDF launched localized raids on Hamas cells. On the first week of the war, the death toll in Gaza stands at 1,900 and the number of wounded at 7,696 according to the Gaza health ministry.
Turkish aid arrived in Egypt.

October 14

The IDF announced two routes with safe passage between 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. IDT (07:00–13:00 UTC) for mass evacuation.
Israel and Egypt announced that the Rafah crossing will be open for foreign nationals from from noon to 5:00 p.m.
The US authorized the departure of non-emergency personnel from its embassy.
Of the more than 1,300 killed by Hamas in Israel, more than 100 are foreigners. The UN announced that more than 1,000 buildings have been destroyed in Gaza.
Red Crescent ambulances are deliberately struck by IAF.
The IAF bombs a building in southern Khan Younis.
The commander of Hamas’s aerial unit, who was intimately involved in planning the attack, is killed.
United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) announced on Twitter that its shelters are no longer safe, which it deems an unprecedented situation. Furthermore, water was running out.
Israel deems that the war could take months. A record number of 360,000 reservists had reported for duty.
During a meeting with UN diplomat Tor Wennesland, the Iranian foreign minister asserted that Iran would intervene in the war if Israel continued its military operations or launched a ground invasion against Gaza.

October 15

Israel Border Police arrested more than 50 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank as per Wafa (Palestinian News Agency). One million people have been displaced in Gaza in one week. Iran’s foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian declares in remarks in a meeting with Qatar’s Emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani that “If the attacks of the Zionist regime [Israel] against the defenseless citizens and people of Gaza continue, no one can guarantee the control of the situation and the non-expansion of the conflict,”; furthermore, minor Hezbollah/IDF action and reaction continues in and around Sheeba Farms^[59] and elsewhere at the Lebanon–Israel border.
The IDF confirms 126 Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, and to date some 279 of its soldiers killed.^[60]
The stated aim of Operation Iron Swords according to unclassified documents is to destroy the current leadership of Gaza: Hamas.
Israel informs the White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan that water pipes have been turned back on in southern Gaza.
The Egyptian Red Crescent, WHO, and other assorted NGOs and volunteer groups stockpile humanitarian supplies at Rafah Crossing (which has remained closed from the Egyptian side since the beginning of hostilities).
Four Gazan hospitals are no longer functional and the IDF demands that 21 hospitals in northern Gaza evacuate according to WHO. A Gazan surgeon working for Doctors Without Borders notes that Al Shifa Hospital is going through a month to a month-and-a-half of supplies daily.
As per the Committee to Protect Journalists at least twelve journalists have been killed and eight wounded to date. Furthermore, two are missing. They variously free-lanced or worked for Agence France-Press, Ain Media, Al-Aqsa Radio, Al-Ghad, Al-Jazeera TV, Al-Khamsa News, Fourth Authority News Agency, “Khabar” News Agency, Israel Hayom, Sky News Arabia, Reuters, Sowt Al-Asra Radio (Radio Voice of the Prisoners, and Smart Media.

October 16

The carrier USS Eisenhower leaves Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia to join USS Gerald R. Ford as an added measure of deterrence for state and non-state actors.
Iran threatened “pre-emptive” attacks against Israel, indicating further region-wide escalation of the war. Iranian foreign minister stated: “The possibility of pre-emptive action by the resistance front is expected in the coming hours… All options are open and we cannot be indifferent to the war crimes committed against the people of Gaza.”

President Biden in an interview on 60 Minutes said that an Israeli occupation of Gaza “would be a big mistake”, adding “I am confident Israel will act under the rules of war”. He also said that Hamas must be eliminated, that there must be a path to a Palestinian state, and regarded the initial Hamas attack as consequential as “The Holocaust”. (It was later announced that Biden would visit Israel on Wednesday.

