Middle Eastern crisis (2023–present)
Period of escalations in the Middle East
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Middle Eastern crisis is an ongoing series of interrelated wars, conflicts, and heightened instability in the Middle East as a result of the Gaza war. It has primarily consisted of conflicts between Israel and Iran-backed militias that form the "Axis of Resistance", including Hamas in the Gaza Strip,[i] Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the Houthis in Yemen; Iran itself has also been involved. Allies of Israel, including the United States, the United Kingdom, and France, have also intervened militarily in various theaters. The crisis has involved nearly all Middle Eastern countries, significantly affecting the region as a whole.
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(2 years, 5 months, 2 weeks and 2 days)
- Pause in Arab–Israeli normalization
- Escalation of the Iran–Israel proxy conflict
- Israeli invasions of Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria
- Fall of the Assad regime in Syria
- U.S.–Houthi ceasefire
- De jure ceasefire in Gaza
- Outbreak of the 2026 Iran war
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Hamas led a surprise attack against Israel on 7 October 2023, to which Israel responded with a bombardment and ground invasion of Gaza. Shortly afterwards, other Iran-backed militias joined the conflict against Israel. Hezbollah launched rockets into Israel, beginning a series of clashes. The Houthis began attacking shipping vessels in the Red Sea, drawing international rebuke, including a series of American and British airstrikes on Houthi territory starting in January 2024. Several militias led by the Islamic Resistance in Iraq also attacked U.S. military bases in Iraq, Syria, and Jordan.
In 2024, Israel continued its invasion of Gaza, including the Rafah offensive and killings of Hamas leaders. It escalated its conflict with Hezbollah in September with electronic device attacks and the assassination of the group's top figures, then invaded southern Lebanon before reaching a ceasefire in November. Iran and Israel exchanged direct attacks on each other's territory twice, in April and October. Syrian opposition groups began an offensive that reignited the Syrian civil war in late November and culminated with the overthrow of the Iran-backed Assad regime on 8 December.
After the Assad regime fell, Israel invaded the area around its border with Syria and carried out strikes across the country. The U.S. began renewed attacks on Yemen in March 2025, until a U.S.–Houthi ceasefire in May, after which Israel and the Houthis continued attacks on each other. In June 2025, Israel launched a surprise attack on Iran that began the Twelve-Day War between them. During the war, the U.S. conducted strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, and Iran retaliated by attacking a U.S. base in Qatar. After reaching a ceasefire with Iran, Israel began an offensive into Gaza City and targeted Hamas officials in Qatar, before a ceasefire with Hamas halted the Gaza war in October. In February 2026, the U.S. and Israel launched a major attack on Iran with the stated goal of regime change.[30] The attack prompted Iran to retaliate by targeting Israel and U.S. military bases in Qatar, Jordan, Syria, Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. The supreme leader of Iran, Ali Khamenei, was assassinated during the strikes.
