Israel and Gaza's Hamas rulers are fighting a war which erupted after the group launched a major attack on Israel, which has hit back with an ongoing bombing campaign.
Here are the key elements:
- Hamas attack -
At dawn on October 7, the last day of the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, Hamas militants crossed the border to launch the worst attack in Israel's 75-year history.
They fired a barrage of rockets into Israel as hundreds of their fighters breached the high-security fence around the besieged enclave.
Horror spread through Israel's border communities as more than 1,400 people were killed -- many of them shot dead, burned alive or mutilated, Israeli authorities say.
This included 270 people at a music festival as well as hundreds more in nearby kibbutzim and towns such as Ofakim, Sderot and Ashkelon.
The militants also took more than 200 people hostage, among them Israelis, dual nationals and foreigners.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the attacks demonstrated "savagery not seen since the Shoah" -- Hebrew for the Holocaust.
Numerous countries condemned the attack and have thrown their support behind Israel, with US President Joe Biden calling it an act of "pure evil".
Hamas ally Iran expressed its support for the attack, but denied any direct involvement.
Experts say the Hamas attack was a major failure of Israeli intelligence.
Several countries have evacuated their nationals from Israel.
- Israeli reprisal -
Israel rapidly struck back with a large-scale air strike and artillery campaign, pounding Gaza as its forces battled Hamas fighters still inside Israel.
Since then, more than 4,600 Palestinians, mainly civilians, have been killed in the Israeli bombardments, according to Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry.
Hamas has threatened to kill hostages in response to the bombing of civilians.
Israel -- which mobilised over 300,000 reservists and deployed tens of thousands of soldiers around Gaza and along its northern border with Lebanon -- announced a "complete siege" of the enclave on October 9.
After cutting off the power and food deliveries, Israel also cut the water supplies to Gaza's 2.4 million residents.
On October 10, the UN said depriving civilians of goods essential for survival was "prohibited" by international law.
The same day, Israel said it had retaken control of the border area around Gaza.
Egypt also increased its diplomatic efforts to halt "the escalation".
- Evacuation order -
On October 13, Israel ordered civilians in northern Gaza to evacuate within 24 hours and head south for their "safety" ahead of an expected ground invasion.
Around 1.1 millions Palestinians -- almost half of Gaza's population -- live in the north, which includes Gaza City.
Hamas and Saudi Arabia rejected the evacuation call, yet hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled south.
Arab League chief Ahmed Abul Gheit described it as a "forced transfer" that constitutes "a crime" and the UN demanded that the order be "rescinded".
- Wider regional conflict? -
Further north, Israel has exchanged cross-border fire with Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, a close ally of Hamas and Iran, raising fears of a wider regional conflict.
Since October 7, the exchanges of fire have killed at least four people in Israel, including three soldiers and one civilian.
In southern Lebanon, at least 36 people have been killed, according to an AFP tally -- mostly combatants but also at least four civilians, including a Reuters video journalist on October 13.
Palestinian militants have also attempted to cross the border.
Israel has ordered dozens of northern communities to evacuate, and thousands of Lebanese have fled border regions for the southern city of Tyre.
- Gaza humanitarian crisis -
The alarm has grown about a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, with the UN reporting dire conditions with food, water, medicine and fuel supplies running critically low.
On October 15, the UN said there were one million displaced people in Gaza. The same day, Israel resumed the water supply to parts of southern Gaza.
Gaza's Rafah border crossing with Egypt, the only entry point not controlled by Israel, was closed after Israeli strikes hit the crossing and the surrounding area.
Aid deliveries and trucks began piling up on the Egyptian side, with a first contingent of 20 trucks entering Gaza on October 21, followed by 17 more a day later following a US-brokered deal.
UN officials say the situation in Gaza is "catastrophic" and needs the passage of 100 trucks daily.
Washington vetoed a UN Security Council resolution calling for a "humanitarian pause" because it made no mention of Israel's "right to defend itself".
- Negotiations for hostages -
Intense negotiations to free the hostages are underway between several countries.
On October 15, Hamas published a video of a hostage in Gaza.
On October 20, an American mother and daughter were released after mediation by Qatar.
- Deadly strike on Gaza hospital -
On October 17, a deadly strike hit the Al-Ahli hospital in Gaza.
Both sides have traded blame for the carnage, but neither the provenance of the strike nor the death count could be independently verified.
Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry has said at least 471 people were killed, while American intelligence sources have estimated that between "100 to 300" people died.
Israel denied responsibility, blaming a misfired rocket aimed at Israeli territory by Islamic Jihad militants from near the hospital. France's DRM military intelligence said it was likely caused by a Palestinian rocket with "nothing to indicate... an Israeli strike".
The Arab world has been united in anger and condemnation of Israel since the blast, with thousands demonstrating across the region from Iran to Morocco.
US President Joe Biden visited Israel to reiterate his support and ruled out Israel's responsibility. He said the war increased his "determination" for the creation of a Palestinian state.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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