Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip (2023–present)
Israeli military operation / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
On 27 October 2023, Israel launched an invasion of the Gaza Strip with the stated goals to destroy Hamas, a military and political movement that led an attack on Israel earlier in the month, and to free hostages it took. The effort is ongoing.[49][50] Before the invasion, dubbed Operation Swords of Iron, Israel declared war, tightened its blockade, and ordered the evacuation of the northern Gaza Strip.
Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip | |||||||
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Part of the Israel–Hamas war | |||||||
Gaza Strip under Israeli control
Furthest Israeli advance in Gaza Strip
Evacuated areas inside Israel
Area of Gaza subject to Israeli evacuation orders See here for a more detailed map. | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Israel |
Paramilitaries in the Gaza Strip (Joint Operations Room) | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
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Units involved | |||||||
Israel Defense Forces
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Strength | |||||||
~40,000[32] | Al-Qassam Brigades: 20,000–40,000[33] | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
Per Israel: Per Al-Qassam Brigades: |
Per Euro-Med Monitor: Per the US: Per Israel: | ||||||
32,331 Palestinian civilians killed, 60,128 Palestinians injured (Per Euro-Med Monitor)[38][44] ~16,000 Palestinian civilians killed (Per Israel)[41] 27,563 Palestinians killed, 59,237 injured (Per the Gaza Health Ministry)[45][46] 48 Israeli hostages killed (per Israel)[47] 70+ Israeli hostages killed (per Hamas)[48] |
More than 31,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the start of the Israeli operation,[51] including more than 13,000 children and 9,000 women,[52] with another 7,000 people missing and presumed dead under the rubble of destroyed buildings.[53][54] By mid-December, Israel had dropped 29,000 munitions on Gaza, destroying or damaging 70 percent of homes, destroying hundreds of cultural landmarks, and damaging dozens of cemeteries.[55][56][57][58] Experts say that the scale and pace of destruction in Gaza is among the severest in recent history.[59][60]
A severe humanitarian crisis has developed, with healthcare in a state of collapse,[61] shortages of food, clean water, medicine and fuel due to the blockade,[62][63][64] electricity and communications blackouts,[65] and the UN warning of potential famine.[66] It was widely reported that there is "no safe place in Gaza", as Israel struck areas it had previously told Palestinians to evacuate to.[67][68][69] The widespread civilian deaths have led to accusations of war crimes against both Israel and Hamas.[70][71] Nearly all 2.3 million Gazans have been internally displaced[72] and 250,000 to 500,000 Israelis were internally displaced,[73][74][75] while, Israel has detained thousands of Palestinians[76][77][78] and said it lost 225 additional soldiers in its invasion as of 4 February 2024.[79]
As a result of the invasion, South Africa instituted proceedings against Israel in the International Court of Justice (ICJ), charging that Israel was committing genocide[80] and requesting that the ICJ render provisional measures of protection.