Gaza War (2008–2009)

2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict
Part of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict
Map of Gaza
Date 27 December 2008–present Location Gaza Strip & Southern Israel Result Conflict ongoing
Belligerents
Israel (IDF)	Hamas Islamic Jihad
Commanders and leaders
Ehud Barak (DefMin) Gabi Ashkenazi (CoS) Yoav Galant (Chief of Southern Command)	Ismail Haniyeh Mahmoud az-Zahar Ahmed al-Ja'abari Osama Mazini
Strength
176,500 (10,000 deployed)	20,000
Casualties and losses
Killed: 5 (2 soldiers, 3 civilians) Wounded: ~60 civilians ~30 soldiers	Killed: 464 (~348 police, security forces, militants, ~116 civilians) Wounded: 2,200
1 Egyptian border guard officer killed and 1 wounded.

The 2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict, part of the wider Israeli-Palestinian conflict, refers to an ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas which began when, in response to Hamas mortar attacks, the Israel Defense Forces launched a series of airstrikes, known as Operation Cast Lead (Hebrew: מבצע עופרת יצוקה, Mivtza Oferet Yetzukah), against targets in the Gaza Strip, after preparing for the operation for over six months. On 27 December 2008, (11:30 am local time (9:30 am UTC)) Israeli airstrikes hit various high-profile military and security targets and others it claims are related to the Hamas government.

A six-month truce between Hamas and Israel ended on 19 December 2008, and was not renewed when Hamas intensified its rocket attacks on Israel. Hamas blamed Israel for the end of the ceasefire, saying it had not respected its terms, including the lifting of the Gaza Strip blockade. Israel claimed the attacks are being undertaken in order to destroy Hamas' capability to launch attacks on Israel.

By the first evening, Israeli Air Force fighter aircraft had deployed approximately 100 tonnes (110 short tons) of explosives, with an estimated 95 percent reaching their intended targets, according to IAF sources. Israel bombed roughly 100 Hamas-operated security installations (including police stations, prisons, and command centers) in four minutes during the first wave of the strike. Israel also hit Hamas operated security installations in all of Gaza's main towns, including Gaza City and Beit Hanoun in the north and Khan Younis and Rafah in the south.

At least 225 people were killed in the first day of strikes, making this the bloodiest day in the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Later strikes have resulted in significant civilian casualties as well. There are also indication that the Israelis are using fuel air bombs and depleted uranium warheads. Many bodies of Palestinian victims are shredded and burnt.

The Israeli Navy has shelled targets in Gaza, instituting at the same time a naval blockade of Gaza, which has resulted in one naval incident with a civilian boat.

Hamas increased its attacks with rockets and mortars, and increasing the distance of attacks to as far away as 40 kilometres (25 mi) from the Gaza border, hitting civilian communities like Beersheba and Ashdod. These attacks have resulted in civilian casualties and damage to infrastructure, including an empty school.

The IDF started massing infantry and armor units near the Gaza border and engaged in an active blockade of Gaza. On 3 January 2009, a ground invasion began, with mechanised infantry, armor, and artillery units, supported by armed helicopters, entering Gaza.

Both Israel and Hamas are under pressure for a humanitarian truce, while Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that Hamas' Damascus based political leader, Khaled Meshal, had changed his earlier calls for ending the lull and started calling for a truce. Israel has said its military action could last weeks, while Israeli defense minister Ehud Barak stated that this will be a "war to the bitter end." Hamas officials in the Gaza Strip have also dismissed the idea of a cease-fire.

International reactions to the conflict have either condemned the Israeli operation, or the Hamas' attacks, or both. Many countries and organisations have called for an immediate ceasefire and have expressed concern about the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip. Israel maintains that a humanitarian cease-fire is not necessary at this point.

Background

Main articles: Israeli–Palestinian conflict, 2007–2008 Israel-Gaza conflict, and Blockade of the Gaza Strip

See also: List of Qassam rocket attacks and List of rocket and mortar attacks in Israel in 2008

On 19 June 2008, a six-month Egyptian-brokered cease-fire agreement went into effect between Hamas and Israel. The first serious violation of the agreement occurred on 23 June 2008 when one mortar shell was fired from Gaza. The following day three Qassam rockets were fired into Sderot, Israel, causing two minor injuries. The attacks, came from Islamic Jihad, an organisation independent of Hamas, and Hamas subsequently pressured the group into abiding by the ceasefire. A major eruption of violence occurred on 4 November 2008 when Israeli troops raided the Gaza Strip and killed six Hamas gunmen in an attempt to target a tunnel which, according to the IDF, the Hamas was planning to use to capture Israeli soldiers positioned on the border fence 250 metres (270 yd) away.

On 13 December 2008, Israel announced that it was in favor of extending the cease-fire, provided Hamas adhered to its conditions. Having previously asserted that an end to the truce would carry huge popular support and that there are daily Israeli attacks, on 20 December Hamas officially announced that they would not be extending the cease-fire. Citing Israeli border closures as the primary reason, Hamas then resumed its shelling of the western Negev. Hamas blamed Israel for the end of the ceasefire, saying it had not respected its terms, including the lifting of the blockade, under which little more than humanitarian aid has been allowed into Gaza. Israel said it initially began easing the blockade, but resumed it when Hamas failed to fulfill the agreed conditions, including ending all rocket fire and halting weapons smuggling.

The New York Times summed up the situation leading to the complete breakdown of the cease-fire and the dramatic increase in hostilities thusly:

Opening the routes to commerce was Hamas’s main goal in its cease-fire with Israel, just as ending the rocket fire was Israel’s central aim. But while rocket fire did go down drastically in the fall to 15 to 20 a month from hundreds a month, Israel said it would not permit trade to begin again because the rocket fire had not completely stopped and because Hamas continued to smuggle weapons from Egypt through desert tunnels. Hamas said this was a violation of the agreement, a sign of Israel’s real intentions and cause for further rocket fire. On Wednesday [24 Dec 08], some 70 rockets hit Israel over 24 hours, in a distinct increase in intensity.

