2014 Gaza War

Operation Protective Edge 2014
Part of the Gaza–Israel conflict
(left) A home in Gaza bombed by Israel (right) Iron Dome missile defense system in operation
Date 8 July 2014 (2014-07-08) – 26 August 2014 (50 days) Location Gaza Strip Israel Result Both sides claim victory According to Israel and an advisor to Palestinian president Abbas, Hamas was severely weakened and achieved none of its goals According to Hamas, Israel was repelled from Gaza
Belligerents
Israel Armament support: United States	Gazan militant groups Hamas Islamic Jihad DFLP PFLP PRC al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades Abdullah Azzam Brigades Armament support: Iran
Commanders and leaders
Benjamin Netanyahu Prime Minister Moshe Ya'alon Defense Minister Benny Gantz Chief of General Staff Amir Eshel Air Force Commander Ram Rothberg Naval Commander Sami Turgeman Southern Commander Mickey Edelstein Gaza Division Yoram Cohen Chief of Shin Bet	Khaled Mashal Leader of Hamas Ismail Haniyeh Deputy chief of Hamas Mohammed Deif Head of Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades Ramadan Shalah Leader of PIJ
Units involved
Israeli Army Israeli Air Force Israeli Navy File:ShabakLogo.png Shin Bet	File:Alqassam.jpg Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades Abu Ali Mustapha Brigades File:Emblem of the Al-Nasser Salah al-Deen Brigades.jpeg Al-Nasser Salah al-Deen Brigades Al-Quds Brigades
Strength
176,500 active personnel 445,000 reservists	Al-Qassam Brigades: 10,000–40,000 Al-Quds Brigades: ≈5,000
Casualties and losses
66 soldiers and 6 civilians (including 1 Thai national) killed, 469 soldiers and 87 civilians wounded	UN OCHA: 2,189 killed, of whom 1,486 are believed to be civilians (513 children, 323 boys and 190 girls,70% under 12), 269 women, 557 identified as militants, and 146 of unknown status. Gaza Health Ministry: 2,143 killed, 11,100 wounded (>70% civilians) PCHR: 2,191 killed (1,660 civilians), 10,895 wounded IDF: 2,127 killed (55% civilians, 45% militants), 250 captured (159 identified as militants)

On 8 July 2014, Israel launched Operation Protective Edge (Template:Lang-he-n, Miv'tza Tzuk Eitan, lit. "Operation Strong Cliff") in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. Thereafter, seven weeks of Israeli bombardment, Palestinian rocket attacks, and ground fighting killed more than 2,200 people, the vast majority of them Gazans.

The stated aim of the Israeli operation was to stop rocket fire from Gaza into Israel, which increased after an Israeli crackdown on Hamas in the West Bank was launched following the kidnapping and murder of 3 Israeli teenagers by two Hamas members. On 7 July, after an airstrike killed seven Hamas militants in Khan Yunis, Hamas assumed responsibility for missiles fired from Gaza and launched 40 rockets towards Israel. On 17 July, the operation was expanded to an Israeli ground invasion of Gaza with the stated aim of destroying Gaza's tunnel system; Israeli ground forces withdrew on 5 August.

On 26 August, an open-ended ceasefire was announced. By this time, the IDF reported that Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other militant groups had fired 4,564 rockets and mortars from Gaza into Israel, while the IDF attacked 5,263 targets in Gaza; at least 34 known tunnels were destroyed and two-thirds of Hamas's 10,000-rocket arsenal was used up or destroyed. A bomb disposal expert in the Palestinian Interior Ministry said that by 22 August, 20,000 tons of explosives had been dropped on Gaza.

Between 2,127 and 2,189 Gazans were killed (including 513 children) and between 10,895 and 11,100 were wounded. 66 Israeli soldiers, 5 Israeli civilians (including one child) and one Thai civilian were killed and 469 IDF soldiers and 261 Israeli civilians were injured. The Gaza Health Ministry, UN and some human rights groups reported that 69–75% of the Palestinian casualties were civilians; Israeli officials estimated that around 50% of those killed were civilians. On 5 August, OCHA stated that 520,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip (approximately 30% of its population) might have been displaced, of whom 485,000 needed emergency food assistance and 273,000 were taking shelter in 90 UN-run schools. 17,200 Gazan homes were totally destroyed or severely damaged, and 37,650 homes suffered damage but were still inhabitable. In Israel, an estimated 5,000 to 8,000 citizens fled their homes due to the threat of rocket and mortar attacks.

