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2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel
Suprise attack of Palestinian terror organizations from the Gaza Strip led by Hamas, targeting civilian and military targets in Israel, while carrying out massacres and other horrors, on October 7 2023 / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
On 7 October 2023, Hamas and several other Palestinian militant groups launched armed attacks from the Gaza Strip into the Gaza envelope of southern Israel. It was the first invasion of Israeli territory since the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups named the attacks Operation Al-Aqsa Flood (or Deluge; Arabic: عملية طوفان الأقصى, romanized: ʿamaliyyat ṭūfān al-ʾAqṣā, usually romanised as "Tufan Al-Aqsa" or "Toofan Al-Aqsa"),[1] while in Israel they are known as Black Saturday (Hebrew: השבת השחורה)[2] or the Simchat Torah Massacre (הטבח בשמחת תורה),[3] and internationally as the 7 October attack.[4][5][6] The attacks started the ongoing Israel–Hamas war.
The attacks began early on 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 attacking forces massively used rape as a weapon against Israeli residents and kidnapped hostages.[18][19]