On 23 December 2008, the IDF killed three Palestinian militants who were planting explosives on the Gaza border. Israel was also reluctant to open the border crossings, which had been closed since November. On 24 December the Negev was hit by more than 60 mortar shells and Katyusha and Qassam rockets, and the IDF was given a green light to operate. Hamas claimed to have fired a total of 87 rockets and mortar rounds that day at Israeli targets, codenaming the firing "Operation Oil Stain".

On 26 December 2008, Israel reopened five crossings between Israel and Gaza for humanitarian supplies. Fuel was allowed in for Gaza's main power plant and about 100 trucks loaded with grain, humanitarian aid and other goods were expected during the day. Israel also reopened border crossings and announced, for the sake of Hamas deception, that it would continue deliberations on what course of action to take on 28 December. Rocket attacks continued — about a dozen rockets and mortar bombs were fired from Gaza into Israel, one accidentally striking a northern Gaza house and killing two Palestinian sisters, aged five and thirteen, while wounding a third. According to Israeli defense officials, the subsequent Israeli offensive took Hamas by surprise, thereby increasing their casualties.

Planning

The operation had been reportedly in the planning for over six months, from the approximate time that the temporary cease-fire between Israel and Hamas was signed. On 19 November, the operation plan was submitted for Israeli Minister of Defense Ehud Barak's final approval. On 18 December, Barak met with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert at the IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv to approve the operation. Later, the Israeli cabinet unanimously voted in favor of the strike, leaving it for the Prime Minister, the Defense Minister and the Foreign Minister to work out the timing.

Planning for the operation itself began more than six months before it was finally implemented. The plan included a large intelligence-gathering operation by Aman and the Shin Bet to map out Hamas security targets. According to Haaretz, sources in the defense establishment said Barak instructed the IDF to prepare for the operation over six months ago. This intelligence-gathering effort brought back information about Hamas' security infrastructure, permanent bases, weapon silos, training camps, the homes of senior officials and coordinates of other facilities.

It reached Barak's desk for approval on 19 November, though it was not until 18 December that he and Olmert met to approve it; the plan was subsequently delayed in order to see how Hamas would react after the cease-fire's expiration. On 24 December the Israeli cabinet met to talk about the proposed operation, and approved it unanimously after a five-hour meeting. Egyptian Foreign Minister Abou el Gheit said that Egypt didn't have prior knowledge of the date of the attack. A final meeting of defense and intelligence chiefs took place on the morning of 26 December, followed by a meeting between Olmert, Livni, and Barak. They gave the final orders for the operation to the Israeli Air Force, and that night, into the morning of 27 December, various Israeli political leaders were told of the decision.

According to the Israeli government and the UN, telephone calls from the IDF or leaflets dropped by airplanes to people throughout Gaza ordering evacuation from homes before specific bombings were widely reported. As also reported by the UN, in some cases the strikes occurred only five minutes after the flee call. Given the high population density in Gaza and the proximity between their homes, this has caused "considerable" panic and uncertainty among residents.

Launched during the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, the operation was named after a line in the children's Hanukkah song "In Honor of Hanukkah" (Hebrew: לכבוד החנוכה) by Hayyim Nahman Bialik in which a dreidel made of "cast lead" is mentioned.

Development

27 December 2008

The Jerusalem Post reported based on Israeli military sources that:

At 11:30 a.m., more than 50 fighter jets and attack helicopters swept into Gazan airspace and dropped more than 100 bombs on 50 targets. The planes reported ‘alpha hits,’ IAF lingo for direct hits on the targets, which included Hamas paramilitary bases, training camps, headquarters and offices. Thirty minutes later, a second wave of 60 jets and helicopters struck at 60 targets, including underground Kassam launchers — placed inside bunkers and missile silos — that had been fitted with timers.

The aircraft used were F-16 fighter jets and AH-64 Apache helicopters. The air-strikes against Hamas targets in Gaza killed at least 228 and wounded around 780. Israeli authorities stated that the attack was a response to Qassam rocket attacks on southern Israel which intensified during the few weeks preceding the operation. About 140 members of Hamas security forces had been killed, including police chief Tawfiq Jabber, the head of Hamas’ security and protection unit and the police commander for central Gaza, along with at least 15 civilians. Children have been reported among the casualties. The bombed areas included a passing out ceremony for new police officers, killing around 40 cadets. A mosque in Gaza City was also targeted in the airstrikes, killing two Palestinians. Israeli military spokesmen claimed that the mosque was being used for "terrorist activities".

Sixty Israeli planes targeted Hamas security and military training compounds, as well as weapon storage buildings, and dropped more than 100 tons of bombs. Some of the bombs used on 27 and 28 December against underground Qassam launchers and tunnels around Rafah were the US built GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb, the first shipment of which arrived in Israel at the beginning of the month. It is the most extensive attack in Gaza since 1967 in terms of the number of Palestinian casualties in one day.

The day has become referred to by some Palestinians as the Massacre of the Black Saturday.. Between 225 and 292 Palestinians were killed in this attack and more than 1,000 were injured. The Israeli attack is considered to be the bloodiest one-day death toll in 60 years of conflict with the Palestinians.

Hamas later fired 70 rockets and mortars at Israel. One of the rockets hit the town of Netivot, killing an Israeli man, destroying a house and wounding six other people. Another rocket hit a synagogue in the Eshkol Regional Council, injuring two men, one seriously. In the evening, two men in the Israeli community of Mivtahim were injured from a direct hit of a Hamas' rocket; one of them was seriously wounded.

According to United Nations officials, fuel deliveries to the Gaza Strip through the Nahal Oz crossing were suspended, with the last delivery taking place a day previous on 26 December.

