Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip (2023–present)
Israeli military operation / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip is an ongoing part of the Israel-Hamas war. Immediately after the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel, Israel began the bombing of Gaza Strip and by October 27 Israel had launched a full-scale invasion. The Israeli campaign, called Operation Swords of Iron, has killed 30,000+ Palestinians, most of them women and children. Israel says its goals are to destroy Hamas and to free hostages.[50][51] Critics have accused Israel and Hamas of war crimes, including deliberately targeting civilians, using human shields, and deliberately starving the people of Gaza to death.
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)
Jaysh al-Ummah[13][14] | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
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Units involved | |||||||
Israel Defense Forces
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Strength | |||||||
~40,000[33] | Al-Qassam Brigades: 20,000–40,000[34] | ||||||
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)[39][45] ~16,000 Palestinian civilians killed (Per Israel)[42] 28,077 Palestinians killed, 60,294 injured (Per the Gaza Health Ministry)[46][47] 48 Israeli hostages killed (per Israel)[48] 70+ Israeli hostages killed (per Hamas)[49] |
More than 31,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the start of the Israeli operation,[52] including more than 13,000 children and 9,000 women.[53] with another 7,000 people missing and presumed dead under the rubble of destroyed buildings.[54][55] 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.[56][57][58][59] Hamas's military infrastructure was largely built beneath civilian settlements, which some experts say is part of a deliberate strategy to cause Palestinian civilian casualties. Experts say that the scale and pace of destruction in Gaza is among the severest in recent history.[60][61]
A severe humanitarian crisis has developed, with healthcare in a state of collapse,[62] shortages of food, clean water, medicine and fuel due to the blockade,[63][64][65] electricity and communications blackouts,[66] and the UN warning of potential famine.[67] It was widely reported that there is "no safe place in Gaza", as Israel struck areas it had previously told Palestinians to evacuate to.[68][69][70] The widespread civilian deaths have led to accusations of war crimes against both Israel and Hamas.[71][72] Nearly all 2.3 million Gazans have been internally displaced[73] and 250,000 to 500,000 Israelis were internally displaced,[74][75][76] while, Israel has detained thousands of Palestinians[77][78][79] and said it lost 225 additional soldiers in its invasion as of 4 February 2024.[80]
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[81] and requesting that the ICJ render provisional measures of protection.