Israel-Hamas war: A timeline of events in the year since 7 October – amid fears of wider Middle East conflict
After months of conflict and tens of thousands of deaths, fighting continues between Israel and Hamas, with the Middle East appearing to be on the brink of a wider war.
In this story, Sky News looks back at what has happened between the Hamas attacks on 7 October 2023 and the same date a year later.
The renewed conflict has raged for months and has seen an escalation between Israel and Iran and the most dangerous situation on the border with Lebanon for many years.
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What follows is by no means an exhaustive timeline, but it aims to capture some of the more salient moments in the devastating conflict.
Hamas attack and Israeli retaliation
A destroyed Israeli tank at the Gaza Strip fence on 7 October. Pic: AP
On 7 October, Hamas gunmen launch an attack on southern Israel, rampaging through communities and killing 1,200 people.
Some 250 people are taken back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies, where they are held captive. The status of the hostages becomes a central issue of the renewed conflict.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declares that Israel is at war and orders airstrikes on Gaza, along with a total siege of the densely populated territory.
Explosions in Gaza City as Israel strikes Hamas on 7 October
Israel ground offensive into Gaza
On 13 October, Israel tells residents of Gaza City, where more than a million people live, to evacuate and move south.
The same day, Israel Defence Force (IDF) troops move into the Gaza Strip in what is described as a raid.
An explosion at the al Ahli hospital in Gaza City on 17 October triggers outrage in the Arab world, but there is disagreement and confusion about who is behind it.
Later the same month Israel launches its large-scale ground assault on Gaza, marking the beginning of its invasion of the territory.
Al Shifa hospital
Palestinians inspect damage in the area around the al Shifa hospital. Pic: Reuters
On 15 November, Israeli troops enter Gaza’s biggest hospital, al Shifa, in Gaza City, after a siege lasting several days during which medical staff say patients including newborn babies died from a lack of power and supplies.
The IDF says the hospital has been used to conceal an underground Hamas HQ, a claim that hospital staff deny.
Within a few more weeks, all hospitals serving the northern half of Gaza cease functioning.
November ceasefire
After weeks of fighting, Israel and Hamas announce the first truce of the war. They agree to pause fighting for four days to exchange women and child hostages held in Gaza for Palestinian women and teenagers detained or jailed by Israel on security grounds, and allow in more aid.
The ceasefire would eventually be extended for a week in total and lead to the freeing of 105 hostages and about 240 Palestinian detainees.
War resumes on 1 December. Days later, Israeli forces launch their first big ground assault on southern Gaza, on the outskirts of the city of Khan Younis.
On 6 December, 22 members of the same family are killed in an Israeli airstrike at the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza.
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Moment US vetoes ceasefire resolution
Two days later, the US vetoes a UN Security Council demand for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. The UK abstains.
On 15 December, three Israeli hostages are killed by IDF troops who mistakenly open fire on them.
Two of them are killed in an initial volley of gunfire, while the third dies 15 minutes later after being urged to come out by the IDF and is then fired upon.
US and Britain launch airstrikes on Yemen
US launches planes in airstrike operation over Yemen, targeting Houthi bases. Pic: US Central Command
Continued attacks on Red Sea shipping by Houthi rebels during this time cause major concerns for international trade.
On 11 January 2024, the US and UK launch dozens of airstrikes across Yemen in retaliation.
The Houthis say five of their fighters have been killed in the initial strikes, and vow to continue their attacks on shipping.
On the same day, the International Court of Justice hear opening statements in a case in which South Africa accuse Israel of committing a state-led genocide campaign against the Palestinian population. Israel denies the accusation.
Death toll surpasses 30,000
On 22 January, 21 IDF soldiers are killed in central Gaza in a single incident – the deadliest day for Israel’s forces since the war began.
At the end of February, the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says the number of deaths in the territory since 7 October has risen above 30,000.
