Two years to the day, from the Hamas attack on 7 October 2023 to Trump’s announcement of the agreement on the first phase of the negotiations for peace in Gaza last night.
Here are the main events of the conflict:
7 OCTOBER 2023 – Three thousand Hamas and Islamic Jihad militiamen descend on the kibbutzim, in the border cities, at the Nova festival, launching Operation Al-Aqsa Deluge. Around 1,300 people are killed, 250 are kidnapped and taken to Gaza.
9 OCTOBER – Israel decides on a complete siege of Gaza, recalls 300,000 reservists and begins to strike with fighter jets.
27 OCTOBER – The IDF launches a large-scale invasion of Gaza: Operation Iron Swords campaign begins.
NOVEMBER 24 – First truce between Israel and Hamas: the ceasefire, also negotiated by Qatar and Egypt, leads to the release of 105 hostages and around 240 Palestinian prisoners.
DECEMBER 4 – Israeli forces launch the first major ground assault in southern Gaza, on the outskirts of Khan Younis, the stronghold of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.
DECEMBER 26 – A massive ground assault begins in central Gaza. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians on the run
APRIL 14, 2024 – Iran launches a heavy drone and missile attack against Israel which responds with retaliatory airstrikes 5 days later.
MAY 20 – The ICC prosecutor seeks arrest warrants and Hamas leaders for alleged war crimes.
JULY 31 – Ismail Haniyeh, political leader of Hamas, is killed in Tehran.
1 AUGUST – The IDF announces the death of Mohammed Deif, commander of the Ezzedin al-Qassam Brigades.
SEPTEMBER 17 – In Lebanon and Syria, thousands of pagers belonging to Hezbollah militiamen and leaders explode simultaneously, causing 10 deaths and thousands of injuries.
SEPTEMBER 27 – Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah is killed in a massive raid in Beirut.
OCTOBER 1 – Iran attacks Israel with hundreds of missiles, in response to the killings of Haniyeh and Nasrallah.
OCTOBER 1 – The Israeli invasion of Lebanon begins.
16 OCTOBER – Yahya Sinwar, Haniyeh’s successor and impregnable leader of Hamas in the Strip, is killed in Rafah.
OCTOBER 24 – The IDF announces the death of Nasrallah’s presumed successor, Hashem Safieddine.
NOVEMBER 27 – Ceasefire reached between Hezbollah and Israel mediated by the United States.
JANUARY 15, 2025 – Trump announces the agreement between Israel and Hamas for a second truce and the exchange of prisoners which comes into force on the 19th. 33 hostages, including eight corpses, are exchanged for almost two thousand Palestinian prisoners.
MARCH 18. Israel resumes bombing Gaza
JUNE 12-24 – A 12-day blitzkrieg breaks out between Israel and Iran. Tehran reacts by targeting the US base in Qatar and launching a barrage of missile strikes against military and civilian targets in Israel. Tel Aviv was also hit.
JUNE 24 – Trump announces a truce. According to an NGO, the war has caused over a thousand deaths in Iran and 28 in Israel.
22 AUGUST – The UN declares a state of famine in Gaza, more than 500 thousand Gazans have been affected.
SEPTEMBER 9 – Israel strikes Hamas leaders in the heart of Doha
SEPTEMBER 15 – Israel launches a major ground operation in the Strip with tanks entering Gaza City, forcing nearly a million Palestinians into further displacement.
SEPTEMBER 29 – Trump presents a 20-point peace agreement which provides for the release of the hostages, the disarmament of Hamas, the end of the Israeli offensive in Gaza, the withdrawal of the IDF and a board for the management of the Strip led by the US president himself and Tony Blair
8 OCTOBER – After intense negotiations in Sharm, Trump announces the agreement on the first phase of the talks with the release of the 20 hostages still alive, around 2 thousand Palestinian prisoners, the ceasefire and an initial withdrawal of the IDF from the cities of the Strip, excluding Rafah, 400 trucks of aid per day.