The Middle Eastern crisis is a series of conflicts and heightened instability in the Middle East which began with the Hamas-led attack on Israel on 7 October 2023 and the war that followed, leading to a major escalation of the existing tensions between Israel and Iran. This has resulted in several proxy conflicts breaking out across the Middle East involving both sides.
Immediately after Hamas launched its attack, Israel's military began Operation Swords of Iron, beginning with bombing Gaza. This was followed by temporary raids and evacuation of the northern Gaza Strip from 13 October 2023, then a full-scale invasion from 27 October 2023.[29][30] More than 42,000 Gazans have been killed[note 6][42] and 1.9 million have been displaced.[55]
A four-day ceasefire was agreed to by Israel and Hamas, which included a provision in which Hamas would release 50 hostages in exchange for Israel's release of 150 Palestinian security prisoners, with provisions for extension if Hamas released additional hostages.[56][57][58] This ceasefire started on 24 November 2023, and two extensions were thereafter agreed to.[59][60] The mediators in Qatar and in Egypt reported they worked to negotiate a further extension of the truce.[61] The truce expired on 1 December 2023.[62][63][64]
Since then, multiple rounds of negotiations have failed to result in another ceasefire agreement despite the two sides, despite multiple proposals by Egypt, Qatar, and Israel's largest military backer the United States. US President Joe Biden presented a three-phase ceasefire proposal on 31 May 2024.[65] However, disagreements over issues such as the Philadelphi Corridor mean that the proposal has so far been unsuccessful.[66][67]
Israeli ground forces killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar on 16 October 2024 during a chance encounter while on a routine patrol.[68]
Tensions and violence between Israeli military forces and settlers in the West Bank were escalating long before the start of the 2023 war. According to the UN, 2022 was the deadliest year for Palestinians on record,[69] and the year to September 2023 already represented the deadliest year in history for children in the West Bank.[70]
Jenin
On 12 October 2023, Israel conducted a raid in Jenin, West Bank, resulting in the reported detention of a Hamas fighter and injuries to other individuals.[71] On 14 October, another raid was launched in the city, leading to the deaths of multiple people.[72][73][74]
On 22 October, an airstrike carried out by the Israel Defense Forces targeted the Al-Ansar Mosque, causing extensive damage.[75][76] Two people were killed, and three others were injured.[77][78][75] The IDF asserted that Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) had been operating from a compound beneath the mosque.[78][75][77] The Palestinian Foreign Minister, Riyad al-Maliki, characterized the attack as a "dangerous escalation in the use of warplanes" and expressed concern over the adoption of tactics from Gaza.[79]
On 27 October, Ayser Mohammad Al-Amer, a senior commander of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, was reportedly killed during a clash with the IDF.[80]
On 29 November, 14-year-old Basel Abu Al-Wafa and 8-year-old Adam Al-Ghool were shot dead by Israeli forces during the Jenin incursions. CCTV footage depicting the killings show Basel Abu Al-Wafa being shot at multiple times, sustaining mortal wounds while 8-year old Adam Al-Ghool was killed with a shot to the head.[81][82] A 17-year-old was reportedly shot and killed by IDF forces inside the Khalil Suleiman hospital compound near the Jenin refugee camp, accourding to accounts by the Doctors Without Borders.[83]
A dozen raids were reported on 2 January 2024, with a violent raid in Jenin and violent confrontations in Azzun, resulting in the death of four Palestinians.[84] Raids were reported in Ya'bad on 5 January, with an eleven-year-old wounded.[85] A doctor described a drone strike on 7 January, stating one man "was decapitated. It seemed the missile directly hit him. Others had their limbs severed."[86] All entrances into Jenin were reported blocked on 9 January.[87] The chair of the Jenin high-level committee stated Israel had destroyed streets, electric poles, water lines, and a monument to Shireen Abu Akleh.[88]
On January 30, Israeli forces disguised as medical personnel raided a hospital in Jenin, killing three Palestinian men they alleged as fighters, but whom doctors at the hospital reported as a paralyzed man in a wheelchair along with his brother and a friend of his.[89][90]
Tulkarm
In the Nur Shams camp, a drone deployed by Israel resulted in casualties among a group of Palestinians.[91] The Israeli army reported the death of one officer and injuries to nine soldiers due to the detonation of an explosive device in the Nour Shams camp, with the wounded soldiers transported to the Meir Hospital.[92][93]
