2024 in Israel

Events of the year 2024 in Israel.

Incumbents

• President of Israel – Isaac Herzog
• Prime Minister of Israel – Benjamin Netanyahu
• President of the Supreme Court – Uzi Vogelman
• Chief of General Staff – Herzi Halevi
• Government of Israel – Thirty-seventh government of Israel

Ongoing

• 2023 Israel–Hamas war
• 2024 Iran–Israel conflict

Events

January

• 1 January –
  • Hamas fires a barrage of at least 27 rockets shortly after midnight at cities and towns in central and southern Israel.
  • The Supreme Court of Israel strikes down the reasonableness limitation law, part of the government's contentious judicial reform, for the first time in the country's history annulling one of the country's quasi-constitutional Basic Laws in a controversial decision splitting the court 8-7.
• 2 January – Israel conducts an airstrike in the Dahieh neighborhood of Beirut, Lebanon, resulting in the assassination of Saleh al-Arouri, the deputy chairman of the Hamas political bureau.
• 3 January – The Supreme Court delays the implementation of an amendment to a Basic Law that would protect the prime minister from being forced to recuse himself if ordered to do so by the attorney general or the supreme court, by postponing implementation until after the next Knesset is elected, so that it does not apply retroactively to the current Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who is on trial for several charges of corruption.
• 7 January – An Arab Israeli man is killed and a woman is critically injured by a Palestinian gunman north of Jerusalem.
• 8 January – Wissam al-Tawil, the deputy commander of Hezbollah's Redwan Force, in Majdel Selm, Lebanon is killed in a presumed Israeli airstrike following increasing violence along the Israel-Lebanon border since Hezbollah began launching rockets, drones and anti-tank missiles over the border following the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel on 7 October 2023.
• 9 January – Hezbollah launches a drone attack on the Northern Command headquarters in Safed, marking its deepest incursion into Israeli territory since the outbreak of hostilities and Israel retaliates by killing Ali Hussein Barji, a senior Hezbollah commander responsible for dozens of explosive drone attacks on northern Israel in recent months.
• 11 January – South Africa v. Israel (Genocide Convention): A two-day public hearing begins at the Peace Palace in The Hague regarding alleged violations by Israel of its obligations under the 1948 Genocide Convention and international law in relation to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
• 14 January –
  • Approximately 120,000 people attended the start of a 24-hour rally in Tel Aviv's Hostages Square to mark 100 days since the hostages were kidnapped into Gaza during the Hamas led terror onslaught in southern Israel on October 7.
  • An Israeli woman and her son are killed by an anti-tank guided missile which penetrated their home in Yuval in the Galilee near the Israel-Lebanon border.
• 15 January – A woman is killed and 17 are severely injured in a stabbing and vehicle ramming attack in Ra'anana by two Palestinian illegal workers from Hebron.
• 22 January – In the single deadliest incident for the IDF since the start of Israel's ground offensive in Gaza, twenty-one Israeli soldiers were killed when they came under attack in the southern Gaza Strip, triggering a blast that collapsed two buildings with soldiers inside them.
• 26 January – In the case brought by South Africa , the International Court of Justice issues a preliminary order calling on Israel to "take all measures within its power" to prevent genocide and prevent and punish incitement to genocide in Gaza and allow in more humanitarian aid, while taking more measures to protect Palestinians and to report back in one month, but is not required to end military operations.
• 31 January – Yuval Freilich wins the men's gold medal in fencing in Qatar, a country that does not have ties with Israel and wearing a shirt with the words "Am Yisrael Chai" (the people of Israel live) embossed in Hebrew on the Israeli flag.

