The Israel-Hamas War

In October 2023 fighters from the militant group Hamas stormed communities in southern Israel, killing more than twelve hundred people and taking more than two hundred hostages back to Gaza. The attack touched off the Israel-Hamas War, in which Israeli leaders have vowed to eliminate Hamas and the threat it poses to their people. In its effort to achieve that goal, Israel has killed more than thirty thousand Palestinians living in Gaza. The Israel-Hamas War is the latest conflict in the long history of hostility between Israelis and Palestinians. The war has sparked intense criticism and divisions worldwide.