28 December 2008

Twenty-five airstrikes were carried out on Sunday by Israel, raising the numbers of casualties to 287 dead and 900 wounded. According to the Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit, the situation was further complicated by Hamas' refusal to allow the wounded to leave Gaza for medical treatment. One rocket shot by an F-16 fighter jet on a mosque near Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, from which rockets were reported to be launched, killed four Hamas militants. In Gaza City, 5 daughters from the same family were killed in an Israeli airstrike. Israeli jets bombed tunnels in the Rafah area that were used to smuggle both civilian goods such as fuel and weapons after Israel and Egypt imposed the blockade of Gaza in June 2007. Israel targeted them due to their presumed use for illicit smuggling of weapons, explosives and fugitives. The main road of Sallah el-Dein in northern Gaza Strip was bombed. The road leads to the towns of Beit Hanoun, Beit Lahia and Jabalia. No injuries were reported. An Israeli air-to-ground rocket destroyed a metal workshop in northern Gaza City which, according to Israel, was used in manufacturing Qassam rockets fired at Israel. The Al-Noor organisation in Gaza City, belonging to the Hamas movement, was bombed, causing severe damage to the building. The main building of the Hamas-owned Al Aqsa TV station was struck. The station continued broadcasting via a "mobile unit". Aidan White, Secretary-General of the International Federation of Journalists condemned the destruction of the television station, stating that international law "forbids attacks on media installations, even when they are instruments of propaganda". The IAF attacked Jabalia and northern Gaza killing two more people and wounding others. An attack on Al Saraya, a building which includes government offices, security offices and a prison in Gaza city, was carried out, causing the deaths of four people. A fuel lorry traveling in Rafah near the Egyptian border was destroyed, killing six people. IDF also confirmed the attack on weapon smuggling underground tunnels in Philadelphi Route and claimed successful destruction of 40 of them in just four minutes. Missiles also hit near the Beit Hanoun City Hall.

The rockets shooting from the Gaza Strip continued, and the range was extended. Three rockets landed near the city of Ashdod – the fifth largest Israeli city and a main sea port. The border with Egypt was breached and inhabitants from Gaza moved into Egypt. One Egyptian border policeman was killed by Palestinian gunmen, and several Palestinians were wounded by Egyptian gunfire and taken to hospital in Egypt.

29 December 2008

Inspecting Kassam rocket damage in Sderot

Just after midnight on 29 December, Israeli forces made six separate airstrikes against the Islamic University of Gaza, a cultural symbol of Hamas, though the university had evacuated days in advance. According to Israeli reports, the university hosts Hamas military wing laboratories under the auspices of its professors, as well as being used for meetings of Hamas military officials. The death toll rose to 315 that morning, as reported by the Associated Press. The Palestinian interior ministry in Gaza building was hit by Israeli missiles at dawn. These two sites, both located in the Tel al-Hawa neighborhood, are reported to be the two main targets Monday. A mosque in the Jabaliya refugee camp was also bombed by the IAF, destroying the building and leading to the death of five young girls whose house was located next to it. Ziad Abu-Tir, a senior member of the Islamic Jihad's military wing was killed in a strike in the Khan Younis area.

The International Red Cross said hospitals in the Gaza Strip were overwhelmed and unable to cope with the casualties. Red Cross spokesman in Gaza Iyad Nasr said Gaza needed more supplies to be brought in urgently. According to him, "in particular the hospitals have been depleted and stretched to the maximum because of the closure imposed". According to the IDF, Israel permitted a number of Turkish-donated ambulances from the West Bank to be transported to the Gaza Strip, as well as medical supplies given by the Red Cross, UNRWA, World Food Programme and Doctors Without Borders.

The Israeli city of Ashkelon was hit by a Grad rocket, killing an Israeli-Arab construction worker and seriously wounding three other people. Rockets fired from Gaza by Hamas and Islamic Jihad killed two Israelis after nightfall in less than an hour, increasing pressure on the government as the army amassed infantry and armored forces along the border.

The AP reports: "Israel's military intelligence chief said Hamas' ability to fire rockets had been reduced by 50 percent. Indeed, Hamas rocket fire dropped off sharply, from more than 130 on Saturday to just more than 20 yesterday. Still, Hamas continues to command some 20,000 fighters".

The foreign ministry of Senegal reported that exiled Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal has said he is ready to sign an immediate ceasefire with Israel provided Israel lifts its blockade on the Gaza Strip totally.

On 29 December the IDF spokesperson confirmed for the first time that, apart from maintaining the naval blockade on Gaza, the Israeli Navy is taking an active part in the operation. A video taken by the Israeli Navy and published in several news sites showed the Israeli Navy attacking the Gaza coast line, using both Typhoon Weapon System and surface-to-surface missiles.

According to Haaretz, among the targets hit by the Israeli Navy were Ismayil Haniah's offices, several command and control centers used by Hamas, and a Hamas patrol boat. On 31 December, the Israeli Navy "targeted a number of Hamas outposts and rocket launching sites", according to the IDF spokesperson. On January 4, Israel extended the naval blockade from 6 to 20 nautical miles (11–37 km; 6.9–23.0 mi), preventing all vessels from trying to enter the strip.

Dignity incident

On 29 December 2008, 16 international activists from the international political organisation Free Gaza Movement, including three al Jazeera journalists, Irish human rights activist Caoimhe Butterly, former United States Representative and 2008 Green Party nominee for U.S. President Cynthia McKinney, CNN video correspondent Karl Penhaul, and three surgeons including Dr. Elena Theoharous, a member of the Cyprus Parliament, attempted to enter the Gaza Strip by boat, carrying 3.5 tonnes (3.9 short tons) of medical supplies. The activists stated that several Israeli navy boats approached their boat, Dignity. According to Reuters, Free Gaza member David Halpin said that Israeli officers on board asked the captain to halt the boat's course to Gaza, but he refused. According to Penhaul, one Israeli boat rammed the Dignity causing heavy damage, while other passengers also claimed that several Israeli boats fired machine guns into the water. The activists claimed that their boat was clearly in international waters, about "70-80 miles" or "90 miles" from the Gaza Strip coast. McKinney claimed that the Israeli boat had rammed the Dignity "approximately three times, twice in the front and once in the side".

Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor claimed that no shooting had occurred, the Dignity was inside Israeli territorial waters, and that it had failed to respond to Israeli naval radio contact. Palmor claimed that the Dignity had crashed into an Israel boat when the Dignity had tried to outmaneuver the Israeli boat. Palmor also claimed that the fact that the ship was carrying journalists, including a CNN crew that had already broadcast live three times, proved that the incident was a provocation on the part of the media. Immediately after the incident the Dignity turned back. Palmor stated that the naval ship offered to assist the passengers of the Dignity, who declined the offer. Palmor also stated that Israeli ships then escorted the damaged Dignity to Cypriot territorial waters or, according to YNET, until it exited Israeli territorial waters. The Dignity did not have enough fuel to return to Cyprus and ended up docking in Lebanon.

