The alarms marked the beginning of one of the deadliest days in Israel’s history, when a coordinated offensive unleashed by the Islamic militant group Hamas killed around 1,200 people, including 36 children, according to Israeli authorities.
The site of the Supernova music festival was one of the areas worst hit by militants, who killed hundreds of young partygoers. Source: Getty / Gil Cohen-Magen
The attack was led mainly by the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades — also known as the Qassam Bridages — the military arm of Hamas. At least five other Palestinian armed groups are also believed to have been involved.
The onslaught began when thousands of rockets and mortar shells were launched towards southern and central Israel from the Gaza Strip, a coastal Palestinian territory separated from Israel by a six-metre tall wire fence.
The Gaza Strip is a narrow Palestinian territory separated from Israel by a six-metre tall wire fence. Source: SBS News
The missiles soon overwhelmed heading into its territory.
Soldiers used explosives to blast through the fencing and a bulldozer to clear the way for motorbikes. Meanwhile, explosives were also dropped on nearby observation towers.
Soldiers used explosives to break through Israel’s border fence and deployed a bulldozer to clear the path on 7 October. Source: Getty / Anadolu Agency
Most fighters crossed through breaches in land security barriers separating Gaza and Israel. Source: Getty / Hani Alshaer/Anadolu Agency
Militants were able to breach the border in at least 13 different areas, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW), with some arriving in motorised paragliders and pickup trucks.
It’s a day that Israelis now call “Black Shabbat”.
Nearly 50 locations in Israel were attacked on 7 October, including army bases, a music festival and at least 19 communal settlements. Source: Getty / Jack Guez
Throughout the course of the day, nearly 50 locations in Israel were attacked, including army bases, a music festival and at least 19 kibbutzim — communal settlements generally based around farms.
Most are located within a few kilometres of the border, although militants reached Ofakim — 25km inside Israeli territory.
A map showing civilian sites targeted during the October 7 attacks. Source: SBS News
Two boats carrying militants also killed at least 18 civilians at Zikim beach, throwing grenades into a public shelter and shooting indiscriminately.
This is how the October 7 attack unfolded and triggered a year-long war that has devastated millions.
Deadly rampage at Supernova festival
Some campers were enjoying a sunrise dance party when they started to notice smoke in the sky.
An organiser of the event told HRW they started evacuating people from the site around 6.45am but gunmen appeared and opened fire around 8am.
Destroyed cars and personal effects were left scattered around the Supernova festival site after the October 7 attack. Source: Getty / Alexi J. Rosenfeld
“We were hundreds of people running,” Dan Liebersohn, 22, told HRW.
The militants went on an hour-long rampage, leaving behind hundreds of dead — many of whom had been burned. The road to the festival was left littered with torched cars.
The road to the Supernova music festival was left littered with abandoned and torched cars. Source: Getty / Jack Guez/AFP
Other festivalgoers were taken hostage, including Shani Louk, a 22-year-old dual Israeli and German citizen. She was filmed stripped down to her underwear in the back of a pickup truck and surrounded by men.
She was later confirmed dead.
Kibbutz safe houses did not stop militants
“The first feeling was horror … because you actually understand that the danger is not coming from missiles. These are actually people whose intention is to kill you.”
Militants also went door-to-door in kibbutzim and other communities, shooting residents dead and setting their homes on fire. Source: Getty / OREN ZIV/AFP
Due to the public holiday, it took hours for Israeli forces to reach certain areas, which meant much of the early fighting was left to part-time community volunteers who were part of local rapid response teams called Kitat Konenut.
Around 100 civilians were killed — one-tenth of its population — including 10-month-old Mila Cohen, who was shot while hiding with her mother in a safe room.
Shifroni had no shirt or shoes on and says he can’t remember jumping out of the window with his daughter wrapped in a blanket. He later realised the skin on his feet was peeling off and his body was covered in second and third-degree burns.
Many of the buildings in kibbutz Be’eri were set alight. Source: Getty / Jack Guez/AFP
The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) soldiers did not reach Shifroni and his family until around 7.30pm and they didn’t receive medical treatment until around midnight.
Evidence of sexual violence
In its June 2024 report, the commission found the militants had “deliberately killed, injured, mistreated, [taken] hostages and committed sexual and gender-based violence”.
A UN Commission of Inquiry examined the October 7 attacks and concluded that war crimes were committed by Hamas and others involved. Source: Getty / Dan Kitwood
The commission also found “significant evidence on the desecration of corpses, including sexualised desecration, decapitations, lacerations, burning, severing of body parts and undressing”.
The commission said it found the abduction of children “particularly egregious”.
‘We are at war’: Israel’s devastating retaliation
That night, Israeli forces began striking targets in Gaza. Since then, vast swathes of the territory have been devastated by relentless airstrikes.
Last year, UN Secretary-General António Guterres described the “nightmare in Gaza” as a “crisis of humanity”, saying the territory had become a “graveyard for children”.
WHO says just 17 of Gaza’s 36 hospitals remain partially functional.
A 14-day siege around the al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City in March decimated much of the hospital and its surrounds. Source: Getty / Omar El Qattaa/Anadolu
The war has displaced an estimated 90 per cent of Gaza’s population of 2.1 million people, according to the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
Analysis of satellite data by Corey Scher of CUNY Graduate Center and Jamon Van Den Hoek of Oregon State University, found 58.7 per cent of buildings in the Gaza Strip had likely been damaged since the start of the war.
Analysis of damage in Gaza Strip using Copernicus Sentinel-1 satellite data by Corey Scher of CUNY Graduate Center and Jamon Van Den Hoek of Oregon State University.
A UN Satellite Centre assessment issued on 30 September found “two-thirds of the total structures in the Gaza Strip have sustained damage” after nearly a year of war.
Authorities condemn Israel’s Gaza operations
Among its other findings, the commission says Israeli authorities have used “starvation as a method of warfare”, committed acts of murder or wilful killing, intentionally directed attacks against civilians, committed acts of sexual violence, torture and inhuman or cruel treatment, arbitrary detention and outrages upon personal dignity.
A UN Satellite Centre assessment found that “two-thirds of the total structures in the Gaza Strip have sustained damage” after nearly a year of conflict. Source: Getty / Hani Alshaer/Anadolu
Israel’s operations have also seen it accused of genocide. South Africa filed a case in the International Court of Justice in December alleging breaches of the 1948 UN Genocide Convention. Its case has been joined by several countries, including Colombia, Libya, Mexico, Spain and Türkiye.
Netanyahu rejected the landmark request, saying in a statement: “Whatever this prosecutor might imply, there is no equivalence — none — between Israel and Hamas.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected war crimes claims. Source: Getty / Ohad Zwigenberg/AFP
Hamas responded, saying it “strongly condemns” the ICC prosecutor’s application against its leaders.
Additional reporting by AFP