October–December 2023 in the
Gaza war On 7 October 2023, the Palestinian militant group
Hamas led
a surprise attack into Israel from the
Gaza Strip that captured territory in southern Israel and killed approximately 1,200 people. In addition, about 250 Israelis and foreigners were
taken into Gaza as hostages by Hamas and
other Palestinian armed groups. The attack began with a barrage of
over 4,000 rockets and paraglider incursions into Israel. Hamas fighters also breached the
Gaza–Israel barrier and massacred civilians in several communities. The attack marked the deadliest day in Israeli history. In response, the Israeli government declared war for the first time since the 1973
Yom Kippur War. After the 7 October Hamas attack, Israel began
a bombardment and
blockade of the Gaza Strip, which escalated on 13 October into temporary raids into the northern Gaza Strip, with the stated goals of destroying Hamas and freeing the hostages. The war has caused widespread destruction, a
humanitarian crisis, and an
ongoing famine in the Gaza Strip. Most of the population was
forcibly displaced. Hamas and Israel agreed to
a six-day truce from 24 November to 30 November that saw Hamas exchange Israeli hostages for
Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. After the truce expired in December, Israeli troops
had reached the city of
Khan Yunis in central Gaza. A
series of border clashes between Israel and the Lebanese militant group
Hezbollah along the
Israel–Lebanon border began 8 October 2023, when Hezbollah attacked the
Shebaa Farms region in support of Hamas's attack on Israel the day prior, and Israel responded by attacking Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon. Skirmishes between Israel and Hezbollah then continued in southern Lebanon and northern Israel, including in the Israeli-occupied
Golan Heights. Hezbollah initially said that it would attack Israel until the latter ended its attacks in Gaza, and Hezbollah's attacks caused 96,000 Israelis to be displaced from northern Israel. shoots down Houthi missiles targeting Israel over the Red Sea on 19 October 2023. Shortly after the Gaza war began in October 2023,
Houthi militants based in
Yemen began
targeting civilian merchant and naval vessels passing through the
Red Sea. The Houthis said that their attacks would continue until Israel ended its "crimes in Gaza." The group said it would target vessels linked to Israel, but has primarily indiscriminately attacked many vessels with no relation to the country. To avoid attack, many vessels avoided the
Suez Canal and Red Sea altogether by sailing around the
Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa, which caused increases in shipping costs. The first confrontation was on 19 October, when a
United States Navy guided missile destroyer in the Red Sea shot down Houthi missiles and drones aimed at Israel. The next month, Houthis hijacked the
Galaxy Leader and took all 25 of its passengers hostage. In December, the United States created
Operation Prosperity Guardian, a multinational naval coalition aimed at combating attacks in the Red Sea. The coalition includes the U.S., the United Kingdom, Australia, Bahrain, Canada, France, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Seychelles, and Spain. Beginning on 17 October, the
Islamic Resistance in Iraq (IRI) and other militias in the Iran-led
Axis of Resistance began
a series of attacks against United States military bases in Iraq, Jordan, and Syria in response to
U.S. support for Israel in the Gaza war. The attacks began with an IRI attack on the U.S.'s
al-Asad Airbase in northern Iraq that the U.S. intercepted. Regional militias had conducted over 170 attacks against U.S. forces in the region by January 2024, aimed at pressuring the U.S. into withdrawing its troops in the region During the Gaza war,
Israeli forces have carried out near-daily incursions and airstrikes in Palestinian communities in the
Israeli-occupied territory of the
West Bank, some of which have led to clashes with
regional Palestinian militias. In the first weeks after Hamas's attack, Israel arrested 63 Hamas members in
Tulkarm, and struck a mosque in
Jenin it said was used by Hamas and
Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). Simultaneously,
attacks by Israeli settlers more than doubled in the war's first month, part of an overall rise in settler violence, which has displaced over 1,500 Palestinians during the war. From the beginning of the Gaza war in October 2023 to October 2024, Israel launched more than 220 attacks on Syria through air raids and artillery attacks, killing 296 people, but the
Syrian government under President
Bashar al-Assad largely stayed out of the regional conflict. During the first month of the war, Israel launched attacks on Syrian airports, and across southwestern Syria. It continued strikes in Syria in 2024, including in
Damascus, as well as
Aleppo.
