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Latest situation
Dozens of Palestinians were killed Thursday when Israeli forces opened fire on civilians during a chaotic attempt to deliver humanitarian aid to northern Gaza.
The circumstances of the killing are unclear, as Israeli and Palestinian officials have made clear. competing accounts.
Palestinian health officials said 104 people were killed and dozens injured when Israeli forces opened fire on crowds rushing to get food.
But the Israel Defense Forces said dozens of people were killed in a „stampede“ when they rushed toward aid trucks at about 4 a.m. Israeli officials acknowledged that troops fired into the crowd, but said it happened in a separate incident after a group of people in the crowd „approached (Israeli) forces in a manner that threatened them.“ Stated.
Elsewhere in Gaza, Israeli preparations to launch a new attack on Rafah have raised fears of further harm to Palestinian civilians. The United States, Israel's closest ally, has warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to order attacks unless there is a plan to protect civilians.
Israel's invasion of Gaza: from October 2023 to the present
Following a brutal Hamas attack in southern Israel on October 7, the Israel Defense Forces launched an air and ground offensive in the Gaza Strip.
Israeli officials say Hamas has killed more than 1,200 people and taken about 250 hostages. Palestinian officials say the IDF response has left nearly 30,000 people dead in Gaza.
A temporary ceasefire between the two countries in November allowed for the release of approximately 105 Israeli women and children held hostage, as well as foreigners. This was in exchange for the release of approximately 240 Palestinian women and children from Israeli prisons.
The Israeli military carried out the largest bombing campaign in history on the small blockaded enclave.
Satellite data shows the toll the war has taken on Gaza's infrastructure and housing in many areas of the Palestinian enclave. Two ruined citiesinclude Entire neighborhoods were destroyed.
The Israeli military has been tight-lipped about how many troops it has committed to the war, its largest operation in years, but satellite images and tracking data show a large-scale invasion.
Data tracking Israeli military movements from October 31 to December 31 shows that Israeli forces tightened their grip on Gaza City, laid siege to al-Shifa hospital and occupied territory in Khan Yunis. It is shown that
Satellite images released after October 31st show what happened next. break through the barrier At least six Israeli military columns have pushed through the Gaza Strip's sparsely populated farmlands south of the border and then deeper into the Gaza Strip into more populated areas.
![Satellite map of northern Gaza showing Israeli entry points and signs of damage from airstrikes](https://www.ft.com/__origami/service/image/v2/images/raw/https%3A%2F%2Fd6c748xw2pzm8.cloudfront.net%2Fprod%2F3188ff20-782c-11ee-9230-677712a32c91-standard.png?source=next-article&fit=scale-down&quality=highest&width=700&dpr=1)
![Satellite map of northern Gaza showing Israeli entry points and signs of damage from airstrikes](https://www.ft.com/__origami/service/image/v2/images/raw/https%3A%2F%2Fd6c748xw2pzm8.cloudfront.net%2Fprod%2F3188ff20-782c-11ee-9230-677712a32c91-standard.png?source=next-article&fit=scale-down&quality=highest&width=700&dpr=1)
Aid agencies have warned of the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, including a lack of sufficient water, food, medicine and fuel.
Gaza's only power plant shut down on October 11 due to a lack of fuel, which was captured on nighttime satellite images.
Hamas attacks on Israel: October 7, 2023
While much of the Israeli population was asleep, Hamas militants launched an unprecedented multi-pronged dawn offensive from the Gaza Strip. The Middle East's most powerful security forces were caught by surprise.
The attack, launched to coincide with the Jewish holiday Simchat Torah, began in the early hours of the morning with thousands of rockets fired into Israeli towns and cities. The barrage set off warning sirens in the southern and central parts of the country, forcing civilians to flee to air raid shelters.
![Satellite map of the Israel-Gaza border area showing the location of fires and chimneys](https://www.ft.com/__origami/service/image/v2/images/raw/https%3A%2F%2Fd6c748xw2pzm8.cloudfront.net%2Fprod%2F36a67670-65e1-11ee-b3e9-055942a62158-standard.png?source=next-article&fit=scale-down&quality=highest&width=700&dpr=1)
![Satellite map of the Israel-Gaza border area showing the location of fires and chimneys](https://www.ft.com/__origami/service/image/v2/images/raw/https%3A%2F%2Fd6c748xw2pzm8.cloudfront.net%2Fprod%2F36a67670-65e1-11ee-b3e9-055942a62158-standard.png?source=next-article&fit=scale-down&quality=highest&width=700&dpr=1)
The Israeli military said Gaza-based militants fired more than 4,500 rockets over the weekend. Many were intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome defense system, and satellite images showed fire and black smoke billowing from some of the hit locations.
Hundreds of Hamas fighters attacked simultaneously from land, air and sea, repeatedly breaching the strong barrier between Gaza and Israel.
Images and videos showed motorcycles carrying insurgents crashing through holes in chain-link fences along the border, and bulldozers destroying sections of the fence. Bombs, rockets and drones were also seen blasting fences and defensive positions.
Militants used motorized paragliders to attack and fly into the Supernova music festival near the Gaza border, turning the two-day rave into a massacre.
![Map showing location of Supernova music festival attacked by Hamas](https://www.ft.com/__origami/service/image/v2/images/raw/https%3A%2F%2Fd6c748xw2pzm8.cloudfront.net%2Fprod%2Ffd6ba450-66c3-11ee-920a-3b0d715e89a2-standard.png?source=next-article&fit=scale-down&quality=highest&width=700&dpr=1)
![Map showing location of Supernova music festival attacked by Hamas](https://www.ft.com/__origami/service/image/v2/images/raw/https%3A%2F%2Fd6c748xw2pzm8.cloudfront.net%2Fprod%2Ffd6ba450-66c3-11ee-920a-3b0d715e89a2-standard.png?source=next-article&fit=scale-down&quality=highest&width=700&dpr=1)
Gunmen chased young Israelis across the desert, shooting and kidnapping those they took back to Gaza as hostages. The Israeli army, apparently caught off guard by the attack, was unable to react for hours. Hundreds of bodies were recovered from the scene.
After breaching the fence in Gaza, armed Hamas fighters began targeting Israeli communities in several locations, going door to door and taking hostages. Hamas militants also attacked Israeli military positions.
Images and videos show people lying dead in the streets and residents, including women, children and the elderly, being taken away after execution-style killings.
The IDF said more than 1,200 Israeli civilians and soldiers were killed, making it the deadliest attack since the founding of Israel.
The complexity of the attack by Hamas was unlike anything Israel had witnessed in recent decades. This raised serious questions about the intelligence gathering of security services and the military's preparations for the attack.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is „Complete encirclement“ On October 9, he called up a record 300,000 reservists in Gaza and ordered them to strike belts from the air.
The Israeli military also ordered the evacuation of 42 communities along the northern border. There, Israelis have been killed in cross-border fires that Israel blames on Hezbollah or the Palestinian faction, part of Iran-backed groups based in Lebanon. „Axis of resistance“.
Visual and data team: Jana Tausinski, Janina Convoy, Peter Andringa, stephen bernard, chris campbell, Sam Joyner, Lucy Rogers and alan smith