In the early morning hours of 7 October 2023, Palestinian resistance fighters led by Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel dubbed Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, breaching the Gaza fence, flying in on improvised paramotoring gliders, arriving by sea, and launching thousands of rockets. Resistance fighters attacked military bases and outposts and later Israeli villages and a music festival, killing several hundred soldiers and civilians, and bringing around 250 captives back to Gaza. Around 1,180 Israelis were killed, including dozens by Israeli forces who were given the Hannibal Directive. More than 1,600 Palestinians were killed during the operation, including civilians who seize the opportunity to leave Gaza.
After the attack, Israeli forces began what would be the most devastating attack on Palestinian life. During this first month of the Gaza genocide, Israel killed at least 8,525 people, the vast majority of them women and children, and injured more than 21,543 others; 1,800 others were reported missing, and presumably many of them were buried under the rubble resulting from the mass and indiscriminate bombardment. More than 1.4 million Palestinians were internally displaced by Israeli evacuation orders and the vast destruction of homes. Israel largely prevented all aid, water, and fuel from entering Gaza. Israeli airstrikes also devastated most of Gaza's infrastructure, including several hospitals, the power station, and water desalination plants, creating a complete power blackout beginning on 12 October as well as a water crisis. Israel further expanded its assault on Gaza on 26 October by launching a ground operation in addition to hundreds of daily airstrikes. Meanwhile in the West Bank, Israeli forces killed 125 Palestinians, including 35 children, injured more than 2,200, and took more than 1,600 Palestinian captives during raids. Israel also banned all Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza from working in Israel and began interning Palestinian workers in camps at various undisclosed locations.
It quickly became clear that Israel would seize the opportunity to kill as many Palestinians as possible and to shrink the territory of Gaza. On 8 October, the Israeli Security Cabinet decided to halt all electricity, fuel, and goods from entering Gaza and to destroy Hamas's military and governmental capabilities. The following day, Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant used clear genocidal language when he ordered an increase in the intensity of the bombing of Gaza, saying Israel is “fighting human animals.” A day later, Gallant said “Gaza will not return to what it was before. We will eliminate everything.” The same day, COGAT head Ghassan Alian address the population of Gaza saying “Human animals must be treated as such. There will be no electricity and no water, there will be only destruction. You wanted hell, you will get hell.” Military spokesperson Daniel Hagari said the Israeli bombing campaign was emphasizing “damage and not on accuracy.” President Issac Herzog said on 15 October that civilians were involved in and responsible for the attack on Israel. Later, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would call Gaza residents “Amalek,” a reference to the Hebrew Bible where God commands Saul to kill all Amalekite men, women, children, and their livestock.
In addition to the genocidal language and orders made domestically, Israeli leaders also incited against Hamas internationally. To garner international support for its genocide, Israel fabricated a series of stories about the events on 7 October: that Hamas weaponized sexual violence, beheaded babies, cooked babies in ovens, and stole an unborn baby from the womb of a pregnant woman. No evidence was presented to back any of Israel's lurid claims. There have been no reports of women claiming to be victims of sexual violence. Nevertheless, the narratives were successfully deployed to dehumanize Palestinians and drum up support for Israel's genocide on the international scene, as many of Israel's allies repeated the falsehoods to their domestic audiences.
Israel's largest donor, the U.S., quickly decided that there would be little daylight between the two countries. During this first month of the attack, President Joe Biden visited Israel, promised billions in military aid, vetoed UN Security Council resolutions for a ceasefire, stated his opposition to a ceasefire, and publicly shared Israel's stated war goal of eliminating Hamas. Biden also repeated some of the lies told by Israel on several occasions, including in a speech on 11 October where he said he had seen footage of the beheaded children; the White House later had to admit that the statement was based entirely on media reports and claims by the Israeli prime minister's spokesperson. Biden also publicly questioned the death toll reported by the Gaza Health Ministry; the following day, the ministry published the names and identification numbers of Palestinian victims. In addition to the Biden administration's public relations campaign for Israel, the U.S. sent its military Central Command commander Michael Kurilla to Israel on 16 October; General James Glynn, an expert in urban warfare, arrived in Israel on 23 October to help prepare for the upcoming ground invasion.
At the United Nations, the U.S. led efforts to prevent the passage of a Russia- introduced Security Council resolution calling for a humanitarian ceasefire on 16 October. Five nations (China, Russia, the UAE, Gabon, and Mozambique) voted in favor of the resolution, four (U.S., UK, France, and Japan) voted against, while the remaining six members abstained. Two days later, the U.S. vetoed a Security Council resolution introduced by Brazil that called for humanitarian access to Gaza and protection of civilians. Twelve members of the council voted in favor while Russia and the UK abstained. The General Assembly passed a non-binding resolution calling for an immediate humanitarian truce and aid access on 27 October in a 120-45-14 vote.
While the General Assembly vote showed that most nations disapproved of Israel's actions, some nations and groups took concrete action in solidarity with Palestine. Bolivia severed diplomatic ties to Israel on 31 October, and Colombia and Chile recalled their ambassadors. The Ansarallah movement in Yemen and Hezbollah in Lebanon took military action against Israel in solidarity with Palestine. On 8 October Hezbollah began launching rockets, drones, and artillery against Israeli positions near the Blue Line. The Yemenis began attacking Israel and intercepted commercial vessels headed for Israel on 19 October, saying it would continue the attacks until a ceasefire is reached.