Khan Younis, a city of 400,000, is swamped by a million refugees.
Hamas releases its first video of a hostage (an Israeli). Abu Obeida, the spokesperson for the military wing of Hamas, claims that it (Hamas) holds ~200 hostages, with “dozens” in the hands of various factions.
Israel attacked the Al-Rafah border crossing at the Egyptian-Gazan border.

October 17

An explosion occurred at the al-Ahli Arab Hospital where thousands of displaced Palestinians were seeking shelter; the initial estimated fatalities ranged in the hundreds. The IDF claims that a Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) rocket attack had failed, whereas the Gazan Health Ministry claims that it was an IAF air strike;^[1]^[79] independent analysis indicated that it was likely a failed rocket attack. Protests erupted worldwide, including in Ramallah and Hebron in the occupied West Bank. Protestors from Ramallah demanded the “downfall” of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Rear admiral Daniel Hagari claims that the damage to the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital was caused by the exploding fuel of a misfired Islamic Jihad rocket, not an Israeli aerial munition; he cites the lack of a crater and the nature of the structural damage. A purported intelligence intercept of two Hamas operatives discussing the matter is released.
The US State Department raised its travel advisory to Lebanon to Level 4: Do Not Travel.

October 18

President Biden arrives in Tel Aviv. (The planned summit in Amman, Jordan with Jordanian, Egyptian, and Fatah leaders had been canceled due to the hospital bombing of the previous day, however.) He expresses support for Israel and for the “legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people”, but notably does not call for a ceasefire. Nearly 800 people have been killed.

October 19

Footage shows a newly established displacement camp in Gaza.
US officials claim that a Palestinian Islamic Jihad rocket misfired into a Gaza hospital.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak visits Israel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu states “Hamas are the new Nazis”.
The IDF updated the total of hostages held by Hamas to 203.
The USN destroyer USS Carney whilst patrolling the Red Sea shoots down three cruise missiles and several drones launched from Yemen by Houthi, apparently towards Israel.
The campus of the Greek Orthodox St. Porphyrius Church in Gaza is struck by the IAF.
The US State Department issued a rare worldwide alert advising American citizens “to exercise increased caution”.
Biden delivers his second Oval Office speech, which he begins with “We are facing an inflection point in history”, tying the 2022 Russian Invasion of Ukraine to the crisis.
The Israeli Air Force bombs around 100 targets in multiple airstrikes over the night of October 18-19.

October 20

Over 4,000 Gazans are reported dead by the Gaza Health Ministry. Some 13,260 have been wounded.
30 Thai are reported to have been killed in the initial Hamas attack; 17 are missing. More than 1,000 Chinese nationals have left Israel. (To date nationals of Brazil, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Nigeria, and the United Kingdom have been repatriated. Australia announced repatriation flights, and India set Operation Ajay in motion.) Furthermore, The Netherlands is the latest nation to urge its citizens to leave Lebanon.
Two more UNRWA workers are killed, bringing that toll to 16.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appears at Rafah Crossing.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announces that after the destruction of Hamas (including its governmental capabilities), Israel shall relinquish control of the Gaza Strip and that a new security regime shall be set up for Israel.
US President Joe Biden says the first trucks of humanitarian aid to Gaza would be delivered within “24 to 48 hours.”

October 21

Hamas released two hostages to the International Red Cross: the American-Israeli mother and daughter Judith and Natalie Raanan; Qatar mediated.
Protests broke out in the West Bank in support of Gaza. Footages included flying the flags of the Fatah party, and Russia, and holding portraits of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong Un.
Israel’s National Security Council tells its citizens to leave Lebanon and Egypt “as soon as possible”.
Twenty trucks of the first humanitarian aid (excluding fuel) to Gaza enter through the Rafah crossing.
The U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III announced that he has ordered the deployment of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group to the CENTCOM area of responsibility and that it is joining the USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group in the eastern Mediterranean.

