TIMELINE: Oct. 7 attacks led to world-changing events

Palestinians transport a person to Gaza after kidnapping them from a kibbutz in Israel near the Gaza border during a deadly attack, on Oct. 7, 2023. (AP Photo)

Yocheved Lifshitz, 85, who was held hostage in Gaza after being abducted during Hamas' bloody Oct. 7 attack on Israel, speaks to members of the press a day after being released by Hamas militants, at Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2023. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

An Israeli soldier works on a tank at a staging area near the border with Gaza Strip, in southern Israel on Thursday, Nov. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Israeli soldiers look at photos of people killed and taken captive by Hamas militants during their violent rampage through the Nova music festival in southern Israel, which are displayed at the site of the event, as Israeli DJs spun music, to commemorate the October 7, massacre, near Kibbutz Re'im, Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

FILE - Smoke and explosion following an Israeli bombardment inside the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, on Feb. 11, 2024. The latest proposal for a cease-fire in Gaza has the support of the United States and most of the international community, but Hamas has not fully embraced it, and neither, it seems, has Israel. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit, File)

CORRECTS DAY TO TUESDAY WHEN KILLED An ambulance believed to be carrying wounded people, after multiple explosions were heard during the funeral of four Hezbollah fighters who were killed Tuesday after their handheld pagers exploded, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

An image of Syrian President Bashar Assad, riddled with bullets, is seen on the facade of the provincial government office in the aftermath of the opposition's takeover of Hama, Syria, Friday, Dec. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Albam)

FILE - Iranians follow a truck carrying the coffins of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and his bodyguard who were killed in an Israeli assassination during their funeral ceremony at Enqelab-e-Eslami (Islamic Revolution) Sq. in Tehran, Iran, Aug. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)

A man reacts in Hostage Square in Tel Aviv, Israel, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025, as the remains of four bodies are handed over by Hamas militants to the Red Cross in Gaza. Israel has identified three of the bodies as hostages and said the other was of an unknown person. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

Israeli hostage Omer Shem, centre, is escorted by Hamas fighters before being handed over to the Red Cross in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Thousands of Israelis hold up their mobile phones with flashlights turned on during a protest against the Israeli government, calling for the immediate release of hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza, outside the Ministry of Defense in Tel Aviv, Israel, on March 22, 2025. (Photo by Gili Yaari/NurPhoto via AP)

People sit next to photographs of Israeli hostages abducted by Hamas in Gaza as they take shelter during air raid sirens warning of incoming strikes by Iran, in Tel Aviv, Israel, early Thursday, June 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

A rescue worker evacuates two children from the site where a missile launched from Iran struck in Haifa, Israel, Sunday, June 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)

FILE - A poster depicting Israeli hostage Alon Ohel is displayed in Re'im, southern Israel, at the Gaza border, Feb. 26, 2024, at a memorial site for the Nova music festival site where he was kidnapped by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo, File)

President Donald Trump greets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the West Wing of the White House, Monday, Sept. 29, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

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Las Vegas Review-Journal

October 6, 2025 - 2:24 pm

Oct. 7, 2025 is the two-year anniversary of Hamas’ terrorist attack on Israel, when over 1,200 people were murdered and 251 more were taken hostage. The attack led to war against Hamas and a wider conflict involving Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Iran. Here is a timeline of events since then:

— October 7, 2023: Hamas terrorists launch a surprise attack on Israel, killing over 1,200, mostly civilians, injuring more than 5,000 and taking 251 hostages; Israel declares war on Hamas.

— October-November 2023: Hezbollah launches rockets at northern Israel from Lebanon; Israeli strikes on Hezbollah and Syrian targets intensify.

— October 20, 2023: Hamas releases two Israeli-American hostages.

— October 23, 2023: Hamas releases two elderly Israeli hostages.

— October 30, 2023: Israeli forces rescue a captured IDF private in Gaza.

— November 2023: Gazan deaths in the Hamas-Israel war surpass 10,000, according to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between civilian and terrorist deaths.