Events
October–December 2023
On 7 October 2023, the Palestinian militant group Hamas led a surprise attack into Israel from the Gaza Strip that captured territory in southern Israel and killed approximately 1,200 people.[31][32][33][34] In addition, about 250 Israelis and foreigners were taken into Gaza as hostages by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups.[35] The attack began with a barrage of over 4,000 rockets and paraglider incursions into Israel.[36] Hamas fighters also breached the Gaza–Israel barrier and massacred civilians in several communities.[37] The attack marked the deadliest day in Israeli history.[38] In response, the Israeli government declared war for the first time since the 1973 Yom Kippur War.[39]
After the 7 October Hamas attack, Israel began a bombardment and blockade of the Gaza Strip,[40] which escalated on 13 October into temporary raids into the northern Gaza Strip[40] and on 27 October to a full-scale invasion of Gaza[41] with the stated goals of destroying Hamas and freeing the hostages.[42] The war has caused widespread destruction, a humanitarian crisis, and an ongoing famine in the Gaza Strip.[43][44] Most of the population was forcibly displaced.[43]
The initial phase of the invasion took place in the north of the Gaza Strip, including an Israeli siege of Gaza City that began on 2 November.[45] Hamas and Israel agreed to a six-day truce from 24 November to 30 November that saw Hamas exchange Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.[46][47] After the truce expired in December, Israeli troops had reached the city of Khan Yunis in central Gaza.[48]
A series of border clashes between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah along the Israel–Lebanon borderbegan 8 October 2023,[49][50][51] when Hezbollah attacked the Shebaa Farms region in support of Hamas's attack on Israel the day prior, and Israel responded by attacking Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon.[52][53][54] Skirmishes between Israel and Hezbollah then continued in southern Lebanon and northern Israel, including in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.[55][56] Hezbollah initially said that it would attack Israel until the latter ended its attacks in Gaza,[57][58]and Hezbollah's attacks caused 96,000 Israelis to be displaced from northern Israel.[59]
Shortly after the Gaza war began in October 2023, Houthi militants based in Yemen began targeting civilian merchant and naval vessels passing through the Red Sea.[60] The Houthis said that their attacks would continue until Israel ended its "crimes in Gaza."[61] The group said it would target vessels linked to Israel, but has primarily indiscriminately attacked many vessels with no relation to the country.[62] To avoid attack, many vessels avoided the Suez Canal and Red Sea altogether by sailing around the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa, which caused increases in shipping costs.[63] The first confrontation was on 19 October 2023, when a United States Navy guided missile destroyer in the Red Sea shot down Houthi missiles and drones aimed at Israel.[64] The next month, Houthis hijacked the Galaxy Leader and took all 25 of its passengers hostage.[65] In December, the United States created Operation Prosperity Guardian, a multinational naval coalition aimed at combating attacks in the Red Sea.[66] The coalition includes the U.S., the United Kingdom, Australia, Bahrain, Canada, France, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Seychelles, and Spain.[67][68]
Beginning on 17 October 2023,[69] the Islamic Resistance in Iraq (IRI) and other militias in the Iran-led Axis of Resistance began a series of attacks against United States military bases in Iraq, Jordan, and Syria[70] in response to U.S. support for Israel in the Gaza war.[71] The attacks began with an IRI attack on the U.S.'s al-Asad Airbase in northern Iraq that the U.S. intercepted.[72] Regional militias had conducted over 170 attacks against U.S. forces in the region by January 2024, aimed at pressuring the U.S. into withdrawing its troops in the region[70] that it had deployed during the war against the Islamic State.[71] The IRI also conducted attacks against Israel beginning in October 2023.[73]
During the Gaza war, Israeli forces have carried out near-daily incursions and airstrikes in Palestinian communities in the Israeli-occupied territory of the West Bank, some of which have led to clashes with regional Palestinian militias.[74] In the first weeks after Hamas's attack, Israel arrested 63 Hamas members in Tulkarm,[75] and struck a mosque in Jenin it said was used by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ).[76][77][78] Simultaneously, attacks by Israeli settlers more than doubled in the war's first month,[79] part of an overall rise in settler violence[80] that has displaced over 1,500 Palestinians during the war.[81]