Cypriot Foreign Minister Markos Kyprianou stated that Cyprus would lodge a formal complaint regarding the incident. In a written statement, the Consulate General of Israel to the Southeast USA, based in Atlanta, Georgia, said that McKinney "has taken it upon herself to commit an act of provocation", endangering herself and the crew, and called her behavior "irresponsible".

30 December 2008

Israeli airstrikes struck five ministerial buildings, another structure owned by Islamic University, a Hamas sports centre, two Hamas training camps, the home of a senior Hamas commander (who was not present), and offices of the Popular Resistance Committees; 10 fatalities were reported. The "whole compound" of ministerial buildings in Gaza City, including the Ministries of Finance, Interior and Education, were "completely destroyed" by 30 December. A reporter for the International Middle East Media Center stated that the ministries were 'not "terrorist" or military sites' and that the buildings were "civilian buildings that served the population in civil matters".

According to the Washington Post, Israel military officials have said that the target lists have been expanded beyond rocket launchers and stores of weapons to include the vast support network that the Islamist movement relies on to stay in power in the strip in order to weaken all the various facets of Hamas rather than just its armed wing.

As reported by the Associated Press, Gazans say that most Israeli strikes came without warning, but Israeli forces claimed that they offered general warnings by dropping leaflets and recording announcements that interrupt radio broadcasts telling Gaza residents to flee their homes if they were hiding weapons or militants. According to Amnesty International, "there are no 'safe' places in Gaza for civilians to seek shelter".

Israel kept schools closed within a radius of about 30 km (18 miles) from the Gaza border, citing concerns about further rocket fire. Residents were told to remain indoors and on the alert for alarms heralding incoming rockets. Israel has said it would allow more aid trucks into Gaza. Dozens of trucks loaded with goods were seen heading to Gaza crossings early on Tuesday.

Hamas launched Chinese-made rockets at Beersheba, a city in southern Israel. A Grad missile landed in an empty kindergarten, causing damage.

Egypt said it would only fully open its border with the Gaza Strip if the crossing post was to come under the control of Mahmoud Abbas' Palestinian Authority.

Hamas militants fired 24 Qassam rockets and 11 mortars into Israel from Gaza, causing some damage but no injuries.

Israel has banned reporters from entering the Gaza strip since November 2008, citing "security" reasons. A petition made by 400 foreign journalists to enter the Gaza strip has been filed with Israel's supreme court.

Israel permitted 100 aid trucks to enter the Gaza strip via Kerem Shalom border crossing, carrying humanitarian supplies. Five new ambulances donated by Turkey were also allowed entry.

31 December 2008

Forty Palestinians, including at least five civilians, were killed during continued air strikes. Israel continued bombing, striking "dozens of targets" including smuggling tunnels along the Gaza–Egypt border.

During the morning, two more rockets launched from Gaza hit the city of Beersheba; one of the rockets hit a school, causing severe damage to the building, but no casualties, as Israeli authorities instructed schools to remain closed. Two rockets landed in the Israeli city of Ashkelon, causing light injuries to two people; another rocket hit the town of Ofakim; several more landed around these cities and the cities of Kiryat Gat, Kiryat Malachi and Ashdod. Altogether, more than 60 Katyusha and Qassam rockets were fired from Gaza into Israel.

According to UN humanitarian coordinator Maxwell Gaylard, Gaza's hospitals were facing severe strain dealing with "their largest ever trauma caseloads under some of the most adverse conditions imaginable". Douglas Alexander, Britain's International Development Secretary is quoted saying "Thousands are suffering. Medical items are in short supply. Fuel shortages have led to power cuts which in turn are affecting hospitals and other essential services. And UN stocks of food are very low. The limited aid that is getting through cannot be distributed properly because of bombing from the air and rocket attacks launched from inside Gaza". A seriously injured six-year-old Palestinian boy was allowed to be transferred from Gaza to an Israeli children's hospital for treatment.

Israel rejected international appeals proposed by the French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner to grant a 48-hour cease-fire, saying that conditions were not right for the ceasefire. Meanwhile, Hamas spokesman Ayman Taha told the AFP agency that Hamas is open to any ceasefire proposition that will end the Israeli airstrikes and stop the Gaza blockade. Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, threatened to halt peace talks if they go against the Palestinian interests and offer support for "aggression".

In a briefing to the Israeli cabinet, Shin Bet Chief Yuval Diskin said that Hamas has suffered significant damages and its rule over Gaza has been compromised, and that many Hamas operatives are hiding in hospitals, posing as medical staff, or hiding in mosques and using them as headquarters, since they assumed Israel won't attack them there. According to the Israeli air force, Hamas cells have been firing rockets from within densely populated areas and attempting to use Palestinian civilians as human shields. Cells have been detected in neighborhoods in Gaza City, Jabalya, Khan Younis and Rafah. The Israel Defense Forces has distributed flyers to the Palestinian population in Gaza, warning civilians not to stay close to any Hamas related buildings, for their own safety. The Israeli Air Force bombed a Gaza Strip mosque. According to the IDF the mosque was used by Hamas as a storage site for missiles and explosive materials and that rocket cells were firing at Israel from the mosque area and from nearby sites. Israel officials claim that the attack on the mosque was carried out after legal consultion with IDF experts on international law.

Israel's supreme court, in response to a court petition heard the previous day, "gave the Israeli government until 10 a.m. Thursday to allow a small group of reporters into the Gaza Strip. The court warned that the reporters would be in the embattled area at their own risk". The ruling "went against a government decision six weeks ago to keep foreign reporters out of Gaza until rockets fired against Israel were halted".

Ninety-three trucks carrying medicine, medical supplies and food donated by Jordan and international organisations were allowed entry to the Gaza Strip, through the Kerem Shalom border crossing. The World Food Programme notified the IDF that it was not in need of any further food shipments, as its warehouses were filled to capacity.

