Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip (2023–present)

On the evening of 27 October 2023, Israel launched a large-scale invasion of the Gaza Strip, as part of the Israel–Hamas war, with the stated goals of destroying Hamas, freeing the hostages and controlling the Gaza Strip. The invasion came after a Hamas-led attack on Israel on 7 October 2023. Israel then declared a state of war, tightened its blockade, ordered the evacuation of the northern Gaza Strip, and launched "Operation Swords of Iron".

Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip
Part of the Israel–Hamas war

  Evacuated areas inside Israel
  Current extent of the Israeli clearing operations in Gaza
  Maximum extent of the Hamas invasion of Israel
  Areas inside Gaza Strip ordered to be evacuated by Israel

See here for a more comprehensive map.
Date27 October 2023 – present
(3 months, 2 weeks and 6 days)
Location
Gaza Strip with spillover into Israel
Status Ongoing
Belligerents
 Israel

Paramilitaries in the Gaza Strip (Joint Operations Room)

Commanders and leaders
Units involved
Israel Defense Forces
Strength
~40,000 Al-Qassam Brigades: 20,000–40,000
Casualties and losses

Per Israel:

  • 234 killed
  • 1,361+ wounded

Per Al-Qassam Brigades:

  • 1,600+ killed
  • 3,400+ wounded
  • 750+ armored vehicles disabled

Per the Euro-Med Monitor:

  • 1,892 militants killed

Per the US:

  • 20–30% of Hamas fighters killed
  • 10,500–11,700 wounded

Per Israel:

  • 10,000+ Hamas fighters killed
  • ~2,500 captured
  • ~10,000 wounded
25,930 Palestinian civilians killed, 48,128 Palestinians injured (Per the Euro-Med Monitor)
10,000+ Palestinian civilians killed (Per Israel)
21,337 Palestinians killed, 49,428 injured (Per the Gaza Health Ministry)
31–51+ Israeli hostages killed

More than 28,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the start of the Israeli operation, including over 10,000 children and 7,000 women, with another 7,000 people missing and presumed dead under the rubble of destroyed buildings. By mid-December Israel had dropped 29,000 munitions on Gaza, destroying or damaging 70 percent of homes in the Strip. Experts say that the scale and pace of destruction in Gaza is among the most severe in recent history. During the invasion, Israel destroyed at least a third of Gaza's homes and hundreds of cultural landmarks, and desecrated dozens of cemeteries in the strip.

A severe humanitarian crisis has developed, with healthcare in a state of collapse, shortages of food, clean water, medicine and fuel due to the blockade, electricity and communications blackouts, and the UN warning of potential famine. It was widely reported that there is "no safe place in Gaza" as Israel struck areas it had previously told Palestinians to evacuate to. The widespread civilian deaths have led to accusations of war crimes against both Israel and Hamas. Nearly all of Gaza's 2.3 million population have been internally displaced and around 250,000–500,000 Israelis were internally displaced, while thousands of Palestinians have been detained by Israel, and Israel has stated it lost 225 additional soldiers in its invasion as of 4 February 2024. As a result of the invasion, South Africa instituted proceedings against Israel in the International Court of Justice (ICJ), charging that Israel was guilty of committing a genocide, South Africa and requested that the ICJ render provisional measures of protection.

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