Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip (2023–present)

Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip
	Part of the Israel–Hamas war
	; Gaza Strip 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.
Date	27 October 2023 – present; (3 months, 2 weeks and 6 days)
Location	Gaza Strip with spillover into Israel
Status	Ongoing Israel orders multiple evacuations across the Gaza Strip; IDF launches a ground assault in Gaza City and Khan Yunis;
Belligerents
Israel	Paramilitaries in the Gaza Strip (Joint Operations Room) Hamas; Palestinian Islamic Jihad; Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine; Popular Resistance Committees; PFLP–GC; Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine; Smaller Palestinian militant groups;
Commanders and leaders
Yoav Gallant; Benny Gantz; Herzl Halevi; Tomer Bar; Ronen Bar; Yaron Finkelman;	Mohammed Deif; Yahya Sinwar; Khalil Bathani; Abu Jamal; Abu Khaled;
Units involved
Israel Defense Forces 36th "Ga'ash" Armored Division; 98th Paratroopers Division; 99th Reserve Infantry Division; 146th "HaMapatz" Reserve Armored Division; 162nd "HaPlada" Armored Division; 252nd Sinai Reserve Armored Division; 261st Reserve Brigade; 460th "Bnei Or" Armored Training Brigade; 828th "Bislamach" Training Brigade; Israeli Air Force; Shayetet 13;	Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades Nukhba; ; Al-Quds Brigades; Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades; Al-Nasser Salah al-Deen Brigades; National Resistance Brigades; al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades; Mujahideen Brigades; Jaysh al-Ummah
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

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".

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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