The following is a list of events during the Israeli–Palestinian conflict in 2023, including the 2023 events of the Gaza war.
January 1 January
Following the United Nations General Assembly's adoption of a resolution to seek an International Court of Justice opinion on Israel's "prolonged occupation, settlement and annexation of the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967", newly elected Israeli far-right lawmaker Zvika Fogel was asked whether the occupation in the West Bank is permanent. He said he "cannot argue with the facts. As of right now, the occupation is permanent. And as of right now I would like to continue to apply Israeli sovereignty over all the areas that I can." Earlier, incoming prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the referral "despicable" and said "The Jewish people are not occupiers in their own land nor occupiers in our eternal capital Jerusalem and no U.N. resolution can distort that historical truth". To the concern of the US administration, Netanyahu has made agreements with coalition partners to expand Israeli settlements and legalize dozens of Israeli outposts.
2 January Israeli forces killed two Palestinians, 22 and 25 years old, in a demolition raid on Kafr Dan, northwest of Jenin. The military said "a violent riot was instigated" when they entered the village, and they were attacked with gunfire, rocks and firebombs. The raid was to demolish the homes of two Palestinians killed on 14 September 2022 during an attack that killed an Israeli soldier. Hamas said one of the Palestinians as a member. Human rights groups see such demolitions as "collective punishment".
The new Israeli government told the Israeli High Court that the state would reverse its previous position that Israeli settlers leave Homesh, a yeshiva built on private Palestinian property, and that the government intends to change the Disengagement Law. The Palestinian landowners appealed to the court because they have been prevented from reaching their property due to settlers in the Israeli outpost blocking access. The State Attorney's Office said "the political echelon wishes to announce that, in accordance with the coalition agreements that were signed, it intends to act as soon as possible to amend the guidelines permitting Israelis to remain" and requested a further three months to submit another opinion.
The IDF changed the guidelines for opening fire against Palestinian stone-throwers so that shooting will only be carried out in life-threatening situations, when there is no alternative. The previous guideline from November 2021, allowed firing on "suspects who hurl Molotov cocktails or rocks, even after the deadly object is no longer in their hands."
3 January Israeli forces killed a 15-year-old Palestinian during a raid on Dheisheh refugee camp, south of Bethlehem. Israeli media reported that the military said that they fired at Palestinians throwing Molotov cocktails.
The US, the EU, the UK, France, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the UAE all condemned a visit to the Temple Mount/Al-Aqsa compound by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, citing the need to maintain the status quo and avoid increasing tension.
A rocket was fired towards southern Israel. Reports indicate the rocket failed to reach Israeli territory and exploded in Gaza. The rocket fire came after Itamar Ben-Gvir's visit to the Temple Mount/Al-Aqsa compound, which Hamas had warned would be a "detonator".
4 January Israeli forces killed a 16-year-old Palestinian during an arrest raid on Balata refugee camp. The military said that Border Police fired in response to the throwing of Molotov cocktails, explosive devices and stones.
In response to Israel's High Court earlier decision to grant the government 90 days to explain its decision to reverse course on Homesh, the US said that "The Homesh outpost in the West Bank is illegal. It is illegal even under Israeli Law. Our call to refrain from unilateral steps certainly includes any decision to create a new settlement, to legalize outposts or allowing building of any kind deep in the West Bank, adjacent to Palestinian communities or on private Palestinian land."
5 January A UNSC meeting emphasized the need to maintain the status quo at Al Aqsa Mosque/Temple Mount following the visit there by Itamar Ben-Gvir but took no further action. Jordan, which called for the meeting, summoned the Israeli ambassador over the issue. The US deputy UN ambassador, Robert Wood, told the council "We note that Prime Minister Netanyahu's governing platform calls for preservation of the status quo with relation to the holy places. We expect the government of Israel to follow through on that commitment."
Israeli forces killed a 16-year-old Palestinian in Nablus during an arrest raid in Balata Refugee Camp. The Israeli police stated that armed Palestinians had fired on military, police, and intelligence personnel carrying out the raid and that they had shot "an armed person, who fired at the forces from close range". Local media sources shared surveillance footage with Al Jazeera of him walking and running before getting killed, but Al Jazeera could not independently verify the footage.
6 January Israel approved a series of measures following the Palestinian request that the UN seek an ICJ opinion about Israel's occupation. The measures include the freezing of Palestinian construction plans in Area C, offsetting Palestinian tax revenues and "action against organizations that promote hostile activity, including political-legal activity against Israel under the guise of humanitarian activity." Palestine condemned the moves.
11 January According to Palestinian state media, a 21-year-old Palestinian succumbed to wounds sustained earlier during an Israeli raid on Balata refugee camp.
Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem raised Palestinian flags in response to a decision on 8 January by Ben-Gvir, who ordered Israeli police to remove Palestinian flags from public spaces and said the Palestine Liberation Organisation was a terrorist organisation. Ben-Gvir also compared the flag to a Nazi symbol on Twitter. Amnesty International said the Israeli restrictions against flying the flag were "a shameless attempt to legitimise racism".
A 19-year-old Palestinian was killed by an armed Israeli civilian at the illegal outpost of Havat Yehuda (Yehuda farm) in the South Hebron Hills. The Palestinian stabbed the 25-year-old Israeli owner of the illegal farm in the head, moderately wounding him. According to the owner's wife, the assailant was then shot and killed by another Israeli man who had come to repair an electrical problem and witnessed the attack.
12 January [Conflicting accounts] Israeli forces killed a 41-year-old Palestinian during a raid on the Qalandia refugee camp. According to Al Jazeera he "was shot by an Israeli sniper while standing with other family members on the roof of their home watching the raid", his son having been arrested 10 minutes earlier while Haaretz reported that the man was shot while trying to prevent the arrest of his son. The military said that during the raid "suspects threw stones and cement blocks from the roofs of the houses at the forces in a way that endangered the lives of the fighters, who responded by dispersing demonstrations and shooting" and that "an injury was detected", but did not confirm the death. Israeli forces conducted a raid in Qabatiya to capture an individual wanted by Israeli authorities for alleged participation in terror activities and for planning future attacks. As the suspect and a second individual fled arrest, Israeli forces opened fire, with the second suspect hit by the bullets. According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, a 25 year old Palestinian man was shot in the head during clashes in the area. An 18-year-old Palestinian who was critically wounded at the time later died from his wounds. It was not clear if the two dead were involved in the gunfire, the violent riots, or if one was the second suspect. The IDF said it had killed three Palestinians and injured another after they had infiltrated the illegal Jewish settlement of Adora in the West Bank and opened fire at its soldiers.
13 January Israeli forces killed two Palestinians, a 23 and a 24-year-old, during a raid on Jaba, south of Jenin. The military said its soldiers opened fire after gunmen in a passing vehicle shot at them. Militant group Islamic Jihad said both of them as members of the group and described them as "heroic martyrs" who tried to intervene during the raid. According to Palestinian state media, a 19-year-old Palestinian shot by Israeli soldiers in Kufr Dan on 2 January succumbed to his wounds raising the number of Palestinians killed to 12 in 2023.
15 January [conflicting reports] A 45-year-old Palestinian was killed by Israeli forces. According to Al Jazeera, citing Palestinian media, the man was reportedly told to get out of his car and argued with soldiers before being shot whereas Israeli media reported that, according to the Israeli military, the man had a knife and had been shot after approaching a soldier's post and pulling out a knife. A later report by the Independent/AP, states "The Israeli military said soldiers spotted a vehicle they considered suspicious which refused to stop for inspection near the West Bank town of Silwad. A clash broke out when the soldiers attempted to detain one of the people in the vehicle, and soldiers opened fire when one of the vehicle's passengers tried to grab a soldier's weapon." According to the New Arab, "The man's son, Qusai Kahla, told AFP he was in the car with his father when they were stopped at the checkpoint and said "Soldiers came and they sprayed pepper spray on my face and pulled me out of the car, I don't know what happened after that, I found out from my uncle that my dad was killed." Subsequently, the Israeli army changed its explanation, Having initially said that a man in a car threw stones and then approached soldiers with a knife, it is now said that soldiers called for the man to stop and used tear gas when he refused. Then the man refused to get out of his car, there was a confrontation, that he tried to steal a weapon from a soldier and was shot. On 23 January, the Times of Israel reported that the military launched an investigation after concluding that the Palestinian was unnecessarily shot dead and not a terrorist as originally reported.
16 January The Palestinian Ministry of health said that Israeli forces killed a 14-year-old Palestinian during a raid on the Dheisheh Refugee camp. The Israeli army said that it was in response to rocks, Molotov cocktails and improvised explosive devices thrown at them. Palestinian Prisoner's Society reported that soldiers searched for a Palestinian Journalist and entered the homes of his mother, finding a 50-year-old Italian woman activist accompanied her mother. The Italian women was arrested with not clear reason and later was returned to Italy.
Hamas released an undated video allegedly of Israeli hostage Avera Mengistu. No confirmed footage of Mengistu has been released since he was detained in September 2014. A brother of Mengistu's was unable to confirm whether or not the person in the video was his brother Avera, although he did not believe it was him.The Prime Minister's Office released a statement maintaining that "the State of Israel invests all its resources and efforts to return its missing sons held captive to their home".