Hamas's deadly attack on Israel and the ensuing retaliation have already resulted in over a thousand deaths on both sides of the conflict. Civilians are caught on the front line as rockets sent from Israel, the Gaza Strip and Lebanon continue to rain down.
The surprise attack launched on Gaza by Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas on Israel on October 7 resulted in over 1,200 deaths and 2,700 injuries on the Israeli side, according to Israeli Defence Forces spokesperson Jonathan Conricus in a video published on October 11 on X. Israeli civilians and military personnel were also abducted and taken back to Gaza, which has been under Hamas control since 2007.
Among the victims of this unprecedented attack were 260 individuals who had been attending a rave party in southern Israel, just a few kilometres from the Gaza Strip.
Hamas also massacred people at a kibbutz in Kfar Aza, a few hundred metres from Gaza. According to Israeli military sources, more than a hundred civilians lost their lives there.
Israel's immediate response to the Hamas attack took the form of intensive air strikes on the Gaza Strip. They have already claimed the lives of more than a thousand people and injured 4,500 others, according to the health ministry. The UN reported that nearly 260,000 people have been displaced within the Palestinian enclave due to Israel's air strikes.
Rockets launched from the Gaza Strip and also from southern Lebanon continue to target Israel. In Ashkelon, just a few kilometres from Gaza, parents try to reassure their children as sirens sound and they are forced to seek shelter.
In Israel and in Gaza, civilians bear the brunt of this new conflict shaking the region and raising fears of a larger-scale escalation.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
