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Timeline: One Year Since The Hamas-led Attack On Israel
Niva Chittock, Reporter
Today marks one year since Hamas militants crossed into Israel and launched a large-scale terror attack, killing more than 1000 people and kidnapping more than 200 others.
Days later, Israel announced it was at war, and began a brutal, long-term retaliation on the militant group in Gaza.
Tens of thousands of people have died in Israeli strikes in Gaza in the past year.
More than 1000 people have also died in Lebanon in recent weeks, as Israel pivots its attacks towards Hamas ally Hezbollah.
Some of the Israeli hostages taken in the initial Hamas attack are still believed to be held in Gaza.
Millions of people have been displaced and face severe shortages of water, food, medical care and fuel.
Many have moved multiple times and are sheltering in schools, refugee camps or rubble, as the conflict extends its tendrils into Yemen, Syria and Israel itself.
RNZ has compiled a timeline of major events in the region since the attack.
October 7 2023: Hamas militants cross into Israel, attacking communities in the south, killing 1200 people and taking an estimated 240 hostages. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announces Israel is at war. Retaliatory Israel air strikes on Gaza begin.
October 8 2023: Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, an ally of Hamas and also Iranian backed, begins what will be continual cross-border shelling attacks from Lebanon into Israel's north.
October 13 2023: Israel tells the residents of Gaza city, more than one million people, to evacuate to the territory's south. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians flee.
October 17 2023: An explosion at a hospital in Gaza causes outrage in the Arab world. Palestinians blame the attack on Israel. Israel says it was caused by a misfiring Palestinian rocket. The US backs Israel's explanation. US President Joe Biden is due to have a summit with Arab leaders the next day. It is called off.
October 19 2023: A US warship intercepts missiles and drones launched over the Red Sea by Houthis in Yemen. The Houthis, another Iranian-backed group, say their attacks are in solidarity with Hamas in Gaza. It continues sporadic, ongoing attacks on the critical shipping route, leaving some ships to be abandoned or re-routed.
October 21 2023: Aid trucks are allowed into Gaza through the Rafah border crossing in Egypt. It comes after days of diplomatic efforts, and will deliver only a small part of the food, water, medicines and fuel those trapped in Gaza need.
October 27 2023: The Israeli military launches a broader ground offensive into Gaza.
November 1 2023: Evacuations begin from Gaza through the Rafah crossing into Egypt for thousands of foreign passport holders, dual nationals and their dependants, as well as those needing urgent medical treatment.
November 8 2023: The death toll in Gaza surpasses 10,000, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza. International pressure is mounting on Israel to stop killing civilians in Palestinian territories. Israel maintains it is targeting Hamas.
November 9 2023: Israel says a Syrian drone has hit its southern city of Eilat.
November 21 2023: Israel and Hamas announced the first truce of the conflict. They agree to pause fighting for four days to exchange hostages held in Gaza for Palestinians detained by Israel. It also allows for more aid to be let into Gaza.
November 22 2023: The exchange of Israeli hostages and Palestinian detainees begins. In all, 105 hostages and 240 Palestinians are exchanged and the initial truce is extended for three extra days.
December 1 2023: The truce between Hamas and Israel collapses, and fighting resumes.
December 6 2023: The UN Secretary General António Guterres brings a vote on a cease fire in Gaza to the Security Council. 13 countries vote for it, the US vetoes and the UK abstains.
December 10 2023: Hamas says it's reviewing a three-stage Egyptian proposal for a cease fire.
December 12 2023: Biden says Israel's "indiscriminate bombing" of Gaza is costing it international support, marking a clear shift in America's stance. Several senior US officials will make visits to Israel in the coming weeks to try promote diplomacy over violence.
December 15 2023: Israeli forces mistakenly kill three hostages in Gaza, which leads to some of the most vocal criticism of the war within Israel. However, Israel's campaign in Gaza still has widespread domestic support.
December 22 2023: The death toll in Gaza surpasses 20,000, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an Iranian-backed militia, says it has launched a long-range attack on Israel. Israel reports no impact.
December 30 2023: The first time Netanyahu is asked about the Philadelphi Corridor between Gaza and Egypt. He says it must remain in Israel's control. It later becomes a sticking point in Israel's refusal to commit to a cease fire deal.
January 2 2024: The deputy chair of the political arm of Hamas is killed in an Israeli strike in Beirut, Lebanon with six other group members.
January 11 2024: The International Court of Justice hears opening statements in a case brought by South Africa, in which it accuses Israel of committing a genocide campaign against the Palestinian population. Israel denies the accusation.
February 9 2024: Netanyahu instructs Israel's military to present plans to his Cabinet to evacuate the civilian population from Rafah in southern Gaza, and for a military operation, which he says will "eliminate" Hamas in the city.
February 10 2024: Saudi Arabia and other Arab states issue statements against an Israeli military operation in Rafah.
February 20 2024: The United States vetoes a UN Security Council proposal to stop the conflict.
February 29 2024: Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza says the death toll has surpassed 30,000 people. It does not give a break down of how many militants are in the figure.
March 9 2024: The European Union's top diplomat warns an attack on Rafah would create a humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.
March 22 2024: Netanyahu announces an Israeli military operation in Rafah after meeting with the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. The White House says a ground attack on Rafah is a mistake.
