Israeli Defense Forces in the context of "Israeli Air Force"

The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and Israel, fought as part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflicts. The war began on 7 October 2023, when the Palestinian militant group Hamas led a surprise attack on Israel, in which 1,195 Israelis and foreign nationals were killed and 251 were taken hostage. Since the start of the Israeli offensive that followed, over 70,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed, almost half of them women and children, and more than 170,000 injured. A study in The Lancet estimated that traumatic injury deaths were undercounted and noting a potentially larger death toll when "indirect" deaths are included.

After clearing militants from its territory, Israel launched a bombing campaign and invaded Gaza on 27 October. The Israeli Defense Forces launched numerous campaigns, including the Rafah offensive from May, three battles fought around Khan Yunis, and the siege of North Gaza from October, culminating in a 2025 offensive in Gaza City; and have assassinated Hamas leaders in and outside Gaza. A temporary ceasefire in November 2023 broke down, and a second ceasefire in January 2025 ended with a surprise attack by Israel in March. A third ceasefire came into effect on 10 October after Israel and Hamas agreed to phase one of a US-backed peace plan. On 19 October, after alleged Hamas violations, Israel briefly resumed bombing Gaza before reaffirming the ceasefire the same day, doing the same on 28 October.

Israel has faced international criticism since its establishment in 1948 relating to a variety of issues, many of which are centered around human rights violations in its occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

Israel has been criticized for issues surrounding its establishment when most of Mandatory Palestine's Arab population fled or were expelled in 1948, the conduct of its armed forces in the Arab–Israeli conflict, establishment and expansion of illegal Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territories, its treatment of Palestinians, and the blockade of the Gaza Strip, with its impact on the economy of the Palestinian territories, the country's nuclear weapons program, and its targeted killings program. Other criticized long-standing issues include: the refusal to allow post-war Palestinian refugees to return to their homes, and the prolonged occupation of territories gained in war and the construction of settlements therein. Israel's status as a representative democracy has also been questioned because Israeli residents of the occupied territories are allowed to vote in Israel's elections while Palestinian residents are not, leading to accusations of apartheid.

Qana (Arabic: قانا), also spelled Cana, Canna or Kana, is a municipality in southern Lebanon located 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) southeast of the city of Tyre and 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) north of the border with Israel, in an area historically known as Upper Galilee. Qana is known for its antiquity, as well as possibly being the place where Jesus of Nazareth and his mother Mary visited and attended a wedding. It is revered by Lebanese Christians and Muslims alike. The own is also known for the two massacres of civilian caused by the Israeli Defense Forces during military operations in Lebanon.

The 10,000 residents of Qana are primarily Shia although there is also a Melkite (Greek Catholic) Christian community in the village.