Jan 2006
Political
Hamas wins Palestinian legislative elections
Hamas wins a decisive majority in Palestinian Legislative Council elections. The US, EU, and Israel refuse to recognize the result and begin economic sanctions on the Palestinian Authority.
Jun 2007
Political
Hamas takes control of Gaza Strip
Following armed conflict with Fatah, Hamas assumes full control of the Gaza Strip. The Palestinian Authority retains control of the West Bank. This political split becomes the stated justification for the blockade.
Sept 2007
Blockade
Israel declares Gaza a "hostile territory" — full blockade begins
Israel formally declares Gaza a hostile territory, imposing a comprehensive land, sea, and air blockade. Imports of food, medicine, fuel, and construction materials are restricted and regulated by Israeli authorities. Egypt closes the Rafah crossing.
2008
Blockade
Israel calculates Gaza's minimum caloric requirements
Internal Israeli government documents (later obtained via freedom of information request) show officials at COGAT calculated the minimum calories needed per person per day to avoid malnutrition. The blockade was calibrated to this figure — not to security needs, but to subsistence thresholds. Senior official Dov Weisglass described the policy as "putting the Palestinians on a diet."
Dec 2008–Jan 2009
Military
Operation Cast Lead — 1,400 Palestinians killed
22-day Israeli military operation kills approximately 1,400 Palestinians, including ~900 civilians per UN estimates. A UN fact-finding mission (Goldstone Report) finds evidence of war crimes by both sides.
May 2010
Blockade
Gaza flotilla raid — 10 activists killed
Israeli naval commandos board the MV Mavi Marmara in international waters, killing 10 Turkish activists attempting to break the blockade with humanitarian supplies. A UN panel later finds the blockade illegal under international law.
2012
Political
UN predicts Gaza "uninhabitable by 2020" without intervention
A UN report warns that under current trajectory, Gaza's infrastructure — water, electricity, healthcare — would be unable to support its population by 2020. No substantive intervention follows.
Jul–Aug 2014
Military
Operation Protective Edge — 2,251 Palestinians killed
51-day military operation kills 2,251 Palestinians, including approximately 1,462 civilians per UN estimates. Over 18,000 housing units destroyed. The UN calls reconstruction "impossible" while the blockade continues to prevent cement and building materials from entering.
2014–2023
Blockade
Post-2014 reconstruction blocked — blockade prevents rebuilding
Israel maintains restrictions on cement, steel, and construction materials under the Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism (GRM). Reconstruction after Operation Protective Edge proceeds at a fraction of needed pace. By 2023, significant housing damage from 2014 remains unrepaired.
Mar 2019
Political
Smotrich: "Anyone who wants to thwart Palestinian statehood has to support Hamas"
Bezalel Smotrich — then a Knesset member, now Finance Minister — states openly the strategic logic behind Israeli policy toward Hamas: keeping Hamas viable in Gaza divides Palestinian political leadership and prevents a unified Palestinian partner for statehood negotiations. This articulates the strategic logic documented in reporting on the Qatari fund transfers.
7 Oct 2023
Military
Hamas-led attack kills 1,139 Israelis
Hamas-led militants breach the Gaza perimeter fence and attack Israeli communities, killing approximately 1,139 people — the majority civilians — and taking over 250 hostages. It is the deadliest attack on Jewish people since the Holocaust. Israel declares a state of war.
Source:
OCHA ↗ · Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs
9 Oct 2023
Blockade
Gallant announces "complete siege" — no electricity, food, water, or fuel
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announces: "Complete siege on Gaza. No electricity, no food, no water, no fuel. Everything is closed." He describes Palestinians as "human animals." These statements are later cited in the ICJ and ICC proceedings as evidence of genocidal intent.
13 Oct 2023
Political
President Herzog: "There are no uninvolved civilians"
Israeli President Isaac Herzog states in a press conference: "It is not true, this rhetoric about civilians who were not aware and not involved." This statement is cited in South Africa's ICJ submission.
Oct–Dec 2023
Military
Ground invasion begins — northern Gaza besieged
Israeli ground forces enter northern Gaza. Al-Shifa hospital — Gaza's largest — is raided and rendered non-functional. Evacuation orders displace 1.1 million people southward. UN agencies warn of imminent famine. By December 2023, over 21,000 Palestinians have been killed.
26 Jan 2024
Legal
ICJ orders provisional measures — genocide "plausible"
The International Court of Justice issues its first provisional measures order in South Africa v. Israel. The Court finds South Africa's genocide case plausible and orders Israel to take all measures within its power to prevent acts that could constitute genocide, ensure the military does not commit genocidal acts, and preserve evidence. Israel is ordered to report back within one month.
28 Mar 2024
Legal
ICJ second provisional measures order — immediate ceasefire in Rafah ordered
The ICJ issues additional provisional measures ordering Israel to immediately halt its military offensive in Rafah where over 1 million displaced Palestinians have taken shelter, and to ensure unimpeded access for humanitarian assistance.
18 Mar 2024
Humanitarian
IPC declares famine imminent in northern Gaza
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) Famine Review Committee confirms famine is imminent in northern Gaza, projected to manifest between mid-March and May 2024. All 2.23 million residents of Gaza are facing high levels of acute food insecurity — the highest share ever classified by IPC for any area or country.