January–March 2024 On 2 January, Israel conducted an airstrike in the
Dahieh suburb of
Beirut that
assassinated Hamas deputy leader
Saleh al-Arouri. Hezbollah responded on 6 January by launching rockets at an Israeli base near Mount Meron; two days later, Israel assassinated
the Hezbollah commander it said carried out that attack. In January, Israel also killed
an Iranian general of the
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)
Quds Force alongside 12 others, and theIRI attacked the Israeli city of
Ashdod in what it described as the "second phase of operations" in its support for Palestinians in Gaza; two Israeli soldiers have been killed by drone strikes from Iraq. The strikes were ordered by U.S. president
Joe Biden and U.K. prime minister
Rishi Sunak authorized British participation. In February 2024, the
European Union established
Operation Aspides, including Greece, Italy, France, Germany, Belgium, and other EU members; unlike Prosperity Guardian, Aspides is a purely defensive coalition. After the January 2024
Kerman bombings in Iran in which the
Islamic State killed nearly 100 people, Iran conducted
a series of strikes in Iraq and Syria that it said targeted an Israeli spy headquarters in
Iraqi Kurdistan and Islamic State forces in Syria. Shortly after, Iran
conducted strikes in Pakistan targeting
Jaish ul-Adl, a
Sunni Islamic militant group, to which
Pakistan responded with retaliatory strikes against Baloch separatist groups in Iran. Attacks on U.S. bases largely ended on 4 February at the request of Iran. On 28 January,
an IRI attack on a U.S. base in Jordan killed three American service members; the U.S. responded on February 2 by
attacking seven sites across Iraq and Syria. Israel began a
bombing campaign of the southern Gazan city of
Rafah in February.
April 2024 On 1 April, Israel targeted the commander of the Quds Force in Syria and Lebanon
in a strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, killing 16, including its target. Iran had pledged retaliation for the strike, and on 13 April,
Iran launched more than 300 missiles and drones towards Israel, of which Israel said it intercepted more than 99 percent. The attack, which was the first-ever direct strike by Iran on Israel, was launched from Iran, Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen. Ballistic missiles from the attack damaged
an air base in southern Israel, but the base remained operational. The Israeli defense was aided militarily by the United States, United Kingdom, France, and Jordan. According to the
Wall Street Journal, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates shared intelligence. In response, on 19 April
Israel launched a limited airstrike on Iran that targeted an air defense facility. Some attacks on U.S. bases resumed in April.
May–September 2024 The US and UK had launched 452 attacks on Houthi territory by May 2024, though the Houthis did not entirely cease their attacks. Houthi leader
Abdul-Malik al-Houthi said his forces had launched 606
ballistic missiles and drones against 107 ships affiliated with Israel and its allies across the Red Sea,
Bab-el-Mandeb strait,
Gulf of Aden, and
Indian Ocean. Israeli forces pushed deeper into Rafah on 14 May. In July, Israel initiated
a second battle in Khan Yunis. After
a Houthi drone attack in July 2024 killed one person and injured 10 others near
the U.S. embassy office in
Tel Aviv, Israel
responded by attacking military facilities and oil depots in
al-Hudaydah, Yemen, killing at least six and wounding at least 83. On 27 July, 12 children in the Golan Heights were killed in
an attack for which Israel accused Hezbollah; in response,
Israel killed Hezbollah commander
Fuad Shukr in Beirut on 30 July. On 28 August, Israel began
an expansive military operation in the West Bank consisting of raids, airstrikes, and the blocking of entry points in Jenin and Tulkarm, marking its largest offensive in the territory since the
Second Intifada. In September,
Israel raided and struck
Masyaf, killing at least 18 people.
September–November 2024 ,
Lebanon following
the Israeli air raid that killed the leader of
Hezbollah,
Hassan Nasrallah, on 27 September 2024 In September 2024, an
Israeli operation resulted in the simultaneous explosion of thousands of pagers used by Hezbollah on 17 September and hundreds of walkie-talkies the next day, killing 42 people. The attacks marked the beginning of an intensive Israeli campaign against Hezbollah, and in the ensuing days Israel continued attacks in Lebanon and conducted
a massive aerial bombardment that killed more than 700 people, including
a 20 September attack that killed Hezbollah
Redwan Force commander
Ibrahim Aqil. On 27 September, Israel assassinated
Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, in
an attack on the group's headquarters in Beirut. On 1 October, Israel began
an invasion of southern Lebanon that it said was to eliminate the threat posed by Hezbollah and allow the 63,000 Israelis still displaced to return to their homes. By 15 October, over 25 percent of Lebanon was under Israeli evacuation orders, and during the invasion Israel captured and destroyed several villages and towns in southern Lebanon while it continued airstrikes across the country. during the
1 October 2024 Iranian attack on Israel Also on 1 October, in retaliation for the Israeli assassinations of
Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, and of
Hassan Nasrallah and Abbas Nilforoushan in Beirut —
Iran launched a second direct attack on Israel that consisted of roughly 200 ballistic missiles. The U.S., U.K., France, and Jordan again helped Israel repel most of the Iranian attack. Shrapnel from the attack killed one Palestinian civilian in the West Bank.
