From the Hamas massacre of October 7 and murdered hostages to the devastation of Gaza and starving civilians, from exploding Hezbollah pagers to missiles fired between Israel and Iran, from mass protests to international recognition of a Palestinian state: Here is Haaretz’s chronology of two years of a terrible war
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict did not begin on October 7, 2023 (nor in 1967, nor 1948), but no one can deny that the Hamas-led surprise attack on southern Israel that day set in motion a chain of events of historic proportions. It began with the attack itself: A massacre of approximately 1,200 Israelis at the hands of Hamas and other Palestinian factions, and the kidnapping of over 250 Israelis and foreign nationals.
The Israeli reprisal was swift: first an air campaign, then a ground operation in Gaza. The Israeli death toll has reached nearly 2,000, with 48 people still held by Hamas. The Palestinian death toll stands at 67,000, as reported by the Hamas-run Health Ministry. Large swaths of the enclave have been leveled by Israeli strikes, rendering it unrecognizable, and hunger and malnutrition are claiming more and more lives in the Strip.
Hamas breaking through the Gaza border fence on October 7.Credit: Hani Alshaer/Anadolu Agency via Reuters Conne
Beyond Israel and Gaza, other dominos have continued to fall. Skirmishes and all-out wars with Iranian-backed factions in Lebanon and Yemen gave way this summer to Israel’s first direct conflict with Iran – an intense 12-day campaign that dealt a major blow to the Islamic Republic and reverberated across the region. A spent and weakened Iran helped pave the way for regime change in Syria. The international community, watching the plight of Gazans, is now moving toward recognition of a Palestinian state, leaving Israel and its far-right government more isolated than ever.
Two years later, it is difficult to track how Israel’s longest war has morphed and evolved, as developments have unfolded at breakneck pace. Haaretz has compiled a timeline of key events to trace the war’s progression on all of its fronts.
7.108.109.1010.1011.1012.1013.1014.1015.1016.1017.1018.1019.1020.1021.1022.1023.1024.1025.1026.1027.1028.1029.1030.1031.101.112.113.114.115.116.117.118.119.1110.1111.1112.1113.1114.1115.1116.1117.1118.1119.1120.1121.1122.1123.11Nov. 2023
Hamas launched an unprecedented surprise attack on southern Israel, killing 1,206 people and taking 254 hostages to Gaza. It marked the deadliest single-day attack on Jews since the Holocaust.
Israel began ground invasion into Gaza
Israeli forces besieged Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City for 13 days
First cease-fire and hostage release agreement began, brokered by the U.S. and Qatar
Hezbollah fired at IDF posts
Hezbollah fired rockets at army posts in the Shebaa Farms area of the Golan Heights, citing solidarity with Palestinians. Israel responded with retaliatory strikes.
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Explosion at Gaza hospital killed hundreds
An explosion outside Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City killed 471 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. U.S. intelligence estimated 100–300 deaths. Israel, the U.S. and human rights groups blamed a misfired Islamic Jihad missile.
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Joe Biden became first U.S. president to visit Israel in wartime
Then-U.S. President Joe Biden landed in Israel for a 31-hour solidarity visit and met with Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog. He addressed the Israeli public and met with hostage families and massacre survivors.
Read moreFirst hostages released
Two American citizens, Judith and Natalie Raanan, were the first hostages released from Hamas captivity after being kidnapped from Kibbutz Nahal Oz. On October 23, Hamas released two Israeli hostages: Yocheved Lifshitz, 85, and Nurit Cooper, 79, both of Kibbutz Nir Oz.
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Kidnapped soldier Ori Megidish rescued
IDF and Shin Bet rescued Ori Megidish, an 18-year-old spotter kidnapped from the Nahal Oz base, in a joint operation based on specific intelligence.
Read moreArrow 3 used for first time
Israel deployed its Arrow 3 missile defense system for the first time, intercepting a Houthi drone launched from Yemen.
Read moreRed Cross: Gaza health system near collapse
The International Committee of the Red Cross warned that Gaza’s “overstretched” health system is “at a point of no return.”
Read moreBodies of two hostages retrieved
The body of Judith Weiss, 65, who was kidnapped from Kibbutz Be’eri, was retrieved near Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza by the IDF during ground operations. A day later, on October 16, the body of 19-year-old Cpl. Noa Marciano, a spotter at the Nahal Oz base on the Gaza border, was retrieved in the same area.
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Houthis seized Israeli-linked ship
Yemen’s Houthi rebels seized the Galaxy Leader, an Israeli-linked cargo ship, in the Red Sea.
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The first cease-fire, and its collapse
Over seven days, 81 Israelis and 24 foreign passport holders, primarily women and children, returned to Israel from captivity. The bodies of another 57 murdered hostages were also brought home.
Their return was a quiet affair: they were transferred, often at night, via the Red Cross to Israeli hospitals. The survivors, including children, reported hunger, beatings, psychological terror and other forms of abuse. These accounts offered the first glimpses of life in Hamas’ tunnels, and galvanized the movement to bring the remaining hostages home.
Many survivors immediately joined the struggle for the next cease-fire, having been forced to leave behind husbands, fathers, siblings and friends still held in Gaza.
Thomas Hand is reunited with his daughter, Emily, after her 50 days in Hamas captivity.Credit: IDF Spokesperson’s Unit
“Don’t leave the men behind,” urged Hadas Kalderon, whose children Erez and Sahar were released in the deal. The children’s father, Ofer, was held in Gaza until February 2025. “Miracles aren’t enough. We need action. Bring them home now.”
U.S. President Biden with 4-year-old Avigail Idan in April 2024. Idan was released from Hamas captivity in November 2023.Credit: President Biden X account
In accordance with the cease-fire agreement, 240 Palestinian prisoners and detainees were released from Israeli jails, including 180 women and children. Many had been held without trial.
The brief truce collapsed on November 30. Haaretz senior analyst Amos Harel attributed the impasse to Hamas’ stubbornness: Instead of releasing the final group of women, “the organization’s leaders wished to leap ahead in the negotiations and begin releasing another group of hostages, elderly men. They also tried to condition this upon an expanded release of prisoners held in Israel,” he wrote a few days later.
A senior Hamas official told Al-Jazeera that a list of women hostages provided by Israel “turned out to be soldiers.” With the exception of the military spotters kidnapped from their base on October 7, all female hostages were civilians.
After this impasse, Gazan factions and Hezbollah renewed their rocket barrages on Israel, and the IDF struck southern Gaza.
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