From the beginning of the Gaza war in October 2023 to October 2024, Israel launched more than 220 attacks on Syria through air raids and artillery attacks, killing 296 people, but the Syrian government under President Bashar al-Assad largely stayed out of the regional conflict.[82] During the first month of the war, Israel launched attacks on Syrian airports[83][84] and across southwestern Syria.[85] It continued strikes in Syria in 2024, including in Damascus[86] and Aleppo.[87]
January–March 2024
On 2 January 2024, Israel conducted an airstrike in the Dahieh suburb of Beirut that assassinated Hamas deputy leader Saleh al-Arouri.[88] Hezbollah responded on 6 January by launching rockets at an Israeli base near Mount Meron;[89][90]two days later, Israel assassinated the Hezbollah commander it said carried out that attack.[91]
In January, Israel killed an Iranian general of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force alongside 12 others.[92]
In January 2024 the IRI attacked the Israeli city of Ashdod in what it described as the "second phase of operations" in its support for Palestinians in Gaza;[93] two Israeli soldiers have been killed by drone strikes from Iraq.[56]
On 3 January 2024, the U.S. and 12 other nations issued an ultimatum to the Houthis warning them to stop their attacks or face military action.[94] On 12 January, the U.S. and U.K. began airstrikes in Houthi-controlled Yemen[95] following a United Nations Security Council resolution that condemned the Houthi attacks.[96][97] The strikes were ordered by U.S. president Joe Biden and U.K. prime minister Rishi Sunak authorized British participation.[98][99]
In February 2024, the European Union established Operation Aspides, including Greece, Italy, France, Germany, Belgium, and other EU members; unlike Prosperity Guardian, Aspides is a purely defensive coalition.[14]
After the January 2024 Kerman bombings in Iran in which the Islamic State killed nearly 100 people, Iran conducted a series of strikes in Iraq and Syria that it said targeted an Israeli spy headquarters in Iraqi Kurdistan and Islamic State forces in Syria.[100] Shortly after, Iran conducted strikes in Pakistan targeting Jaish ul-Adl, a Sunni Islamic militant group, to which Pakistan responded with retaliatory strikes against Iran.[101]
Attacks on U.S. bases largely ended on 4 February 2024 at the request of Iran.[102]
On 28 January 2024, an IRI attack on a U.S. base in Jordan killed three American service members; the U.S. responded on February 2 by attacking seven sites across Iraq and Syria.[103]
Israel began a bombing campaign of the southern Gazan city of Rafah in February.[104]
April 2024
On 1 April, Israel bombed the consulate annex of Iran's embassy in Damascus, killing 16, including Mohammad Reza Zahedi, the Quds Force commander in Syria and Lebanon.[105][106]
On 13 April 2024, Iran launched more than 300 missiles and drones towards Israel, of which Israel said it intercepted more than 99 percent.[107] The attack, which was the first-ever direct strike by Iran on Israel, was launched from Iran, Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen[108] and came after the 1 April Israeli bombing of the Iranian consulate in Damascus that killed two Iranian generals among others, for which Iran had pledged retaliation.[109][110] Ballistic missiles from the attack damaged an air base in southern Israel, but the base remained operational.[108][111] The Israeli defense was aided militarily by the United States, United Kingdom, France, and Jordan.[112] According to the Wall Street Journal, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates shared intelligence.[113] In response, on 19 April Israel launched a limited airstrike on Iran that targeted an air defense facility.[114]
Some attacks on U.S. bases resumed in April.[115]
May–September 2024
The US and UK had launched 452 attacks on Houthi territory by May 2024,[116] though the Houthis did not entirely cease their attacks.[117] By May 2024, Houthis had conducted over 50 attacks;[118] Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi said his forces had launched 606 ballistic missiles and drones against 107 ships affiliated with Israel and its allies across the Red Sea, Bab-el-Mandeb strait, Gulf of Aden, and Indian Ocean.[116] Houthis killed three sailors, seized one vessel, and sank another.[118]
