On October 7, 2023, the Palestinian Sunni Islamist group Hamas (a U.S.-designated foreign
terrorist organization, or FTO) led surprise attacks against Israel from the Gaza Strip. More than
1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals (including at least 35 U.S. citizens in Israel) were killed.
Hamas and other groups also seized 253 hostages on October 7. The stunning nature, scope, and
lethality of the attacks and apparent intelligence failures have become a subject of analysis for
Israeli and U.S. officials. Iran reportedly provides material support to Hamas, and according to
U.S. officials may be complicit in a broad sense, but President Joe Biden said in October “there is
no evidence” that Iran helped plan the attack.
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