Israel retaliated on 26 October, in the largest attack on Iran since the
Iran–Iraq War, with over 100 Israeli aircraft targeting Iran's radar and air defense systems. Israel said the attack severely damaged Iran's air defense and missile production capabilities. On 16 October,
the Israeli military killed the leader of Hamas,
Yahya Sinwar, hence achieving a major goal of Israel's invasion of Gaza. Despite both Israel and Hezbollah continuing to exchange attacks and accusing the other of violating the ceasefire, the agreement has largely held. The offensive came after key allies of the Assad government—Russia, Iran, and Hezbollah—were weakened by other conflicts. Led by
Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham(HTS) and supported by Turkish-backed rebels, the offensive was the first since the 2020 ceasefire that largely halted major fighting in the
Syrian civil war, which began in 2011. By 30 November, HTS
had taken control of most of Aleppo, after which Russia intervened to conduct airstrikes on rebel positions there. By 1 December, the rebels had gained control of significant amounts of land in the governorates of
Hama,
Idlib, and
Aleppo, and were beginning
an offensive into the
city of Hama. Hama fell to the HTS on 5 December, and on 7 December they had
moved south to capture the city of
Homs, effectively separating the government in Damascus from Syria's coast. Meanwhile, the
Southern Operations Room began
an assault on the government in
Daraa and began pushing into the southern suburbs of Damascus, while the
Syrian Free Army, which
had captured Palmyra, approached Damascus from the east.
Damascus fell to the rebels in the early morning of 8 December, 11 days after the offensive began, and HTS proclaimed the
end of the Assad regime as Assad fled the country for
Moscow. HTS leader
Ahmed al-Sharaa became the
de facto leader of Syria, and established
a transitional government led by
Mohammed al-Bashir as the country's caretaker
prime minister until March 2025. After the fall of the Assad regime, Netanyahu said that the
1974 Israel–Syria border agreement had "collapsed" and ordered the Israeli military to begin
an invasion of
the buffer zone in Syria along the
Golan Heights. Israel seized Syria's side of
Mount Hermon, occupied border villages in Syrian-controlled parts of the Golan Heights, and bombed targets across Damascus and southern Syria in addition to abandoned
Syrian Arab Armed Forces (SAAF) weapons stockpiles and airbases. On 9 December, Israel carried out over 100 airstrikes across Syria, including a strike on the
Port of Latakia. Israel justified its attacks, which destroyed much of the former SAAF's naval and air assets and its air defenses, as necessary to prevent extremists from capturing abandoned weapons; al-Sharaa condemned Israel's actions but said Syria would not enter a new conflict. Israeli attacks on the Houthis in Yemen continued into 2025.
January–May 2025 On 15 January, Israel and Hamas agreed to
a ceasefire that would halt fighting in the Gaza Strip upon its ratification and lead to the release of 33 Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. It went into effect four days later, with Hamas retaining control over the Gaza Strip. On 21 January, Israel launched its first major post-ceasefire raid,
targeting Jenin, and announced that it intended to maintain a long-term military presence in the city, marking a shift in strategy. On 18 March,
Israel launched surprise airstrikes on Gaza as Israeli Prime Minister
Binyamin Netanyahu said that Hamas had refused to release more hostages or accept a US proposal to extend the ceasefire. On 15 March, the U.S. said that it had
begun aerial and naval strikes on dozens of Houthi targets in Yemen after President
Donald Trump ordered an escalated military campaign against the Houthis. After the
March 2025 Israeli strikes on Gaza, the Houthis pledged escalation on 18 March. In April, Iranian forces withdrew from Yemen, and U.S. strikes
targeted the Ras Isa oil terminal in western Yemen and
hit a detention center in Yemen's
Saada Governorate. On 4 May,
a Houthi attack hit the
Ben Gurion Airport in Israel; in response, Israel
carried out retaliatory attacks on Yemen, including an attack on
Sanaa International Airport. On 6 May, a
United States–Houthi ceasefire agreement mediated by Oman came into effect, ending the American and British attacks on Yemen. The Houthis agreed to end their attacks in the Red Sea but said the agreement did not apply to attacks on Israel. After
Donald Trump's letter to Ali Khamenei,
IRGC Navy seized two oil tankers in
Persian Gulf belonging to Saudis in March 2025. The following month, the
French minister of foreign affairs stated that if Iran were to develop a nuclear weapon, war would be almost inevitable. US President Trump said that Iran wants direct negotiations, and IRGC General
Hossein Salami asserted that Iranians are ready for war should the US attack first.
June 2025 headquarters in
Tehran, following Israeli airstrikes, 16 June 2025 damaged by an Iranian strike On 13 June, Israel launched large-scale attacks against targets in several areas in Iran which began the
Twelve-Day War. Israel targeted nuclear facilities, military installations, and the private residences of senior officials, causing damage to key nuclear sites and killing Iran's top military leadership.
