10 Key Moments in the Israel-Hamas War

A drone view shows displaced Palestinians walking past the rubble as they attempt to return to their homes, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in the northern Gaza Strip, January 19, 2025. (Reuters)
A drone view shows displaced Palestinians walking past the rubble as they attempt to return to their homes, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in the northern Gaza Strip, January 19, 2025. (Reuters)
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10 Key Moments in the Israel-Hamas War

A drone view shows displaced Palestinians walking past the rubble as they attempt to return to their homes, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in the northern Gaza Strip, January 19, 2025. (Reuters)
A drone view shows displaced Palestinians walking past the rubble as they attempt to return to their homes, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in the northern Gaza Strip, January 19, 2025. (Reuters)

After the Palestinian group Hamas carried out the worst attack in Israeli history on October 7, 2023, Israel launched a devastating military campaign in the Gaza Strip.

Before a ceasefire began on Sunday, only the second truce in 15 months of war, Israel's air and ground campaign killed at least 46,899 people, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory's health ministry that the United Nations considers reliable.

Following are key moments in the conflict:

At dawn on October 7, hundreds of Hamas fighters infiltrate Israel, killing civilians in the streets, in their homes and at a desert music festival, and attacking troops in bases.

They seize 251 hostages and take them back to Gaza. Currently 94 are still held there, with three women due for release Sunday. Israel's military says 34 of the 94 hostages are dead.

The Hamas attacks result in the deaths of more than 1,200 people.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vows to destroy Hamas, which is considered a terrorist organization by the United States, European Union and Israel.

Israel begins bombing and besieging Gaza. On October 13, it calls on civilians in the territory's north to move south.

The vast majority of Gazans have been displaced during the war, according to the UN.

On October 27, Israel begins a ground offensive.

On November 24, a week-long truce between Israel and Hamas begins.

Hamas releases 105 hostages, mostly Israeli but also Thai workers, in return for 240 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.

When the war resumes, Israel expands its actions into southern Gaza.

On February 29, 2024, Israeli forces fire on northern Gaza residents who rush a convoy of food aid trucks, killing 120 and wounding hundreds.

From early March military aircraft from several countries including the United States drop aid over Gaza which the UN says is threatened by famine.

On April 1, seven aid workers from US charity World Central Kitchen are killed in a strike which Israel's military calls a "tragic mistake".

On April 13, Iran pounds Israel with drones and missiles -- its first-ever direct assault on Israel's soil. The strikes are retaliation for a deadly April 1 attack on its Damascus consulate, blamed on Israel.

On July 20, Israel bombards Yemen's port of Hodeidah, after a drone attack on Tel Aviv by Iran-backed Houthi militias who have been targeting shipping since November 2023 in solidarity with Gaza.

At the Israeli-Lebanon border, almost daily exchanges since October 2023 between Israel and Lebanese armed group Hezbollah intensify in July.

Israel retaliates with several strikes, including one that kills a top Hezbollah commander, Fuad Shukr.

On July 31, Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh is killed on a visit to Iran. Israel accepts responsibility months later.

On September 17 and 18, hundreds of pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah explode in an Israeli operation that Lebanese authorities say kills 39 and wounds thousands.

Israel escalates its air campaign in Lebanon and on September 27 kills Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in southern Beirut.

Days later, Israel launches a ground offensive in southern Lebanon against Hezbollah strongholds.

Iran on October 1 fires a barrage of 200 missiles at Israel in response to the killing of Nasrallah and Haniyeh.

On October 16, new Hamas leader Yahya al-Sinwar, accused by Israel of masterminding the October 7, 2023 attack, is killed in southern Gaza.

On the 26th, Israeli air strikes hit military targets in Iran in response to the October 1 missile attack.

On November 14, a United Nations Special Committee says Israel's warfare in Gaza is consistent with the characteristics of "genocide". Israel accuses the UN of bias.

The International Criminal Court on November 21 issues arrest warrants for Netanyahu, former defense minister Yoav Gallant, and Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif, whom the Israeli military says it killed in Gaza.

A truce begins on November 27 after two months of open war between Israel and Hezbollah which has left more than 4,000 dead on the Lebanese side since October 2023, according to official Lebanese figures.

The fragile ceasefire is breached several times, with both sides trading blame.

After the ousting of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad by opposition factions in December, Israel also conducts hundreds of strikes on Syria's military sites, saying it aims to prevent weapons from falling into the hands of "extremists".

Israel also sends troops into the UN-patrolled buffer zone in the Golan Heights.

Yemen's Houthis step up missile and drone attacks on Israel which responds with new attacks on Yemen.

On January 19, a long-awaited truce between Israel and Hamas begins, with 33 hostages due to be freed during the first phase in exchange for the release of about 1,900 Palestinians in Israeli custody.

Under the truce mediated by Qatar, the United States and Egypt, thousands of war-weary displaced Palestinians begin returning to their homes through the rubble of the devastated Gaza Strip.



