Two years on, Palestine still fights to survive: Here's what happened since Oct 7
Diplomatic negotiations, naval aid missions and repeated appeals for humanitarian access have persisted against the backdrop of disputed casualty figures and intensifying global demonstrations.
SHAH ALAM – Solidarity with Palestine and Gaza continues to pour in from activists and volunteers worldwide, most recently through the Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF), a mission that set sail in an attempt to break the blockade and deliver aid.
For many campaigners, this humanitarian effort is part of a broader struggle to draw attention to what they call an unrelenting genocide that intensified since Oct 7, 2023.
Over the past two years, diplomatic negotiations, naval aid missions and repeated appeals for humanitarian access have persisted against the backdrop of disputed casualty figures and intensifying global demonstrations.
Today, the occupation on Palestininian land enter its second year.
Here is a detailed timeline charting the key events and developments since the conflict began.
Oct 7, 2023 – The beginning of large-scale hostilities
What began as a short-lived ceasefire between Israeli forces and Palestinian groups quickly spiralled into relentless airstrikes and ground operations, leaving Gaza, one of the world’s most densely populated areas, in ruins.
Since Oct 7, 2023, Gaza’s Health Ministry reports 66,148 Palestinians killed and 168,716 injured, with entire families wiped out and neighbourhoods flattened. Schools, hospitals and vital infrastructure have been destroyed, while severe aid restrictions have caused deaths from hunger and disease.
The ministry added that 2,580 people have been killed and over 18,930 injured while trying to access aid since May 27. As of Oct 5, 460 malnutrition-related deaths were recorded, including 151 children.
Over the past year, the death toll has soared, marking one of the most devastating periods of violence in Gaza’s history.
Oct to Dec 2023 – Rapid escalation, blockade and mass displacement
Israeli airstrikes and ground operations intensified across the Gaza Strip, with entire neighbourhoods destroyed and northern areas heavily targeted. Israel tightened its blockade by cutting electricity, fuel and water supplies, while restricting crossings and maritime access, worsening the humanitarian crisis.
By late October, more than one million civilians were displaced, many sheltering in the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) schools and makeshift tents.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and partner agencies reported severe shortages of food, medicine and clean water, describing aid deliveries through Rafah as far below what was urgently required.
2024 – Intensified operations, assassinations of leadership, and rising civilian toll
Throughout 2024, Israeli forces expanded their military campaign with targeted strikes that eliminated several senior Hamas leaders in Gaza, Lebanon and abroad.
These operations were aimed not only at Hamas’s military command but also its political leadership, further destabilising the movement’s hierarchy.
July to Oct 2024 – Series of leadership losses
A wave of high-profile assassinations marked the year.
Yahya Sinwar, Hamas’s leader in Gaza, was reported killed in Oct 2024, following the earlier deaths of senior commanders in a string of targeted strikes. Major agencies noted that Israel increasingly focused on decapitating Hamas’s leadership structure.
Several top figures were assassinated during this period. Ayman Nofal, a senior Hamas commander, was killed in Oct 2023, followed shortly by Jamila al-Shanti, the first woman elected to Hamas’s political bureau. Ali al-Qadi, a commander in Hamas’s elite Nukhba unit, was also killed that same month.
In Jan 2024, Saleh al-Arouri, deputy head of Hamas’s political bureau, was assassinated in Beirut. Marwan Issa, deputy commander of the Qassam Brigades, was killed in March 2024 during a strike on Nuseirat.
In July 2024, Israel intensified its campaign, killing Mohammed Deif, the Qassam Brigades’ military chief, in Khan Younis, and Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas’s former political leader, in Tehran. Three months later, Yahya Sinwar was reported killed during Israeli operations in Gaza.
2024 to 2025 – Repeated diplomatic efforts and Security Council action
Diplomatically, the United Nations Security Council convened multiple times to attempt to pass resolutions demanding ceasefires, humanitarian pauses and unrestricted aid access.
However, the United States repeatedly blocked such measures.
From Oct 2023 until Sept 2025, Washington exercised its veto power six times, the most recent being on Sept 18, when it struck down a draft resolution that would have called for an immediate ceasefire.
Each veto deepened frustration among member states and intensified global protests accusing the international system of paralysis in the face of a humanitarian catastrophe.
Mid–2025 – Multiple flotilla attempts and earlier flotilla missions
International civil society responded with symbolic and practical efforts to break the blockade.
Since 2023 there have been several attempts by international activists and flotilla coalitions to deliver symbolic humanitarian aid or to challenge the naval blockade; some missions in 2024 to 2025 were intercepted or stopped.
In mid-2025 and July 2025 there were reported flotilla actions (including the “Freedom Flotilla”/Coalition missions) that were stopped by Israeli forces or turned back.
Oct 1 to 2 – Global Sumud Flotilla intercepted
Many of these missions were intercepted by the Israeli navy before reaching Gaza’s coast, with passengers detained and their cargoes confiscated. The most ambitious effort came in Oct 2025, when the GSF, consisting of more than 40 vessels carrying about 500 activists from over 40 countries, set sail.
Among those on board were 34 Malaysians, including well-known public figures, who took part in the civilian-led initiative to deliver humanitarian assistance to Gaza.
However, within hours of entering the red zone, Israeli naval forces surrounded and boarded the ships. Dozens of vessels were towed to the port of Ashdod, and hundreds of passengers were detained for questioning before facing deportation.
Organisers condemned the interceptions as a violation of international law, while Israel insisted the flotilla posed a threat to its security.
Two years on, no end in sight
Two years on from Oct 7, 2023, the Gaza war shows no sign of ending.
Repeated US vetoes have stalled ceasefire resolutions at the UN, flotillas have been stopped before reaching their destination, and casualty counts continue to climb.
Yet despite the devastation, international solidarity has not waned. From demonstrations across global capitals to volunteers risking interception at sea, the message activists continue to send is that the call for Gaza’s survival will not be silenced.
On Oct 6, delegations from Hamas, Israel and the United States are due to convene in Egypt for talks, with US President Donald Trump urging negotiators to "move fast" to end the occupation in Gaza.
Both Hamas and Israel reportedly have responded positively to Trump's proposal for an end to the fighting and the release of captives in Gaza in exchange for Palestinians held in Israeli jails.
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