Top UN aid officials urged Israel to allow for the resumption of fuel deliveries into the Gaza Strip, noting that the fuel shortage resulting from the suspension of deliveries had caused the main power plant in Gaza to shut down on 30 December, affecting 650,000 people in Central and Northern Gaza, who live with 16 hours or more of powercuts per day.

1 January 2009

Palestinian Legislative Council building

Israeli air strikes hit Gaza's parliament building, and the offices of the education and justice ministries, leaving four dead and 25 wounded. A pre-dawn strike against the home of a Hamas operative resulted in the death of a Palestinian woman. Palestinian reports also mention missiles landed on a workshop and several money changers' offices, one of which was close to a children's hospital, slightly damaging it. In Rafah, air strikes destroyed five smuggling tunnels and a police command center, while in Gaza City, an alleged weapons manufacturing center and storage facility was destroyed. Dozens of Israelis received text messages from Hamas in the morning warning that the offensive on Gaza would only bring about massive rocket fire on Israel. According to Israeli military sources, Hamas launched more than 50 rockets into Israel without causing casualties. Rockets hit Beersheba and Ashdod, damaging a residential building in the latter city.

An Israeli warplane dropped a one-ton bomb on the home of Nizar Rayan, a senior Hamas political leader, in the Jabaliya refugee camp, killing him and up to 18 others, mostly members of his family, and wounding another 30. As a liaison between the political and armed wings of Hamas and advocate of renewing suicide bombings, Rayan is the most senior political figure to be killed by Israel since 2004. According to the IDF, Rayan's house was used as an arms cache, a communications headquarters and concealed a tunnel's opening. The International Herald Tribune reported that among those killed were Rayan's four wives and nine of their twelve children. On 2 January, the Times Online reports instead that two of his four wives and four of his 12 children were killed. UN OCHA reports that 13 of his family members, including 11 of his children, were killed and 12 were injured. There were reports that the family was warned by the IDF to leave the building but that they had refused to do so. According to ynet, recent deliberations by the IDF resulted in a decision that striking homes used as weapons storages when sufficient warning is given to the residents falls within the boundaries of international law and is legitimate. Rayan had sent his son to carry out a suicide attack in the community of Elei Sinai in 2001 in which two Israelis were killed, and was behind the bombing in the Ashdod Port in 2004 which left 10 Israelis dead.

Ninety trucks carrying food and medical supplies provided by international organisations entered the Gaza Strip through the Kerem Shalom border crossing. Egypt blocked the entry of humanitarian aid from Qatar to pass through the Rafah crossing, however, Israel announced it would allow several aircraft from Qatar to land in Israel and the aid will be sent by truck to Gaza.

2 January 2009

Hamas called for a "Day of Wrath" against Israel, bringing thousands of protesters out onto the streets of Gaza and the West Bank. Israeli air strikes on Friday targeted the homes of 20 Hamas officials, including that of Imad Akel in Nuseirat and Mohammed Madhoun. One of the strikes in Khan Yunis killed five civilians. Israel began to bomb the ground near its boundary in an attempt to clear it of landmines, increasing speculation that a ground offensive is imminent. Israel briefly opened the Erez crossing to allow about 440 residents with foreign passports to leave the Gaza Strip. Foreign journalists continued to be barred entry to Gaza; those who had lined up at the Erez crossing intending to enter after a court decision supported their right to do so when the crossing is open, were turned back by Israeli authorities. At around 10:45, in a repeat attack south-west of Deir al-Balah, an International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement ambulance, which had arrived to transport survivors following an initial attack, was destroyed by a second Israeli attack. The two crew members in the ambulance were injured and hospitalised.

Throughout the day, thirty rockets were fired at Israel; three people were lightly injured, and several buildings sustained heavy damage. In Jerusalem, access of men to prayers in the Al-Aqsa Mosque was prohibited except for Israeli ID holders above 50 years of age.

3 January 2009

Early on Saturday, an Israeli air strike in the Gaza Strip killed a senior commander of Hamas' armed wing, Abu Zakaria al-Jamal. He was commander of Gaza City's rocket-launching squads. In another air strike, Jamal Mamduch, commander of the Gaza City battalion, was killed. Many of the killed Hamas leaders have died along with their families in their own homes. Thirteen Palestinians, including four children, were killed and dozens wounded when the Israeli Air Force bombed the Maqadna Mosque in Beit Lahiya, in which about 200 people had gathered for evening prayers. Another person was killed as large parts of the American International School in that city were destroyed.

At least 34 rockets were fired at Israel during the day, damaging several buildings, and lightly injuring one woman in Netivot. A number of Hamas rockets hit the city of Beersheba (population 186,000) in southern Israel, with one exploding on an empty school.

Israel stepped up its offensive on Gaza and launched its first artillery barrages, as its campaign entered its second week. Israel has now carried out more than 700 strikes on Gaza since launching the offensive a week ago, the AFP news agency says. Four Israelis have been killed by rockets fired from Gaza.

The UN has warned of a worsening humanitarian crisis, and believes 25% of the more than 400 Palestinians killed by Israel so far were civilians.

On the evening of 3 January, Israeli ground troops began entering Gaza for the first time since the operation began. The intention of the ground invasion, termed the 'second stage' of Operation Cast Lead, according to the Israeli Defence Forces website, is to secure areas within the Gaza strip from which rocket fire has been launched even after the previous Israeli operations.

4 January 2009

Israeli ground troops entered Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza in the early hours.. Israeli forces reportedly bisected Gaza and surrounded Gaza City, but restricted their movements to areas that were not heavily urbanized. The Israeli military said forty sites had been targeted, including targets for weapons depots and rocket launch sites. Despite a Supreme Court ruling to allow a limited number of journalists into the warzone, Israel is refusing to allow journalists into the area at all. Heavy fighting was reported near Gaza City. The IDF reports that 30 of its soldiers were wounded (28 from a single mortar shell which landed next to a Golani regiment), and that 2 (out of those 30) are badly injured. The Israeli Government also reported that they killed at least 50 Hamas militants in the overnight ground operation, and wounded dozens more. Palestinian medical sources claimed that at least 21 Palestinians were killed in the fighting. Later on Sunday, one Israeli soldier was reported killed as a result of the earlier mortar incident.

