October 7, 2023 · Southern Israel / Gaza Envelope Theater

Hamas launched Operation Al-Aqsa Flood at 6:29 AM, breaching the Gaza security fence at more than 30 locations simultaneously. Approximately 3,000 militants — on foot, by motorcycle, and by paraglider — poured into Israeli communities. Kibbutz Be'eri, Kfar Aza, Nir Oz, and a dozen other communities were overrun. The Nova music festival near Kibbutz Re'im was attacked; over 360 festivalgoers were massacred. IDF response units took hours to reach the area. By nightfall, approximately 1,200 Israelis were dead and 250 had been taken hostage to Gaza.

October 8 – November 2023 · Northeastern Gaza Theater

Beit Hanoun, in the northeastern corner of Gaza, was one of the first urban centers penetrated during Israel's ground operation. IDF forces pushed through the town using armored engineering units to breach Hamas fortifications and clear buildings. Hamas fighters contested every block, using rocket-propelled grenades, improvised explosive devices, and anti-tank missiles from prepared positions. D9 armored bulldozers were used extensively to clear booby-trapped streets and demolish buildings from which snipers operated. The town was substantially devastated. This battle opened the corridor that allowed IDF forces to begin encircling Gaza City from the north.

October 8, 2023 – September 2024 · Northern Israel / Southern Lebanon Theater

From the day after October 7, Hezbollah began a sustained campaign of rocket, anti-tank missile, and drone attacks on northern Israel — displacing 60,000–80,000 Israelis from border communities. Israel retaliated with targeted strikes on Hezbollah commanders and infrastructure. The exchange gradually escalated through 2024. In July, Israel killed Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in a targeted strike in Beirut. On September 27, 2024, Israel killed Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah — the most powerful figure in Lebanon for 32 years — in a massive airstrike on Hezbollah's Beirut headquarters. In October, Israel launched a ground operation into southern Lebanon.

October 27 – December 2023 · Northern Gaza Theater

After three weeks of heavy air bombardment, the IDF launched its ground invasion on October 27 with two armored divisions entering northern Gaza. The advance was contested through densely built urban terrain and Hamas's vast tunnel network — 'the Metro' — which ran beneath hospitals, mosques, and residential buildings. The IDF fought for Gaza City block by block, uncovering tunnel shafts, weapons caches, and command infrastructure. By December, Israeli forces had largely cleared northern Gaza and Gaza City, though at significant civilian cost.

October 31, 2023 – January 2024 · Northern Gaza Theater

Jabalia, the largest refugee camp in Gaza with 110,000 residents, became one of the most contested battlegrounds of the war. On October 31, an IDF airstrike targeting Hamas commander Ibrahim Biari collapsed several buildings in the camp, killing Biari and an estimated 50–100 others. The resulting images of mass casualties caused international shock. The subsequent ground fight through Jabalia was conducted in some of the most densely built urban terrain on earth. Hamas fighters exploited the camp's labyrinthine alleys and interconnected tunnel network. Israeli forces returned to Jabalia in multiple distinct operations as Hamas re-infiltrated areas declared cleared.

December 2023 – April 2024 · Southern Gaza Theater

Khan Younis — Gaza's second-largest city and Yahya Sinwar's hometown — was the next phase of the IDF campaign after clearing northern Gaza. The battle was fought in heavily built-up residential neighborhoods packed with displaced people from the north. Hamas resistance was fierce and the tunnel network extensive. International pressure over civilian casualties intensified as the death toll climbed past 30,000. The IDF declared the main phase of the Khan Younis battle complete in April 2024 but continued clearing operations.

May 7, 2024 – October 2024 · Southern Gaza / Rafah Theater

Despite intense US and international pressure to hold off, Israel launched its Rafah operation on May 7. Over 1 million displaced Palestinians had sought shelter in Rafah, making it the most densely populated city on earth. The IDF seized the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, cutting off the last major aid entry point. The operation proceeded block by block through the summer. On July 13, a targeted strike killed Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif. On October 17, a random IDF infantry patrol encountered and killed Yahya Sinwar in Rafah's ruins.

June 8, 2024 · Central Gaza Theater

On June 8, Israeli forces conducted a daytime rescue operation in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, simultaneously raiding four separate locations where hostages were being held. The operation rescued four living hostages — Noa Argamani, Almog Meir Jan, Andrey Kozlov, and Shlomi Ziv — held since October 7. The operation used civilian cover vehicles and achieved tactical surprise. Hamas and local fighters responded with intense fire; the fighting killed an estimated 274–280 Palestinians, making it the deadliest single day of fighting in months. One Israeli officer was killed.

September 2024 – Present · West Bank Theater

As the Gaza campaign ground on, the West Bank experienced its most violent period since the Second Intifada. The IDF launched sustained operations in Jenin and Tulkarm refugee camps — centers of armed militant activity — with armored vehicle incursions, demolitions of tunnel networks beneath the camps, and targeted killings of local militant commanders. In 2025, the IDF launched Operation Iron Wall, a large-scale clearing operation in Jenin and Tulkarm that lasted weeks, deploying Merkava tanks in the West Bank for the first time in years. Hundreds of militants were killed; more than 20 IDF soldiers died in the operations.

September 17–18, 2024 · Lebanon Theater

In one of the most audacious covert operations in modern history, Israel detonated explosives hidden inside thousands of pager devices distributed to Hezbollah operatives across Lebanon simultaneously on September 17, 2024. The following day, walkie-talkie radios similarly exploded. The operations killed at least 37 people and wounded nearly 3,000 Hezbollah members — including senior commanders — in a single coordinated instant. Israel had apparently compromised Hezbollah's supply chain, embedding PETN explosive within commercial communications devices before delivery. The operation destroyed Hezbollah's secure communications network and created mass psychological terror within the organization.