October 07, 2023: *GROUP* After the establishment of Israel in 1948 through expulsion of much of the population and appropriation of their land, followed by decades of Israeli occupation and human rights abuses, and after a 20-month-long mass nonviolent effort, Palestinians in Gaza broke out of what was widely called an open air prison and launched a surprise operation against Israel in the early morning hours of Saturday, October 7, 2023.
Its scale was unprecedented, involving rockets and approximately 1,200 armed resistance fighters using hang gliders, motor boats, pickups trucks, and motorcycles. Many claims were made about this attack which were proven false. Israel immediately began bombing Gaza and subsequently turned off electricity to the enclave, leaving most of its two million inhabitants in the dark and hospitals dangerously impacted.
Due to the extremely large number of deaths, it is nearly impossible to account for each life individually. These figures have been collected from the most reliable and respected sources available to us, including OCHA, The Palestinian Health Ministry, Ha’aretz, Shireen.ps, and others.
Some Israelis listed by Ha’aretz were killed by Israeli forces, Hezbollah, or other causes, and are not included in our figures.
At this point in the conflict, we were not yet writing daily updates. For more specific information, visit this article of Haaretz.
June 09, 2023: Ismael Salman Ayyad, 73, died from serious wounds he suffered during the Israeli offensive on Gaza on May 2023.