Background

Main article: Israeli–Palestinian conflict

In 2005, then Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon unilaterally withdrew Israeli forces and settlements from the Gaza Strip. Nonetheless, the ICRC, the UN and various human rights organizations consider Israel to still be the de facto occupying power due to its control of Gaza's borders, air space and territorial waters. The following year, Hamas won a majority of seats in the Palestinian legislative elections. The outcome disconcerted Israel, the United States and the Quartet, and they demanded Hamas accept all previous agreements, recognize Israel's right to exist, and renounce violence; when Hamas refused, they cut off aid to the Palestinian Authority. In mid-2006 an Israeli soldier was captured by Hamas in a cross-border raid. The United States, in response to Fatah moves in October 2006 to form a unity government with Hamas, tried to undo the elections by arming Fatah to overthrow Hamas in Gaza. Hamas mounted a coup and gained complete power. Israel then defined Gaza as a "hostile territory" forming no part of a sovereign state and put Gaza under a comprehensive economic and political blockade, which also denied access to a third of its arable land and 85% of its fishing areas. The overwhelming consensus of international institutions is that the blockade is a form of collective punishment and illegal. It has led to considerable economic damage and humanitarian problems in Gaza. Israel maintains that the blockade is legal and necessary to limit Palestinian rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip on its cities and to prevent Hamas from obtaining other weapons.

First Hamas–Fatah reconciliation (2011)

Influenced in the Arab Spring and by demonstrations in Ramallah and Gaza, the gap between Hamas and Fatah was bridged in 2011. After the Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas declared his willingness to travel to Gaza and sign an agreement, the IDF killed two Hamas activists in Gaza; the IDF stated the killings were in response to the launching of a single Qassam rocket, which hit no one, but Yedioth Ahronoth's Alex Fishman argued they were a "premeditated escalation" by Israel. In an interview with CNN, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that the reconciliation talks were calls for Israel's destruction, and strongly opposed the idea of a unity government.

The November 2012 ceasefire and its violations

On 14 November 2012, Israel launched Operation Pillar of Defense with the assassination of the commander of Hamas's military wing, Ahmed Jabari, following hundreds of rocket attacks from Gaza. A week later, on 21 November, Egypt brokered a ceasefire to the conflict which contained the following agreements:

1. Israel should stop all hostilities in the Gaza Strip land, sea and air, including incursions and targeting of individuals.
2. All Palestinian factions shall stop all hostilities from the Gaza Strip against Israel, including rocket attacks and all attacks along the border.
3. The crossings should be opened, facilitating the movement of people and goods; Israel should refrain from restricting residents' movements and from targeting residents in border areas; procedures of implementation should be dealt with 24 hours after the start of the ceasefire.

Gaza Strip: access and closure

A sculpture in Sderot made from rocket debris

Violations

Both Israel and Hamas have argued that the other violated the 2012 ceasefire agreement, resulting in 1 Israeli and 8 Gazan deaths and 5 Israeli and 66 Gazan injuries. According to the Israeli Security Agency (Shabak) there was a sharp decrease in attacks from Gaza in 2013. Nevertheless, 63 rockets (average 5 per month) were launched in 36 rocket attacks in addition to various mortar attacks, all prohibited by the November 2012 ceasefire. The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) reported monthly Israeli attacks involving drones, missiles, small arms fire and airstrikes. Six of the deaths in Gaza occurred in the border area's Access Restricted Areas (ARAs, non-demarcated zones within Gazan territory unilaterally defined by Israel as being of restricted access), despite the ceasefire's prohibition on Israeli attacks on these areas. OCHAO, more broadly sourced data, reported 11 deaths in Gaza and 81 injuries for 2013.