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander
Hossein Salami, Iranian Armed Forces Chief of Staff Major General
Mohammad Bagheri, and nuclear scientists
Fereydoon Abbasi and
Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi were killed in the attacks, according to Iranian state media. The attacks killed Iranian military members as well as civilians. On 21 June, US President Trump announced the US had attacked multiple nuclear sites in Iran, including
Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant,
Natanz Nuclear Facility, and a third site in
Isfahan in support of Israel and to attempt to completely destroy the Iranian nuclear program. The international community reacted with alarm at the escalation. On 23 June, Iran retaliated for the US airstrikes on their nuclear facilities by firing at least 14 short-range and medium-range ballistic missiles at the
Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar. Nearly all of the missiles were shot down.
July–December 2025 There have been clashes between the
Palestinian Authority (PA) and militant groups opposed to it in the West Bank. The PA has
partial administrative authority in the region, and is dominated by
Fatah, have been criticized by militias including Hamas and PIJ. and in October the PA began a
crackdown on militants in Tubas in response to Iranian efforts to undermine the PA in favor of local militias. In December, it began
a second offensive in Jenin targeting the
Jenin Brigades, Hamas confirmed that its top leadership survived the attack, although six people had been killed, including al-Hayya's son Humam, his aide, three bodyguards, and a Qatari security officer. On 10 October, a
Gaza ceasefire went into effect.
December 2025–present On 28 December 2025,
demonstrations erupted across Iran amid nationwide unrest over an economic crisis, which had been developing over several years and worsened by fears of renewed conflict, following the Twelve-Day War in June and reimposition of UN
nuclear-related
sanctions through the
"snapback" mechanism.
US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent labelled the collapse of the Iranian currency in December 2025 as the "grand culmination" of
US strategy of sanctions against Iran. On 13 January 2026,
Iran International reported that at least
12,000 people had been killed. It described the killings as the "largest List of massacres in Iran|[massacre] in Iranian contemporary history". On 11 February 2026, Iranian President
Masoud Pezeshkian apologized to the nation for the massacres. Beginning in late January 2026, the
United States carried out its largest military buildup in the
Middle East since the
2003 invasion of Iraq, deploying air, naval, and missile defense assets amid
escalating tensions with
Iran, which the United States has attributed to
Iran's nuclear program, the
2025–2026 Iranian protests, and a
government crackdown that killed thousands of demonstrators. On 28 February 2026, this culminated in joint military strikes on Iran by the United States and Israel, sparking the
2026 Iran war. Among the war's
stated aims are destroying Iran's
missile program and bringing about
regime change. Iran responded with missile and
drone strikes against Israel,
US bases and allies in the region. The 2026 war began with joint airstrikes by Israel and the US against military and government sites in
Tehran,
Isfahan,
Qom,
Karaj, and
Kermanshah.
Ali Khamenei was assassinated in a strike on his compound, and
other Iranian officials were also killed. Israeli and US attacks resulted in civilian casualties and damage to schools, hospitals, the
Grand Bazaar in Tehran, and the
Golestan Palace. In retaliation, Iran launched hundreds of
drones and
ballistic missiles at targets in Israel and at US military bases Iranian strikes hit civilian infrastructure in
Azerbaijan, Israel, Kuwait,
Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, and Britain's
Akrotiri and Dhekelia military base on
Cyprus was
struck by a drone. On 7 March, president
Masoud Pezeshkian apologized for strikes on neighboring countries, attributing them to "miscommunication in the ranks", and said those countries would no longer be targeted unless US attacks are launched from them, yet the Iranian attacks continued on neighboring countries. This underscored the limited control exercised by the Iran's leaders over the paramilitary
Revolutionary Guard. The
conflict between Hezbollah and Israel escalated into the
2026 Lebanon war. The Houthis later joined the war on 28 March by
launching ballistic missiles at Israel. On 8 April, the United States, Israel and Iran agreed for a two-week long ceasefire, the
Islamabad Accords. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asserted that the ceasefire does not apply to Lebanon as Israel
conducted massive strikes on the country, contradicting mediator Pakistani Prime Minister
Shehbaz Sharif's announcement. On 16 April, President Trump announced that Israel and Lebanon agreed to a
temporary 10-day truce. On 17 April, Iran announced that passage of commercial vessels through the Hormuz Strait is completely open during the truce in Lebanon. On 18 April, Iran said that it closed the Strait of Hormuz again in response to the US refusing to lift
its naval blockade. On 21 April, President Trump said that he extended the Iran truce to allow time for an Iranian proposal to be submitted at Pakistan's request. On 23 April, President Trump announced that Israel and Lebanon agreed to a three-week extension of the ceasefire. On 3 May, Trump said that
the US will help free up ships in the Strait of Hormuz beginning the next morning. On 4 May, the Iranian military warned the US to keep out of Hormuz. Iran later said that it launched missiles towards a US warship to stop it entering the strait. == Casualties ==