It says most of those killed are women and children and warns that the real figure is likely to be higher.
At this time there is widespread international concern about Israel’s plan to launch a military offensive into the southern city of Rafah, where more than a million people are sheltering.
The UN warns that a famine is imminent in northern Gaza and says 1.1m people are starving.
On 1 April, seven aid workers from World Central Kitchen are killed in an Israeli military strike in Gaza. Three British nationals are among the dead.
An Israeli investigation finds that incorrect assumptions, decision-making mistakes and violations of the rules of engagement had resulted in their deaths.
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Iran and Israel trade salvos
Escalating tensions between Israel and Iran boil over in April.
Tehran alleges that an Israeli strike on its embassy in the Syrian capital, Damascus, has killed several Iranian officers including a top general.
In retaliation it launches a barrage of dozens of missiles and drones at Israel on 13 April. The vast majority are intercepted.
Amid international concern about a regional crisis, Israel responds by striking a number of targets in Iran.
Tehran plays down the impact of the attack near a major military airbase and a nuclear site in the central city of Isfahan, but satellite photos suggest an air defence radar was hit.
Also in April, tens of thousands of people take part in anti-government protests in Israel, urging Mr Netanyahu to reach a ceasefire deal for the release of hostages. It follows months of other demonstrations against the government.
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‘My brother was kidnapped’
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‘Everything is destroyed’
May: Negotiations in Cairo fail to produce ceasefire
Talks in the Egyptian capital aimed at getting Israel and Hamas to agree terms for a ceasefire come under the spotlight in early May.
Hopes of a breakthrough when Hamas announce it has accepted a ceasefire proposed by Egypt and Qatar are dashed after an Israeli official called it a “ruse”.
People on the streets of Rafah celebrate after Hamas’s announcement, but hours later the Israeli military says it is conducting strikes in the city.
Outcry after strike on Rafah kills 45
There is international outrage after an Israeli airstrike on Rafah kills 45 people in late May.
According to Palestinian medics, the strike hits tents for displaced people and Hamas-run authorities in Gaza say “most” of the dead are women and children.
Mr Netanyahu says it was a “tragic mistake”, while the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees says the city has become “hell on earth” following the deadly strike there.
Hostage rescue amid heavy death toll
In early June, four hostages are rescued in an Israeli raid in Gaza.
Hailed as “heroic” in Israel, the military says it freed the hostages under heavy fire and responded with strikes “from the air and from the street”.
But the ensuing attack on central Gaza’s al Nuseirat, a historic Palestinian refugee camp, led to scenes like a “horror movie”, according to residents.
Court ruling on Israel settlement policy
On 19 July, the International Court of Justice rules that Israel’s settlement policy in occupied Palestinian territories is in breach of international law.
The “transfer by Israel of settlers to the West Bank and Jerusalem as well as Israel’s maintenance of their presence” is “contrary to article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention”, a panel of 15 judges from around the world say.
The court says Israel must end the construction of settlements immediately – acts which render “Israel’s presence in the occupied Palestinian territory unlawful”.
Netanyahu visits US
Kamala Harris meets with Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington DC. Pic: Reuters
Mr Netanyahu embarks on a controversial visit to the US in late July and pledges in a scathing speech to Congress to achieve “total victory” against Hamas.
But Kamala Harris says she will “not be silent” over the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza following a meeting with the Israeli PM.
Ms Harris says Israel has a right to defend itself, but pointedly adds: “How it does so matters.”
Escalating tensions with Hezbollah
A couple of days later, Mr Netanyahu vows heavy retaliation after a strike in the Israel-occupied Golan Heights kills 12 children.
He blames the Hezbollah group for the rocket, which struck a football field in Majdal Shams. Hezbollah denies having any role in the attack.
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Brits urged to leave Lebanon
Following this, the IDF carries out what it says is a retaliatory strike on Beirut and kills Fuad Shukr, a senior Hezbollah commander who Israel says was responsible for the Majdal Shams attack.
