What triggered the Gaza war in Oct. 2023?

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The Gaza war was triggered on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led fighters launched a surprise multi-pronged assault on Israel, killing approximately 1,200 people (mostly civilians) and abducting 254 hostages. The attack involved fighters using paragliders to infiltrate a music festival, seizing kibbutzim along the Gaza border, and systematically killing, maiming, and kidnapping civilians in their homes. This was the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust and the worst terrorist attack in Israeli history. The attack shattered Israel's sense of security and led Netanyahu to declare war, launching a military campaign that devastated Gaza. The scale of civilian casualties—families burned alive, festival-goers massacred, children kidnapped—galvanized Israeli public support for military retaliation. Hamas' military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, framed the attack as resistance against occupation, but international law experts universally condemned the deliberate targeting of civilians as war crimes. The October 7 attack fundamentally changed Israeli politics: it ended discussions of Palestinian statehood, empowered far-right ministers in Netanyahu's coalition, and created domestic pressure for total military victory rather than negotiated settlement. Understanding this trigger is crucial because it explains Israeli public opinion supporting the Gaza campaign despite massive Palestinian civilian deaths.

What triggered the Gaza war in Oct. 2023?

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