February

• 1 February – U.S. President Joe Biden signs an executive order imposing sanctions on four Israeli settlers in the West Bank who are implicated in acts of violence against Palestinians in the region.
• 3 February – Sharon Kantor wins the gold medal at the iQFOiL World Championships in the Canary Islands, securing her spot on the Israeli team to the 2024 Paris Olympics, while team-mate Katy Spychakov wins the bronze medal.
• 4 February – Most of Israel experiences 14 continuous days of rainfall for the first time in 30 years, raising the water level of the Sea of Galilee by 26 centimeters (10.2 inches), with more increases expected, but without flooding.
• 6 February – Argentinian President, Javier Milei makes his first overseas state visit to Israel to express support for Israel in its war against Hamas in Gaza and announces that he will move Argentina’s embassy to Jerusalem.
• 10 February – The IDF announces that it discovered a Hamas data center under UNRWA's Gaza Strip headquarters.
• 11 February – Hamas announces the death of two Israeli hostages and says that eight others have been seriously injured by Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip in the past 96 hours.
• 12 February – Israeli special forces conduct a raid on a building in Rafah in southern Gaza, rescuing two Israeli-Argentinian who were kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak on 7 October by Hamas; 134 hostages remain in captivity.
• 14 February –
  • The Hostages and Missing Families Forum files a complaint of war crimes against the leadership of Hamas at the International Criminal Court.
  • A rocket attack from Lebanon kills one civilian and injures eight others in Safed. Several rockets also hit the headquarters of the IDF's Northern Command.
• 16 February – 2024 Kiryat Malakhi attack, 2024 Re'em Junction shooting
  • Two people are killed and four others are injured in a mass shooting at a bus station near Kiryat Malachi. The perpetrator is killed by an off-duty IDF reservist.
• 18 February –
  • The Cabinet of Israel adopts a resolution opposing unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state, following comments from France and the United Kingdom that they were considering such a move.
  • Channel 12 reports that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will restrict Palestinian citizens of Israel's access to the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem during the month of Ramadan due to security concerns.
• 19 February – Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz says that Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is persona non grata in Israel until he retracts his comments likening the war between Israel and Hamas to the Holocaust.
• 22 February – One Israeli is killed and 10 others severely injured in a shooting attack by three Palestinians near Ma'ale Adumim in the West Bank.
• 23 February – U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken declares that Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal under international law, overturning a policy instated under former U.S. President Donald Trump.
• 25 February –
  • Two Hezbollah members are killed by an Israeli strike in al-Qusayr, Syria.
  • A United States Air Force active-duty member is in critical condition after setting himself on fire outside the Israeli embassy in Washington, D.C., in solidarity with Palestinians and expressing his outrage over the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip.
• 26 February –
  • The Israeli Air Force announces the establishment of a new department focused on monitoring the Iranian Armed Forces.
  • Aaron Bushnell, a United States Air Force active-duty member who set himself on fire outside the Israeli embassy yesterday in Washington, D.C., in solidarity with Palestinians, has died at hospital due to his wounds.
• 27 February – 2024 Israeli municipal elections

March

• 19 March – Israel announces the death of senior Hamas military leader Marwan Issa, following an airstrike on a tunnel complex the previous week, making him the highest ranking Hamas official killed in the war yet.
• 21 March – The Islamic Resistance in Iraq launches drone attacks on Kiryat Shmona Airport and Ben Gurion Airport in Israel.
• 25 March – UN security council passes resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, as US abstains.
• 26 March –
  • The Israeli military bombs Syria, killing 1 Quds Force officer and 15 other militants.
  • Israeli warplanes launch airstrikes against Hezbollah targets near the towns of Ras Baalbek and Hermel in Baalbek-Hermel Governorate, Lebanon, killing at least three Hezbollah members.
• 28 March – The International Court of Justice, in a unanimous decision, orders Israel to allow humanitarian aid to enter the Gaza Strip unimpeded, warning that famine is already occurring.
• 29 March – An Israeli airstrike targeting Aleppo International Airport kills 36 Syrian soldiers and 6 Hezbollah fighters. The incident marks the deadliest Israeli attack on Syria since 2021.