Mar 2024
Legal
UN Special Rapporteur: "Anatomy of a Genocide" — reasonable grounds established
Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur on Palestinian rights, publishes a formal report titled "Anatomy of a Genocide" concluding there are reasonable grounds to believe the threshold for genocide has been met. The report identifies mass killing, starvation as a weapon of war, and official statements as evidence.
20 May 2024
Legal
ICC Prosecutor applies for arrest warrants — Netanyahu and Gallant
ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan announces applications for arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity, including starvation as a method of warfare, willful killing, and attacks on civilians.
24 May 2024
Legal
ICJ third provisional measures order — Rafah offensive must halt
The ICJ issues its strongest order yet, ordering Israel to immediately halt its military offensive in Rafah and keep the Rafah crossing open for humanitarian aid. Israel continues its Rafah operation.
Jul 2024
Humanitarian
The Lancet: estimated 186,000+ total deaths
A letter in The Lancet estimates that total deaths in Gaza, including indirect deaths from disease, starvation, and lack of medical care, could exceed 186,000 — roughly 8% of Gaza's pre-war population. This figure is later superseded by the peer-reviewed Feb 2026 study but establishes the methodology of indirect death accounting.
21 Nov 2024
Legal
ICC issues arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant
The International Criminal Court's Pre-Trial Chamber issues arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. The warrants cover war crimes and crimes against humanity, including the use of starvation as a method of warfare. All 124 ICC member states are obligated to arrest them if they enter their territory.
Dec 2024
Legal
Amnesty International: Israel is committing genocide in Gaza
Amnesty International publishes a comprehensive report concluding that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, citing mass killing, the deliberate deprivation of resources necessary for survival, and the stated intent of Israeli officials. The report applies the same Article II framework used by the ICJ.
Jan 2025
Humanitarian
UNRWA banned — Israel passes legislation prohibiting UNRWA operations
Israeli legislation banning UNRWA operations on Israeli-controlled territory comes into force, prohibiting UNRWA international staff from entering Gaza. UNRWA is the primary UN agency providing food, education, and medical services to Palestinian refugees.
Mar–Jul 2025
Humanitarian
Five-month total aid blockade — zero humanitarian access
Israel prevents all UN-coordinated humanitarian aid from entering Gaza for over five months beginning March 2025. Limited food and medicine resume only in late July. The UN 2026 Crisis Response Plan describes this as an "unprecedented obstacle" that "fundamentally altered the access landscape."
Aug 2025
Humanitarian
IPC confirms famine in Gaza Governorate
As of August 15, 2025, the IPC confirms Famine (Phase 5) with reasonable evidence in Gaza Governorate. Over half a million people face catastrophic conditions. IPC describes conditions as "entirely man-made" and states it "can be halted and reversed."
31 Aug 2025
Legal
International Association of Genocide Scholars: 86% vote Israel is committing genocide
The IAGS — the world's leading professional organization for genocide scholars — passes a formal resolution with 86% support declaring that "Israel's policies and actions in Gaza meet the legal definition of genocide" under Article II of the 1948 Convention. IAGS President Melanie O'Brien states: "This is a definitive statement from experts in the field."
16 Sept 2025
Legal
UN Commission of Inquiry: Israel "has committed and is continuing to commit genocide"
The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory publishes its 72-page report (A/HRC/60/CRP.3) after a two-year investigation. It finds four of five genocidal acts under Article II of the Genocide Convention and concludes genocidal intent is "the only reasonable inference" from the totality of evidence. Commission Chair Navi Pillay states: "The responsibility for these atrocity crimes lies with Israeli authorities at the highest echelons." Israel calls the report "distorted and false."
10 Oct 2025
Military
Ceasefire takes effect
A ceasefire agreement brokered with US, Qatari, and Egyptian involvement takes effect on October 10, 2025. All living hostages are to be released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. UN Security Council Resolution 2803 is adopted on November 17, establishing a stabilization framework. Hostilities continue in the weeks following.
Jan 2026
Humanitarian
Israeli military officially accepts Gaza death toll figures
For the first time, an Israeli military official publicly accepts that Israeli attacks killed more than 71,000 Palestinians since October 2023, aligning with Gaza Ministry of Health figures that Israel had previously disputed.
Feb 2026
Military
1,591 killed since ceasefire — airstrikes continue across all five governorates
OCHA Situation Report No. 67 (Feb 16, 2026) documents that between October 10, 2025 and February 11, 2026, 1,591 Palestinians were killed and 1,578 injured. OHCHR documents continued killings of civilians in Israeli aerial attacks, shelling, and gunfire across all five governorates of Gaza, including incidents far from declared combat zones.
18 Feb 2026
Humanitarian
Lancet Global Health: peer-verified death toll 75,200+ — 34.7% above official figures
A peer-reviewed household survey published in Lancet Global Health, based on 2,000 Gaza families, estimates 75,200 violent deaths through January 2025 — 34.7% higher than Gaza Ministry of Health figures for the same period. The study, led by researchers from Royal Holloway and Duke University, confirms official figures are a "conservative floor." Total confirmed deaths as of February 2026 exceed 75,000.