Israel seized the Rafah border crossing on 7 May 2024 as it began an offensive in and around Rafah.[119] Israeli forces pushed deeper into Rafah on 14 May.[120] In July, Israel initiated a second battle in Khan Yunis.[121]
After a Houthi drone attack in July 2024 killed one person and injured 10 others near the U.S. embassy office in Tel Aviv,[122] Israel responded by attacking military facilities and oil depots in al-Hudaydah, Yemen, killing at least six and wounding at least 83.[123]
On 27 July, 12 children in the Golan Heights were killed in an attack for which Israel accused Hezbollah;[124][125][126] in response, Israel killed Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut on 30 July.[127]
On 28 August 2024, Israel began an expansive military operation in the West Bank consisting of raids, airstrikes, and the blocking of entry points in Jenin and Tulkarm,[128][129][130] marking its largest offensive in the territory since the Second Intifada.[131]
Israel attacked Yemen again in September, killing six and injuring 57 others.[132]
In September, Israel raided and struck Masyaf, killing at least 18 people.[133][134][135]
In November, Israeli killed 23 people in Syria in strikes targeting Palestinian Islamic Jihad,[136][137][138] and killed 92 Iran-backed fighters from various groups later that month in Palmyra.[139]
September–November 2024
In September 2024, an Israeli operation resulted in the simultaneous explosion of thousands of pagers used by Hezbollah on 17 September[140] and hundreds of walkie-talkies the next day,[141] killing 42 people.[142][143] The attacks marked the beginning of an intensive Israeli campaign against Hezbollah,[144] and in the ensuing days Israel continued attacks in Lebanon and conducted a massive aerial bombardment that killed more than 700 people,[145] including a 20 September attack that killed Hezbollah Redwan Force commander Ibrahim Aqil.[146] On 27 September 2024, Israel assassinated Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, in an attack on the group's headquarters in Beirut.[144][147]
On 1 October 2024, Israel began an invasion of southern Lebanon that it said was to eliminate the threat posed by Hezbollah and allow the 63,000 Israelis still displaced to return to their homes.[148][149][150] By 15 October, over 25 percent of Lebanon was under Israeli evacuation orders,[151] and during the invasion Israel captured and destroyed several villages and towns in southern Lebanon while it continued airstrikes across the country.[149] During the conflict, more than 3,700 people in Lebanon were killed and about 1.3 million were displaced.[152][153][154]
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On 1 October 2024, in retaliation for the Israeli assassinations of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, and of Hassan Nasrallah Abbas Nilforoushan in Beirut —Iran launched a second direct attack on Israel that consisted of roughly 200 ballistic missiles.[155][156] The U.S., U.K., France, and Jordan again helped Israel repel most of the Iranian attack.[157][158]Shrapnel from the attack killed one Palestinian civilian in the West Bank.[159] Israel retaliated on 26 October, in the largest attack on Iran since the Iran–Iraq War,[160] with over 100 Israeli aircraft targeting Iran's radar and air defense systems.[161] Israel said the attack severely damaged Iran's air defense and missile production capabilities.[162]
On 16 October 2024, the Israeli military killed the leader of Hamas, Yahya Sinwar, hence achieving a major goal of Israel's invasion of Gaza.[163]
In October, Israeli strikes killed 13 people in Damascus[82] and 10 in al-Quasyr.[164] In November, Israeli killed 23 people in Syria in strikes targeting Palestinian Islamic Jihad,[165][166][167] and killed 92 Iran-backed fighters from various groups later that month in Palmyra.[168]
November–December 2024
On 27 November, Israel and Hezbollah agreed to a 60-day ceasefire intended to lead to a lasting end to the conflict.[169][170] Despite both Israel and Hezbollah continuing to exchange attacks and accusing the other of violating the ceasefire, the agreement has largely held.[171]
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On 27 November 2024, a coalition of Syrian opposition groups launched a surprise offensive against the Syrian government led by Bashar al-Assad in the country's northwest.[172] The offensive came after key allies of the Assad government—Russia, Iran, and Hezbollah—were weakened by other conflicts.[173][174] Led by Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham(HTS) and supported by Turkish-backed rebels, the offensive was the first since the 2020 ceasefire that largely halted major fighting in the Syrian civil war, which began in 2011.[175]