In the first three months after the IDF Operation Pillar of Defense, according to Ben White, two mortar shells struck Israeli territory, while four Gazans were shot dead and 91 were wounded by Israeli forces who fired inside Gazan territory on 63 occasions, made 13 incursions into the Strip, and attacked the Gazan fishing fleet 30 times. Israeli attacks on Gaza steadily increased during the second half of 2013, notwithstanding the decrease in attacks from Gaza.

From December 2012 to July 2014, Hamas did not fire rockets into Israel, and tried to police other groups doing so. These efforts were largely successful; Netanyahu stated in March 2014 that the rocket fire in the past year was the "lowest in a decade."

However, while the ceasefire generally held, the blockade of Gaza continued in direct violation of the ceasefire agreement. "Crossings were repeatedly shut and buffer zones were reinstated. Imports declined, exports were blocked, and fewer Gazans were given exit permits to Israel and the West Bank."

Israel halted construction material going to Gaza after it stated that it had discovered a tunnel leading into Israel, some 300m from a kibbutz. The IDF said it was the third tunnel discovered that year and that the previous two were packed with explosives.

According to the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, there were 85 rocket attacks in the first five months of 2014. Most of the 85 rockets were fired in March, after the IDF killed 3 members of Islamic Jihad. The members of the PIJ say they were firing rockets in response to an incursion by Israeli tanks and bulldozers into Gazan territory east of the Khan Yunis area. The IDF said they were conducting routine military patrols near the Gaza border when they came under fire, and thus responded with airstrikes.

Second Hamas–Fatah reconciliation

See also: Palestinian Government of 2014

On 23 April 2014, Hamas agreed to a reconciliation deal with the other main Palestinian faction, Fatah, following seven years of division. The Palestinian unity government was sworn in by 2 June 2014 and Israel announced it would not negotiate any peace deal with the new government and would push punitive measures. Stating a day before the agreement that the reconciliation would "strengthen terrorism", Netanyahu said: "The international community must not embrace it." The European Union, the United Nations, the United States, China, India, Russia and Turkey all agreed to work with the Palestinian unity government. The agreement was expected by some to have a significant impact on the current round of peace talks between Abbas' Palestinian Authority and Israel, and shortly after the announcement of the agreement, Israel launched an airstrike in the northern Gaza Strip that injured four people, according to medical officials. Netanyahu had warned before the deal that it would be incompatible with Israeli–Palestinian peace and that Abbas had to choose between peace with Hamas and peace with Israel. When a reconciliation deal was signed, opening the way to the appointment of the new government, Netanyahu chaired a security cabinet which voted to authorise Netanyahu to impose unspecified sanctions against the Palestinian Authority. On 4 June, the day before Naksa Day, the Israeli Housing and Construction Ministry published tenders for 1,500 settlement units in the West Bank and East Jerusalem in a move Minister Uri Ariel said was an "appropriate Zionist response to the Palestinian terror government." According to Marwan Bishara, senior political analyst at Al Jazeera, Israel hoped to disrupt the Palestinian national unity government between Fatah and Hamas by its operation.

Immediate events

Street in Ramallah after an IDF raid during Operation Brother's Keeper, June 2014

Factory bursts in flames after rocket attack in Sderot, Israel, 28 June 2014

On 12 June 2014, three Israeli teenagers were abducted in the West Bank: Naftali Fraenkel, Gilad Shaer, and Eyal Yifrah. Israel blamed Hamas, and the IDF stated that the two men Israel suspects of having kidnapped the teenagers were known members of Hamas. No evidence of Hamas involvement was offered by the Israeli authorities and high-ranking members of Hamas have initially denied the group had any involvement in the incident. The Palestinian Authority in the West Bank attributed the abductions to the Qawasameh clan, which is notorious for acting against Hamas's policies and any attempts to reach an entente with Israel. Hamas political chief Khaled Meshal said he could neither confirm nor deny the kidnapping of the three Israelis, but congratulated the abductors. Palestinian security forces said the kidnappings were organized by senior Hamas official Saleh al-Arouri. The kidnappings were condemned by human rights organizations. Documents released by Israel suggest that Hamas member Hussam Qawasmeh organized the kidnappings with $60,000 provided by his brother Mahmoud through a Hamas association in Gaza, after requesting support for a "military operation". On 20 August, Saleh al-Arouri, an exiled Hamas leader based in Turkey, claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of the three Israeli teens: "Our goal was to ignite an intifada in the West Bank and Jerusalem, as well as within the 1948 borders... Your brothers in the Al-Qassam Brigades carried out this operation to support their imprisoned brothers, who were on a hunger strike... The mujahideen captured these settlers in order to have a swap deal." Meshaal, who has headed Hamas' political wing from exile since 2004, denied being involved in the "details" of Hamas "military issues", and stated that Hamas leadership was not aware of the kidnappings in advance, but "justified the killings as a legitimate action against Israelis on "occupied" lands." Israel states that the IDF and the Shin Bet have foiled between 54 and 64 kidnapping plots since 2013. The PA said it had foiled 43 of them.