Three senior Hamas leaders have been killed on Sunday: Hussam Hamdan, who according to the IDF was responsible for the organization's rocket fire and the man behind the firing of Grad missiles towards the cities of Beersheba and Ofakim; Muhammad Hilou, who according to the IDF was responsible for Hamas' special forces in Khan Younis and for the firing of long-range rockets; and Mohammed Shalpokh.

Also on January 4, the director of Israel's internal security agency, the Shin Bet, told the cabinet that Hamas leaders both at home and in exile felt that their organization was facing an "existential threat" and was "willing to reach an agreement" on a cease fire. However, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said that Israel did not intend to conclude a "diplomatic product" with Hamas. Such a move had been avoided in the past out of fear of legitimizing Hamas as a negotiating partner. On the military front, the head of Aman, Israeli military intelligence, stated that Hamas felt they had made a "strategic mistake" in breaking off the truce with Israel because much of their infrastructure had been destroyed and they found themselves isolated internationally in a "lepers' alliance with Iran and Syria". He also said: "The Hamas government isn't functioning, and the group's leaders aren't serving the citizens but themselves alone. There is much criticism of Hamas amongst Palestinians for bringing on this situation."

New York City Mayor, Michael Bloomberg, visited the Israeli city of Ashkelon and expressed his support of the IDF's Operation in the Gaza Strip.

Casualties

According to emergency services inside Gaza, at least 436 Palestinians have been killed so far, including at least 75 children, while more than 2,700 have been injured. Four Israelis have been killed in the same period by Palestinian rockets.

Medical sources in Gaza report that more than 400 Palestinians were killed. The UN has stated that there are over 300 dead, of which at least 60 are women or children. Most of the deaths were members of Hamas security forces, including Tawfik Jaber, the chief of Hamas police in Gaza. A United Nations relief agency has said that the humanitarian situation in Gaza is dire and on the brink of catastrophe. As of 31 December, the death toll among Gaza Strip residents had reached 410, according to the director of the al-Shifa Hospital, Dr. Hussein, and more than 1,720 people were wounded, "hundreds" of them seriously. In the first 48 hours of the airstrikes, at least 32 Palestinian children were killed. A day earlier, the United Nations humanitarian chief had said that about 320 Palestinians had been killed and 1400 injured. The UN said that civilian casualties, defined only as women and children, were 62. Israel said that most of the deaths and injuries were Hamas militants, and said it takes careful steps to avoid harm to bystanders. In a press conference in Gaza City on 29 December, a de facto Hamas Interior Ministry spokesperson, Ihab al-Ghusein, stated that most of the victims of the attacks were "Gazans at work, not activists launching rockets." According to the New York Times, not all Hamas members necessarily fully accept the organisation's ideology; young men might be simply tempted by the steady work of the police force as jobs are scarce in Gaza due to an international embargo on Hamas. A police spokesperson, Islam Shahwan, stated that "at least 95% of the security services buildings" were destroyed, and that 138 police officers had been killed: nine in Rafah, 29 in Khan Younis, 70 in Gaza City and 30 "in the north."

On the Israeli side, three civilians and one soldier have been killed by rocket attacks since the Gaza offensive began.

With many Gaza hospitals short of medicine, beds and food, dozens of Gaza Arabs are being treated in Ashkelon's Barzilai Hospital. Egypt has allowed some wounded to cross from Gaza for treatment.

One Egyptian border guard was killed and one was wounded by Palestinian gunmen.

On 31 December, the Palestinian Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip published a list of 187 of the people killed.

Humanitarian crisis in Gaza

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs states that the Gaza strip humanitarian crisis is significant and can not be understated. The UN states that the situation is a "18 month long human dignity crisis" in the Gaza strip, entailing "a massive destruction of livelihoods and a significant deterioration of infrastructure and basic services". Fear and panic are widespread; 80 percent of the population can not support themselves and are dependent on humanitarian assistance. Approximately 400 people spent the night of January 1st at emergency shelters provided by UNRWA.

Israel's foreign minister Tzipi Livni has stated that there's no humanitarian crisis in Gaza,and that Israel has thus protected the civilian population, keeping the humanitarian situation in Gaza "completely as it should be". The head of the Arab League, Amr Moussa, has criticised Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni for declaring that there was no humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip. He also criticised the Security Council for not responding faster to the crisis

The only power plant in Gaza is not operational due to the lack of industrial fuel. Power outages last a daily average of 16 hours. In addition, due to the damages caused by the air strikes to 15 electrical transformers, as much as 250,000 people in central and northern Gaza have no electricity supply during the entire day and night. As of the first of January, a 5MW line from Egypt to Rafah was damaged, extending the power cuts also to Rafah, which has usually continuous supply. Fuel for heating and cooking are no longer available and most of the 240 gas stations in Gaza City have closed.

The "entire civilian population" in the Gaza strip remains vulnerable. There is a sense of panic, fear and distress throughout the whole strip. Civilians have implemented a self imposed curfew since no public warning systems or effective shelters exist. Civilians face insecurities while re-stocking basic food items, water and cooking gas. Most families are holed up in one or two rooms that are considered the safest in the home, without electricity and with barely running water. Children have no outlets and entire families are moving to safer places at night. As of the third of January, the increasing number of leaflets warning people to evacuate the targeted areas exacerbated the confusion and panic among the civilian population.

Since 5 November, there has been a shortage of chlorine for water treatment, increasing the risk of outbreak of water diseases. On 27 December, Israeli airstrikes extensively damaged two water wells, rendering a population of 30,000 Palestinians without water. On 2 January, airstrikes in the Al Mughraga area damaged a main drinking water pipe, cutting off water supplies to 30,000 people in Nuseirat Camp. The UN sums the situation that as of 2 January, 250,000 people in Gaza City and northern Gaza are without water supply; seven water wells were seriously damaged and cannot be repaired due to bombardments.

