October 7: The Hamas Attack That Changed Israel And Sparked War
A construction vehicle breaks into the Israeli side of the Israel-Gaza border fence on October 7, 2023. The extremist group Hamas carried out an unprecedented, multi-pronged attack on Israel, firing thousands of rockets as dozens of Hamas fighters infiltrated the heavily fortified border in several locations by air, land, and sea and catching the country off-guard on a major holiday. Hamas has been designated by the United States and the EU as terrorist group and is a key member of Iran's axis.
People fleeing the Nova music festival that was targeted in the surprise attack. Hamas militants killed nearly 1,200 Israelis and took 251 others hostage.
A young Israeli woman, Noa Argamani, desperately calls out to her partner as she was abducted by the Hamas extremist group by motorcycle at a music festival in one of the defining images of the October 7 attack. Argamani and three other hostages were rescued in June by Israeli security forces.
The site of a music festival near the border with the Gaza Strip in southern Israel on October 12, 2023. Israeli officials say victim testimonies and evidence gathered by rights groups indicate that Hamas extremists carried out widespread sexual and gender-based crimes during their attack in southern Israel.
Debris strewn across the site of the music festival near the border with the Gaza Strip. At least 260 Israeli festivalgoers were killed by Hamas gunmen.
An aerial view shows burnt cars at the site of the attack on the Nova festival.
A man and woman lie dead in a car in the Sderot area of southern Israel on October 7, 2023, following the deadly attack by Hamas gunmen.
Israeli soldiers gather the bodies of civilians killed by Hamas militants at the Kibbutz Kfar Azza three days after the attacks.
The body of a man lies among rubble following an attack by Hamas gunmen on the Kibbutz Kfar Aza in southern Israel on October 10, 2023.
A children's swing hangs in a house damaged by Hamas militants at the Kibbutz Be'eri, Israel, days after the attack.
An aerial view shows the aftermath of the Hamas attack on the Kibbutz Kfar Aza in southern Israel.
The bodies of dead Israeli civilians strewn across a road in the Sderot area of southern Israel following the mass-infiltration by Hamas gunmen from the Gaza Strip.
A picture of an abducted girl is stuck to the door of a safety room with bullet impacts following the deadly October 7 attack on the Kibbutz Nir Oz in southern Israel, on November 21, 2023.
Bullet holes and blood stains mark the walls of a bomb shelter at the Mefalsim Kibbutz in southern Israel. Several people who had sought refugee here were slaughtered by Hamas militants during the October 7 attack.
A year after the devastating attack, families of the victims visit the site of the Nova music festival, where hundreds of revellers were killed and abducted by Hamas and taken into Gaza.
A woman walks past a mural with portraits of victims at the site of the Nova music festival on the one-year anniversary.
One year later, Israel continues to be targeted by Hamas rockets from Gaza. Emergency personnel respond to strikes on Kfar Chabad near Tel Aviv amid the October 7 anniversary.