Mapping the war

Combat operations ceased in Gaza over the weekend as part of the four-day truce. However, violent clashes between Israeli troops and Palestinians, including armed groups, have continued in the West Bank. Gunfire has also been exchanged across the Lebanese border. (Updated: November 27, 2023)

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is considered one of the most highly trained and best-equipped militaries in the Middle East, maintained through mandatory conscription of most non-Arab citizens over age 18. In addition to 169,500 active duty personnel and 465,000 reservists, the IDF also has over 2,200 tanks, 530 artillery pieces, 339 combat aircraft, 142 helicopters, 49 naval ships and five submarines.

Following the attacks by Hamas, the IDF mobilized over 350,000 reservists. A significant portion of its forces have been stationed near the border with the Gaza Strip. Twenty-five battalions have also been deployed to the West Bank as violent clashes between Palestinian residents and Israeli settlers have intensified. Additional troops have also been deployed to the northern border with Lebanon following attacks from the militant group Hezbollah.

Hamas, a U.S.-designated terrorist group, operates as both a civil administration and a militant organization in the Gaza Strip. Its armed wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, is estimated to have up to 40,000 fighters, with an arsenal of guns, drones, bombs and rocket artillery that is locally manufactured and smuggled in from abroad. The group uses a vast network of tunnels for storage, training and military operations, which allow it to avoid detection by Israeli surveillance.

During the October 7 attacks, Hamas also used improvised civilian equipment, including pickup trucks, bulldozers and paragliders. Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank has no military capability outside of its police force, which is 45,000 strong and has weaponry ranging from handguns to light machine guns, as well as a few armored vehicles.

There are also a number of militant groups such as the Jenin Brigades and the al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades that operate in the area.

Operating out of Lebanon, Hezbollah is a well-equipped and well-trained military force, due to direct Iranian support. A U.S.-designated terrorist group, Hezbollah is also a major political party in Lebanon. Numbering about 20,000 fighters and 30,000 reservists, the group is considered the world’s most heavily armed non-state actor, with an arsenal ranging from small arms and heavy machine guns to air defense systems, long-range artillery, drones and even several dozen battle tanks.

The number of armed clashes in the region between December 9 - 15, 2023 This category tracks any violent altercation between two or more armed groups that involves some degree of direct engagement or return fire, even if remote strikes or attacks on civilians also occur as part of the same event. Multiple altercations between the same parties within the same day are usually recorded as a single battle.

Israeli airstrikes on Gaza, as well as Hamas rocket fire toward Israel, have temporarily ceased during the four-day truce. While Hezbollah initially indicated it would abide by the same agreement, the group has since continued to fire missiles at Israeli targets. The Israel Defense Forces responded with cross-border shelling. (Updated: November 27, 2023)

Rockets and mortars launched over the Gaza border fence are the primary means by which Hamas and other militant Palestinian groups attack Israeli targets. Rockets like the Qassam and al-Quds models used by these groups have ranges up to 16 kilometers, are easy to manufacture, fuel with common materials and do not require specialized launchers. Because they lack any guidance or targeting mechanism, they are generally launched indiscriminately toward populated areas, with anywhere from dozens to thousands fired in any given year.

Hamas also possesses a smaller number of more advanced missiles such as the Iranian-made Fajr-5 and the Syrian-made Khaibar-1, with ranges up to 150 kilometers. While most rockets are intercepted by Israeli defenses, some have killed small numbers of civilians and wounded hundreds more, along with causing significant property destruction and psychological impact. More recently, Hamas has also developed drones such as the Ababeel 1, capable of suicide attacks and dropping explosives.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have over 500 sophisticated ground-based artillery systems such as the M270 and the PULS (Precise and Universal Launch System), capable of firing multiple types of munitions ranging from Predator Hawk precision rockets to Delilah cruise missiles at ranges up to 400 kilometers. Israel’s air force boasts over 300 planes and 142 helicopters, and the country maintains hundreds of unmanned aerial vehicles used for reconnaissance as well as attacking ground targets. Israel is also believed to have significant chemical weapons capability, and has been criticized for its use of white phosphorus, which creates visual cover for military operations but can also cause severe burns to civilians.

