PRO ISRAEL.ai

Explainer

What happened on October 7th?

Drafted by AI from this site's sources, then edited and published by ProIsrael staff. Numbered sentences link to their source.

On 7 October 2023, Hamas launched a large-scale surprise assault from Gaza into southern Israel, breaking through the perimeter fence at multiple points while firing thousands of rockets. Gunmen attacked kibbutzim and towns in the Gaza envelope, army bases, and the Nova music festival near Re'im, killing people in their homes and at the festival and taking hostages back into Gaza. Israel puts the death toll at roughly 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and about 250 people were abducted. The attack triggered the war in Gaza that followed.

Voices on this site have described the day in detail. Visegrád 24 recounted the emergency call made by 9-year-old Michael Idan and his 6-year-old sister Amelia after Hamas gunmen shot their parents [11]. AIPAC wrote that Omer Neutra, a 21-year-old American citizen, was murdered that day and his body held for 758 days [8]. Arsen Ostrovsky quoted President Trump at the UN General Assembly saying terrorists funded by Iran "tortured, mutilated, and killed 1,200 very innocent civilians, including dozens of Americans and many babies" [1].

Several of the site's voices focus on how the day is remembered and contested. Michael Rapaport wrote that Israelis were slaughtered, women sexually assaulted and families burned out of their homes, and criticized how little acknowledgment of that is treated as sufficient [4]. Heather Johnston and Emily Schrader both pointed to a peer-reviewed study of 1,559 New York Times articles which, in Johnston's account, found the paper "assigned near-exclusive blame to Israel, minimized Hamas's role and largely erased Israeli casualties" [7][9].

Sources

  1. [11]October 7th 2023 9-y-old Michael Idan and his 6-y-old sister Amelia call the emergency services to tell them that Hamas terrorists just shopost on X · @visegrad24Open on X
  2. [8]Omer Neutra, a 21-year-old American citizen, was murdered by Hamas terrorists on October 7th and held hostage for 758 days. Israel just bropost on X · @AIPACOpen on X
  3. [1]President Trump speaking at UNGA on upcoming 3rd anniversary of October 7th attacks on Israel by Hamas: Terrorists funded by Iran tortured,post on X · @Ostrov_AOpen on X
  4. [4]Ed Sheeran condemned what’s happening in Gaza AND had the nerve to acknowledge that October 7th actually happened, which is the bare minimumpost on X · @MichaelRapaportOpen on X
  5. [7]If Israelis aren’t the victims of October 7th, who is? A peer-reviewed study of 1,559 New York Times articles found exactly what Israelis hpost on X · @heatherj_israelOpen on X
  6. [9]Read question for the New York Times…. If Israelis aren’t the victims of October 7th, who is? Do tell us, @nytimes https://t.co/IO3PV9a43Ipost on X · @emilykschraderOpen on X

Voices on this page

Have a question of your own?

Ask it, and get an answer from the same voices, with the sources beside it.

Ask a question