Timeline of the Conflict [official actions and significant occurrences – with documentation]
IDF - Real Time Updates | |||
The Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, Daily Reports | |||
• Week 1 | 8-12 Oct 2023 | • Week 6 | 12-16 Nov 2023 |
• Week 215-19 Oct 2023 | • Week 7 | 19-23 Nov 2023 |
|
• Week 3 | 22-26 Oct 2023 | • Week 8 | 26-30 Nov 2023 |
• Week 4 | 29 Oct to 2 Nov 2023 | • Week 9 | Daily Reports |
• Week 5 | 5-9 Nov 2023 | ||
IDF - Daily Recaps | |||
• Week 1 | 10-14 Oct 2023 | • Week 5 | 5-11 Nov 2023 |
• Week 215-21 Oct 2023 | • Week 6 | 12-13 Nov 2023 |
|
• Week 3 | 22-28 Oct 2023 | • Week 7 | 20-24 Nov 2023 |
• Week 4 | 29 Oct to 4 Nov 2023 | • Week 8 | 25-28 Nov 2023 |
Institute for the Study of War - Israel-Hamas War (Iran Updates) | |||
• Week 1 | 7-14 Oct 2023 | • Week 6 | 12-18 Nov 2023 |
• Week 2 | 15-21 Oct 2023 | • Week 7 | 19-25 Nov 2023 |
• Week 3 | 22-28 Oct 2023 | • Week 8 | 26 Nov-2 Dec 2023 |
• Week 4 | 29 Oct to 4 Nov 2023 | • Week 9 | Daily Reports |
• Week 5 | 5-11 Nov 2023 | ||
Institute for the Study of War - Interactive Map: Israel's Operation in Gaza |
Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad
Hezbollah
Iran
The war began when Israel was subjected to a large-scale surprise attack by Hamas on Saturday, 7 Oct 2023, the Jewish Shabbat and the religious holiday of Shmini Atzeret. This is a description of the initial unfolding of events, from an article by Dr. Eado Hecht posted at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies:
The Hamas offensive began shortly before 06:29 on October 7, 2023. By 10:00 IDF radars had detected approximately 2,200 rocket launches at dozens of Israeli cities, towns and villages between Gaza and the Tel-Aviv-Jerusalem-Beersheva line. During the day, Hamas and the other Palestinian militias fired many hundreds more…
Simultaneously with the beginning of the rocket bombardment, Hamas troops began crossing the border into Israel at variety of locations. The majority had approached the border in tunnels, climbed out just before the underground wall built by Israel, and then, using explosives, broke through the above-ground obstacle of a steel-rod fence and advanced into Israel. Observation cameras monitoring the fence were shot up with small arms and RPG rockets. One group attacked and captured the civilian crossing into Israel at Erez where 20,000 Palestinian civilians cross daily into Israel to work and where hundreds of trucks transit with goods. A small group crossed the border using paragliders (parachutes with small propeller engines) and a final group attacked from the sea, landing on an Israeli beach. (Of this group only a few got through; most were intercepted by Israeli navy patrol boats and strike-drones).
All together, within the first couple of hours, more than 1,000 Hamas troops crossed the border into Israel in approximately 15 to 30 locations (different sources have provided different numbers) and then fanned out in groups to attack Israeli civilians and military positions. They entered two Israeli towns and 12 villages (at least), driving through the streets shooting at passersby and breaking into houses to kill the residents. In three locations they captured buildings and held the occupants as hostages. The biggest such case included 50 people of all ages at Kibbutz Be’eri who were herded into the communal dining room.
One group reached a large nature-party (like a rave party but held outdoors in nature) where approximately 3,000 young Israelis, mostly in their twenties, had gathered to dance. They attacked them with grenades and assault rifles, then chased the fleeing group, hunting down people who had sought to hide in the low brush. This is probably the location where the largest number of casualties was inflicted.
One large and a few small IDF bases along the border were also attacked in the first rush, pinning down the outnumbered troops at those locations to fight for survival rather than assist the civilians who were simultaneously under attack.
The first responders in the civilian residential areas were local response teams of IDF reservists living in the villages (usually 10 to 20 people per village). They grabbed their weapons and ran out to face the attackers together with a few on-duty policemen in the towns. Here and there, Israelis with private weapons (pistols) also attempted to face the Hamas teams, who were armed with assault rifles.
