Who Started the War with Hamas on October 7, 2023?

 

Hamas instigated the war with Hamas on October 7, 2023.

Early that morning, hundreds of Hamas militants breached the fence at the Israel-Gaza border in southern Israel, massacred more than 1,200 innocent men, women, children, and the elderly (mostly Israeli citizens), took more than 240 more captive to Gaza (enough to negotiate the release of all Palestinian terrorists held in Israel), and raped innocent women. They also launched an air assault from the Gaza strip of over 2,200 rockets into Israel in just 20 minutes. It was the first invasion of Israel since the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. As the rockets were falling, 3,000 or more Hamas militants entered southern Israel to attack innocent civilians on the ground and still others in the air through paragliders. Because it was the end of the Jewish holiday feast of Sukkot on the holiday called Shemini Azeret, many Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers were on leave. Entire families were massacred that day with no regard to age or gender. It was bloody and inhumane: people were decapitated, grenades were thrown into people's safe rooms where they were hiding, and people were burned alive. Arms and feet were chopped off, and pets were shot.

Hamas had used hardwired phone lines within their vast tunnel system for several years to communicate and plan what they called "Al Aqsa Flood" (a reference to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem). Hamas leadership says the attack was in response to Israeli "occupation" of Palestinian territories and the blockage of the Gaza Strip and because of the expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaze they deem illegal. Ultimately, Hamas' goal is to eliminate Israel from the map.

Israel responded by declaring war and conducting air strikes on Gaza, followed by a ground incursion called Operation Iron Sword. The IDF called up 295,000 reservists, many of whom chose to serve despite exemptions.

It was the first time Israel declared war since the 1973 Yom Kippur war, and the deadliest day for Jewish people since the Holocaust.

From the start of the war on October 7, 2024, to June 12, 2024, Hamas and Hezbollah launched more than 14,500 rocket and mortar attacks against Israel.

Learn more: The 2023 War with Hamas: What You Need to Know (PDF)

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