Weakened by the eighteen-month Blockade of the Gaza Strip, as of 31 December the central drug store reported that 105 drugs and 255 medical supplies of the essential drug and supplies list are still unavailable, and approximately 20 percent of the ambulances were grounded due to lack of spare parts. According to the World Health Organisation, there are at least 1,000 medical machines out of order. As of the eighth day of war, this shortage of equipment and spare parts was still a "main challenge" but the Ministry of Health stated that "while conditions at hospitals are extremely precarious, the situation has stabilised, following the large volume of medical supplies received". Hospitals also suffer a "severe" shortage of cooking gas, which is expected to be totally depleted in the coming days.

The Israeli shekel is a widely used currency in the Gaza Strip, and the territory needs at least 400 million shekels, or about $100 million, each month in new currency to replace aging notes and to pay salaries. The ban on the entry of banknotes into Gaza has hampered several humanitarian programs run by the UNRWA. As of 3 of January, cash has still not entered the Gaza Strip and is urgently needed, including for the UNRWA cash distribution program to some 94,000 dependent beneficiaries, as well as its “cash for work” program..

Public relations campaign and media strategies

Israel

Haaretz reported that Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni "instructed senior ministry officials to open an aggressive and diplomatic international public relations campaign in order to gain support for Israel Defense Forces operations in the Gaza Strip". The campaign includes Ministry officials at Israeli embassies and consulates around the world mounting public relations campaigns that focus on local media and governmental officials, contacts by Livni with foreign officials in Israel, recruitment of people who speak Arabic, Italian, Spanish and German, and the opening of an international media centre in Sderot, to which "foreign media and diplomatic figures" will be invited. Livni will also hold a series of talks with foreign officials, "in which she will attempt to explain the rationale for the expanded IDF operations in the Gaza Strip".

Livni said Israel "expects the support and understanding of the international community, as it confronts terror, and advances the interest of all those who wish the forces of peace and co existence to determine the agenda of this region".

Deputy Foreign Minister Majallie Whbee on Sunday criticised the international media coverage.

"Some of the foreign media are not getting the Israeli side into their reporting", Whbee told The Jerusalem Post. This means the international media have often failed to report on the pervasive Kassam attacks that preceded the [current] violence, he said. "Instead of showing who these terrorists [Hamas] are and how Israeli children are hiding in bomb shelters afraid to leave", the media outlets are showing Hamas' side of the conflict, he said.

During the conflict, the Israeli government also tried to spread its message online: Israel's consulate in New York began holding online press conferences on Twitter, a microblogging website, and the IDF Spokesperson's Unit opened a channel on the website YouTube to diffuse video of airstrikes against Hamas targets.

Arab

The Los Angeles Times reports that "Pan-Arab satellite channels broadcast nearly nonstop images of bloodied Palestinian bodies, ambulances screaming and women wailing in hospital corridors. Al Jazeera quickly designed a logo for its live coverage, calling it 'Gaza Under Fire'". The New York Times likewise reported that "Across the region, the Israeli strikes were being broadcast in grisly detail almost continually on Arab satellite networks".

Reactions

Main article: International reaction to the 2008-2009 Israel-Gaza conflict

Most members of the Arab League including Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Qatar, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen have called for an end to the Israeli "attack" and/or "aggression". Libya appealed to the U.N. and sent aid to the Gaza Strip. Russia called Israel's use of force "disproportionate" and "unjustified". France condemned Hamas "provocations" while calling Israel's action "disproportionate"; the United Kingdom called for "maximum restraint" and a Hamas ceasefire. Turkey strongly condemned the attack by Israel against Hamas, with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan calling for an immediate halt of the Israeli operations. The United States, Australia, and Germany said that Israel's attack was a result of the Hamas bombing and that it condemned the attacks by Hamas. Some Arab states, especially Egypt, were condemned by others for being sympathetic or indifferent to the attacks. The United Nations Security Council called on December 28 "for an immediate halt to all violence".

Several Muslim religious authorities including Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, major Iraqi Shi'a cleric Ali Sistani and Aidh al-Qarni issued a fatwa urging Muslims to "avenge the Gaza raids."

In the first days after the beginning of the hostilities, over 300 Israeli Websites have been hacked and defaced with anti-Israeli and anti-US messages.At least 16 sites were hacked by Turkish militant hackers called the Red Hack Team.

Involved parties

• Israel – Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said "we tried to avoid, and I think quite successfully, to hit any uninvolved people - we attacked only targets that are part of the Hamas organisations".
• Palestinian National Authority – President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the attacks and called for restraint. Speaking from Cairo, he said Hamas could have avoided the attacks.
• Hamas – Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas' leader in Gaza, called Israel's attacks an "ugly massacre". The leader of Hamas in Damascus, Khaled Meshal, threatened revenge attacks, saying "the time for the third Intifada has come".
• Egypt – Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said "We warned Hamas repeatedly that rejecting the truce would push Israel to aggression against Gaza.", He also condemned Israel's "savage aggression", and further said Israel's "blood-stained hands are stirring up feelings of enormous anger" while calling for an immediate ceasefire.

