Start here
Escaping the Hamas attack on Ofakim: A survivor's story
7NEWS Spotlight's 14-minute overview: the quickest complete way into the case.
Watch on YouTubeWhat happened
Overview
On October 7, 2023, during the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah, Hamas and several other Palestinian militant groups launched a coordinated assault from the blockaded Gaza Strip into southern Israel. The attack began with a barrage of at least 4,300 rockets and was followed by cross-border incursions using vehicles, motorcycles, bulldozers, speedboats, and powered paragliders. Militants breached the Gaza–Israel barrier at numerous points, attacking military bases and Israeli communities including Be'eri, Kfar Aza, Nir Oz, Netiv HaAsara, and Alumim. According to an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) report, about 6,000 Gazans breached the border at 119 locations, including roughly 3,800 from Hamas's Nukhba forces, with an additional 1,000 firing rockets from Gaza, bringing the total estimated participants to 7,000.
Casualties and hostages
The attacks killed 1,195 people, including at least 828 civilians (36 of them children, 71 foreign nationals) and at least 367 members of Israeli security forces; later revisions placed the total near 1,189–1,219 depending on the count date. At least 364 civilians were killed at the Nova (Supernova) music festival near Re'im, the single deadliest site. At least 14 Israeli civilians are reported to have been killed as a result of the IDF's application of the Hannibal Directive. About 250 Israeli and foreign civilians and soldiers were taken hostage into Gaza; by later reporting the number of confirmed hostages was cited as 247. Additional deadly incidents occurred at Kfar Aza (around 62 residents killed, 19 abducted), Be'eri (at least 130 killed, including peace activist Vivian Silver), Ein HaShlosha, the Psyduck music festival, Ofakim, and the Nahal Oz and Re'im military bases.
Planning, warnings, and intelligence failures
Egypt and Saudi Arabia had reportedly warned Israel of an impending escalation, and Israeli intelligence had obtained a detailed Hamas attack blueprint more than a year in advance, which was largely dismissed by military and intelligence leadership. Israel's Shin Bet later concluded in an official investigation that it failed to provide warning that could have prevented the attack. Reporting cited from Haaretz and a BBC investigation similarly described repeated internal warnings that were not acted upon by senior IDF officers.
Reported atrocities
Reports of sexual violence and mutilation of Israeli women and girls during the attack were documented by outlets including a New York Times investigation ("Screams Without Words") and a UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry, which found indications of sexual violence attributable to Palestinian forces in some locations; other accounts, including reporting by Haaretz and Al Jazeera, raised questions about specific witness claims and the evidentiary basis for some accounts. Hamas has denied that its fighters were involved in sexual violence. The UN's special envoy on sexual violence in conflict, Pramila Patten, reported "reasonable grounds" to believe sexual assaults occurred in multiple locations, while noting her mission was not a full legal investigation.
Aftermath
The attack is described in the source as the deadliest day in Israeli history, and prompted a large-scale Israeli military response in Gaza, beginning what has been termed the Gaza war. Governments of 44 countries denounced the attack as terrorism; some other governments attributed root causes to Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories.