April

• 1 April –
  • The Islamic Resistance in Iraq launched three drones at Eilat, damaging a building, but not causing injuries.
  • 2024 Iranian consulate airstrike in Damascus: An Israeli airstrike targeting the Iranian embassy in Damascus kills eight members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, including Iranian brigadier general Mohammad Reza Zahedi.
  • The Israeli government says that it will ban Al Jazeera from broadcasting in its territory.
• 7 April – Siege of Khan Yunis: Israel withdraws all ground forces from the southern Gaza Strip, including Khan Yunis, leaving just one IDF brigade, the 933rd Nahal Brigade, remaining in the enclave.
• 8 April – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he has ordered an invasion of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip with a date "being set" for the ground offensive.
• 10 April – An Israeli airstrike kills three sons of Hamas Chairman Ismail Haniyeh.
• 11 April – US President Joe Biden says that Iran is threatening to launch a significant attack against Israel and promises Israel US support.
• 12 April –
  • Israel prepares for a direct attack from Iran on southern or northern Israel as soon as the next 24 to 48 hours. A person briefed by the Iranian leadership says that while plans to attack are being discussed, no final decision has been made.
  • The United States restricts travel for its embassy personnel in Israel amid fears of an attack by Iran.
  • The British government advises against all travel to Israel and Palestinian territories due to the imminent threat of an Iranian attack.
  • Hezbollah forces launch dozens of rockets into northern Israel. The militant group says that the missile barrage targeted IDF artillery positions. No casualties are reported.
• 13 April –
  • U.S. naval ships mobilize to the Middle East to protect Israel against incoming missiles.
  • United States intelligence reports Iran moving drones and missiles internally ahead of a potential attack.
  • Australian airline Qantas pauses its non-stop Perth-London route due to expected Iranian attack against Israel.
  • Iranian seizure of the MSC Aries: Iran seizes the MSC Aries, a Portuguese-registered, Madeira-flagged container ship owned by Zodiac Maritime of Israeli Eyal Ofer.
  • Killing of Benjamin Achimeir: The body of Israeli teenager Benjamin Achimeir is found in the West Bank a day after he went missing, sparking clashes between settlers and Palestinians.
  • 2024 Iranian strikes in Israel: Iran and other militant groups launch between 400 and 500 drones and cruise missiles at Israel from Iran, Iraq, Syria, southern Lebanon, and Yemen. in response to the attack on its consulate in Damascus.
• 16 April –
  • A mob of Israeli settlers in Aqraba kill two Palestinians in revenge for the murder of Israeli teenager Benjamin Achimeir amid escalating ethnoreligious violence in the West Bank.
  • The Israeli military conducts an airstrike and assassinates Ismail Yusuf Baz, the commander of Hezbollah's coastal sector in Lebanon.
• 19 April –
  • Missiles believed to be fired by the Israel Defense Forces allegedly hit sites near the Iranian city of Isfahan, sites in Iraq and radar sites in Syria.
  • The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Australia tells its citizens to leave Israel, citing a high threat of military reprisals and terrorist attacks.
• 22 April –
  • The head of the Military Intelligence Directorate, Aharon Haliva, resigns for failing to prevent the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
  • Israeli troops and tanks re-enter Khan Yunis in the Gaza Strip after abruptly withdrawing from the city earlier this month.
• 23 April –
  • The United States announces it is preparing a $1 billion aid package to Ukraine in an Israel-Ukraine aid bill that will be signed tomorrow.
  • An Israeli Air Force airstrike kills two people and injures six others in Hanine.
• 24 April –
  • US President Joe Biden signs the 1$ billion Israel-Ukraine aid package.
• 26 April –
  • An 18-year-old woman is stabbed by an attacker in Ramla and remains in "serious" condition.
  • Thirty rabbis and peace activists from the United States and Israel were arrested near the Gaza border protesting to bring awareness to starvation in Gaza.
• 30 April – An Israeli police officer is injured in a stabbing by a Turkish national in the Old City of Jerusalem. The assailant was shot and killed by other responding officers at the scene.