Hamas leader killed
In a seismic event, Hamas’s top political leader Ismail Haniyeh is killed in an apparent assassination in Iran at the end of July.
Hamas later says Haniyeh died in an airstrike and blames Israel, which had vowed to kill Haniyeh and other leaders of Hamas following the 7 October attacks.
Yahya Sinwar, the mastermind behind those attacks, is named the new leader of Hamas days later.
Ismail Haniyeh’s death was a significant moment in the conflict. Pic: Reuters
Fallout from assassinations
On 10 August, dozens of people are killed in an Israeli strike on a school-turned-shelter in Gaza City, according to officials in Gaza’s Hamas-run government.
The Israeli army says it struck a “Hamas control centre” but does not provide evidence and Hamas denies having a base at the school.
As August continues, the region waits with baited breath to see how and if Iran and Hezbollah will respond to the recent assassinations – or if a ceasefire can be agreed.
Fresh ceasefire talks
Peace talks resume in Qatar, as Iran says it “will only hold back if [a] ceasefire [is] agreed”.
President Biden says he is “optimistic” about a deal, but this is rejected by Hamas which says there have been “no improvements”.
No deal is agreed and the conflict continues.
Read more:
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Who is Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei?
Netanyahu: Israel’s longest-serving leader
Fire exchange with Hezbollah
In late August, Israel carries out what it says were “pre-emptive” airstrikes against Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Israeli military spokesman, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, says the group were “starting to get ready to attack us”.
Hezbollah fires drones and rockets in what is says was a response to the killing of Fuad Shukr the previous month.
In Gaza, a tentative agreement for a series of brief ceasefires so that the polio vaccine can be distributed is agreed.
Exploding pagers
On 17 September, the unprecedented mass explosion of handheld pagers used by Hezbollah members in Lebanon kills 12 people and injures nearly 3,000, sending shockwaves through the region.
Less than 24 hours later, a similar series of explosions hits two-way radios used by the group.
The remains of what is said to be one of the exploding pagers
Israel is widely believed to be behind the attacks, which if true would be a huge intelligence victory and suggestive of deep infiltration of Hezbollah’s supply chain.
Hezbollah’s leader accuses Israel of carrying out “massacres” with the pager and walkie-talkie explosions, saying it wanted to kill “5,000 people in two minutes”.
Hassan Nasrallah killed
As Hezbollah reels from the pager and radio explosions, Israel targets Beirut with a series of attacks and kills the militant group’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah.
Iranian demonstrators hold posters of slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. Pic: AP
The killing is a monumental event and there are fears that a wider war is now inevitable.
In late September, these fears only deepen as IDF tanks are seen at the Israel-Lebanon border.
Israel moves into Lebanon – and Iran responds
On the last day of the month, Israeli forces cross the border to conduct what they call “limited, localised, and targeted ground raids” against Hezbollah – despite calls from its allies to cease fire.
On 1 October, in an anticipated move, Iran launches nearly 200 missiles, according to Israel’s army radio, in retaliation for Israel’s campaign against Hezbollah.
In the hours that follow, Iran’s state TV claims 90% of the missiles hit their targets while an Israeli spokesman says officials are so far not aware of any injuries from the attack. A Palestinian worker in the West Bank is later confirmed dead after being hit by falling debris following Iran’s attack.
World
US ‘destroying’ international rules-based order by trying to meet Russia ‘halfway’, Ukraine’s UK ambassador warns
The United States is “finally destroying” the international rules-based order by trying to meet Russia “halfway”, Ukraine’s ambassador to the UK has warned.
Valerii Zaluzhnyi said Washington’s recent actions in relation to Moscow could lead to the collapse of NATO – with Europe becoming Russian President Vladimir Putin‘s next target.
“The failure to qualify actions of Russia as an aggression is a huge challenge for the entire world and Europe, in particular,” he told a conference at the Chatham House think tank.
