The war in Gaza

The military campaign

Two days after 7 October, Israel announced a "complete siege" of Gaza: no electricity, food or fuel. It began bombing; military experts say it was one of the heaviest bombing campaigns of this century. On 27 October its troops invaded. Over two years the army fought through Gaza City, Khan Younis and Rafah, destroyed much of Hamas's tunnel network and killed most of its leaders, including Yahya Sinwar, who planned 7 October.

The war hit Israel too. 474Israeli soldiers killed in the Gaza ground operation✕474As of 28 October 2026Israeli army figure, as reported by the UN. 3,004 soldiers were injured.Source: UN OCHA (UN humanitarian office) — Reported impact snapshot: Gaza Strip, 28 October 2026 (28 Oct 2026)Casualty numbers come from Gaza's Ministry of Health and from the Israeli authorities; the UN marks figures it has not verified itself. Israeli soldiers were killed in Gaza, and 970Israeli soldiers killed on all fronts since 7 October 2023✕970As of 7 October 2026Including soldiers killed on 7 October and in Lebanon, the West Bank and elsewhere. Israel's Defence Ministry, which also counts police and other security forces, gives a higher total.Source: Times of Israel — 3 years of war: data shows IDF hit 100,000 targets as 31,500 projectiles fired at Israel (7 Oct 2026)Reports Israeli military (IDF) figures, which cannot be independently checked. on all fronts. HezbollahHezbollah✕A Lebanese Shia Islamist movement and militia backed by Iran. It fought Israel from 2023 to 2024 and again in 2026. Many countries list it as a terrorist organisation.All words explained → fired from Lebanon, the Houthis from Yemen, and Iran attacked Israel directly: more than 30,000 rockets, missiles and drones were fired at Israel, and tens of thousands of Israelis had to leave their homes near Gaza and Lebanon.

The human cost in Gaza

Of the dead identified by name, about 30%Who the identified dead were (74,237 people)✕30% children · 15% women · 7% elderly · 48% menAs of 7 October 2026Health Ministry list: 21,976 children, 11,301 women, 5,405 elderly people and 35,555 men. The category 'men' includes both fighters and civilians.Sources: UN OCHA (UN humanitarian office) — Reported impact snapshot: Gaza Strip, 28 October 2026 (28 Oct 2026)Casualty numbers come from Gaza's Ministry of Health and from the Israeli authorities; the UN marks figures it has not verified itself.Gaza Ministry of Health — Casualty reports, as published by UN OCHA (2023–2026)The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government in Gaza. Its counts do not separate fighters from civilians. The UN uses them and found them broadly accurate in earlier wars; Israel disputes them. were children, 15% women and 7% elderly people. Many Palestinians also feared a second Nakba: some Israeli ministers called for Gazans to "emigrate", and in February 2025 President Trump proposed moving Gaza's people out. Arab states and most of the world rejected this; Israel said any departures would be voluntary.

People killed in each period of the conflict

Palestinians and Israelis killed, by period

• Palestinians
• Israelis

First intifada, 1987–1993

≈1,100

160

Second intifada, 2000–2004

3,189

940

Gaza war, 2008–2009

≈1,390

13

Gaza war, 2014

2,251

73

Gaza war, 2021

261

13

7 October and the Gaza war, 2023–2026

74,564

≈1,700

Show as table

	Palestinians	Israelis
First intifada, 1987–1993	≈1,100	160
Second intifada, 2000–2004	3,189	940
Gaza war, 2008–2009	≈1,390	13
Gaza war, 2014	2,251	73
Gaza war, 2021	261	13
7 October and the Gaza war, 2023–2026	74,564	≈1,700

Hostages, prisoners, hunger and the courts

Hostages and prisoners. A truce in November 2023 freed 105Hostages freed in the November 2023 truce✕105As of 24 Nov – 1 Dec 202381 Israelis (including dual nationals), 23 Thai workers and 1 Filipino. In return Israel freed 240 Palestinian prisoners, mostly women and teenagers.Source: Wikipedia (summary of Times of Israel, NYT and others) — 2023 Israel–Hamas war ceasefire (the November 2023 truce) hostages in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners, mostly women and teenagers. A second ceasefire in early 2025 freed more, then collapsed in March: Israel wanted more hostages freed first; Hamas wanted the agreed talks on ending the war. The army rescued 8Hostages rescued alive by the Israeli army✕8As of January 2026Most living hostages came home through negotiated deals, not military rescues.Source: AP, via CBS News — Israel recovers hostages' remains in Gaza; eight hostages rescued alive during the war hostages alive; most came home through deals. Israel detained thousands of Palestinians from Gaza, most of them never charged. UN investigators and Israeli rights groups reported abuse and deaths in custody; Israel says complaints are investigated.