Israel launched Operation Brother's Keeper, a large-scale crackdown of what it called Hamas's terrorist infrastructure and personnel in the West Bank, ostensibly aimed at securing the release of the kidnapped teenagers. 10 Palestinians were killed in numerous raids and clashes, and between 350 and 600 Palestinians, including nearly all of Hamas's West Bank leaders, were arrested. Among those arrested were many people who had only recently been freed under the terms of the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange. Israeli military spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner defended the arrests, stating that Hamas members had carried out 60 abduction attempts on Israelis in the West Bank "in the last year and a half", and that "Hamas does not need to give a direct order." Amnesty International has stated that certain aspects of the operation amounted to collective punishment, and B'tselem said in a press release that the actions have caused "disproportionate harm to the basic rights of Palestinians". During the course of the operation, Israel alleged that it had uncovered a Hamas plot to launch a massive wave of violence throughout the West Bank, with the goal of overthrowing the Palestinian Authority. The alleged coup plotters were arrested and their weapons stockpiles were seized

On 30 June, search teams found the bodies of the three missing teenagers near Hebron. Israeli authorities appear to have known with near certainty from the outset that the three had been shot almost immediately after the kidnapping. After their burial, an anti-Arab riot broke out, and a Palestinian teenager was killed in revenge. His killing sparked Arab rioting. Israeli police rounded up three suspects and charged them with his murder.

From 1 May to 11 June, six rockets and three mortar shells were launched from Gaza towards Israel. On 29 June, an Israeli airstrike on a rocket crew killed a Hamas operative, while at least 18 rockets were launched from Gaza through the next day by Hamas according to J.J. Goldberg, who states that it was the first time Hamas directly launched rockets since the conflict in 2012. Overnight, on 30 June – 1 July, Israeli airstrikes struck 34 Gaza targets in what officials stated was a response to the Sunday rocketry, while Stuart Greer reported the strikes were revenge for the deaths of the three youths. From the day of the abductions on 12 June through 5 July 117 rockets were launched from Gaza and there were approximately 80 Israeli airstrikes on Gaza.

Following escalating rocket fire from Gaza, Israel issued a warning on 4 July that it "would only be able to sustain militant rocket fire for another 24, or maximum 48, hours before undertaking a major military offensive." Hamas declared it was prepared to halt the rocket fire in exchange for an agreement by Israel to stop airstrikes. Netanyahu said Israel would only act against further rocket attacks. On July 5, Hamas official Osama Hamdan said rocket fire would continue until Israel lifted its import restrictions on Gaza and the Palestinian Authority transferred money to pay Hamas civil servants.Between 4 and 6 July, a total of 62 rockets where fired from Gaza and the IAF attacked several targets in Gaza. On the night of 6 July, an Israeli air raid in Khan Yunis killed seven Hamas operatives. The following day, Hamas assumed formal responsibility for launching rocket attacks on Israel. Hamas increased rocket attacks on Israel, and by 7 July had fired 100 rockets from Gaza at Israeli territory; at the same time, the Israeli Air Force had bombed several sites in Gaza. Early on 8 July, the IAF bombed 50 targets in the Gaza Strip. Israel's military also stopped a militant infiltration from the sea. Brigadier General Moti Almoz, the chief spokesman of the Israeli military, said: "We have been instructed by the political echelon to hit Hamas hard." Hamas insisted that Israel end all attacks on Gaza, release those re-arrested during the crackdown in the West Bank, lift the blockade on Gaza and return to the cease-fire conditions of 2012 as conditions for a ceasefire.