March 26 2024: The US abstains from a ceasefire proposal at the UN Security Council, which passes with 14 votes in favour.
April 1 2024: Israel strikes the Iranian Embassy in Damascus, Syria. The strike kills a senior commander in the Islamic Revolutionary Guards, a branch of the Iranian Armed Forces. Hezbollah and the Houthis launch a series of missiles at Israel in response. Most are shot down by the country's air defences before they hit their intended targets.
May 4 2024: Mediators (US, Qatar and Egypt) meet in Cairo to discuss a possible cease fire and hostage release deal with Israel and Hamas.
May 6 2024: Hamas agrees to a modified cease fire deal. Israel says it does not meet its demands.
May 7 2024: The US pauses a shipment of more than 3000 bombs to Israel due to concerns they could be used against civilians in Rafah. The Egypt-Gaza border crossing is sealed, and most of Gaza is ordered to evacuate by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF).
June 10 2024: Benny Gantz, a centrist member of Israel's war cabinet, resigns. He accuses Netanyahu of mismanaging the war effort and putting his own political career ahead of Israel's security needs. Netanyahu is left more reliant on far-right allies, who oppose a cease fire proposal.
June 17 2024: Netanyahu dissolves Israel's war cabinet.
July 19 2024: The International Court of Justice gives an advisory opinion on a separate court proceeding regarding Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory. The court says the occupation is unlawful.
July 31 2024: The head of Hamas' political branch, Ismail Haniyeh, is assassinated in Tehran. Iran and the US accuse Israel of being behind the attack. Israel does not comment.
August 7 2024: Hamas names Yahya Sinwar as its new leader.
August 12 2024: The US sends a submarine to the Middle East. It now has around 40,000 troops stationed across the region.
August 15 2024: Netanyahu is again accused of blocking a cease fire deal, but sends a team to mediation talks with the US, Egypt and Qatar in Doha. Hamas does not send a delegation, but says it will meet with the mediators afterwards.
August 16 2024: The death toll is Gaza is reported to have reached 40,000, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza.
August 24 2024: A case of polio in a ten month old baby is confirmed in Gaza. It's the first time the virus has been detected in the territory for 25 years.
August 26 2024: Israel and Hezbollah have a major missile exchange across the Israel-Lebanon border.
August 30 2024: Multiple three day pauses in fighting in Gaza are agreed to allow for a polio vaccination campaign to take place. The UN says it aims to vaccinate 640,000 children.
September 1 2024: The first pause in fighting to allow for polio vaccinations begins in Gaza, and is adhered to by both Israel and Hamas.
September 2 2024: Israel finds the bodies of six hostages in Gaza, including American-Israeli Hersh Goldberg-Polin. Protests break out in Israel, with demonstrators calling for Netanyahu to get the hostages home or resign. More than 100 Israeli hostages are reported to still be held in Gaza. The protests last for days and shut down whole sectors of the Israeli economy and roads across the country.
September 4 2024: Fighting resumes in Gaza after the end of the first polio vaccination round.
September 13 2024: The UN announces just under 559,000 children have been successfully vaccinated against polio in Gaza. The second round of vaccinations is scheduled for mid-October.
September 15 2024: A Houthi ballistic missile hits central Israel for the first time. Israel says it was intercepted, and only fragments made contact. No deaths are reported.
September 18 2024: Hundreds of pagers, mostly used by Hezbollah, explode across Lebanon, killing 12 and injuring thousands. The Lebanon government and Hezbollah blame Israel's Mossad intelligence agency for the attack. Israel does not comment.
September 19 2024: Hundreds of hand-held radios or walkie talkies, again mostly used by Hezbollah, explode in Lebanon, killing 20 and injuring hundreds. Some explode at the funerals of those killed in the pager blasts the day before. Again, the Lebanese government and Hezbollah blame Mossad. Israel does not comment.
September 21 2024: Israel ramps up air strikes on what it says are Hezbollah targets within Lebanon. Almost 500 people will be killed in strikes in four days.
September 27 2024: Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah is killed in an Israeli air strike. At the United Nations General Assembly in New York, France and the US propose a 21 day temporary cease fire deal between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Netanyahu does not comment on it before his foreign minister says tells the public in Israel that he will not support it. Hezbollah says it will stop fighting if there is a cease fire in Gaza.
September 30 2024: The Israeli military fires missiles into a Houthi-controlled area of Yemen, killing five.
October 1 2024: The Israeli military begins what it describes as a 'limited', 'localised' and 'targeted' ground operation in southern Lebanon. Hezbollah responds by firing rockets into northern Israel.
October 2 2024: Iran launches 180 missiles at Israel, most are intercepted by Israeli and US forces. Iran claimed the attack was in response to the Israeli assassination of Hassan Nasrallah. A terror attack in Israel, shortly before the missile barrage, kills eight people. It's not known if it was related. The Israeli military also reveals it has been conducting ground incursions into Lebanon for months.
October 3 2024: Eight Israeli soldiers are killed in the first direct confrontations with Hezbollah on the ground in southern Lebanon. The IDF has now issued evacuation orders for about a quarter of Lebanon's territory. Up to one million people are thought to be displaced internally. A major Israeli strike on Khan Younis in Gaza kills at least 50 people. Israel says it was targeting Hamas.
Reuters, AP, CNN and BBC content has been used to help create this timeline.
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