The Revere

Jenny Jin ’24 & Raymond Ge ’24

The following key events are reported in UTC+03:00, the time in Israel and Palestine. 

October 7, 6:30 a.m. – HAMAS launches rocket strikes on southern and central Israel, including major cities such as Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Around 2,000 rockets were fired, according to the Israel Defense Forces; Hamas claims at least 5,000 rockets were fired. 

Concurrently, Muhammad Deif, the leader of the military wing of Hamas, Al Qassam Brigades, claims responsibility for the attack over a video statement. 

“We have decided to put an end to all of the occupation’s crimes. The time is over for them (Israel) to (continue to) act without accountability. Thus, we announce the ‘Al-Aqsa Flood’ operation, and in the first strike within 20 minutes, more than 5,000 rockets were launched,” Muhammad Deif claimed in the video, “Starting from today, security coordination (between Israel and the Palestinian Authority) ends. Today, the people reclaim their revolution, correct their path, and return to the march of return.”¹

7:40 a.m. – THE Israel Defense Forces confirms that Hamas fighters had crossed from Gaza into southern Israel. On motorcycles, armed Hamas militants storm blockaded areas of the Gaza Strip and take over 200 hostages in southern Israel. Video footage of the attack started appearing on social media. 

8:23 a.m. – ISRAEL declares a state of alert for war, calling up reservists in the country. 

11:35 a.m. – PRIME Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, makes his first statement to the nation on the crisis through social media, claiming war against HAMAS.

“Citizens of Israel, we are at war. Not an operation, not a round [of fighting,] at war! This morning Hamas initiated a murderous surprise attack against the state of Israel and its citizens,” Netanyahu said in his statement in Hebrew.²

Over the next two hours, Israeli jet fighters launch retaliatory strikes in Gaza. Video footage shows Al-Sousi Mosque in Gaza City being bombed and flattened. Israel claims it has struck 21 buildings that house Hamas military operations. Concurrently, the Israeli military sends troops into southern Israel to reclaim towns taken by Hamas militants. 

2:29 p.m. – THE United States makes its first statement, condemning Hamas for the attacks and expressing support for Israel. “Israel has a right to defend itself and its people,” Biden claims in his televised statement.

October 8 – ISRAEL formally declares a state of war under article Article 40A, which was invoked for the first time since the 1973 Yom Kippur War. The declaration aims to eliminate Hamas’s military capabilities and end its rule over the Gaza Strip.³ Evacuations of residents in Israel living near the Gaza Strip are ordered, and Israel Defense Forces (IDF) impose a total lockdown on the West Bank.

The U.S. deploys the USS Gerald Ford carrier strike group into Israel along with additional military assistance. Hamas condemns the US Navy deployment as “aggression against Palestinian people”⁴

October 9 – DEFENSE Minister of Israel Yoav Gallant announces a total blockade of the Gaza Strip. “I have ordered a complete siege on the Gaza Strip. There will be no electricity, no food, no fuel, everything is closed,” Gallant claims in his statement, “We are fighting human animals and we are acting accordingly.”⁵

October 10 – THE White House releases a statement by Biden. “We must be crystal clear: We stand with Israel. We stand with Israel. And we will make sure Israel has what it needs to take care of its citizens, defend itself, and respond to this attack.”⁶

October 11 – ISRAEL bombs the Gaza–Egypt Rafah border crossing as Palestinians in Gaza flee. The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza claims at least 1,100 people have been killed in Gaza since October 7. Israel reports that the country’s death toll is at least 1,200 people.⁷

October 16 – AS the war escalates, Iran threatens “pre-emptive” attacks against Israel, indicating further region-wide escalation of the war. 

Hamas releases its first Israeli hostage video. The hostage is Maya Sham, a twenty-one-year-old from Shoham. In the video, he claims to have been taken care of by the hospitals in Gaza and pleads to go back home.⁸

October 17 – A rocket detonates in the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City, killing hundreds. The Gaza health ministry claims that at least 500 people had been killed. Hamas blames Israel for the attack, and Israel denies any involvement.⁹ 

Thousands of Gaza residents gather in Rafah, a Palestinian City that has the territory’s only border crossing to Egypt. The U.S. leads negotiations to let aid into the Gaza Strip and refugees with foreign passports out.¹⁰

October 18 – BIDEN arrives in Tel Aviv. Using footage provided by Al Jeezera’s live camera feed and an analysis of the hospital’s structural damage, U.S. and Israeli intelligence claim that Israel did not cause the hospital explosion in Gaza. The Associated Press’ visual analysis backs this claim. The blast is determined to most likely have been caused by an errant rocket fired from Gaza. Hamas rejects the claim.¹¹ Turkey declares 3-days of mourning in solidarity with hospital victims. 

