The Hamas-led attack of 7 October 2023: The bloodiest day in Israeli history

It is 6:29 am when a barrage of rockets rains fown on Israel on Saturday, 7 October 2023.

These approximately 5,000 projectiles fired by Hamas marked the start of the terrorist attack dubbed "Al-Aqsa Flood."

The Palestinian militant group named its incursion after the Al Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest site in Islam located in Jerusalem.

The Iron Dome, Israel's defence system, is activated.

Alarms sound one after another in cities across Israel. But the defence system is quickly overwhelmed by the number of rockets fired and some hit targets up to 80 kilometres inside Israeli territory.

At the same time, Hamas fighters armed with explosives and then bulldozers attack the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel.

Assailants on motorbikes and in vans use these breaches to strike their targets located mostly 30 minutes away.

They are supported by other commandos operating by sea with motorboats and even by air with paramotors, a type of motorised paraglider.

The scale and brutality of the assault shocks the international community.

Within two hours, the fighters of the Palestinian terrorist movement target Israeli military bases and kibbutzim.

The Nova music festival becomes the site of the largest massacre. 3,000 people are gathered in the Negev desert and there more than 360 festival-goers are killed and 44 others taken hostage.

In addition to these killings, there are victims of sexual assault. The UN reports rapes, torture and inhumane and degrading treatment.

The Israeli Response

Israel retaliates before 10 am the same day with its first strikes on Gaza.

Shortly after 11:30 am, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks, saying the country is at war. The same afternoon, 360,000 army reservists are mobilised to reinforce the 170,000 soldiers in the Israeli army.

By midday, Israeli forces regain ground. But it will take until 10 October for the army to declare that it has recaptured all the areas attacked by Hamas and other militants.

On 7 October, nearly 1,200 people, mainly civilians, are killed, and more than 250 others are taken back to Gaza as hostages.