May

• 1 May – Following American pressure, Israel reopens the Erez Crossing and allows aid trucks into the northern part of the Gaza Strip.
• 2 May –
  • Turkey suspends all trade with Israel in response to their conduct in the war in Gaza, after previously suspending exports in a limited category of goods in April.
  • Several people are injured in alleged Israeli airstrikes on Damascus, the first since the attack on the Iranian consulate in April.
• 5 May –
  • Ten Israeli civilians are injured after Hamas launches a rocket barrage at the Kerem Shalom border crossing.
  • The Al Jazeera network went off the air after the government announced a decision to shut the broadcaster’s operations following a long-running feud with the network.
  • Israeli air raids in Meiss Ej Jabal, Lebanon, cause "massive destruction" according to a Lebanese state-run agency, killing four civilians and injuring three others. In response, Hezbollah fires dozens of Katyusha and Falaq rockets towards Kiryat Shmona.
  • Hamas announces the end of ceasefire talks held in Cairo, Egypt, while Israel vows to continue its military operations.
• 6 May –
  • Israel tells Gazans to evacuate part of Rafah ahead of a planned ground offensive.
  • Hamas states that it has accepted the ceasefire proposal from Qatar and Egypt; Israel, however, rejects the proposal, saying it is "unacceptable".
• 7 May –
  • Israeli forces enter Rafah in a "limited" operation, taking control of the Rafah Border Crossing on the Egypt–Gaza border.
  • At least 27 people are killed by Israeli airstrikes in Rafah.
• 8 May –
  • Israeli troops reach the outskirts of Rafah with Hamas saying that heavy fighting is underway. The Israeli military says it has "uncovered terrorist infrastructure", and killed a number of Hamas militants as it advances.
  • Israel reopens the Kerem Shalom border crossing, allowing humanitarian aid into Gaza. However, no aid has entered according to the UN.
• 9 May –
  • United States President Joe Biden vows to withhold weapons from Israel if they launch a major invasion of Rafah.
  • Israeli tanks and warplanes strike eastern Rafah, killing more than 65 civilians and causing 80,000 people to flee.
• 12 May – Antony Blinken warns Israel lacks a credible plan to protect Rafah civilians.
• 13 May –
  • The Israeli military advances into northern and southern Gaza.
  • A staff member of the United Nations Department of Safety and Security is killed and another is injured in Rafah.
  • Hamas says it has "lost contact" with the militants holding four Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip, including Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin.
• 14 May – Israeli tanks enter residential areas of Rafah as they attempt to capture the city. Hamas' armed wing al-Qassam Brigades says that it destroyed an Israeli troop carrier with a Al-Yassin 105 anti-tank missile, killing several troops and injuring several others, while the Israel Defense Forces claim to have "eliminated" several terrorists in the city.
• 15 May – Five Israeli soldiers are killed in a friendly fire incident in Jabalia after IDF tanks open fire on their position.
• 16 May – Palestinian fighters, including Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, claim dozens of attacks on Israeli troops in and around the Jabalia refugee camp.
• 17 May –
  • Humanitarian aid deliveries begin arriving at the U.S.-built Gaza floating pier.
  • The Israeli army recovers from Rafah the bodies of three people killed in the Re'im music festival massacre last October, including Shani Louk.
  • Hamas announces that an Israeli strike killed Sharhabil Sayed, a Hamas commander in Lebanon.
  • Israel announces that an Air Force strike killed Islaam Hamaisa, a commander of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad's Jenin Brigade.
• 18 May –
  • The Israeli army recovers the body of Ron Binyamin, who was killed and brought to Gaza by Palestinian militants in October.
  • Benny Gantz threatens to withdraw his party from the unity coalition if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu doesn't submit a post-war plan for Gaza by June 8.
• 20 May – The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Karim Khan has requested a warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Al-Masri, and Ismail Haniyeh for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.
• 21 May –
  • The Israeli army launches a raid on the city of Jenin, with sources claiming seven Palestinians were killed.
  • The Israeli Ministry of Communications seizes broadcasting equipment from the Associated Press (AP News) and halt their live feed of Gaza, accusing them of breaking the new media law by supplying images to Al Jazeera.
• 23 May – At least 60 Palestinians are killed in Israeli attacks in Rafah, Deir al-Balah, and Gaza City.
• 24 May –
  • The Israeli army recovers the bodies of three captives who were killed and taken to Gaza by Palestinian militants in the 7 October attacks.
  • The International Court of Justice orders Israel to halt the military offensive in Rafah.
• 26 May –
  • The Al-Qassam Brigades of Hamas fire rockets towards Tel Aviv area in central Israel for the first time in four months.
  • Four U.S. Army vessels wash up on Israeli beaches, two of them in the Gaza Strip.
• May 27 – One Egyptian guard is killed in a shootout at the Rafah Border Crossing and Israel are investigating if there is a connection with a shooting incident earlier in the day.