October 20 – AID begins to enter the Rafah crossing as Egypt opens its borders. Later in the day, two U.S. hostages are released by Hamas. Iran-backed militias in Iraq escalate attacks on U.S. bases in response to Washington’s support of Israel. 

October 22 – SKIRMISHES escalate in the Lebanon-Israel and Syria-Israel borders. An Israeli airstrike attacks the international airports of the Syrian capital, Damascus. Foreign aid continues to enter Gaza, but doctors continue to face fuel and medical equipment shortages.¹²

October 24 – TENSIONS begin to rise between Israel and Hezbollah as the Lebanese Shiite Muslim political party continues to exchange fire with Israel. Prime Minister Netanyahu threatens “horrible consequences” for Hezbollah if it decides to join the war in any meaningful way. The U.N claims that about 1.4 million of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents have been displaced.¹³ 

October 26 – THE Hamas Health Ministry claims that over 6,000 people had been killed in Gaza, with over 17,000 wounded.¹⁴ In an overnight operation, Israeli tanks backed by bulldozers and tanks conduct an overnight raid into the northern Gaza Strip.¹⁵

October 28 – ISRAEL-HAMAS war enters into “second stage” according to Netanyahu. Israel’s forces begin to enter the Gaza Strip in a ground assault. As Israeli forces entered the territory, phone lines and internet went out for over 34 hours. Palestinian officials blame Israel’s bombardment for the internet blackout.¹⁶

November 3 – ISRAEL Prime Minister Netanyahu rebuffs U.S. request for “humanitarian pause.” He tells U.S. Secretary Blinken that “we are going full steam ahead,” unless Hamas releases its hostages.¹⁷

November 9 – ISRAEL agrees to a daily four-hour ceasefire to allow civilians in northern Gaza to receive aid and evacuate

November 12 – ISRAEL’s Prime Minister Netanyahu claims in a CNN interview that Israel will not agree to a complete ceasefire in the entire Gaza region until all Israeli hostages have been released. The primary military objective of Israel is still the complete destruction of Hamas. 

Notes:

1. https://www.palestinechronicle.com/today-the-people-claim-their-revolution-this-is-what-al-qassam-commander-said-in-his-speech/ ↩︎
2. https://www.timesofisrael.com/we-are-at-war-netanyahu-says-after-hamas-launches-devastating-surprise-attack/ ↩︎
3. https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-gaza-hamas-airstrikes-hostages-4377e096f62bf535bebcdff38cf16049 ↩︎
4. https://www.cnn.com/middleeast/live-news/israel-hamas-gaza-attack-10-08-23/index.html ↩︎
5. https://web.archive.org/web/20231009105739/https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/defense-minister-announces-complete-siege-of-gaza-no-power-food-or-fuel/ ↩︎
6. https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2023/10/10/remarks-by-president-biden-on-the-terrorist-attacks-in-israel-2/ ↩︎
7. https://www.cnn.com/middleeast/live-news/israel-hamas-war-gaza-10-11-23/index.html ↩︎
8. https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2023-10-16/ty-article-live/israel-prepares-for-ground-invasion-biden-big-mistake-to-reoccupy-gaza/0000018b-364f-dc99-a1db-3fcf1ae10000?liveBlogItemId=284650021#284650021 ↩︎
9. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/live-updates-whats-happening-on-day-11-of-the-israel-hamas-war ↩︎
10.  https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/live-updates-whats-happening-on-day-11-of-the-israel-hamas-war ↩︎
11.  https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-hamas-war-hospital-rocket-gaza-e0fa550faa4678f024797b72132452e3 ↩︎
12.  https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/live-updates-whats-happening-on-day-15-of-the-israel-hamas-war ↩︎
13.  https://www.ochaopt.org/content/hostilities-gaza-strip-and-israel-flash-update-17 ↩︎
14.  https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/live-updates-whats-happening-on-day-19-of-the-israel-hamas-war ↩︎
15.  https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/oct/27/israel-and-hamas-at-war-what-we-know-on-day-21 ↩︎
16.  https://www.npr.org/2023/10/31/1209549210/gaza-blackout-mobile-internet-israel-war ↩︎
17.  https://apnews.com/article/israel-hamas-war-live-updates-11-3-2023-bf135710cf11f04cdcea078c5046e903 ↩︎