By 30 November, HTS had taken control of most of Aleppo,[176] after which Russia intervened to conduct airstrikes on rebel positions there.[177] By 1 December, the rebels had gained control of significant amounts of land in the governorates of Hama, Idlib, and Aleppo, and were beginning an offensive into the city of Hama.[172][178] Hama fell to the HTS on 5 December,[179] and on 7 December they had moved south to capture the city of Homs, effectively separating the government in Damascus from Syria's coast.[180] Meanwhile, the Southern Operations Room began an assault on the government in Daraa and began pushing into the southern suburbs of Damascus, while the Syrian Free Army, which had captured Palmyra, approached Damascus from the east.[181]
Damascus fell to the rebels in the early morning of 8 December, 11 days after the offensive began, and HTS proclaimed the end of the Assad regime as Assad fled the country for Moscow.[182][183] HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa became the de facto leader of Syria[184] and established a transitional government led by Mohammed al-Bashir as the country's caretaker prime minister until March 2025.[185]
After the fall of the Assad regime, Netanyahu said that the 1974 Israel–Syria border agreement had "collapsed" and ordered the Israeli military to begin an invasion of the buffer zone in Syria along the Golan Heights.[186] Israel seized Syria's side of Mount Hermon,[187] occupied border villages in Syrian-controlled parts of the Golan Heights,[188] and bombed targets across Damascus and southern Syria in addition to abandoned Syrian Arab Armed Forces (SAAF) weapons stockpiles and airbases.[189][190] On 9 December, Israel carried out over 100 airstrikes across Syria,[191]including a strike on the Port of Latakia.[192] Israel justified its attacks, which destroyed much of the former SAAF's naval and air assets and its air defenses,[193][194][195] as necessary to prevent extremists from capturing abandoned weapons;[196] al-Sharaa condemned Israel's actions but said Syria would not enter a new conflict.[195]
Iraqi militias agreed with the Iraqi government to stop attacking Israel in December 2024.[73]
After Houthi attacks in December 2024, Israel launched two waves of strikes against Houthi territory in al-Hudaydah and Sanaa, killing a total of 13 people.[197] Israeli attacks on the Houthis in Yemen continued into 2025.[198]
January–May 2025
On 15 January 2025, Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire that would halt fighting in the Gaza Strip upon its ratification and lead to the release of 33 Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.[199] It went into effect four days later, with Hamas retaining control over the Gaza Strip.[200][201]
On 21 January 2025, Israel launched its first major post-ceasefire raid, targeting Jenin, and announced that it intended to maintain a long-term military presence in the city, marking a shift in strategy.[202]
On 18 March, Israel launched surprise airstrikes on Gaza as Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said that Hamas had refused to release more hostages or accept a US proposal to extend the ceasefire.[203]
On 15 March 2025, the U.S. said that it had begun aerial and naval strikes on dozens of Houthi targets in Yemen after President Donald Trump ordered an escalated military campaign against the Houthis.[204] After the March 2025 Israeli strikes on Gaza, the Houthis pledged escalation on 18 March.[205] In April, Iranian forces withdrew from Yemen,[206] and U.S. strikes targeted the Ras Isa oil terminal in western Yemen and hit a detention center in Yemen's Saada Governorate.[207][208][209] On 4 May, a Houthi attack hit the Ben Gurion Airport in Israel;[210] in response, Israel carried out retaliatory attacks on Yemen,[211] including an attack on Sanaa International Airport.[212] On 6 May, a United States–Houthi ceasefire agreement mediated by Oman came into effect, ending the American and British attacks on Yemen.[213]The Houthis agreed to end their attacks in the Red Sea but said the agreement did not apply to attacks on Israel.[214]
After Donald Trump's letter to Ali Khamenei, IRGC Navy seized two oil tankers in Persian Gulf belonging to Saudis in March 2025.[215] The following month, the French minister of foreign affairs stated that if Iran were to develop a nuclear weapon, war would be almost inevitable.[216] US President Trump said that Iran wants direct negotiations, and IRGC General Hossein Salami asserted that Iranians are ready for war should the US attack first.[217][218] Iranian Foreign Minister also announced Iran and US would start high level indirect negotiations in Oman.[219][unreliable source?]