The IDF units in the area were initially busy trying to fend off the surprise assault, so the first organized IDF response took a few hours as units located in other areas of Israel were rushed to the Gaza border…
What ensued was an unprecedented and barbaric onslaught against the citizens of Israel. Children, babies, women, elderly and entire families, were massacred in a most depraved way. It has been described as the worst criminal act against the Jewish people since the Holocaust. Over 1,400 people were murdered and thousands more injured. Over 240 individuals were kidnapped and taken hostage.
In response to this massive, savage, and unprovoked attack, Israel formally declared war, pursuant to Article 40 aleph of Israel’s Basic Law: Government.
Official Actions [additional documentation on the Timeline page]
- The Energy Minister has ordered the immediate disconnect of the water supply to Gaza, Arutz Sheva (9 Oct 2023)
- Complete closure of Gaza ordered by Israel’s Defense Minister, Arutz Sheva (9 Oct 2023)
- The European Commission announces an urgent review of its financial assistance for Palestine, Eur. Comm. Press Release (9 Oct 2023)
- EU Quickly Abandons the Aid Freeze to the Palestinian Authority, Jerusalem Post (10 Oct 2023), Reuters (10 Oct 2023)
- US puts a hold on the disbursement of $6 billion to Iran as previously agreed (12 Oct 2023)
- Gregg Roman, Opinion, Middle East Forum (18 Oct 2023)
- Israel restarting water supply to southern Gaza Strip, Reuters (15 Oct 2023)
- UN Security Council rejects Russian resolution on Gaza – 5 votes for, 4 against, 6 abstentions (16 Oct 2023) (draft resolution)
- US Vetoes Draft Security Council resolution calling for “humanitarian pauses” (18 Oct 2023) (draft resolution)
- EU Parliament calls for the elimination of Hamas, ¶ 1, p. 2; Press Release – 500 votes for, 21 against, 24 abstentions (19 Oct 2023)
- UN Security Council fails to pass either US or Russian resolutions on Gaza (25 Oct 2023) (draft resolutions – US; Russian)
- UN General Assembly adopts Gaza resolution calling for ‘humanitarian truce’ – 120 votes for, 14 against, and 45 abstentions (27 Oct 2023) (documentation)
- Israel opens a second water line to Gaza, World Israel News (29 Oct 2023)
- Bolivia cuts ties with Israel, and Columbia and Chile recall their ambassadors (31 Oct 2023)
- US House of Representatives censures Rashida Tlaib (7 Nov 2023)
- US renews Iran sanctions waiver allowing access to $10 billion (14 Nov 2023)
- UN Security Council calls for extended humanitarian pause (15 Nov 2023)
- UK Parliament rejects call for ceasefire or humanitarian pause (15 Nov 2023)
- Israeli government announces pause in hostilities in exchange for release of hostages (22 Nov 2023)
Law-Related Commentary and Analysis
- Lieber Institute, Israel-Hamas 2023 Symposium (30 essays from 10 Oct to 1 Dec 2023)
- Arutz Sheva, ICC Chief Prosecutor: ’10/7 attacks were some of the most serious international crimes’ (3 Dec 2023)
- UK Lawyers for Israel, Is Israel Guilty of Genocide? – A discussion of Raz Segal’s claim (3 Dec 2023)
- Thomas N. Wheatley, American Perspectives on the Law of Armed Conflict & the 2023 Israel-Hamas War (5 Nov 2023)
- Louis René Beres, The Gaza War and International Law: An Informed Assessment, BESA Center Perspectives (30 Oct 2023)
- Christiane Wilke, Helyeh Doutaghi, Conceptualizing Civilians: Beyond “Innocence”, Lieber Institute (27 Oct 2023)
- Geoff Corn, The Disproportionate Confusion About Proportionality, Lawfire (26 Oct 2023)
- Amb. Alan Baker, The False and Deceitful Charges Against Israel, Jerusalem Post (25 Oct 2023)
- Nobuo Hayashi, Honest Errors, the Rendulic Rule, and Modern Combat Decision-Making, Lieber Institute (24 Oct 2023)
