2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel

On 7 October 2023, Hamas and several other Palestinian militant groups launched coordinated armed incursions from the Gaza Strip into the Gaza envelope of southern Israel, the first invasion of Israeli territory since the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups named the attacks Operation Al-Aqsa Flood (or Deluge; Arabic: عملية طوفان الأقصى, romanized: ʿamaliyyat ṭūfān al-ʾAqṣā, usually romanised as "Tufan Al-Aqsa" or "Toofan Al-Aqsa"), while in Israel they are referred to as Black Saturday (Hebrew: השבת השחורה) or the Simchat Torah Massacre (הטבח בשמחת תורה), and internationally as the 7 October attack. The attacks consequently started the ongoing Israel–Hamas war.

The attacks began early on 7 October with a barrage of at least 3,000 rockets launched against Israel and vehicle-transported and powered paraglider incursions into Israel. Hamas fighters breached the Gaza–Israel barrier, attacking military bases and massacring civilians in Gaza envelope Kibbutz settlements, including in Be'eri, Kfar Aza, and Nir Oz, and at the Nova music festival. The attackers killed 1,139 people: 695 Israeli civilians (including 36 children), 71 foreign nationals, and 373 members of the security forces. About 250 Israeli civilians and soldiers were taken as hostages to the Gaza Strip, including 30 children, with the stated goal to force Israel to exchange them for imprisoned Palestinians, including women and children. Reports of rape and sexual assault also emerged. Hamas officials denied the involvement of their fighters.

Hamas said its attack was in response to the continued Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories, the blockade of the Gaza Strip, the expansion of illegal Israeli settlements, rising Israeli settler violence, and recent escalations.

At least 44 countries denounced the attack as terrorism, while some Arab and Muslim countries blamed Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories as the root cause of the attack. The day was labeled the bloodiest in Israel's history and the deadliest for Jews since the Holocaust. Some have called the attack a genocidal massacre against Israelis.