Gaza–Israel conflict
| Gaza–Israel conflict | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict and the Arab–Israeli conflict | |||||||||
Map of the Gaza Strip | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
| Israel | |||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| 56,000–80,000+ killed | 1,944+ killed | ||||||||
The Gaza–Israel conflict is a localized part of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict beginning in 1948, when about 200,000 of the more than 700,000 Palestinians who fled or were expelled from their homes settled in the Gaza Strip as refugees. Since then, Israel has waged 15 wars in the Gaza Strip. The number of Palestinians killed in the Gaza war (ongoing since 2023) (50,000+) is higher than the death toll of all other wars in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict combined.
Israel fought three wars in the Egyptian-administered Gaza Strip: 1948 Palestine War, the first occupation of Gaza during the Suez Crisis, and the capture of Gaza in 1967. During the first occupation, 1% of Gaza Strip's population was either killed, tortured or imprisoned by Israel. Following two periods of low-level insurgencies, a major conflict between Israelis and Palestinians erupted in the First Intifada. The 1993 Oslo Accords brought a period of calm. But, in 2000 the Second Intifada erupted. Towards the end of the Second Intifada, Israel disengaged from Gaza in 2005, Hamas won the 2006 election and seized control of Gaza in 2007.
In 2007, Israel imposed a land, air and sea blockade of the Gaza Strip, turning it into an "open-air prison". The blockade was widely condemned as a form of collective punishment, while Israel defended it as necessary to stop Palestinian rocket attacks. Hamas considered it a declaration of war. A 2008–2009 Israeli invasion of Gaza resulted in more than 1,000 deaths and widespread destruction of homes, schools and hospitals. A 2012 Israeli operation also killed more than 100 people.
In 2014, Israel invaded Gaza in a major war that resulted in the deaths of 73 Israelis (mostly soldiers) and 2,251 Palestinians (mostly civilians). The invasion resulted in "unprecedented" destruction, damaging 25% of homes in Gaza city and 70% of homes in Beit Hanoun. After 2014, notable events in the conflict included the "Great March of Return" (2018–2019) and clashes in November 2018, May 2019 and November 2019. The 2021 crisis saw 256 Palestinians and 15 Israelis killed.
On 7 October 2023, Palestinian militants attacked Israel, killing 1,143 people (mostly civilians) and beginning the Gaza war. Israel responded by bombing the Gaza Strip and launching an invasion that has killed more than 43,000 Gazans as of November 2024.
| Number | Conflict | Period | Arabs killed | Israelis killed | Infrastructure damaged or destroyed | Population displaced | Other impact |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1948 Palestine war and 1948 Arab–Israeli War | 1948–1949 | 200,000 Arabs fled or were expelled by Israel into Gaza | Creation of Gaza Strip as an entity | |||
| 2 | Palestinian Fedayeen insurgency | 1949–1956 | 216 (Up to 1955) | 8 (Up to 1955) | Conflict over Palestinian "infiltrators" – often refugees trying to return home | ||
| 3 | Israeli occupation of Gaza during the Suez Crisis | 1956–1957 | 1,231–1,446 | 172+ killed | 1% of the total population of Gaza Strip was either killed, wounded, tortured or imprisoned by Israel. | ||
| 4 | Conquest of Gaza during the Six-Day War | 1967 | 90% of UNRWA schools | ~45,000 civilians (10% of Gaza's population) fled or were expelled by Israel | |||
| 5 | Low-level insurgency | 1967–1971 | 39 civilians, 71 combatants | 9 civilians, 8 soldiers | Israel detained approximately 10,000 Gazans without trial between 1967 and 1970. | ||
| 6 | Three-way conflict between Israel, Palestinian nationalists and Islamist militants | 1979–1983 | |||||
| 7 | First Intifada | 1987–1993 | 523, 78,338 hospitalized | 42% of Gaza's children reported being assaulted by the IDF | |||
| 8 | Second Intifada | 2001–2005 | ~3,000 | ||||
| 9 | Post-disengagement incursions into Gaza | 2005–2007 | 359 civilians, 309 combatants | 4 soldiers, 4 civilians | |||
| 10 | First Gaza War | 2008–2009 | 1,181 civilians, 236 combatants | 10 soldiers, 3 civilians | 46,000 homes, 34 hospitals and clinics, 214 schools, 52 mosques and churches | 100,000 people made homeless | 80% of agricultural produce and equipment destroyed |
| 11 | 2012 Gaza War | 2012 | 103 civilians, 55 combatants | 4 civilians, 2 soldiers | 97 schools, 49 mosques and churches, 15 hospitals and clinics | 350–700 families | |
| 12 | 2014 Gaza War | 2014 | 2,251 killed (65% civilians) | 67 soldiers, 6 civilians | 203 mosques and 2 churches, 25% of homes in Gaza city | 520,000 (30% of Gaza's population) internally displaced | |
| 13 | 2021 Israel–Palestine crisis | 2021 | 128 civilians, 128 combatants | 14 civilians, 1 soldiers | 15,000 homes, 58 schools, 9 hospitals, 19 clinics | 113,000 internally displaced | |
| 14 | Gaza war | 2023–present | 46,000–70,000+ | 876+ civilians, 756+ soldiers |