Operation timeline

Main article: Timeline of the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict

Impact

On Gaza residents

A map showing the location of damage in Gaza

Ruins of buildings in Beit Hanoun, August 2014

Five-year-old Shaymaa al-Masri was injured on 9 July 2014.

As of 20 July 2014, hospitals in Gaza were ill-equipped and faced severe shortages of various kinds of medicine, medical supplies, and fuel. Egypt temporarily reopened the Rafah crossing with Gaza to allow medical supplies to enter and injured Palestinians to receive treatment in Egypt. Also, due to the operation, prices of food, including fish and produce, rose dramatically. A 21 July news report stated that over 83,000 Palestinians had taken shelter in U.N. facilities. Fatah officials accused Hamas of mishandling humanitarian aid meant for civilians. According to them, Hamas took the aid, which included clothing, mattresses, medicine, water, and food, and distributed it among Hamas members or sold it on the black market for profit.

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), over 273,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip had been displaced as of 31 July 2014, of whom 236,375 (over eleven percent of the Gazan population) were taking shelter in 88 UNRWA schools. UNRWA exhausted its capacity to absorb displaced persons, and overcrowding in shelters risked the outbreak of epidemics. 1.8 million people were affected by a halt or reduction of the water supply, 138 schools and 26 health facilities were damaged, 872 homes were totally destroyed or severely damaged, and the homes of 5,005 families were damaged but still inhabitable. Throughout the Gaza Strip, people received only 2 hours of electricity per day. Power outage had an immediate effect on the public health situation and reduced water and sanitation services, with hospitals becoming dependent on generators.

On 2 September, UNRWA reported that 58,217 people were sheltering in 31 of their school buildings, a fifth of their buildings.

OCHA estimated that at least 373,000 children required psychosocial support. "Intense overcrowding, compounded by the limited access of humanitarian staff to certain areas, is increasingly undermining the living conditions at many shelters and raising protection concerns. Water supply has been particularly challenging..." More than 485,000 internally displaced persons were in need of emergency food assistance.

Gaza City, home to 500,000, suffered damage to 20-25% of its housing. Beit Hanoun, with 70% of its housing stock damaged, is considered uninhabitable, with 30,000 residents there in need of accommodation. The only power station in the Strip was damaged on 29 July, and the infrastructure of power transmission lines and sewage pumps and was severely damaged, with a major sewage pipe catering to 500,000 badly damaged. Among the infrastructure targeted and destroyed by Israel's bombing campaign were 220 factories in various industrial zones, including a major carpentry enterprise, construction companies, a major biscuit factory, dairy farms and livestock, a candy manufacturer, the orange groves of Beit Hanoun, Gaza's largest mosques, and several TV stations. Farms, as a consequence of damage or the presence of unexploded ordnance dropped during the conflict, are often inaccessible, and the damage to agriculture was estimated at over $200 million. 10 out of 26 hospitals closed.

According to the Palestinian Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs, 203 mosques were damaged during the war, with 73 being destroyed completely. Two of Gaza's three Christian churches were also damaged, with the third suffering some damage to peripheral buildings owned by the parish. In the light of the damage to mosques, Fr. Manuel Musallam informed Muslims they could call their prayers from Christian churches. In contrast to Operation Pillar of Defensive, which did not damage a single mosque, Israel maintained that Hamas had a routine military use of mosques and that made them legitimate military targets. According to IDF, 160 rockets were launched from mosques during the war. In addition, it was alleged that mosques were used for weapon storage, tunnel entrances, training and gathering of militants. In one Associated Press report, residents denied that mosques damaged by Israeli forces had been used for military purposes.

On Israeli residents

A kindergarten in central Israel during a rocket attack.

One of the shelter signs that were placed in the Ben Gurion Airport because of the rocket attacks on Israel.