Holidays

Source:

• 23 April - Passover
• 29 April - Seventh day of Passover
• 14 May - Independence Day
• 12 June - Feast of Shavuot
• 3 October – Rosh Hashanah
• 12 October – Yom Kippur
• 17 October – Sukkot
• 24 October – Simchat Torah

Art and entertainment

• List of Israeli submissions for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film

Deaths

• 2 January – Zvi Zamir,(b. 1925) Soldier in the Palmach and officer in the Israel Defense Forces, director of the Mossad (1968–1974).
• 6 January – Sabetai Unguru (b. 1931), historian of mathematics and science, professor, and director of the Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Ideas at Tel Aviv University.
• 13 January – Ran Poliakine (b. 1967), business, wireless power industry executive, founder of Powermat Technologies.
• 15 January – Dror Kashtan (b. 1941), football player (Hapoel Petah Tikva, national team) and manager (national team).
• 18 January – Amnon Rubinstein (b. 1931), politician, MK (1977–2002), minister of communications (1984–1987) and education (1993–1996), winner of the Israel Prize for Legal Studies (2006).
• 19 January – Raymond Apple (b. 1935), Australian-Israeli rabbi.
• 22 January – Lior Lubin (b. 1977), basketball player (Ironi Ramat Gan, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Hapoel Tel Aviv) and coach.
• 25 January – Bat-Sheva Dagan, (b. 1925), Polish-Israeli Holocaust survivor, educator and author.
• 2 February – Baruch Weisbecker, (b. 1940), Haredi rabbi.
• 10 February – Yoram Dinstein, (b. 1936, scholar.
• 14 February – Dani Koren, (b. 1945), politician, member of Knesset (2006).
• 18 February – Emile Shoufani, (b. 1947), Melkite Greek Catholic archimandrite, educator and activist.
• 24 February – Charlie Biton, (b. 1947), social activist and politician, MK (1977–1992).
• 28 February – Avraham Shochat, (b. 1936), politician, minister of finance (1992–1996, 1999–2001).
• 14 March – Eliezer Fishman, (b. 1943), businessman.
• 15 March – Salim Joubran, (b. 1947), Arab-Israeli Supreme Court judge (2003–2017).
• 27 March – Daniel Kahneman, (b. 1934), Israeli-American psychologist, author, Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences recipient (2002).
• 1 April – Sami Michael, (b. 1926), Iraqi-Israeli author and activist.
• 18 May – Yael Dayan, (b. 1939), lawmaker, activist, member of Knesset (1992–2003).

References

External links

Media related to 2024 in Israel at Wikimedia Commons

• Online calendar

1. 2024 Iranian strikes against Israel
2. Israel–Hamas war
3. 2024 Iran–Israel conflict
4. 2024 Israeli strikes on Iran
5. Israel–Hezbollah conflict (2023–present)
6. Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest 2024
7. 2024 pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses
8. Timeline of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict in 2024
9. Timeline of the Israel–Hamas war (12 January 2024 – 6 May 2024)
10. Timeline of the Israel–Hamas war
11. Gaza humanitarian crisis (2023–present)
12. Israel–Hamas war hostage crisis
13. Israel–Hamas war protests in the United States
14. Israel at the 2024 Summer Olympics
15. United States support for Israel in the Israel–Hamas war
16. Israel
17. War crimes in the Israel–Hamas war
18. Casualties of the Israel–Hamas war
19. Israeli airstrike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus
20. Humanitarian aid during the Israel–Hamas war