In the early hours of 7 October, Israeli photographer Yaniv Zohar, from daily newspaper Israel HaYom, was killed in Kibbutz Nahal Oz, in southern Israel, close to the border with the Gaza Strip. Previously, Zohar had worked for Associated Press reporting on violent escalations on the ground such as in 2014 and 2016.

In the early hours of 7 October, Hamas launched an unprecedented attack in southern Israel. In response, Israel retaliated with airstrikes over the besieged Gaza Strip and formally declared war at Hamas.