June 2025
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On 13 June 2025, Israel launched large-scale attacks against targets in several areas in Iran. Israel targeted nuclear facilities, military installations, and the private residences of senior officials,[220] causing damage to key nuclear sites[221]and killing Iran's top military leadership.[222] Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander Hossein Salami,[223][224][225] Iranian Armed Forces Chief of Staff Major General Mohammad Bagheri,[226] and nuclear scientists Fereydoon Abbasi and Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi were killed in the attacks, according to Iranian state media.[227] The attacks killed Iranian military members as well as civilians.[228]
On 21 June, US President Trump announced the US had attacked multiple nuclear sites in Iran, including Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant, Natanz Nuclear Facility, and a third site in Isfahan in support of Israel and to attempt to completely destroy the Iranian nuclear program. The international community reacted with alarm at the escalation.[229]
On 23 June 2025, Iran retaliated for the US airstrikes on their nuclear facilities by firing at least 14 short-range and medium-range ballistic missiles at the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar. Nearly all of the missiles were shot down.[230][231]
July–December 2025
Additionally, there have been clashes between the Palestinian Authority (PA) and militant groups opposed to it in the West Bank.[232] The PA has partial administrative authority in the region,[233][234] and is dominated by Fatah,[235] whose collaborations with the Israeli military for security[233][236] have been criticized by militias including Hamas and PIJ.[232]Clashes between militants and the PA escalated in July 2024,[237] and in October the PA began a crackdown on militantsin Tubas in response to Iranian efforts to undermine the PA in favor of local militias.[232][238] In December, it began a second offensive in Jenin targeting the Jenin Brigades,[234][233] an umbrella group of local militias.[235]
On 9 September 2025, Israel bombed the Hamas headquarters in Qatar, reportedly targeting several members of the Hamas temporary committee, including Khalil al-Hayya, Khaled Mashal, Muhammad Ismail Darwish, Musa Abu Marzouk, and Zaher Jabarin.[239][240] Hamas confirmed that its top leadership survived the attack, although six people had been killed, including al-Hayya's son Humam, his aide, three bodyguards, and a Qatari security officer.[241][242]
On 10 October 2025, a Gaza ceasefire went into effect.[243]
December 2025–present
On 28 December 2025, demonstrations erupted across Iran amid nationwide unrest over an economic crisis, which had been developing over several years and worsened by fears of renewed conflict, following the Twelve-Day War in June and reimposition of UN nuclear-related sanctions through the "snapback" mechanism.[244][245] On 13 January 2026, Iran International reported that at least 12,000 people had been killed. It described the killings as the "largest [massacre] in Iranian contemporary history".[246]
Beginning in late January 2026, the United States carried out its largest military buildup in the Middle East since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, deploying air, naval, and missile defense assets amid escalating tensions with Iran, which the United States has attributed to Iran's nuclear program, the 2025–2026 Iranian protests, and a government crackdown that killed thousands of demonstrators.[247][248] On 28 February 2026, this culminated in joint military strikes on Iran by the United States and Israel, sparking the 2026 Iran war.[249][250][251] Among the war's stated aims are destroying Iran's missile program and bringing about regime change.[252][253] Iran responded with missile and drone strikes against Israel, US bases and allies in the region.[needs update]
The 2026 war began with joint airstrikes by Israel and the US against military and government sites in Tehran, Isfahan, Qom, Karaj, and Kermanshah. Ali Khamenei was assassinated in a strike on his compound, and other Iranian officials were also killed.[254][255] Israeli and US attacks resulted in civilian casualties and damage to schools, hospitals, the Grand Bazaar in Tehran, and the Golestan Palace.[256] In retaliation, Iran launched hundreds of drones and ballistic missiles at targets in Israel[257] and at US military bases[257] in Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Iraq, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia.[258][259] Iran struck civilian infrastructure in Azerbaijan,[260] Israel, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE,[261] and Britain's Akrotiri and Dhekelia military base on Cyprus was struck by a drone.[262]On 7 March, president Masoud Pezeshkian apologized for strikes on neighboring countries, attributing them to "miscommunication in the ranks", and said those countries would no longer be targeted unless US attacks are launched from them,[19][263] yet the Iranian attacks continued on neighboring countries.[264][265] This underscored the limited control exercised by the Iran's leaders over the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.[266][264] Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz and attacked energy facilities, disrupting global oil and gas shipments.[267] Hezbollah also retaliated against Israel, sparking renewed fighting in southern Lebanon.[268][269][270]