Russia and Iran Have a Troubled History Despite their Current Alliance

FILE - In this photo released by the Tasnim News Agency, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard troops travel in a plane from Rasht in northern Iran, to Kermanshah in western Iran, during a drill on Jan. 5, 2025. (Hossein Zohrevand/Tasnim News Agency via AP, File)
FILE - In this photo released by the Tasnim News Agency, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard troops travel in a plane from Rasht in northern Iran, to Kermanshah in western Iran, during a drill on Jan. 5, 2025. (Hossein Zohrevand/Tasnim News Agency via AP, File)
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Russia and Iran Have a Troubled History Despite their Current Alliance

FILE - In this photo released by the Tasnim News Agency, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard troops travel in a plane from Rasht in northern Iran, to Kermanshah in western Iran, during a drill on Jan. 5, 2025. (Hossein Zohrevand/Tasnim News Agency via AP, File)
FILE - In this photo released by the Tasnim News Agency, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard troops travel in a plane from Rasht in northern Iran, to Kermanshah in western Iran, during a drill on Jan. 5, 2025. (Hossein Zohrevand/Tasnim News Agency via AP, File)

Russian President Vladimir Putin is hosting his Iranian counterpart Friday for the signing of a broad pact between Moscow and Tehran.
The Kremlin says the “comprehensive strategic partnership” agreement between Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian will take their cooperation to a new level.
The signing comes ahead of the Jan. 20 inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, who has pledged to broker peace in Ukraine and take a tougher stance on Iran.
What to know about the Russian-Iranian relationship:
Historic Rivals Become Allies
Russia and Iran fought wars in the 18th and 19th centuries, with the Russian Empire capturing broad territories in the Caucasus and the Caspian region previously controlled by Persian rulers. In the early 20th century, Russian troops occupied large parts of northern Iran, but the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution ended their presence. In World War II, the Soviet Union and Britain invaded Iran, which still evokes painful memories in Tehran.
Tensions ran high in the Cold War, when Tehran was a US ally under the Shah of Iran. After his ouster in the 1979 Islamic Revolution, leader Khomeini castigated the US as the “Great Satan,” and denounced the USSR as the “Lesser Satan.”
Russia-Iran ties warmed after the USSR's demise in 1991. Moscow became an important trade partner and a key supplier of weapons and high technologies to Iran, which faced isolation from sweeping international sanctions.
Russia built Iran’s first nuclear power plant in the port of Bushehr that became operational in 2013. The next year, Moscow signed a contract to build two more nuclear reactors.
Russia was part of the 2015 deal between Iran and six nuclear powers offering sanctions relief for Tehran in exchange for curbing its atomic program and opening it to broader international scrutiny. Moscow offered political support to Iran when the US unilaterally withdrew from the agreement during Trump’s first term.
Allies In Syrian Civil War In Bolstering Assad
After a civil war in Syria erupted in 2011, Russia and Iran pooled efforts to shore up Bashar Assad's government against the Türkiye-backed opposition seeking his ouster. In 2015, Russia launched a military campaign in Syria, joining Iran and its proxies, that helped Assad re-establish control in most of the country.
With Moscow preoccupied with fighting in Ukraine, and Iran facing challenges from Israel, they failed to prevent a swift collapse of Assad’s rule last month after a lightning opposition offensive.
How Russia And Iran Cooperate
The West alleges that in 2022, Russia and Iran signed a $1.7 billion deal for Shahed drones after Putin sent troops into Ukraine, and the US also believes Iran has transferred short-range ballistic missiles, but neither Moscow nor Tehran ever acknowledged the actions.
Iranian leaders give strong political support to Putin, echoing his arguments for justifying the conflict.
Tehran likely hopes to secure financial and defense promises from Moscow for its tattered economy after the collapse of the 2015 nuclear deal and amid increasing pressure in the Middle East.
Assad’s downfall was a major blow to Tehran's self-described “Axis of Resistance” in the region after Israel’s punishing offensives against two militant groups backed by Iran -– Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Israel attacked Iran directly twice, and Israeli officials claimed the raids took out Tehran's Russia-supplied S-300 air defense systems.
Iran wants Russian long-range air defense systems and other weapons. It has hoped to get Russia's advanced Su-35 fighter jets to upgrade its aging fleet hobbled by sanctions, but Moscow only provided a few Yak-130 trainer jets in 2023.
Trump's policy of “maximum pressure” on Iran heralds more trouble for Tehran. This month, he left open the possibility of the US preemptive airstrikes on Iranian nuclear sites. Iran insists its nuclear program is peaceful, but some officials increasingly suggest it could pursue atomic weapons.
Deepening ties between Moscow and Tehran Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the “comprehensive strategic partnership” treaty covers all areas -– from trade and military cooperation to science, education and culture. He dismissed any link with Trump’s inauguration, saying the signing was planned long ago.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi described it as a “fully comprehensive treaty that takes into account all dimensions of the relationship, with a particularly strong economic aspect.”
He told state TV that while it covers defense and security cooperation, “this is a complete and comprehensive treaty, not one focused on a specific purpose, such as a military alliance.”
Healing Rifts, Lifting Suspicions
Despite the official rhetoric, the nations' troubled history makes many Iranians suspicious about Russia. Kremlin efforts to balance courting Tehran while staying friendly with Israel adds to the uneasiness.
There are signs of growing discontent about Russia within Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard, a paramilitary force answerable only to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Last week, an audio recording leaked in Iranian media with a Guard general blaming Russia for woes Iran suffered in Syria.