What we know about the war between Israel and Gaza after the Hamas assault

Israel continued its shelling of the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, on the fifth day of the war between it and Hamas after the deadly offensive launched by the Palestinian Islamist movement. The toll of the conflict continues to rise with thousands of deaths recorded.

Israel also struck southern Lebanon once again in response to rocket attacks claimed by Hezbollah.

Here is what we know so far about the conflict :

– Progress of the offensive –

Hamas, in power since 2007 in the Gaza Strip and sworn enemy of Israel, launched its offensive on Saturday at dawn, in the middle of Shabbat, the Jewish weekly rest, 50 years and one day after the start of the Israeli war. -Arabic from 1973.

It fired a barrage of rockets at Israel while its fighters used explosives and bulldozers to cross the barrier separating Gaza from Israeli territory, attacking military positions and civilians.

Attack on Israel: the means used by Hamas © AFP – Sophie RAMIS, Emmanuelle MICHEL

Aboard vehicles, boats and paramotors, the fighters seized Israeli military equipment, infiltrating areas urban areas of Israel and the kibbutzim in the south, up to twenty kilometers from the Gaza Strip, a poor enclave populated by 2.3 million inhabitants.

– Response from Israel –

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday called the Hamas offensive “savagery not seen since the Holocaust,” promising that his country would “win with force, enormous force.”

The Israeli army launched Operation Iron Saber on Saturday, increasing bombings on the Gaza Strip, which notably targeted an Islamic university linked to Hamas on Wednesday.

Displaced people in the Gaza Strip © AFP – Sylvie HUSSON, Paz PIZARRO

More than 260,000 Palestinians have been displaced inside Gaza because of the strikes, according to the UN.

Israel has imposed a “total siege” on the enclave since Monday, and announced that it had deployed tens of thousands of soldiers in the south of the country, partly regaining control of its border with the Gaza strip. He also works to save Israelis taken hostage by Hamas.

Furthermore, the Israeli authorities have decided to evacuate residents from around Gaza.

– How many dead and missing? –

In total, the war has already left more than 3,700 dead on both sides, civilians, Israeli soldiers and Palestinian fighters.

Israeli soldiers carry the coffin of one of their own killed by Hamas, during his funeral at the Mount Herzl cemetery, in Jerusalem on October 10, 2023 © AFP – Yuri CORTEZ

In Israel, more than 1,200 People have been killed, including at least 169 soldiers in fighting against Hamas, according to the Israeli army spokesperson.

According to NGOs, more than 100 people were killed on a single kibbutz in southern Israel and 250 at a music festival attended by hundreds of Israelis near Gaza.

Palestinian side , 1,055 people died, according to a new report Wednesday from the Gaza authorities.

Destructions in Gaza after Israeli strikes, October 11, 2023 © AFP – MOHAMMED ABED

Hamas announced that two of its senior officials had been killed by Israeli strikes.

The Israeli army also announced on Tuesday that it had recovered the bodies of 1,500 Hamas fighters in areas neighboring Gaza.

At least 20 Thais, 14 Americans, ten Nepalese, eight French, seven Argentinians, four Russian-Israelis, two Ukrainians, two British, two Peruvians, two Filipinos, two Brazilians, one Cambodian, one Canadian, one Spanish and one Australian were arrested. killed since Saturday according to the authorities of their respective countries.

Israel has acknowledged that Israeli civilians and soldiers had been kidnapped, while many foreign nationals are missing. In all, nearly 150 people were kidnapped, according to the army.

Four of the hostages held by Hamas were killed in Israeli strikes, the Palestinian movement said.

– What Hamas says –

Israeli localities around the Gaza Strip © AFP – Sophie RAMIS, Nalini LEPETIT-CHELLA

On the northern border, the Israeli army bombed border villages in the south on Wednesday of Lebanon, in response to new rocket attacks claimed by the pro-Iranian Hezbollah to avenge the death Monday in an Israeli bombing of three of its militants.

The United States warned Lebanese Hezbollah on Monday evening not to open a “second front” against Israel.

On Monday, the “Al-Quds Brigades”, the military branch of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which claims support Hamas, she claimed responsibility for an infiltration operation into Israeli territory from Lebanon.

The Israeli army indicated that it had “killed several armed suspects who had infiltrated Israeli territory from the territory Lebanese”.

– Reactions –

President Joe Biden, in Washington, October 10, 2023 © AFP – Brendan SMIALOWSKI

US President Joe Biden described Hamas attacks as “an evil for pure state”, reporting “heartbreaking” news of babies killed, entire families massacred”.

The United States is ready to deploy “additional resources” to support Israel, Mr. Biden said, with Washington having already sent military aid and brought its carrier strike group closer to the Mediterranean.

Pope Francis called on Wednesday for the “immediate” release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas, while saying he was “very concerned” about the siege of the Gaza Strip.

Aid paid to the Palestinian territories © AFP – Maxence D'AVERSA, Laurence SAUBADU

NGOs have warned about the health situation in the enclave, calling for a humanitarian corridor to support the medical response, with the UN recalling that Israel's total siege of the Gaza Strip is “prohibited” by international humanitarian law. The European Union has decided to maintain its development aid intended for the Palestinian people.

Israel does not behave “like a state” in the Gaza Strip, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan lambasted on Wednesday, while denouncing the “killings of civilians on Israeli territory”.

Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Qatar say they are increasing contacts to put an end to the escalation.

Iran has placed itself at the forefront of support for the Hamas offensive, while rejecting accusations of its involvement.

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