October 22

A second tranche of humanitarian aid arrives at Rafah Crossing: 17 trucks, some with a cargo of fuel.
14 more Israeli communities are evacuated near the border with Lebanon due to continuing Hezbollah/IDF action (a total of 42).
Rough totals to date: 4641 Gazans have been killed to date and 1.4 million have become refugees as per the Gaza Health Ministry. 307 Israeli soldiers have been killed and 1200 wounded. 1400 Israelis have been killed and 200,000 have been displaced, per the Times of Israel. 212 hostages are still held in Gaza. 29 UNRWA colleagues have been killed, half of them teachers.
Israeli forces conducted a raid into Khan Yunis to locate hostages held by Hamas and target “terrorist infrastructure”. They were engaged by Hamas’s Qassam Brigades, which reported destroying two bulldozers and a tank. The IDF reported one soldier was killed and three injured by an anti-tank missile.
Israel conducted the Al-Ansar Mosque airstrike in Jenin.

October 23

Omar Daraghmeh, a Hamas official, dies in an Israeli prison. Hamas spokespeople assert that this was an assassination. He had been arrested in the West Bank by the IDF on October 9, along with his son.
Hamas released two more hostages to the Red Cross, both elderly female Israelis, via Egyptian-Quatari mediation. Their husbands remain in captivity.
Al-Qassam and Al-Quds Brigades announced they had attacked IDF positions near Erez with rockets, mortars, and drones, around 4:30 PM UTC+03:00. No statement was made by the IDF regarding these claims.

October 24

Netanyahu remarks to President of France Immanuel Macron that “Hamas are the new Nazis”.
The Gaza Health Ministry puts the death toll since the start of the war at 5791, with 704 having been killed in the past 24 hours. It also announces that 12 hospitals and 32 clinics have ceased to function.
Yocheved Lifshitz, 85, says at a press conference of her capture, “I went through hell”, but that she was treated well in captivity. The hostages in her group walked through kilometers of tunnels; she was eventually sequestered with several others under sanitary if spartan conditions with medical care and sustenance. Hers is the first public account of the sophistication and degree of this aspect of Hamas infrastructure and organization.

October 25

Israel said it hit multiple Hezbollah targets, including a military compound.
The family of Al-Jazeera journalist Wael Al-Dahdouh is killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza.

October 26

October 27

Israel conducted a heavy round of airstrikes and said that it is “expanding its ground forces” in besieged Gaza.
IAF air strikes reportedly hit near the vicinity of both al-Shifa Hospital and the Indonesian Hospital in Gaza.
Rockets from Gaza hit apartment blocks in Tel Aviv, and Hamas claimed to have launched the rockets.
The New York Times claims Hamas has fuel, food, water, and medicine hidden in secret underground tunnels.

October 28

Israel began an invasion of the Gaza Strip, launching a large-scale ground assault on the towns of Beit Hanoun and Bureij in the Gaza Strip.

October 29

World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus notes the Palestinian Red Crescent reported Israeli threats to bomb Al-Quds hospital. In a post on X, he writes, “We reiterate – it’s impossible to evacuate hospitals full of patients without endangering their lives. Under International Humanitarian Law, healthcare must always be protected.”

October 30

The Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital was struck by an IAF warplane.

October 31

During the evening, a Houthi rebel group in Yemen launched a number of ballistic missiles and drones towards Israel and warned of more attacks to come. IDF said that it has destroyed a number of drones coming towards its territory in the Red Sea and intercepted them with its new Arrow aerial defense system for the first time.
The Al-Quds brigades and the Al-Aqsa martyrs brigades conducted their first combined attack on the IDF since October 19.

November

November 1

Lions’ Den called for all Palestinians to confront Israel.
An Israeli Armored unit was geolocated west of Al Mughraqa.
Reports of an attack and civilian casualties in Jamalia, Gaza Strip. A correspondent describes the attack as a “new massacre”.

Archives

October 7

October 8

October 9

October 10

October 11

October 12

October 13

October 14

October 15

October 16

October 17

October 18

October 19

October 20

October 21

October 22

October 23

October 24

October 25

October 26

October 27

October 28

October 29

October 30

October 31

November

November 1