Israeli forces are poised to invade Gaza on a mission to wipe out Hamas in response to a surprise attack by the Palestianian militants on October 7th.
Since Hamas fighters burst across the barrier fence and killed 1,300 Israelis on Saturday, Israel has responded with the most intensive air strikes of its 75-year conflict with the Palestinians.
Gaza authorities say 1,800 people have been killed; the United Nations says 400,000 people have already been made homeless.
The wider conflict between Israel and the Palestinians has already claimed the lives of thousands in recent decades. From 2008 until September this year, 6,407 Palestinians were recorded to have been killed in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, more than half through missile attacks. During the same period, the UN recorded the death of 308 Israelis in conflict situations.
The following timeline, which begins with Israel's 2005 withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, details the major flare-ups in the conflict between Israel and Palestinian groups in the crowded coastal enclave, which is home to 2.3 million people.
August 2005
Israeli forces unilaterally withdraw from Gaza 38 years after capturing it from Egypt in the Middle East war, abandoning settlements and leaving the enclave under the control of the Palestinian Authority.
January 25th, 2006
The Islamist group Hamas wins a majority of seats in a Palestinian legislative election. Israel and the US cut off aid to Palestinians because Hamas refuses to renounce violence and recognise Israel.
June 25th, 2006
Hamas militants capture Israeli army conscript Gilad Shalit in a cross-border raid from Gaza, prompting Israeli air strikes and incursions. Shalit is finally freed more than five years later in a prisoner exchange.
June 14th, 2007
Hamas takes over Gaza in a brief civil war, ousting Fatah forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who is based in the West Bank.
December 27th, 2008
Israel launches a 22-day military offensive in Gaza after Palestinians fire rockets at the southern Israeli town of Sderot. About 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis are reported killed before a ceasefire is agreed.
November 14th, 2012
Israel kills Hamas's military chief of staff, Ahmad Jabari. Eight days of Palestinian militant rocket fire and Israeli air strikes follow.
July-August 2014
The kidnap and killing of three Israeli teenagers by Hamas leads to a seven-week war in which more than 2,100 Palestinians are reported killed in Gaza and 73 Israelis are reported dead, 67 of them military.
March 2018
Palestinian protests begin at Gaza’s fenced border with Israel. Israeli troops open fire to keep protestors back. More than 170 Palestinians are reported killed in several months of protests, which also prompt fighting between Hamas and Israeli forces.
May 2021
After weeks of tension during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, hundreds of Palestinians are wounded in clashes with Israeli security forces at the Al Aqsa compound in Jerusalem, Islam’s third holiest site.
After demanding Israel withdraw security forces from the compound, Hamas unleashes a barrage of rockets from Gaza into Israel. Israel hits back with air strikes on Gaza. Fighting goes on for 11 days, killing at least 250 people in Gaza and 13 in Israel.
August 2022
At least 44 people, including 15 children, are killed in three days of violence that begin when Israeli air strikes hit a senior Islamic Jihad commander.
Israel says the strikes were a pre-emptive operation against an imminent attack by the Iranian-backed militant movement, targeting commanders and arms depots. In response, Islamic Jihad fires more than 1,000 rockets towards Israel. Israel's Iron Dome air defence system prevents any serious damage or casualties.
January 2023
Islamic Jihad in Gaza fires two rockets towards Israel after Israeli troops raid a refugee camp and kill seven Palestinian gunmen and two civilians. The rockets set off alarms in Israeli communities near the border but cause no casualties. Israel responds with air strikes on Gaza.
October 2023
Hamas launches the biggest attack on Israel in years from the Gaza Strip, with a surprise assault combining gunmen crossing the border with a heavy barrage of rockets. Islamic Jihad says its fighters joined the attack.
Israel declared war, adding it had carried out strikes targeting Hamas in Gaza and had called up reservists.
By Friday, Israel had begun to carry out raids inside Gaza, its first announcement of a shift from an air war to ground operations to root out Hamas fighters.
Some Gaza residents were abandoning homes to escape from the path of an Israeli onslaught, after Israel ordered more than a million people to leave the northern half of the Gaza Strip within 24 hours.
Hamas vowed to fight until the last drop of blood. The Israeli military said a significant number of Gazans had begun moving southwards "to save themselves".
