Three Years On: Revisiting How the October 7 Hamas Attack Unfolded Hour by Hour

Three years after the deadliest single-day assault in Israel's history, France 24 has revisited the events of October 7, 2023, in a detailed hour-by-hour reconstruction of how the Hamas attack unfolded. The retrospective, published on the third anniversary of the assault, traces the sequence of events that reshaped the Middle East and triggered a war that continues to define the region's politics today.

The anniversary itself has been marked across Israel with commemorations and renewed debate, including fresh scrutiny of what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government knew in the run-up to the attack. France 24's coverage on the day included a program examining that very question, reflecting how the failure of intelligence and military preparedness remains a raw and unresolved wound in Israeli public life.

According to the reconstruction, the attack began in the early hours of the morning of October 7, when Hamas fighters breached Israel's Gaza perimeter fence at multiple points. The coordinated assault combined rocket barrages, ground infiltrations, and attacks on military bases and civilian communities, catching Israeli forces off guard during a major Jewish holiday. The scale and synchronisation of the operation shocked observers, who had long assumed that Israel's sophisticated border surveillance and intelligence apparatus made such an incursion impossible.

The hour-by-hour format underlines how quickly the situation escalated. What began as a barrage of rockets soon became a multifront infiltration, with gunmen overwhelming outposts and entering nearby towns and kibbutzim. Communications were disrupted, and emergency responders found themselves unable to reach many of the affected areas. For hours, civilians in several communities waited for help that did not arrive in time.

Among the most heavily affected locations were the communities and military positions close to the Gaza border, where the fighting was most intense. The assault also targeted a large outdoor music festival, where hundreds of attendees were caught in the open with little warning and few escape routes. The chaos of that morning — fleeing crowds, blocked roads, and conflicting reports — became one of the defining images of the day.

The human toll was staggering. The attack left around 1,200 people dead, the overwhelming majority of them civilians, and saw roughly 250 people taken hostage into Gaza. Those abducted included Israeli citizens, foreign nationals, and dual nationals, ranging from young children to elderly people. The hostage crisis immediately became a central political and humanitarian issue, driving negotiations and public protests that would persist for years.

In the immediate aftermath, Israel declared war and launched a massive military campaign against Hamas in Gaza. The operation quickly expanded into one of the most destructive conflicts in recent memory, displacing the vast majority of Gaza's population and levelling large swaths of the territory. The reverberations extended well beyond Israel and the Palestinian territories.

The attack and the ensuing war reshaped regional and global diplomacy. Hezbollah and Israel exchanged cross-border fire that eventually escalated, Houthi forces in Yemen launched attacks on shipping and on targets including Aden airport, and tensions flared across multiple fronts. The conflict also became a domestic political battleground in Western capitals, feeding protests, debates over arms transfers, and divisions within governing coalitions.

Three years later, questions about accountability remain unanswered. In Israel, the failure to anticipate the assault has fuelled demands for an independent inquiry into the decisions of the political and military leadership. Critics argue that warnings were dismissed and that resources were shifted away from the Gaza border in the months before the attack. Supporters of the government counter that Hamas bears sole responsibility for the violence and that investigations should wait until the war ends.

For Palestinians, the anniversary is bound up with the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza and the broader political deadlock. The war has left the territory's infrastructure in ruins, with reconstruction facing enormous financial and logistical obstacles. Aid agencies have repeatedly warned of shortages of food, medicine, and shelter, while the fate of the remaining hostages and detainees continues to complicate any diplomatic breakthrough.

Internationally, the events of October 7 continue to frame debates about security, counterterrorism, and the limits of military responses to political conflicts. Diplomats and analysts note that the attack shattered assumptions that had guided Middle East policy for years, including the idea that the Israeli-Palestinian issue could be managed or set aside while regional normalisation advanced. The conflict has instead returned to the centre of international attention.

The France 24 retrospective serves as a reminder of how a single morning changed the trajectory of an entire region. By walking through the events hour by hour, it documents not only the tactics of the attackers and the failures of the defence, but also the confusion and grief of civilians caught in the crossfire. The programme is part of a broader set of anniversary coverage that includes reflections on the hostages, the political reckoning in Israel, and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

As the third anniversary passes, the region remains locked in a fragile and volatile situation. Ceasefire efforts have repeatedly stalled, and the humanitarian toll continues to mount. For Israelis and Palestinians alike, the legacy of October 7 is one of loss, displacement, and unanswered questions about how the violence began and where it will ultimately lead.