Casualties
According to the Gaza Health Ministry (GHM), since the start of the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip, over 72,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed as of February 2026.[271][272][273][274] A study in The Lancet estimated 64,260 deaths in Gaza from traumatic injuries by June 2024, while noting a potentially larger death toll when "indirect" deaths are included.[275][276][277][278] As of May 2025, a comparable figure for traumatic injury deaths would be 93,000.[279] Another casualty analysis, published in February 2026, estimated 75,200 violent deaths and 8,540 excess non-violent deaths between 7 October 2023 and 5 January 2025. The estimate of violent deaths is 34.7% higher than the GHM's casualty count at the time. Of the violent deaths, the researchers estimate that 56.2% were women, children, and elderly individuals.[280] More than 171,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been injured in the war.[271][274]
The GHM does not distinguish between civilians and combatants;[281] the IDF said that it has killed more than 22,000 militants,[282] while Hamas said in April 2024 that it had lost no more than 20 percent, or about 6,000, of its fighters.[283] An Associated Press analysis of GHM data up to December 2025 found that women and children comprised almost half of all identified dead, a statistic often used as a proxy for civilian casualties.[273] Several human rights organizations such as Amnesty International and B'Tselem, various genocide studies and international law scholars, and other experts say that a genocide is taking place in Gaza, though various others dispute this.[284][285]
In Israel, the 7 October Hamas-led attack resulted in the deaths of 1,195 people, including 815 civilians.[286][287][288] Of the 251 people from Israel taken back to Gaza as hostages, 136 have been returned to Israel alive, 39 have been returned dead, three were killed by friendly fire, and 73 remain in captivity.[289][290][291] At least 405 Israeli soldiers and one officer were killed during the Israeli invasion of Gaza.[292] Eighty Israeli soldiers and 46 civilians have been killed in the conflict with Hezbollah;[292][293] violence in the West Bank has killed 25 Israelis,[294] including six soldiers and police.[292] The United Nations Human Rights Council said there was "clear evidence" of war crimes by both Israel and Hamas during the war,[295] and human-rights organizations have accused Hamas and other militias of committing crimes against humanity in the 7 October attack.[286]
In Lebanon, Israeli attacks killed at least 4,047 people and wounded at least 16,638 others as of December 2024.[296] Hezbollah has confirmed 521 of its members were dead,[297] and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that 67 Hezbollah members have been killed in Syria since the outbreak of the Gaza war.[298][299] The Israeli military estimated that that around 3,800 Hezbollah members died in the conflict,[300] while media reports claimed Hezbollah believes its death toll could be as high as 4,000.[301] Initial clashes in southern Lebanon also killed at least 20 members of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.[302] According to Lebanon's ministry of public health, fourteen journalists have been killed by Israeli attacks while reporting on the conflict.[303]
In the West Bank, 607 Palestinians were killed by August 2024, primarily due to Israeli military raids.[294] Additionally, the Palestinian Authority's offensive in Jenin resulted in the death of six PA soldiers, four Palestinian militants, and three civilians.[304] During the Red Sea crisis, the Houthis have killed four sailors in the Red Sea,[303][305] while in December 2023 U.S. strikes on Houthi boats in the Red Sea killed at least 10 Houthi members,[306] and by the end of May 2024 the U.S. and U.K. airstrikes in Houthi-controlled Yemen had killed 56 people and injured 77 others.[303][307] Five U.S. soldiers died in January 2024: two were lost at sea on a mission to seize Iranian weapons[308] and three were killed in an IRI attack in Jordan that injured 47 others.[309]
Political and legal impact
