More than 1.6 million people have been displaced in Gaza, Israel, and Lebanon during the 2 1/2 weeks since Hamas's terrorist attacks prompted the latest war in the region.
Israeli leaders have declared war on Hamas, the U.S.-designated terrorist organization and de facto government of Gaza, following the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks that resulted in the deaths of roughly 1,400 people in southern Israel, the vast majority of which were civilians. While Israel has already launched thousands of strikes targeting the terrorist group, it has also urged more than a million civilians in northern Gaza to head south to avoid getting caught in the crossfire ahead of their upcoming ground incursion.
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The number of internally displaced people in Gaza is estimated at over 1.4 million, according to an update on Wednesday from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. That number represents more than half of the Gazan population.
Hamas's coordinated and multifaceted attack focused on going into the nearby Israeli communities, known as kibbutzim (the plurality of a kibbutz), where they killed families, including women and children. Some civilians were burned alive, tortured, executed, and there were instances of beheadings and sexual violence. More than 200 people were taken back to Gaza as hostages, while only four have been released so far.
Some of the homes in the kibbutzim were destroyed in the attacks. Israel has since evacuated those communities.
There are concerns from Israel and its Western allies that other Israel adversaries could enter the war and create a broader conflict. The primary concern emanates from Hezbollah, the terrorist group based in southern Lebanon, along the country's border with Israel. The two sides — Israel and Hezbollah — have engaged in rocket fire since the terrorist attacks, but it remains unclear whether Hezbollah will fully commit to a war with Israel.
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Roughly 200,000 people in Israel from the communities near the Gaza and Lebanon borders have been displaced as well amid concerns of escalation, according to the Times of Israel. About half of the total were instructed to evacuate by the government, while the other half left areas near the front lines on their own volition.
Similarly, more than 20,000 people in Lebanon have been displaced as well due to the Israel-Hezbollah tension, according to the New York Times.