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“We see that it is not just the axis of evil and Russia trying to revise the world order, but the US is finally destroying this order.”
Valerii Zaluzhnyi. Pic: Reuters
Mr Zaluzhnyi, who took over as Kyiv’s ambassador to London in 2024 following three years as commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian armed forces, also warned that the White House had “questioned the unity of the whole Western world” – suggesting NATO could cease to exist as a result.
It comes as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy scrambles to repair relations with US President Donald Trump following a dramatic row between the two men in the Oval Office last week.
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Mr Trump signalled on Tuesday that tensions could be easing, telling Congress he had received a letter from Mr Zelenskyy saying he was ready to sign a peace deal “at any time”.
Zelenskyy and Trump during their extraordinary Oval Office row. Pic: Reuters
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US stops sharing all intelligence with Ukraine
But on the same day, the US president ordered a sudden freeze on shipments of US military aid to Ukraine, and Washington has since paused intelligence sharing with Kyiv and halted cyber operations against Russia.
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Mr Zaluzhnyi said the pause in cyber operations and an earlier decision by the US to oppose a UN resolution condemning Russian aggression in Ukraine were “a huge challenge for the entire world”.
He added that talks between the US and Russia – “headed by a war criminal” – showed the White House “makes steps towards the Kremlin, trying to meet them halfway”, warning Moscow’s next target “could be Europe”.
World
Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh being forced to fight for same military accused of genocide against their people
Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh is a sprawling mass of humanity.
It’s a sea of makeshift bamboo shelters, home to more than one million Rohingya refugees – a mainly Muslim minority from Rakhine state in Myanmar.
Some 700,000 fled their homeland back in 2017 – after the Myanmar military massacred thousands.
The army was accused of genocide by the United Nations.
The Rohingya refugees didn’t escape danger though.
Right now, violence is at its worst levels in the camps since 2017 and Rohingya people face a particularly cruel new threat – they’re being forced back to fight for the same Myanmar military accused of trying to wipe out their people.
A child at the refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar
Militant groups are recruiting Rohingya men in the camps, some at gunpoint, and taking them back to Myanmar to fight for a force that’s losing ground.
Jaker is just 19.
We’ve changed his name to protect his identity.
He says he was abducted at gunpoint last year by a group of nine men in Cox’s.
They tied his hands with rope he says and took him to the border where he was taken by boat with three other men to fight for the Myanmar military.
“It was heartbreaking,” he told me. “They targeted poor children. The children of wealthy families only avoided it by paying money.”
And he says the impact has been deadly.
“Many of our Rohingya boys, who were taken by force from the camps, were killed in battle.”
Jaker speaks to Sky’s Cordelia Lynch
An aerial view of the refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar
The situation in Cox’s is desperate.
People are disillusioned by poverty, violence and the plight of their own people and the civil war they ran from is getting worse.
In Rakhine, just across the border, there’s been a big shift in dynamics.
The Arakan Army (AA), an ethnic armed group has all but taken control of the state from the ruling military junta.
Both the military and the AA are accused of committing atrocities against Rohingya Muslims.
And whilst some Rohingya claim they’re being forced into the fray – dragged back to Myanmar from Bangladesh, others are willing to go.
Read more from Sky News:
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Teknaf in Cox’s Bazar – where refugees arrive from Myanmar after crossing the Naf River
Some are so aggrieved with the AA, they’re willing to support their former persecutors.
Abu Zar is one of those willing to take up arms.
But not for the military or AA, he says.
Everyone praying in the mosque with him is prepared to go back to protect their own cause he says – not anyone else’s.
“We want to fight for our rights because we have been demanding justice for a long time. But the situation has become unbearable,” he tells me.
Abu Zar has said he is willing to take up arms for his own cause
It’s estimated between 3,000 and 5,000 Rohingya have joined armed groups from this camp.