— November 3, 2023: Israel starts full ground invasion of Gaza.

— November 21, 2023: Israel and Hamas announce a truce to exchange hostages for Palestinian prisoners.

— November 24–27, 2023: Hamas releases dozens of hostages during the initial period of the ceasefire, including Israelis, Thai nationals, and one Filipino. Fighting resumes afterward.

— December 2023: Attacks on ships in the Red Sea by Yemen’s Houthi terrorists increase, disrupting global shipping lanes.

— December 2023: Gazan deaths in the Hamas-Israel war surpass 20,000.

— December 9, 2023: Liz Magill, president of the University of Pennsylvania, and Scott Bok, the chairman of Penn’s governing board of trustees, resign following donor and political pressure over their response to antisemitism on campus and her testimony to a House committee.

— January 2, 2024: Harvard President Claudine Gay resigns over her handling of campus antisemitism, subsequent testimony to a House committee and allegations of plagiarism.

— Early 2024: Israeli airstrikes expand to Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen.

— January-February 2024: Anti-Israel and anti-American protests erupt throughout the Arab world following the war’s expansion and civilian casualties.

— February 2024: Gazan deaths in the Hamas-Israel war surpass 30,000.

— February 12, 2024: IDF special operations rescue two dual Israeli-Argentinian hostages in Rafah, southern Gaza.

— March 2024: Marwan Issa, the deputy military commander of Hamas, is killed in an Israeli strike.

— April 1, 2024: Israel carry out a precision airstrike on the Iranian Consulate building in Damascus, Syria, killing several senior Iranian officers. The strike targeted top figures from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, specifically Quds Force commanders responsible for Iranian operations in Syria and Lebanon.

— April 14, 2024: Iran launches its first-ever major direct attack on Israel, firing more than 300 drones, ballistic, and cruise missiles at Israeli territory in retaliation for Israel’s strike on Iran’s consulate in Damascus, Syria. Israeli and allied air defenses intercept almost all projectiles, limiting casualties and damage.

— May 2024: IDF recovers the bodies of four hostages killed during the October 7 attack, then recovers the bodies of seven Israeli hostages from Jabalia after weekslong operation.

— May 2024: Houthi missile attacks in Red Sea compel global insurers to pull back, disrupting trade.

— July 2024: Mohammed Deif, chief Hamas military commander, is killed in Gaza.

— July 30, 2024: Fuad Shukr, Hezbollah’s most senior military official and adviser to Hassan Nasrallah, is killed in a targeted airstrike in southern Beirut.

— July 31, 2024: Ismail Haniyeh, the head of Hamas’ political bureau, and his bodyguard are killed in an Iranian military-run guesthouse in Tehran when an explosive device, probably planted in the room weeks in advance, was remotely detonated.

— August 2024: International relief agencies report more than 40,000 deaths in Gaza since the war began.

— August 13, 2024: Minouche Shafik resigns as Columbia University president over her handling of campus protests and educational disruptions.

— September 17-18, 2024: Israel kills and injures thousands of Hezbollah terrorists using booby-trapped explosive pagers. The coordinated detonations occurred across Lebanon and Syria. On Sept. 17, thousands of pagers exploded, and on Sept. 18, a second wave of blasts targeted walkie-talkies. Civilians were among the casualties.

— September 20, 2024: Ibrahim Aqil, Hezbollah’s elite Radwan unit commander, is killed in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut alongside several other Radwan commanders.

— September 28, 2024: Hassan Nasrallah, long-standing chief and founding member of Hezbollah, is killed in an Israeli airstrike in a southern suburb of Beirut.

— Late September/Early October 2024: Hashim Safi al-Din, Nasrallah’s successor, Ali Karaki (Hezbollah southern front commander), Hussein Hazimah (head of intelligence), and several top Radwan Force commanders are killed in Israeli strikes.

— October 1, 2024: Iran launches its second significant direct attack on Israel, firing 180 ballistic missiles in retaliation for Israel’s killing of senior Hamas and Hezbollah leaders, including Hassan Nasrallah. Most missiles are intercepted by Israel’s air defenses; the attack causes minor damage and limited casualties.