- Madison Cash, Financial Jihad: Combating the Use of Virtual Assets in Terrorist Financing, Duke Law (23 Oct 23)
- Tilman Rodenhäuser, IHL and Information Operations during Armed Conflict, Lieber Institute (18 Oct 2023)
- Eugene Kontorovich, The Siege of Hamas Is No War Crime, WSJ (17 Oct 2023)
- Pnina Sharvit Baruch, The War with Hamas: Legal Basics, INSS Insight, No. 1770 (16 Oct 2023)
- Charlie Dunlap, Five Ideas to Counter Hamas’ Lawfare Strategy…and why (15 Oct 2023)
- Lt.-Col. (res.) Maurice Hirsch, Frequently Asked Questions about the 2023 War with Hamas, JCPA (12 Oct 2023)
- Jens David Ohlin, International Criminal Law Analysis of the Situation in Israel, OpinioJuris.org (12 Oct 2023)
- Amb. Alan Baker, Hamas and Islamic Jihad Are Criminally Liable for War Crimes, JCPA (9 Oct 2023)
- IDF Twitter – Incriminating Evidence of Hamas War Crimes (9 Oct 2023)
- Louis René Beres, Hamas Terror Attacks and International Law, Arutz Sheva (9 Oct 2023)
- Louis D. Brandeis Center, International Humanitarian Law in Asymmetric Warfare (undated)
- Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, Attempts to organize an aid flotilla to the Gaza Strip (29 Nov 2023)
- Lenny Ben-David, The Casualty Figures in Gaza Are a Scam, Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (26 Nov 2023)
- Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, The fighting on the Israel-Lebanon border (24 Nov 2023)
- Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, The price Gazans pay for criticizing Hamas (18 Nov 2023)
- Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, Hamas use of the civilian population as human shields and Gaza’s civilian facilities for terrorism (17 Nov 2023)
- Kobi Michael, Hamas’ “Numbers Warfare”, Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (12 Nov 2023)
- Arkady Mil-Man, Bat Chen Feldman, Russia-Hamas Relations and the Israel-Hamas War, INSS (9 Nov 2023)
- Shaul Shay (Col. Res.), The War in Gaza From Local to Regional, International Institute for Counter-Terrorism (8 Nov 2023)
- Honest Reporting, AP & Reuters Pictures of Hamas Atrocities Raise Ethical Questions (8 Nov 2023)
- Fiamma Nirenstein, A New Generation of Nazi Holocaust Deniers: Those Who Deny the Hamas-ISIS Massacre, Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (7 Nov 2023)
- Shaul Shay (Col. Res.), Between Gaza and Sana’a, International Institute for Counter-Terrorism (2 Nov 2023)
- Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, The Houthis and Operation Iron Swords (2 Nov 2023)
- Galit Truman-Zinman, Hamas Is Isis, BESA Center Perspectives (31 Oct 2023)
- Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, Operation Iron Swords – The Development of Iranian-Hamas-Hezbollah Cooperation (27 Oct 2023)
- Liram Koblentz-Stenzler, Uri Klempner, Kate Chavez, Countering Hate in the Digital Age: Analyzing Far-Right Extremist Responses to the Israel-Hamas War, International Institute for Counter-Terrorism (22 Oct 2023)
- Shaul Shay, Amb. Jacob Rosen-Koenigsbuch, Jordan and the War in Gaza, International Institute for Counter-Terrorism (19 Oct 2023)
- Khaled Abu Toameh, How Iran, the ‘Head of the Snake,’ Directly Helped Hamas’s Assault on Israel, Gatestone Institute (16 Oct 2023)
- Brendan O’Neill, Why Won’t the Jews Just Let Themselves Be Killed? Spiked (16 Oct 2023)
- Pete Hoekstra, What Starts in Gaza – and Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Venezuela – Starts in Iran, Gatestone Institute (11 Oct 2023)
- JCPA Podcast – Students for Justice in Palestine – a Hamas Front in the U.S., (11 Oct 2023)
- Eado Hecht, Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, The Gaza Terror Offensive (9 Oct 2023 – with updates)
- Global Imams Council, Public Statement Condemning Attacks (9 Oct 2023)
- Michael Oren, Mosaic, How Gaza Became Israel’s Unsolvable Problem (7 Jun 2021)