International organisations and NGOs

• Arab League – The Arab League was planning on holding an emergency summit in Cairo on December 28 to discuss the attack. The summit was delayed to January 2, 2009 and will be held in Doha.
• European Union – A spokesman for the European Union’s Foreign Policy Chief, Javier Solana, called "for an immediate ceasefire" and urged "everybody to exert maximum restraint". France, which held the EU presidency until the end December 2008, condemned acts of violence on both sides, though it especially singled out "Israel's disproportional use of force". The European Commission has issued a statement urging both sides to halt the conflict so supplies can be delivered to Gaza's 1.5m population, and expressing "deep concern" about the situation. Shortly after Israel launched its ground operation, the European Union president, the Czech Republic, released a statement calling the Israeli ground operation in Gaza a "defensive, not offensive" action.
• Mercosur - Mercosur released an official statement expressing "concern and repudiation towards the spiral of violence and intimidation taking place in the Gaza Strip". The organization urged "both sides to end hostilities and formulate a call for the immediate resumption of dialogue, so as to ensure peace and justice in the region".
• United Nations – Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's spokesperson stated that "the secretary general is deeply alarmed by today’s heavy violence and bloodshed in Gaza, and the continuation of violence in southern Israel". Ban condemned Israel’s "excessive use of force leading to the killing and injuring of civilians" and ‘the ongoing rocket attacks by Palestinian militants'". He appealed for "an immediate halt to all violence [and reiterated] previous calls for humanitarian supplies to be allowed into Gaza to aid the distressed civilian population." Richard Falk, a United Nations Special Rapporteur for human rights in the Palestinian territories, issued a statement condemning the attacks as war crimes because they included collective punishment, targeting of civilians and a disproportionate military response to Hamas rocket attacks. In a Houston Chronicle article Falk reaffirmed that he had "called on the International Criminal Court" to investigate Israeli leaders responsible for possible violations of international criminal law". The President of the UN General Assembly Miguel d'Escoto called the Israeli incursion a "monstrosity", and criticised the "disfunctionality" of the UN Security Council.
• African Union – The African Union released a press statement stating the following: "The Commission of the African Union (AU) is following with great concern the prevailing situation in the Gaza Strip. The Commission strongly condemns the ongoing air raids on the Gaza Strip by Israel, since 27 December 2008, which has resulted so far in the death of more than 300 Palestinians, while about 1,000 others, including women and children, have been injured".
• Amnesty International said that "It is utterly unacceptable for Israel to continue to purposefully deprive 1.5 million people of food and other basic necessities. Such a policy cannot be justified on any security or other grounds and must end immediately". The organisation "also calls once again on Hamas and all other Palestinian armed groups in Gaza to stop firing indiscriminate rockets against towns and villages in southern Israel".

Civilian protests

Further information: [[:International reaction to the 2008-2009 Israel-Gaza conflict#Civilian Demonstrations and Protests|International reaction to the 2008-2009 Israel-Gaza conflict § Civilian Demonstrations and Protests]]

Protesters in Dar es Salaam

Major protests against Israel were held across the world in London, Paris, Berlin, Moscow, Amsterdam, Istanbul, Dublin, Cardiff and Madrid, as well as in dozens of American cities. Similar protests were held across Iran, Africa and the Arab world. Protests against Israeli airstrikes were also held in multiple cities in India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, as well as in the capitals of Bangladesh, Indonesia, and the Philippines.

In Israel demonstrations were held both in support of the operation and against it.

In Egypt, the protests caused the government to reopen the Rafah border crossing to allow the delivery of food and medicine to the Gaza Strip.

In America and across the globe, people have been signing a proclamation to the Israeli Consulate called the "Proclamation for Solidarity with Israel and the Christians in the Gaza Strip" through the American Center for Law and Justice. By signing the proclamation they pledge their support for Israel and its freedom as a nation. As of January 4th, 25494 people had signed the proclamation over the internet. The ACLJ Special Operations Team along with Jay Sekulow has been in Ashkelon to meet with Israeli President Shimon Peres and former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to express their support of Israel.

Violent reprisals

In London, Paris, Greece and Cyprus, some protests against Israel's offensive turned violent when protests pelted police with stones, sticks and other objects.

A Molotov cocktail was thrown at Chicago's Temple Sholom on 30 December, causing no damage. The temple president said he "can't help but think there's a relationship" between the attempted arson and the conflict in Gaza.

Alleged violations of international law

Under international humanitarian law, warring parties are obliged to distinguish between combatants and civilians, ensure that attacks on legitimate military targets are proportional, and guarantee that the military advantage of such attacks outweigh the possible harm done to civilians. Violations of these laws are considered war crimes.

Attacks by the Israeli Defense Forces

On 27 December, the United Nations Human Rights Council released a statement by Richard Falk, professor emeritus of international law at Princeton University and United Nations Special Rapporteur on "the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories", in his official capacity as "Special Rapporteur". The statement described the Israeli airstrikes as "severe and massive violations of international humanitarian law as defined in the Geneva Conventions, both in regard to the obligations of an Occupying Power and in the requirements of the laws of war."

The UNHRC statement highlighted three alleged violations

• Collective punishment - of all 1.5 million people in the Gaza Strip in response to the actions of a few.
• Targeting civilians - by carrying out airstrikes in densely-populated areas.
• Disproportionate military response - by destroying most of the police and security offices of Gaza's elected government and killing or injuring hundreds of civilians.

Scholars have debated whether Israeli military actions constitute a violation of International law.

Attacks by Palestinian militants

The UNHRC statement by Falk also alleged that "the rocket attacks against civilian targets in Israel are unlawful".

In a document dated 25 December, Justus Reid Weiner, an international human rights lawyer and Scholar-in-Residence at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, and Avi Bell, Director of the Global Law Forum at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs and Professor at the University of Connecticut School of Law, concur on the grounds of distinction, perfidy/civilian shields, terrorism and genocide. They argue that the very usage of weapons by Palestinians violates international law because their weaponry lacks the precision necessary for aiming. They also hold Hamas responsible for civilian deaths in Gaza because it blurs the line between civilians and combatants, which is a violation of Article 28 of the Geneva convention, which states that the presence of civilians "may not be used to render certain points or areas immune from military operations". Thus they argue that Palestinians are guilty of war crimes against the Palestinians killed in Gaza.

Weiner and Bell write that the Palestinian attacks are terrorist in nature, because they kill civilians to the effect of intimidating a population. Claiming that Hamas has violated the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism, and that every rocket launched since 2005 is a separate war crime, they hold the entire organisation and every militant responsible. They also argue that Hamas' attacks on Israel constitute acts of genocide (as defined by the Genocide convention), as they fall within its broader aim of killing Jews, outlined in its covenant. Thus they argue Israel is obligated by international law to "prevent and punish" Palestinian acts of genocide.

See also

• Military equipment of Israel
• Palestinian domestic weapons production
• List of rocket and mortar attacks in Israel in 2008, List of rocket and mortar attacks in Israel in 2009

External links

Individual news articles

• Gaza diary: Do Israel pilots feel happy killing innocent women and children? A Palestinian in Gaza chronicles life under Israeli bombardment by Fida Qishta guardian.co.uk, January 2, 2009
• Israelis Face Satisfaction, Fear Over Gaza Attacks Fox News, December 30, 2008
• Byers, David Gaza: secondary war being fought on the internet The Times, December 31, 2008