Hamas and other Islamist groups in Gaza fired rockets and mortars at Israeli towns and villages. Despite Israel's use of the Iron Dome missile defense systems, several civilians were killed, including a Jewish Israeli, an Arab Israeli and a Thai worker. An Israeli teen was seriously injured in a rocket strike in the city of Ashkelon. Medical health professionals have noted that Israeli teens prone to mental health problems suffer increasingly during both short-term and long-term conflicts. Experts have identified a number of mental health symptoms which rise during conflict, including anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, interpersonal sensitivity, phobias, and paranoia. There is some doubt whether these issues will dissipate after the conflict is resolved.

Rocket attacks from Gaza caused damage to Israeli civilian infrastructure, including factories, gas stations, and homes.

At the onset of the operation, the Israeli government canceled all programs within 40 km (24 miles) of Gaza, and requested all people stay at home or near shelter. All summer camps were closed and universities canceled their final exams. Additionally, all gatherings of 300 or more people were banned. Due to the trajectory of rocket fire from Gaza, many flights in and out of Ben-Gurion Airport were delayed or rerouted. and flights to Ben-Gurion airport were interrupted for some days after a Hamas missile struck an area in its vicinity.

Nearly 3,000 claims of damage were submitted to Israel's Tax Authority, which paid $20 million for direct damage and $21 million for indirect damage such as missed work days as of .

The Bedouin communities in the Negev, many unrecognised by the Israeli government, were classified as "open areas" and so their 200,000 residents did not have warning sirens or anti-rocket protection.

Casualties and losses

Palestinian

Further information: List of Israeli strikes and Palestinian casualties in Operation Protective Edge

Reports of casualties in the conflict have been made available by a variety of sources. Most media accounts have used figures provided by the government in Gaza or non-governmental organizations.

Current reports of the proportion of those killed who were civilians/militants are incomplete, and real-time errors, intentional data manipulation, and diverse methodologies produce notable variations in various sides' figures. However, B'Tselem has stated that after the various groups finish their investigations, their figures are likely to end up about the same. UNICEF and the Gaza Health Ministry reported that from 8 July to 2 August, 296–315 Palestinian children died due to Israeli action, and 30% of civilian casualties were children; by 27 August, the total number of children killed had risen to 495–578, according to OCHA and the Gaza Health Ministry.

Human rights groups and the UN use the Gaza Health Ministry's number of Palestinians killed in Gaza as preliminary and add to or subtract from it after conducting their own investigations. For example, human rights groups say that the casualty count provided by the Health Ministry most likely includes victims of Hamas executions, domestic violence, and natural deaths, but they (the human rights groups) remove the accused collaborators (who were shot as close range) from their own counts. Israel contends that the Health Ministry's casualty count also includes deaths caused by rocket or mortar malfunctions.

	Gaza Health Ministry (GHM)	OCHA	Al Mezan	PCHR	IDF
Total killed	2,143	2,131	2,142	2,191	2,127
Civilians	≈1,500	1,473	1,646	1,660	no figure given
Militants	no figure given	279	496	506	957
Unidentified	—	379	—	—	805
Percent civilians	>70%	69.1%	76.9%	76.6%	55%
Last updated	26 August	27 August	25 August	27 August	5 September
Notes	Defines as a civilian anyone who isn't claimed by an armed group as a member.	Cross-references figures with different sources.	Requires ≥2 sources, counts on local ties to determine if someone was a combatant or civilian.	Counts militants who were not effectively participating in combat when killed as civilians.	Uses its own intelligence reports to determine combatant deaths.