On the second day of the raid, 20 October, explosions occurred at dawn and in the morning hours. The Tulkarm Battalion reported that additional armed groups had reached Tulkarm to support their efforts.[94] At 7 am, Israeli forces concluded their 30-hour raid, withdrawing from the city and its two camps.[95] The Palestinian Ministry of Health confirmed 13 casualties, including 5 children, with the deceased and injured transported to Martyr Dr. Thabet Thabet Governmental Hospital.[96]
Five people were injured during a raid on 3 January 2024, including one person hit by a live bullet, three people beaten by Israeli soldiers, and one person who was rammed by an Israeli jeep.[97] A forty-hour raid on Nur Shams concluded on 4 January, with more than a dozen wounded from soldi
On 8 October 2023, the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah fired guided rockets and artillery shells at Israeli positions in the disputed Shebaa Farms one day into the 2023 Israel–Hamas war, saying this was "in solidarity" with the Palestinians. Israel retaliated by launching drone strikes and artillery shells at Hezbollah positions near Lebanon's boundary with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.[98] The next day, Israel exchanged a series of airstrikes on southern Lebanon near the towns of Marwahin, Ayta ash Shab[99] and Dhayra in the Bint Jbeil district.[100] This was after numerous Palestinian militants infiltrated the Israeli border.[101] The IDF killed at least two perpetrators (likely Palestinians),[100] while a third returned to Lebanon.[102]
Hezbollah deputy chief Sheikh Naim Qassem said that 'when time comes for any action, we will carry it out' stating that Hezbollah was ready and 'would "contribute" to confrontations against Israel according to its own plan'.[103] Hezbollah has said it will not stop attacking Israel until Israel ceases its attacks and military operations in Gaza,[104] where more than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed.[105]
On 13 October, while a group of Reuters, AFP and Al Jazeera journalists were transmitting a live video feed of an IDF outpost in Aalma ech Chaab, two tank rounds fired directly hit the group. The first killed Reuters photojournalist Issam Abdallah. The second strike was much more powerful and ignited the Al Jazeera vehicle, a white Toyota, which Al Jazeera journalists Carmen Joukhadar and Elie Brakhya, as well as their AFP colleague Dylan Collins were standing next to.[106] Reuters' photographer Christina Assi was also critically injured.[107][108] Lebanon's army has said the IDF fired the missile that killed Abdallah. Another Reuters reporter at the scene said Abdallah was killed by projectiles fired from the direction of Israel.[109] His last post on Instagram, posted a week before he was killed, was a photograph of Shireen Abu Akleh, a Palestinian journalist for Al Jazeera Arabic who had been killed by Israel in 2022.[110][111]
On 12 November 2023, Hezbollah anti-tank missile and mortar attacks killed an employee of the Israel Electric Corporation who was conducting repair work and injured 21 other Israelis, including seven IDF soldiers and six of the fatality's colleagues.[112][113] Hezbollah also claimed to have struck an IDF bulldozer in a separate attack. The IDF said it had launched a drone strike at a militant cell that tried to launch antitank missiles near Metula.[114] Further clashes also killed one Hezbollah member.[115]
On 2 January 2024, Israel conducted an airstrike in the Dahieh neighborhood of Beirut, resulting in the assassination of Saleh al-Arouri, the deputy chairman of the Hamas political bureau, and the death of six other members.[116] Al-Arouri was also responsible for the expansion of Hamas' activities in the Israeli-occupiedWest Bank, including attacks on Israelis.[117][118] The assassination occurred one day before Hezbollah commemorated the 4th anniversary of the assassination of senior Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani.[119] On 6 January, Hezbollah launched approximately 40 rockets into northern Israel, describing it as an "initial response" to al-Arouri's killing.[120] According to Israel, the rockets targeted a strategic Airbase near Mount Meron, causing significant damage to it.[121]
On 8 January, Israel assassinated Wissam al-Tawil, the deputy commander of Hezbollah's Redwan Force, whom it accused of carrying out the attack on Meron airbase two days earlier.[122]
The IDF said that they killed four militants that infiltrated the Israeli border through Shebaa while an IDF unit was patrolling nearby on 14 January 2024. Five IDF soldiers were wounded.[123] A group calling itself the "Islamic Glory Brigades" later claimed responsibility for the attack and announced that 3 of their members were killed and 2 were able to escape.[124] The same day, two Israeli civilians; a man and his 70-year-old mother, were killed by Hezbollah anti-tank missiles in Kfar Yuval.[125]
A map of the Houthi movement attacks on commercial ships during the Israel–Hamas war.