Hezbollah mostly uses Soviet-made artillery such as the M-46 howitzer, which has a range of 40 kilometers, along with rockets and missiles supplied by Iran, Syria and North Korea. The militant group also has dozens of unmanned aerial vehicles such as the Iranian-developed Ababil drones, as well as modified Chinese-made commercial models. Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi movement also possesses ballistic missiles capable of reaching Israel, as well as anti-ship missiles provided by Iran and other heavy weaponry captured from the Yemeni armed forces.

This category tracks one-sided attacks carried out through remote methods such as airstrikes, drones, chemical weapons, artillery, missiles, rockets or other types of explosives. Targets may include civilians, armed groups or both. Multiple strikes or explosions that occur within a single area on the same day are usually grouped together and recorded as a single event.

Despite the truce between Israel and Hamas, Hezbollah has continued to fire at Israeli targets, unsuccessfully attempting to shoot down a drone. Meanwhile, Houthi rebels in Yemen fired missiles at a U.S. ship attempting to rescue a hijacked Israeli vessel. The missiles fell short of their target. (Updated: November 27, 2023)

Since its deployment in 2011, Israel’s Iron Dome has played a major role in conflict. The all-weather air defense system consists of a radar and tracking system that detects incoming rockets, a control center that determines their likely point of impact and threat likelihood, and a mobile battery of three to four independently maneuverable launchers with 20 Tamir interceptor missiles in each.

Ten Iron Dome batteries are deployed throughout Israel, with each able to protect up to 150 square kilometers of territory. Israel claims that the system has an interception rate of over 90%, though researchers have disputed this figure. Like any missile defense system, the Iron Dome can be overwhelmed by large amounts of projectiles, and some commentators have claimed it would not be effective against more advanced types of ballistic and cruise missiles.

An Iron Dome launcher fires an interceptor missile as rockets are fired from Gaza into Sderot, Israel, May 10, 2023. (Reuters)

The air defenses of Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups are mostly limited to shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles, while Hezbollah also possesses Soviet-era anti-aircraft guns. These have been mostly ineffective against Israel’s air force, though militants have occasionally intercepted Israeli drones. However, Hezbollah may be able to acquire more advanced air defense systems from Russian groups.

The number of intercepted attacks in the region between December 9 - 15, 2023 This category tracks all attacks prevented or disrupted by means other than direct engagement of the attacker, including but not limited to missiles and other projectiles being intercepted or missing their targets, bombs being defused or weapons being seized. This includes the shooting down of unmanned drones but not attacks on piloted military aircraft. Multiple interceptions within a given area on the same day are recorded as a single event.

While fighting has temporarily paused in Gaza, Palestinians in the West Bank have been killed following Israeli raids targeting suspected militants in multiple locations, including near the main hospital in Jenin. Two Palestinians were also reportedly executed by a militant group after being accused of spying for Israel. (Updated: November 27, 2023)

Before Israel’s 2005 withdrawal from Gaza, suicide bombings were a frequent occurrence. Since then, the fortified border fence has drastically limited direct contact between Gazans and Israeli civilians. The situation has remained more complex in East Jerusalem and in the broader West Bank, where Israelis and Palestinians live. A partially completed West Bank barrier wall is claimed by Israel to have drastically reduced suicide bombings and other hostile infiltrations, but Palestinian militant groups, as well as lone individuals, have continued to carry out attacks such as arson, kidnappings, lynchings, shootings and stabbings.

The situation is exacerbated by the building of Israeli settlements in the occupied territory of the West Bank, which has been declared illegal under international law and threatens the viability of a future Palestinian state. Some Israeli settlers have attacked Palestinians in addition to seizing Palestinian land and destroying Palestinian property and crops, while Israeli security forces have been accused of failing to prevent settler violence and directly assaulting Palestinian civilians.

The number of attacks against civilians in the region between December 9 - 15, 2023 This category tracks any violence against unarmed noncombatants that is not already recorded elsewhere, including but not limited to extrajudicial killings, sexual violence, deliberate injury, abduction or forced disappearance. Civilians killed in airstrikes or during battles are recorded under the corresponding categories. Multiple acts of violence against the same group of civilians within the same day are recorded as a single event.