Hunger. Israel restricted aid throughout the war and let none in for eleven weeks in 2025. Over three months that year, according to the UN, at least 1,760People killed while trying to get food (May–August 2025)✕at least 1,760As of August 2025UN Human Rights Office count: 994 near the sites of the US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation and 766 along aid convoy routes. The foundation and the Israeli army disputed these figures.Source: UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR), reported by Vatican News — UN decries 1,760 killed while trying to collect emergency food (Aug 2025)The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation and the Israeli army disputed these figures. people were killed while trying to get food, most by Israeli fire; Israel disputed this. In August 2025 the global hunger monitor confirmed famineFamine✕The most extreme level of hunger: at least 20% of households with extreme lack of food, 30% of children acutely malnourished, and people dying of hunger. The global hunger monitor, the IPC, confirmed famine in the Gaza City area in August 2025.All words explained → in the Gaza City area. Israel rejected the finding and says Hamas stole aid; the UN and aid groups blame Israeli restrictions.

The courts. South Africa accused Israel of genocideGenocide✕Under the 1948 Genocide Convention: acts such as killing members of a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, committed with the intent to destroy that group in whole or in part. Proving the intent is the hardest part.Palestinians, a UN inquiry, major rights groups and many genocide scholars: Israel's war in Gaza meets this definition.Israel, the United States and other governments: the accusation is false: Israel was fighting Hamas in self-defence, warned civilians and let in aid. Some add that Hamas's own aims toward Jews are genocidal.Courts: the International Court of Justice is hearing the case; a final ruling is not expected before 2029.All words explained → at the UN's top court, the International Court of JusticeInternational Court of Justice (ICJ)✕The UN's top court in The Hague. It settles disputes between states, such as South Africa's case accusing Israel of genocide, and gives legal opinions. It does not try individuals.All words explained →. In January 2024 the court ordered Israel to prevent genocidal acts and let aid in; it has not ruled whether genocide took place, and will not before 2029. A different court, the International Criminal CourtInternational Criminal Court (ICC)✕A court in The Hague that tries individuals for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. In 2024 it issued arrest warrants for Israel's prime minister and former defence minister, and for a Hamas leader. Israel and the United States do not accept its authority in this case.All words explained →, issued arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defence minister — for war crimes including using starvation as a method of war — and for a Hamas commander. In 2025 a UN commission of inquiry said Israel had committed genocide; Israel and the United States reject this.

Two views

Self-defence, or something worse?

Many Israelis say

After 7 October, Israel had to defeat Hamas to protect its people and free the hostages. Hamas built its army inside cities — under homes, schools, mosques and hospitals — so it bears responsibility for civilian deaths. Israel warned civilians to leave combat areas and let aid in.

Many Palestinians say

This was not self-defence but the destruction of a people's homeland: whole cities flattened, tens of thousands of children killed or orphaned, a population starved. UN investigators, rights groups and many scholars call it genocide, and say Israel must be held to account.

These are widely held views, not the views of every Israeli or every Palestinian. Both societies argue about these questions among themselves.

Go deeper · optionalMore: details of the war, the numbers, the hostages and the legal cases▾

The first weeks. Defence Minister Yoav Gallant announced the "complete siege" on 9 October 2023, saying Israel was fighting "human animals" — words that South Africa later quoted in court. Israel ordered the 1.1 million people of northern Gaza to move south.

More numbers. 175,770Palestinians injured in Gaza✕175,770As of 28 October 2026The World Health Organization estimates that over 43,000 of them have life-changing injuries.Sources: UN OCHA (UN humanitarian office) — Reported impact snapshot: Gaza Strip, 28 October 2026 (28 Oct 2026)Casualty numbers come from Gaza's Ministry of Health and from the Israeli authorities; the UN marks figures it has not verified itself.Gaza Ministry of Health — Casualty reports, as published by UN OCHA (2023–2026)The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government in Gaza. Its counts do not separate fighters from civilians. The UN uses them and found them broadly accurate in earlier wars; Israel disputes them. Palestinians were injured. More than 1,700Health workers killed in Gaza✕more than 1,700As of 2025–2026Health Ministry figure, repeated by the World Health Organization.Source: World Health Organization — Director-General's remarks on humanitarian access and health in Gaza (24 Sep 2026) health workers and 189Palestinian journalists and media workers killed in Gaza✕189As of 24 September 2026Count by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), which calls this the deadliest conflict for journalists it has ever recorded. Israel says some of those killed were militants; CPJ removed some names after reviewing the evidence.Source: Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) — Journalist casualties in the Israel–Gaza war (24 Sep 2026) Palestinian journalists were killed — the deadliest conflict for journalists ever recorded by the Committee to Protect Journalists. Only 19 of Gaza's 36 hospitalsHospitals still working✕19 of 36 — and only partlyAs of 24 September 2026All 36 hospitals have been damaged. Israel says Hamas used some hospitals for military purposes and showed tunnels beneath some of them; Hamas and many medical staff deny this.Source: World Health Organization — Director-General's remarks on humanitarian access and health in Gaza (24 Sep 2026) still work, and only partly. Most of Gaza's buildings were damaged or destroyed.