Several strikes against Israel and commercial ships in the Red Sea have been launched by the Iran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen.[135][136][137] On 19 October, the United States Navy destroyer USSCarney shot down several missiles that were traveling north over the Red Sea towards Israel.[138] On 31 October, Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said that the group had launched ballistic missiles and drones towards Israel, and that they would continue to do so "to help the Palestinians to victory"[139] in an event that has been misrepresented in some news sites as a declaration of war by Yemen.[140] On 19 November, tensions increased when the Galaxy Leader, a cargo ship chartered by a Japanese logistics company with 25 individuals on board, was hijacked by the Houthis using a Mil Mi-17 helicopter.[141]
On 3 December the Houthis stated that they had attacked two ships, the Unity Explorer and Number 9, allegedly linked to Israel, in order "to prevent Israeli ships from navigating the Red Sea".[142][143] Any ship destined for Israel, according to the group, was a "legitimate target". Saree announced in a post on X that the "horrific massacres" against the Palestinians in Gaza was the reason for this decision and that they will not stop until the Gaza Strip is supplied with food and medicine. Israeli National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi called this development a "global issue" and that Israel is "giving the world some time to organize in order to prevent this" otherwise, the country "would will act in order to remove this naval siege".[144]
American-led airstrikes in Houthi-controlled Yemen
On 3 January 2024 the United States and a group of countries issued an ultimatum to the Houthis to stop their activities.[145]
Since 12 January 2024 the United States and the United Kingdom, with support from Australia, Bahrain, Canada, and the Netherlands, have launched a series of Tomahawk cruise missile and airstrikes against the Houthis in Yemen in response to Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea.[146] Houthi attacks on shipping were condemned by the United Nations Security Council the day before the initial strike.[147][148] US President Joe Biden ordered the strikes, and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak convened his cabinet to authorize British participation.[149][150] American officials said the strikes were intended to degrade Houthi capabilities to attack Red Sea cargo ships rather than to target leaders and Iranian trainers; the Houthis said at least five people were killed and six wounded.[151][152]
Map of attacks on U.S. bases in Iraq, Jordan, and Syria.