Prior to the outbreak of war, the United States had aimed to expand the 2020 Abraham Accords into a diplomatic normalization agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia that would likely include a defense agreement between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia. The U.S. had scheduled a negotiation between Netanyahu and a Saudi ambassador to take place in Tel Aviv in November 2023. However, the Hamas attack on 7 October and ensuing Israeli invasion of Gaza meant that the meeting could not take place.[310] Later in 2024, Saudi Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman said that any Saudi–Israeli normalization agreement would require Palestinian statehood as part of a two-state solution.[311][312]
United Nations
On 29 December 2023, South Africa brought a case against Israel before the International Court of Justice accusing Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip during the Gaza war, in violation of the Genocide Convention.[313] South Africa requested that the ICJ order an immediate halt to Israel's military operations in Gaza among other provisional measures of protection.[314] Israel has contended that its actions in Gaza are targeted only at Hamas and are in legitimate self-defense in accordance with international law.[315] On 26 January 2024, the ICJ said in a preliminary ruling that some of the acts claimed by South Africa in its allegations could be covered by the Genocide Convention and that Israel must "take all measures within its power" to prevent genocide in Gaza.[316]
Prior to the January 2025 ceasefire that halted the Gaza war, the United Nations Security Council made numerous attempts to negotiate a ceasefire. The United States vetoed a February 2024 resolution demanding a ceasefire for not including a condemnation of the 7 October attack,[317] and on 22 March Russia and China vetoed a U.S.-drafted resolution calling for an immediate six-week ceasefire conditional on the release of hostages.[318][319] On 25 March, the UNSC passed Resolution 2728, which called for a ceasefire during the month of Ramadan, the "immediate and unconditional" release of all hostages, and the allowance of humanitarian aid into Gaza.[320][321][322] The U.S. vetoed a later ceasefire resolution in November 2024, saying this was due to the fact that the resolution did not require the immediate release of all hostages.[323]
See also
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Notes
- The Axis of Resistance is an informal coalition of Middle Eastern militias aligned with Iran.[1] Alongside Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, and Ba'athist Syria, major participants in the conflict include Palestinian Islamic Jihad[2] and the Islamic Resistance in Iraq,[3] as well as smaller Palestinian militant groups in the Joint Operations Room[4] and several Lebanese militias.[5] The Bahrain-based Al-Ashtar Brigades[6] and the Muslim Brotherhood have also engaged in conflict with Israel during the crisis.[7] Russia has provided military assistance to the Houthis and conducted several airstrikes on the side of Ba'athist Syria during the 2024 Syrian opposition offensives.[8][9]
- Over the course of the conflict, Israel has received weaponry from various foreign governments.[11] According to The Wall Street Journal, the country was allegedly aided by intelligence from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in its defense against Iranian attacks in 2024,[12] and two multinational coalitions have responded to Houthi attacks in the Red Sea crisis — the United States-led Operation Prosperity Guardian[13] and the European Union-led Operation Aspides.[14]. The Israeli-backed Palestinian Popular Forces have fought in Gaza since May 2024.[15][16]
- The Palestinian Authority (PA) has been in conflict with Iran-allied groups opposed to both the Palestinian Authority and Israel. It is not an ally of Israel, though it cooperates with the Israeli military in Palestinian-controlled areas of the West Bank.[17]
- The Lebanese government said it would stay out of the 2024 Israeli invasion of Lebanon, but responded militarily to Israeli attacks on its positions.[18]
- Qatar shot down Iranian missiles that entered its airspace on 23 June 2025, when Iran targeted US forces at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, as retaliation for 2025 United States strikes on Iranian nuclear sites.[19] On 9 September 2025, Israel struck the Hamas headquarters in Qatar, reportedly targeting several Hamas officials.[20]
- Jordan shot down Iranian missiles that entered its airspace during attacks on Israel in April 2024,[21] October 2024,[22] and June 2025.[23]
- Syria is currently governed by a transitional government that was formed by rebels and opposition groups who overthrew the Iran-allied Assad regime in 2024.[25] Israel invaded part of Syria after Assad's fall and has conducted airstrikes against Syrian bases;[26] while Syrian transitional leaders have condemned Israel's invasion, they have not engaged in direct conflict with Israel and have instead pushed for cordial relations with the country.[27]