War in West Asia: One year on, key moments of Israel’s Gaza campaign

It has been 12 months since Hamas attacked Israel and sparked an increasingly more destructive war in West Asia. Here is a timeline of the key moments of the violence.

A Palestinian boy stands among the destruction after Israeli strikes on Rafah, Gaza Strip. (AP/File)

Oct 8, 2023: Israel declares a state of war and begins to bomb Gaza. So far, the war has killed more than 41,000 Palestinians, many of them women and children.

Oct 9, 2023: Israel announces “complete siege” of Gaza; says “no electricity, no food, no fuel” will be allowed to enter. The UN later estimates that 90% of Gaza’s 2.1 million people have been displaced.

Oct 27, 2023: Israel launches ground invasion of Gaza.

Nov 15, 2023: Israeli forces raid al-Shifa Hospital. Patients, including premature babies, die after the hospital loses electricity.

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Nov 19, 2023: Houthi militants in Yemen hijack a ship and take crew members hostage in the first of many attacks on shipping in the Red Sea to protest Israel’s actions.

Nov 24, 2023: Israel and Hamas pause fighting for a week and swap some of the hostages for prisoners. Hamas releases more than 100 hostages in exchange for 240 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.

Dec 4, 2023: Israel expands its offensive into southern Gaza, where it had previously encouraged civilians to go for safety.

Jan 26, 2024: The International Court of Justice orders Israel to prevent “genocide” but stops short of ordering a halt to fighting.

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April 1, 2024: Iran’s embassy compound in Damascus is hit by a suspected Israeli airstrike, killing several military officers.

April 13, 2024: Iran retaliates by firing hundreds of missiles and drones at Israel — Iran’s first ever direct attack on Israel.

May 7, 2024: Israeli tanks roll into Rafah. Israel seizes control of Gaza’s crossing point into Egypt and seals it, blocking a key entry point for aid.

July 13, 2024: An Israeli strike in southern Gaza kills the chief of Hamas’s armed wing, Mohammed Deif. Israel also hits several Houthi targets in western Yemen after a fatal drone attack by the rebel group in Tel Aviv on July 12.

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July 31, 2024: Hamas’s political chief Ismail Haniyeh is killed in an Israeli attack in Tehran.

Aug 25, 2024: Israel launches “preemptive” strikes against Hezbollah, destroying thousands of their rocket launcher barrels.

Sept 17-18, 2024: Thousands of Hezbollah’s pagers and walkie-talkies explode across Lebanon, killing at least 39 people.

Sept 27, 2024: Israel launches strikes in south Beirut, killing Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah.

Oct 1, 2024: Iran responds by firing nearly 180 missiles at Israel.

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Oct 3, 2024: Israel carries out an airstrike in Beirut targeting Hashem Safieddine, the presumed successor to Nasrallah. It is not yet clear if Safieddine was killed.