Israeli airstrikes on Syria
From 12 to 22 October 2023, Israel launched at least three attacks on airports in Syria, particularly on Damascus and Aleppo,[153][154] killing two workers from the Syrian meteorology service based at Damascus International Airport.[155] On 24 October, Israeli airstrikes in Daraa Governorate reportedly resulted in the death of eight Syrian soldiers and injuries to seven others, as per Syria's state-run news agency SANA. The IDF acknowledged the airstrikes, stating they were a response to two rockets fired from Syria into Northern Israel.[156]
On 20 January 2024, Brigadier GeneralSadegh Omidzadeh, an intelligence officer with the IRGC Quds Force in Syria, along with four other IRGC officers, were reportedly killed in an Israeli airstrike in Damascus.[157][158] According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an Israeli missile strike targeted a four-story building in the Mezzeh district. The attack resulted in the death of thirteen individuals,[159] including five Iranians, and the complete destruction of the building where leaders aligned with Iran were having a meeting.[160]
Islamic Resistance in Iraq attacks on US military bases
On 15 January 2024, Iran carried out a series of aerial and drone strikes within Iraq and Syria, claiming that it had targeted the regional headquarters of the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad and several strongholds of terrorist groups in response to the Kerman bombings on 3 January, for which the Islamic State took responsibility.[174] The city of Erbil, which is the capital of Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan Region, was the target of 11 of the 15 total missiles that were fired. The remaining four missiles were directed at Syria's Idlib Governorate, targeting areas held by the Syrian opposition.[175][176] In Erbil itself, the Iranian attack killed four civilians and injured 17 others.[177] Iran's claims of having targeted the Israeli presence in Kurdistan and terrorist groups in Syria were rejected by the Iraqi government and the autonomous Kurdish government, both of which condemned the attack.[178]
On 1 April 2024, senior Quds Force commander of the IRGC, Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, was killed by an suspected Israeli airstrike that targeted the consulate annex building adjacent to the Iranian embassy in the Syrian capital Damascus.[179] Between five and seven people were killed in the airstrike according to Iranian ambassador, Hossein Akbari. The strike caused "massive destruction" to the consulate building as well as damage to neighboring buildings, according to Syrian state media.[179] Zahedi is the most senior IRGC officer who has been killed since the assassination of Qasem Soleimani by the U.S. in January 2020.[180]
Several countries in the Middle East[note 8] closed their airspace a few hours before Iran launched a standoff attack against Israel around midnight on 13 April. Iran's attack sent around 170 drones, over 30 cruise missiles, and more than 120 ballistic missiles toward Israel and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.[note 7] The Israel Defense Forces used Arrow 3 and David's Sling systems to shoot down many of the incoming weapons. American, British, French, and Jordanian air forces also shot some down. France, which intervened at Jordan's request, deployed warships to provide radar coverage. Jordan said it had intercepted objects flying into its airspace to protect its citizens.
On 19 April 2024 at 5:23a.m. IRST, the IsraeliAir Force launched airstrikes targeting an air defense facility within Iran. The limited airstrikes targeted an air defense radar site at an airbase near Isfahan, in central Iran. Israeli missiles appear to have hit their target directly. Satellite images suggest that a surface-to-air missile battery was damaged or destroyed. There was no extensive damage to the base itself. The attack was launched in response to the Iranian drone and missile strikes in Israel, which itself was an Iranian retaliation for the Israeli airstrike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus.
Iranian media and social media reported minor explosions near Isfahan, where Iran has nuclear facilities, a drone manufacturing facility, and a major airbase. Iranian state media said that Israeli drones flying over the region were shot down by the Iranian Air Defense Force. Three Iranian officials confirmed to The New York Times that Israel was involved. US officials confirmed that at least three missiles from Israeli aircraft had struck Iran. No strikes were reported on Iran's nuclear sites.
According to a senior US official speaking to ABC News, Israeli aircraft, operating beyond Iran's borders, launched three missiles targeting an air defense radar site guarding the Natanz nuclear facility. The official further stated that the assessment indicated the successful destruction of the targeted site. He also said that the objective of the strike was to communicate Israel's capabilities to Iran without escalating tensions further. An Iranian official told Reuters that the explosions were from Israeli drones being shot down, and claimed that there had been no missile attack on Iran.