According to data provided by the Palestinian International Middle East Media Center, 79.7% of the Palestinians killed in Gaza were male, with the majority between 16 and 35 (fighting-age). In contrast, a New York Times analysis states that males of ages that are most likely to be militants form 9% of the population but 34% of the casualties, while women and children under 15, who are least likely to be legitimate targets, form 71% of the general population and 33% of the casualties. Israel has pointed to the relatively small numbers of fatalities among women, children and men over 60, and to instances of Hamas fighters being counted as civilians (perhaps due to the broad definition of "civilian" used by the Gaza Health Ministry), to support its view that the number of the dead who were militants is 40–50%. The IDF calculates that 5% of Gaza's military forces were killed in the war. Jana Krause, from the war studies department at Kings College London, stated that "a potential explanation other than combatant roles" for the tendency of the dead to be young men "could be that families expect them to be the first ones to leave shelters in order to care for hurt relatives, gather information, look after abandoned family homes or arrange food and water." ITIC reported cases where children and teenagers served as militants, as well as cases where ages of casualties reported by GHM were allegedly falsified, with child militants listed as adults and adults listed as children.

Abbas said that "more than 120 youths were killed for violating the curfew and house arrest orders issued against them" by Hamas, referring to reports that Hamas targeted Fatah activists in Gaza during the conflict. Abbas said that Hamas also executed more than 30 suspected collaborators without trial. He also said that "over 850 Hamas members and their families" were killed by Israel during the operation.

During the fighting between Israel and Gaza, solidarity protests occurred in the West Bank, during which several Palestinians died; see Reactions.

Israeli

Further information: List of Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel, 2014

During the conflict, 66 IDF soldiers were killed, as were 5 Israeli civilians and 1 Thai civilian. One other person died due to natural causes brought on by the conflict. According to Magen David Adom, 837 civilians were treated for shock (581) or injuries (256): 36 were injured by shrapnel, 33 by debris from shattered glass and building debris, 18 in traffic accidents which occurred when warning sirens sounded, 159 from falling or trauma while on the way to shelters, and 9 in violence in Jerusalem and Maale Adumim. 469 IDF soldiers were injured.

The first Israeli civilian death occurred at the Erez border crossing with Gaza when a Chabad rabbi, delivering food and drinks on the front line, was hit by mortar fire. The second Israeli civilian killed was a 32-year-old Bedouin who was hit by a rocket in the Negev Desert. A Thai migrant worker was also killed by mortar fire while working at a greenhouse in the Ashkelon Coast Regional Council. In addition, an elderly woman in Wadi Nisnas collapsed and died of heart failure during an air-raid siren. On 22 August, a 4-year-old Israeli child was killed by a mortar fired from Gaza. A barrage of mortar fire killed two Israeli civilians in the Eshkol region, an hour before a ceasefire went into effect.

Economic impact

Palestinian officials estimated on 4 September that, with 17,000 homes destroyed (and as of early August at least 30,000 partially destroyed) by Israeli bombing, the reconstruction would cost $7.8 billion, which is about 3 times Gaza's GDP for 2011. Gaza City suffered damage to 20–25% of its housing and Beit Hanoun with 70% of its housing uninhabitable. The New York Times noted that damage in this third war was more severe than in the two preceding wars, where in the aftermath of the earlier Operation Cast Lead the damage inflicted was $4 billion, 3 times the then GDP of Gaza's economy. Strikes on the few industries will take years to repair. Gaza's main power plant on Salaheddin Road was damaged. Two sewage pumping stations in Zeitoun were damaged. The biggest private company in Gaza, the Alawda biscuit and ice cream factory, employing 400, was destroyed by a shelling barrage on 31 July, a few days after undertaking to supply its Choco Sandwich biscuits to 250,000 refugees in response to a request from the World Food Programme; other strikes targeted a plastics factory, a sponge-making plant, the offices of Gaza's main fruit distribution network, the El Majd Industrial and Trading Corporation's factory for cardboard box, carton and plastic bag production, Gaza's biggest dairy product importer and distributor, Roward International. Trond Husby, chief of the UN's Gaza development programme in Gaza, commented that the level of destruction now is worse than in Somalia, Sierra Leone, South Sudan and Uganda.

A number of tunnels leading into both Israel and Egypt were destroyed throughout the operation. There were reports that the tunnels between Gaza and Egypt were bringing an estimated $700 million into Gaza's economy through goods or services. Several Palestinians argued that the tunnels had been critical to supporting the residents of Gaza, either through the employment they provided or through the goods that they allowed in—goods which were otherwise not available unless shipped through Egypt. However, tunnels along the Israeli border serve a purely military purpose.