— October 2024: Yahya Sinwar, leader of Hamas and architect of the Oct. 7 attacks, is killed in Gaza by Israeli forces.

— December 2024: The Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad falls after rebel forces capture Damascus. Assad flees to Russia, where he is granted asylum.

— January 19, 2025: A ceasefire agreement takes effect; Hamas releases the first group of hostages as part of the deal, parading hostages during their release.

— January 25, 2025: Hamas releases four Israeli female soldiers to the International Committee of the Red Cross.

— February 2025: Lebanon forms a new government that sidelines the influence of Hezbollah.

— February 2025: Hostage video of Guy Gilboa-Dalal shown by Hamas.

February 20, 2025: Hamas releases four bodies, including two children (Ariel and Kfir Bibas).

— February 22, 2025: Eliya Cohen, Omer Shem Tov and Omer Wenkert are released in Nuseirat; Avera Mengistu and Tal Shoham freed in Rafah.

— February 26, 2025: The final exchange phase of the ceasefire takes place, with six hostages (bodies and living) handed over.

— March 2025: Gazan deaths in the Hamas-Israel war surpass 50,000.

— March 2025: The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights issues warnings to 60 universities about potential enforcement actions related to allegations of antisemitic discrimination during campus protests, signaling heightened federal scrutiny.

— June 5, 2025: Israel announces recovery of the bodies of two Israeli-American hostages.

— June 13, 2025: Israel begins a surprise series of airstrikes and missile attacks on Iran, targeting nuclear facilities, missile factories, senior military officials and nuclear scientists. Iran’s air defense systems are destroyed by sabotage operations.

— June 14–22, 2025: Israel maintains airstrikes and engages in further attacks, with Iran launching hundreds of ballistic missiles and drones in retaliation.

— June 22, 2025: The United States launches a direct attack, code-named Operation Midnight Hammer, jointly with Israel, on three Iranian nuclear facilities: Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan.

— June 23, 2025: Iran retaliates by launching 15 missiles at Israeli cities and military sites and striking the U.S. Al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar, but most of the projectiles are intercepted.

— June 24, 2025: A ceasefire is reached between Israel and Iran after pressure from the United States and other world powers. Iran announces suspension of cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency. Negotiations on nuclear issues pause indefinitely.

— July 2025: Gazan deaths in the Hamas-Israel war surpass 60,000.

— July 1, 2025: A Department of Justice investigation finds that Harvard University violated federal civil rights law by failing to protect Jewish students on campus in the aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attack on Israel.

— July 9, 2025: The Greek-owned, Liberian-flagged Eternity C vessel is attacked and sunk in the Red Sea by Houthi terrorists, becoming the fourth commercial ship sunk by the Iranian-backed group since the start of the Hamas-Israel war. At least four people died, with additional crew members reported missing or abducted.

— July 29, 2025: UCLA agrees to a $6.45 million settlement with Jewish students and a professor who alleged violations of their civil rights during pro-Palestinian protests on campus in 2024.

— August 28, 2025: Hamas releases a video showing Guy Gilboa-Dalal and Alon Ohel in Gaza City, marking the first time Ohel has been seen since abduction.

— September 2025: Israeli military deaths exceed 900, with about 20,000 casualties since the start of the Hamas-Israel war.

— September 21, 2025: The United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and other countries formally recognize a Palestinian state.

— September 26, 2025: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a speech to the U.N. General Assembly, says, “Much of the world no longer remembers October 7.” Dozens of delegates walk out on him.

— September 29, 2025: President Donald Trump and Netanyahu announce a 20-point peace plan to end the war and free remaining hostages in Gaza, with the support from multiple Arab and Muslim nations. Trump gives Hamas a few days to accept the terms.

— October 3, 2025: Hamas provides conditional acceptance of some elements of peace plan and agrees to release all hostages.

This timeline was compiled with the assistance of Perplexity artificial intelligence.