![A woman holds a child after an Israeli attack in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on November 23](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/12B12/production/_131926567_gettyimages-1797518708.jpg)
Hamas gunmen launched an unprecedented attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip on October 7, killing 1,200 people and taking 240 hostages.
The Israeli military responded with airstrikes on Gaza, and launched a ground offensive. According to the Hamas government, more than 15,800 people have been killed in Gaza.
Fighting has resumed after a seven-day ceasefire ended, during which Hamas released more than 100 hostages in exchange for 240 Palestinians.
What is the purpose of Israel’s military operation in Gaza?
Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) warplanes are carrying out strikes in Gaza as its troops move from the northern region.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that Israel’s clear goal is to destroy Hamas’ military and administrative capabilities, as well as free the hostages.
He also announced that Israel would have “overall security responsibility” for the Gaza Strip “indefinitely” after the conflict. Israel later said it had no plans to reoccupy the area.
Israel has prepared 300,000 reservists for the operation, to augment its standing force of 160,000.
What on earth is happening in Gaza?
The IDF says it has hit thousands of targets linked to Hamas – which Israel, Britain, the United States and other Western powers consider a terrorist organization.
It also says it has destroyed hundreds of tunnel shafts built under Gaza. Hamas claims that its tunnel network stretches for 500 kilometers (310 miles).
Along with the Jabalia refugee camp, several hospitals in the north were caught up in the intense fighting.
Since the temporary ceasefire ended, Israeli troops have entered southern Gaza, and have carried out “offensive” operations against Hamas and other armed groups around the town of Khan Yunis.
Israel has claimed to have killed thousands of Hamas fighters during the war, including several commanders. More than 390 Israeli soldiers have been killed, most of them in the October 7 attack.
The IDF says 75 Israeli soldiers have been killed in Gaza since the fighting began.
Who are the hostages and how many have been released?
During the October 7 attacks, Hamas took about 240 hostages, who it said were hiding in “safe havens and tunnels” inside Gaza.
Israel said more than 30 of the hostages were children, and at least 10 were over 60 years old. It is also said that almost half of the hostages had foreign passports from 25 different countries.
Under an agreement between Qatar, a pause in the fighting began on Friday 24 November.
Large numbers of people are gathering in the occupied West Bank to welcome Palestinians freed from Israeli prisons.
During the seven-day ceasefire, 105 hostages were released, in exchange for 240 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons and detention centers.
- 78 Israeli women and children
- 23 Thai hostages and one Filipino
- 3 Russian-Israeli
Hamas released four Israeli hostages before the cease-fire agreement was reached, and another hostage was released by Israeli forces.
Hamas has said that other armed groups in Gaza are holding hostages, including the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which could complicate future liberation.
What is the humanitarian situation in Gaza?
The United Nations has warned that “an even more hellish scenario is about to unfold” in the Gaza Strip, and that its humanitarian operations will not be able to respond.
According to the Hamas government, more than 36,000 people have been injured in Gaza since the war began. It says that three-fourths of them are children and women.
Due to damage from the attacks and lack of electricity and fuel, some hospitals in Gaza are still operating.
Mr Netanyahu has admitted that Israel has not been “successful” in reducing civilian casualties, but insists this is because Hamas uses Gaza’s population as human shields.
Some schools in the south have been converted into temporary medical facilities
This includes hundreds of thousands of people who fled fighting in the north after an Israeli ultimatum to move south of the river, known as the Gaza Strip, for their own safety.
Israel’s military later published a map that divided Gaza into grids, showing areas where people should flee to safety.
But the BBC’s international editor Jeremy Bowen said the map was complex, contained conflicting information, and required a smartphone to access.
The city is hosting hundreds of thousands of residents who moved to escape the fighting in the north. Many homeless people are taking shelter in places like city hospitals.
How much humanitarian aid has flown into Gaza?
After the October 7 attack, Israel closed its borders with Gaza, preventing routine supplies of food, water, fuel and medicine from entering the territory.
Israel halted all fuel shipments until the end of November, arguing that it could be stolen by Hamas and used for military purposes.
Without electricity or fuel for generators, hospitals, water pumps and desalination plants, waste and sanitation services, and bakeries are unable to function.
Israel allowed 1,399 trucks of humanitarian goods to enter through Egypt’s Rafah border crossing between Oct. 21 and Nov. 21, compared with a monthly average of 10,000 before the war, according to the United Nations.
During the ceasefire, hundreds of trucks carrying aid and fuel were allowed to enter Gaza through the Rafah crossing – the only working passage into and out of Gaza. But it has become very difficult to get goods in the north.
Hundreds of foreign passport holders – including some British and American citizens – and seriously injured and sick Palestinians have also been allowed to leave, but many remain. Egypt has strict control over the Rafah crossing.
What happened during the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7?
On October 7, hundreds of Hamas gunmen entered southern Israel from the Gaza Strip, breaching the heavily guarded perimeter fence, landing by sea, and using paragliders.
Gunmen killed nearly 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in a series of attacks on military posts, kibbutzim and music festivals, and took hostages back in Gaza.
Earlier estimates put the death toll at more than 1,400.
A young woman kneels under hostage surveillance in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv
The attack comes at a time of heightened Israeli-Palestinian tensions: 2023 is the deadliest on record for Palestinians living in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
What is Hamas and what does it want?
Hamas is a Palestinian group that has been running Gaza since 2007.
The name is an abbreviation of Harakat al-Muqas al-Islamiya, which means Islamic Resistance Movement.
The group wants to destroy Israel and replace it with the Islamic State.
Yahya Sinwar, leader of the political wing of Hamas in Gaza, pictured in 2021
Its military wing, the Azuddin al-Qassam Brigades, is thought to have about 30,000 members.
Hamas has fought several wars with Israel since it took power, firing thousands of rockets at Israel and carrying out other deadly attacks.
In response, Israel repeatedly attacked Hamas with airstrikes, sending troops in 2008 and 2014.
Hamas – or in some cases the al-Qassam Brigades – has been designated a terrorist group by Israel, the United States, the European Union and the United Kingdom, among other powers.
Iran supports the group, providing funding, weapons and training.
Where is the Gaza Strip and how big is it?
The Gaza Strip is a 41 km (25 mi) long and 10 km wide area located between Israel, Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea.
Israel withdrew its forces and approximately 7,000 residents from the area in 2005.
to the houseWith 2.2 million people, the Strait is one of the most densely populated areas in the world.
According to the United Nations, three-quarters of Gaza’s population – some 1.7 million people – are registered refugees or descendants of refugees.
Before the latest conflict, more than 500,000 people lived in eight refugee camps located in the Strip.
Israel controls the airspace over Gaza and its coast, and severely restricts the movement of people and goods.
What is Palestine?
The West Bank and Gaza are known as the Palestinian Territories. Along with East Jerusalem and Israel, they formed part of the country known as Palestine from Roman times until the mid-20th century.
In 1948, Palestine became part of Israel, which was recognized by the United Nations the following year. The West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and Gaza are recognized as Palestine by many countries and institutions, although it does not have member status in the United Nations.
Those who do not recognize Israel’s right to exist still refer to the entire land as Palestine.
He has been the leader of the Palestinian Authority (PA) since 2005, and represents the Fatah political party – a bitter rival of Hamas.