Admitted mistakes. In April 2024 Israeli drones killed seven aid workers of the charity World Central Kitchen; the army called it a "grave mistake". In March 2025 Israeli troops killed 15 Palestinian medics and rescue workers near Rafah and buried them with their vehicles; the army's inquiry blamed "professional failures".

Independent estimates. A study in The Lancet estimated 64,260Independent estimate of deaths (The Lancet)✕64,260 deaths from injuriesAs of 30 June 2024Peer-reviewed study, published January 2025. For the same period the Health Ministry had counted about 38,000 deaths, so the study estimated that the ministry's count missed about 41% of deaths from injuries.Source: The Lancet (peer-reviewed medical journal) — Traumatic injury mortality in the Gaza Strip, 7 Oct 2023 – 30 June 2024: a capture–recapture analysis (Jamaluddine et al.) (9 Jan 2025) deaths from injuries by 30 June 2024, when the ministry had counted about 38,000. A household survey estimated about 75,200Independent household survey (The Lancet Global Health)✕about 75,200 violent deathsAs of 5 January 2025Survey of 2,000 households, published February 2026. For the same period the Health Ministry had counted 49,090 deaths — about a third fewer. About 56% of the dead were women, children or elderly. Israel disputes these estimates.Source: The Lancet Global Health (peer-reviewed journal) — Household survey of violent and non-violent deaths in Gaza, Oct 2023 – Jan 2025 (Spagat et al.) (Feb 2026)Israel's government disputes these estimates. violent deaths by January 2025, when the ministry had counted 49,090. On the other side, Israel says the ministry's count includes people killed by misfired Palestinian rockets: Western intelligence agencies concluded that a deadly explosion at al-Ahli hospital in October 2023, first blamed on Israel, was probably caused by one. In August 2025 Israeli and British media reported that an internal Israeli military database listed far fewer named fighters as dead than the army's public figure; the army disputed the reports. If Israel's estimate of 24,000 militants killed is right, about a third of the dead were fighters; if it is too high, the civilian share is larger.

Aid. From May 2025 a new US- and Israeli-backed group, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, took over much of the food distribution at a few sites in military zones; the group and the Israeli army disputed the UN's count of people killed near them. Reuters reported in July 2025 that a US government review had found no evidence of systematic Hamas theft of US-funded aid; Israel says Hamas stole aid on a large scale.

Hostages and detainees. Some hostages were killed in captivity, by their captors and, Israel acknowledged, in some cases by its own strikes. The early-2025 ceasefire brought back 33 Israeli hostages — 25 alive and 8 dead — and five Thai workers, in exchange for about 1,800 Palestinian prisoners; when it broke down, Israel backed a US proposal to extend the first stage. Before the war, Israel held about 5,200Palestinians held by Israel as 'security prisoners' before the war✕about 5,200As of October 2023Including about 1,300 held without charge or trial ('administrative detention'). The number roughly doubled during the war.Source: Wikipedia (citing B'Tselem and HaMoked, Israeli rights groups using Israel Prison Service data) — Palestinian prisoners in Israel Palestinians as "security prisoners", about 1,300 of them in administrative detentionAdministrative detention✕Holding someone in prison without charge or trial, on secret evidence, for renewable periods of up to six months. Israel uses it widely against Palestinians and says it prevents attacks; rights groups say it denies basic justice.All words explained →, without charge or trial. In Israel, hostages' families held huge protests demanding a deal.

The courts and inquiries. The third ICC warrant was for the Hamas commander Mohammed Deif, whom Israel said it had killed in July 2024. Israel rejects the court's authority, and the United States has placed sanctions on the court. Amnesty International, Israeli rights groups such as B'Tselem, and an association of genocide scholars reached the same conclusion as the UN commission. Many other experts disagree, arguing that the high death toll reflects urban warfare against an enemy hiding among civilians rather than an intent to destroy a people.