But the fight they are joining has become increasingly bloody.
In a cramped shelter, we meet Safura.
Safura came under fire as she fled Myanmar
Safura’s son Aman had his foot blown off
Five days ago she managed to get out of Myanmar but she had to be carried part of the way.
Her legs are riddled with bullet wounds and the pain is severe.
Her son, Aman, who lies on the floor next to her, has had his foot blown off.
They were injured she said, during an attack on her family home in the middle of the night.
“They entered our house and shot all my family members. My husband and mother-in-law were killed on the spot.”
The military denies forcing Rohingya to the battlefield. But the camps tell a different story- one of surging violence and vulnerability.
US President Donald Trump has told Gazans to hand over Israeli hostages or “you are dead”.
The threat, made over social media, came hours after the White House confirmed that US officials had broken with tradition to hold direct talks with Hamas.
The US has previously avoided direct contact with the group owing to Washington’s longstanding position not to negotiate with terrorists – with Hamas having been designated as a terrorist group in the US since 1997.
In a press conference on Wednesday, White House press secretary Ms Keavitt said there had been “ongoing talks and discussions” between the US officials and Hamas.
File pic: AP
But she would not be drawn on the substance of the talks – taking place in Doha, Qatar – between US officials and Hamas, but said Israel had been consulted.
Ms Leavitt continued: “Dialogue and talking to people around the world to do what’s in the best interest of the American people, is something that the president has proven is what he believes is a good faith, effort to do what’s right for the American people.”
There are “American lives at stake,” she added.
Adam Boehler, Mr Trump’s pick to be special envoy for hostage affairs, participated in the direct talks with Hamas.
A spokesperson for Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Israel had “expressed to the United States its position regarding direct talks with Hamas”.
Hours later, Mr Trump warned Hamas to hand over Israeli hostages or “it’s over for you” – adding: “This is your last warning”.
Hamas militants on the day of a hostage handover in Gaza in February. Pic: Reuters
On his Truth Social platform, Mr Trump wrote: “Release all of the hostages now, not later, and immediately return all of the dead bodies of the people you murdered or it is over for you.
“Only sick and twisted people keep bodies and you are sick and twisted. I am sending Israel everything it needs to finish the job, not a single Hamas member will be safe if you don’t do as I say.”
Mr Trump met with freed Israeli hostages on Wednesday, something he referenced in his social media post, before adding: “This is your last warning. For the leadership of Hamas, now is the time to leave Gaza, while you still have a chance.
“Also, to the people of Gaza, a beautiful future awaits, but not if you hold hostages. If you do, you are dead. Make a smart decision. Release the hostages now, or there will be hell to pay later.”
Israel estimates about 24 living hostages, including American citizen Edan Alexander, and the bodies of at least 35 others, are still believed to be in Gaza.
Donald Trump with Benjamin Netanyahu in February. Pic: Reuters
The US has a long-held policy of not negotiating with terrorists – which it is breaking with these talks as Hamas has been designated a foreign terrorist organisation by the US government’s National Counterterrorism Center since 1997.
The discussions come as a fragile Israel-Hamas ceasefire continues to hold, but its future is uncertain.
Palestinians amid the rubble in the southern Gaza strip. Pic: Reuters
Mr Trump has signalled he has no intention of pushing the Israeli prime minister away from a return to combat if Hamas does not agree to terms of a new ceasefire proposal – which, Israel says, has been drafted by US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff.
The new plan would require Hamas to release half its remaining hostages – the group’s main bargaining chip – in exchange for a ceasefire extension and a promise to negotiate a lasting truce.
Read more:
The competing plans for rebuilding Gaza
Freed Israeli hostage details captivity
Israel has made no mention of releasing more Palestinian prisoners, a key component of the first phase.
Fighting in Gaza has been halted since 19 January.
Hamas has exchanged 33 Israeli and five Thai hostages for some 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
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