Casualties
West Bank
In the West Bank, related violence during the conflict killed 243 Palestinians and wounded at least 2,472.[181] Several thousand Gazan workers were in Israel at the time when the conflict started. As of 16 October some of them were detained at a "holding facility" in the West Bank while others sought refuge in the Palestinian communities of the West Bank.[182] The Minister of Labor for the Palestinian Authority estimated 4,500 workers are unaccounted for while Israeli media outlet N12 reported 4,000 Gazans were in Israeli holding facilities. The Palestinian Prisoners Society said that Israeli forces had arrested over 1,450 West Bank Palestinians since 7 October.[183] On 29 October, thirty Israeli human rights organizations addressed settler violence in the West Bank, asking the international community to "act urgently" to end it.[184] On 30 October, the German government called on Israel to protect Palestinians in the West Bank.[185] On 31 October, EU chief diplomat Josep Borrell "firmly condemned" settler attacks in the West Bank.[186]Linda Thomas-Greenfield stated the United States was "deeply concerned," and condemned the killings of Palestinians in the West Bank.[187]
An Israeli strike on 13 October killed Reuters videographer Issam Abdallah and injured six other journalists from Reuters, Agence France-Presse and Al Jazeera.[189] A February 2024 report by the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon concluded that an Israeli tank killed Abadallah when it fired at "clearly identifiable journalists", and that this broke international law.[190] The report "assessed that there was no exchange of fire across the Blue Line at the time of the incident", with no records of any exchange of fire across the border for the 40 minutes before the tank firing.[190] The Israel Defense Forces responded to the United Nations report by claiming that Hezbollah attacked them, so tank fire was used to retaliate.[190]
At least 200 militants were killed. 157 Hezbollah members, including at least 10 in Syria, 16 Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad members, one Amal Movement member and one SSNP member. One Lebanese army soldier was killed and three others were injured.[citation needed]
Israel
1,139 people were killed in Israel during the 7 October attack.[191] At least 65,000 civilians were displaced in a mass evacuation from northern Israel. Three Israeli civilians were killed. On 5 November, two Israeli civilians were killed. One was killed when anti-tank missiles hit the Yiftah kibbutz and another in Kiryat Shmona.[192] On 23 November, in Hezbollah's deadliest attack since the start of the clashes, Hezbollah anti-tank missile and mortar attacks killed an employee of the Israel Electric Corporation who was conducting repair work and injured 21 other Israelis, including seven IDF soldiers and six of the fatality's colleagues.[112][113]
In total, 12 IDF soldiers, including deputy commander Alim Abdallah, and 6 civilians were killed in strikes from Lebanon into northern Israel.[193]
Red Sea and Yemen
U.S.-lead airstrikes in Yemen killed 10 and wounded 2 Houthi rebels on 31 December 2023.[194] Five more were killed and 6 wounded in attacks on 12 January 2024.[195]
Two American Navy Seals were declared dead after being missing during an operation to seize Iranian weapons supplying Houthis in Yemen.[196]
Diplomatic impact
In 2023 before the conflict, Israel and Saudi Arabia were reported to be working on normalizing relations.[197] These talks have since ceased.[198][199]
Notes
1 2 Activity outside the Gaza Strip is unconfirmed for PRC and PFLP-GC.
Indirect deaths likely to be multiple times higher[42]
The number of natural deaths has gone up by a factor of more than 6 (was 3.85/1000).[43][44]
At least 37 deaths confirmed due to malnutrition only and deaths were also confirmed due to dehydration,[45][46] but the true figure is likely to be far higher.[47][48]
The year 2023 in Israel was defined first by wide-scale protests against a proposed judicial reform, and then by the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, which led to a war and to Israel invading the Gaza Strip.
An armed conflict between Israel and Hamas-led Palestinian militant groups has been taking place in the Gaza Strip and Israel since 7 October 2023. It is the fifth war of the Gaza–Israel conflict since 2008, and the most significant military engagement in the region since the Yom Kippur War in 1973. It is the deadliest war for Palestinians in the history of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.
Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah have exchanged fire along the Israel–Lebanon border and in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights since 8 October 2023. Israel has also carried out airstrikes against Hezbollah throughout Lebanon and in Syria. The conflict is part of the spillover of the Israel–Hamas war and is the largest escalation of the Hezbollah–Israel conflict since the 2006 Lebanon War.
Events of the year 2024 in Israel.
Events in the year 2024 in Lebanon.
The following is a list of events during the Israeli–Palestinian conflict in 2024, including the events of the Israel–Hamas war.
