Explainer | Israel-Gaza war after 6 months – what are the issues now?
- Israeli military operations in Hamas-ruled Gaza continue as ceasefire seems elusive
- The war has been accompanied by surging violence in several Middle East flashpoints
Six months since Hamas gunmen stormed into southern Israel on a killing spree, Israel’s ground campaign to annihilate the Islamist movement has turned much of the Gaza Strip into a wasteland with an unfolding humanitarian catastrophe.
Mediators have been trying to organise the first extended truce of the war to rush in aid to feed the Palestinian territory’s 2.3 million people and secure the release of some of the Israeli hostages still held by Hamas.
Here is a look at the issues raised by the war and the prospects for peace.
How did the war start?
On October 7, hundreds of gunmen crossed a border fence that Israel had believed was impregnable, and stormed through communities, gunning down Israelis in homes, cars and at an all-night music festival. Israel says 1,200 people were killed in the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust.
The attackers brought 253 hostages, including whole families with small children, back to Gaza. Although military bases were attacked, most of the dead were civilians.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu swore vengeance.
What has happened in Gaza?
Israel’s ground assault began in the northern half of the Gaza Strip and hundreds of thousands of residents were ordered to evacuate and flee south. After a week-long ceasefire at the end of November, Israeli forces turned their attention to the south, again ordering people to flee.