Israel & Palestine

On October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attackers killed about 1,200 people in Israel, most of them civilians, and took 251 hostages into Gaza[1]. In the war that followed, the Gaza Health Ministry reported over 73,000 Palestinians killed in Gaza by August 2026[2]. That count does not separate fighters from civilians, though independent researchers estimate the real toll is higher[2]. The conflict is much older than this war: during the 1947–49 war, roughly 700,000 Palestinians fled or were expelled from land that became Israel and were not allowed back[3]. Separately, the West Bank has been under Israeli military occupation since Israel captured it from Jordan in 1967[4]. About 750,000 Israeli settlers now live there and in East Jerusalem; the ICJ and most states call the settlements illegal, which Israel disputes[5].