In 2024, the Iran–Israel proxy conflict escalated to a series of direct confrontations between the two countries. On 1 April, Israel bombed an Iranian consulate complex in Damascus, Syria, killing multiple senior Iranian officials. In response, Iran and its Axis of Resistance allies seized the Israeli-linked ship MSC Aries and launched strikes inside Israel on 13 April. Israel then carried out retaliatory strikes in Iran and Syria on 19 April.
On 20 July 2024, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched an attack on Hudaydah Port in Al Hudaydah, Yemen. The attack damaged a power generating station, an oil refinery, fuel storage facilities belonging to the Yemen Petroleum Corporation (YPC), and port cranes. Israel claimed it targeted weapon storage facilities. 14 people were killed, including 12 port employees and more than 90 were injured, many with severe burns.
This timeline of the Israel–Hezbollah conflict covers the period from 8 October 2023, when Hezbollah launched rocket strikes on Israel in response to the 7 October Hamas-led attack on Israel, until the beginning of the first ceasefire between Israel and Hamas which lasted from 24 November 2023 to 30 November 2023.
This timeline of the Israel–Hezbollah conflict covers the period from 2 January 2024, with the Assassination of Saleh al-Arouri, until 31 March 2024, one day prior to the Israeli airstrike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus.
On 27 September 2024, Hassan Nasrallah, the secretary-general of Hezbollah, was assassinated in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut. The strike took place while Hezbollah leaders were meeting at a headquarters located 60 feet (18 m) underground beneath residential buildings in Haret Hreik in the Dahieh suburb to the south of Beirut. Conducted by the Israeli Air Force using F-15I fighters, the operation involved dropping more than 80 bombs, including US-made 2,000-pound (910 kg) bunker buster bombs, destroying the underground headquarters as well as nearby buildings. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) codenamed the operation "New Order".
↑ Uras, Umut. "16,456 children killed in Gaza war: Media office". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 12 August 2024. According to a statement on Telegram, in 3,486 attacks carried out by the Israeli army, 39,897 people have been killed, 16,456 of them children and 11,088 women. It also said at least 885 medical staff, 168 journalists and 79 civil defence members have been killed in the Israeli strikes.
↑ Jamal, Urooba; Uras, Umut (14 October 2024). "Israeli attack kills journalist in Gaza: Media office". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 14 October 2024. A statement on Telegram says the number of journalists killed by the Israeli army in the enclave has risen to 177 with the death of photojournalist Ayman Muhammad Ruwaished.
↑ Adler, Nils (9 October 2024). "Journalist killed in northern Gaza, says Palestine Red Crescent". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 9 October 2024. The PRCS says its teams transported to a hospital morgue the body of a journalist killed in an Israeli air raid "on a group of journalists at Abu Shrekh roundabout in northern Gaza."
↑ Uras, Umut; Milisic, Alma; Motamedi, Maziar (6 October 2024). "Another Gaza journalist killed in Israeli attack". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 6 October 2024. Gaza journalist Hassan Hamad has been killed in an Israeli air strike on his home in northern Jabalia, bringing the total number of media workers killed since the start of the war to 175. Colleagues and the government's media office in Gaza confirmed his death, saying the journalist's home was deliberately targeted to silence him after he received threats.
1 2 Khatib, Rasha; McKee, Martin; Yusuf, Salim (2024). "Counting the dead in Gaza: difficult but essential". The Lancet. 404 (10449). Elsevier BV: 237–238. doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(24)01169-3. ISSN0140-6736. PMID38976995. In recent conflicts, such indirect deaths range from three to 15 times the number of direct deaths. Applying a conservative estimate of four indirect deaths per one direct death to the 37,396 deaths reported, it is not implausible to estimate that up to 186,000 or even more deaths could be attributable to the current conflict in Gaza. Using the 2022 Gaza Strip population estimate of 2,375,259, this would translate to 7.9% of the total population in the Gaza Strip.
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