World
In pictures: How the Israel-Hamas war has escalated since shocking surprise attack
These pictures show how the war between Israel and Hamas has escalated since the shocking surprise attack a week ago.
Hamas stormed through towns in southern Israel, after breaching the border barrier with Gaza in multiple locations.
The attackers gunned down civilians and abducted some 150 people – including men, women and children – in the assault on 7 October.
Israeli forces have since put Gaza, home to 2.3 million Palestinians, under a total siege and launched round-the-clock airstrikes that have levelled entire city blocks.
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Israeli police evacuate a woman and child from a site hit by a rocket in Ashkelon, Israel. Pic: AP
Emergency personnel work to extinguish a fire after rockets are launched from Gaza, in Ashkelon, Israel
Rockets are fired towards Israel from Gaza. Pic: AP
A woman stands in a damaged room after rockets were launched from Gaza, in Ashkelon, Israel
A building ablaze following rocket attacks from Gaza, in Tel Aviv, Israel
Palestinians celebrate by a destroyed Israeli tank at the Gaza fence east of Khan Younis. Pic: AP
Gaza has been sealed off from food, water and medical supplies as well as placed under a virtual total power blackout.
Palestinian militants have fired thousands of rockets into Israel since the conflict erupted.
Israeli soldiers work to secure residential areas following a mass infiltration by Hamas gunmen from the Gaza Strip, in Sderot, southern Israel
People try to extinguish fire on cars following a rocket attack from Gaza in Ashkelon, Israel. Pic: AP
Explosions over Gaza City. Pic: AP
Rockets are fired towards Israel from Gaza. Pic: AP
Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepts rockets launched from Gaza
Palestinians inspect the ruins of Watan Tower, which was destroyed in Israeli strikes, in Gaza City
On Saturday, the Gaza Health Ministry said 2,215 people had been killed there, including 724 children and 458 women.
The Hamas assault killed more than 1,300 Israelis – most of them civilians – and roughly 1,500 Hamas militants were killed during the fighting, the Israeli government said.
Rockets are fired from Gaza towards Israel
Israeli soldiers scan an area while sirens sound as rockets from Gaza are launched towards Israel, near Sderot, southern Israel
Smoke rises following Israeli strikes in Gaza
Smoke and flames rise following Israeli strikes in Gaza
Rockets are fired from Gaza towards Israel
Heavy bombardment in Gaza. Pic: AP
A week on from the wide-ranging Hamas attack, Palestinians scrambled to flee northern Gaza after Israel ordered nearly half the population to flee south and carried out limited ground forays into the territory.
Israel renewed calls on social media and in leaflets dropped from the air for some one million residents to move south, while Hamas urged people to stay inside their homes.
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Israeli soldiers arrive at Sderot, a town close to Gaza. Pic: AP
Smoke rises following Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City. Pic: AP
A Palestinian walks through the destruction by Israeli bombing in Gaza City. Pic: AP
Destruction in the Karama neighbourhood following Israeli bombing in Gaza City. Pic: AP
An Israeli mobile artillery unit fires a shell from southern Israel towards Gaza. Pic: AP
Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City. Pic: AP
Israel’s raids into Gaza on Friday were the first indication troops had entered the territory since it began its bombardment in retaliation for the Hamas massacre.
Israel has called up some 360,000 reservists and massed troops and tanks along the border ahead of an expected land offensive as the war was set to escalate yet again.
“We will destroy Hamas,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Friday night.
Israel’s Iron Dome intercepts missiles launched from Gaza. Pic: Mohammed Saber/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Flares, fired from the Israeli side, burn in the sky as seen from Ramyah near the Lebanese-Israeli border
Israeli soldiers on a tank near the Israel-Gaza border. Pic: AP
Israeli soldiers take position near the border with Gaza
Palestinians evacuate a wounded youth after an Israeli airstrike in Rafah, Gaza. Pic: AP
An Israeli soldier steps over personal belongings near a home in Kibbutz Beeri in southern Israel
Mourners join the funeral for Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah, who was killed in Israeli shelling in Lebanon
On Saturday, Mr Netanyahu told troops preparing at the Gaza border that the “next stage” of Israel’s response was coming.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with soldiers in southern Israel ahead of an expected ground offensive against Hamas
A ground assault into densely populated Gaza would likely lead to even higher casualties on both sides in brutal house-to-house fighting.