During the ground invasion, Israeli forces destroyed livestock in Gaza. In Beit Hanoun, 370 cows were killed by tank shelling and airstrikes. In Beit Lahiya, 20 camels were shot by ground forces.

Israel's Minister of Finance estimated that the operation would cost Israel NIS 8.5 billion (approximately 2.5 billion USD), which is similar to Operation Cast Lead in 2009 and higher than Operation Pillar of Defense in 2012. The forecast included military and non-military costs, including military expenditure and property damage. The calculation indicated that if the operation lasted 20 days, the loss in GDP would be 0.4%.

Reactions

Main article: Reactions to the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict

International

Quds Day 2014 pro-Palestinian protest in Berlin, 25 July 2014

Pro-Israel demonstration in Helsinki, Finland

Reactions to the 2014 Gaza War came from around the world.

Governmental proclamations to the 2014 Gaza War

  Israel and Gaza Strip

  States who supported Israel

  States who called for an end to hostilities

  States who condemned Israel

The United States and Canada were supportive of Israel and critical of Hamas. The BRICS countries called for restraint on both sides and a return to peace talks based on the Arab Peace Initiative. The European Union condemned the violations of the laws of war by both sides, while stressing the "unsustainable nature of the status quo", and calling for a settlement based on the two-state solution. The Non-Aligned Movement, the Arab League, and most Latin American countries were critical of Israel, with some countries in the latter group withdrawing their ambassadors from Israel in protest. South Africa called for restraint by both sides and an end to "collective punishment of Palestinians".

Pro-Palestine and pro-Israel demonstrations took place throughout the world and in Israel and the Palestinian territories. According to OCHA, during demonstrations, 23 Palestinians were killed and 2,218 were wounded by the IDF, 38% of the latter by live fire.

Rising anti-Semitism and anti-Semitic violence broke out concurrent to, and in many cases, directly related to the conflict. The UN Secretary-General and many European leaders condemned the phenomenon.

The United Nations Human Rights Council announced a panel headed by William Schabas to investigate accusations of war crimes by both sides. Major human rights organizations including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch condemned human rights violations by both sides and called for an arms embargo for the region.

Commercial airlines in several countries banned flights to Israel because of safety concerns. The restrictions were later lifted.

After the 26 August ceasefire, the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research polled the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. 79% of respondents said that Hamas had won the war and 61% said that they would pick Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh as the Palestinian president, up from 41% before the war.

Official reactions

Supranational bodies

• ALBA – In a statement ALBA condemned Israeli attacks and added that the offensive violates even the most minimum standards of international humanitarian law by indiscriminately attacking civilians. It also offered "its unconditional solidarity, support and sympathy to the people of Palestine against the new wave of violence."
• Arab League – AL's representatives condemned Israeli air raids and asked the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to hold an emergency meeting. Secretary General Nabil Elaraby condemned the Israeli attacks in Shejaia. In a statement, the organisation said: "El-Araby...considered Israel's terrible shelling and ground attack operations in the neighborhood of Shejaia as a war crime against Palestinian civilians and a dangerous escalation."
• BRICS- A declaration at the 6th BRICS summit in Brazil called upon Israel and Palestine to end the conflict and resume negotiations leading to a peaceful two-State solution. It also called upon UNSC to fully exercise its functions under the United Nations Charter with regard to the conflict.
• Gulf Cooperation Council – Secretary-General Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani condemned Israel for its repressive and vengeful policies which "represent a blatant violation of the Palestinians' inalienable rights and a flagrant affront to the [sic] international laws." He also described the assault as "reflecting Israel's rejection of the peace process" and called upon the international community and UNSC to "assume their responsibilities and act quickly to protect the Palestinian people and put an end to the brutal Israeli shelling of Gaza Strip."
• European Union – "The EU strongly condemns the indiscriminate firing of rockets into Israel by Hamas and militant groups... All terrorist groups in Gaza must disarm. The EU condemns calls on the civilian population of Gaza to provide themselves as human shields, and the loss of hundreds of civilian lives, among them many women and children...While recognizing Israel's legitimate right to defend itself against any attacks, the EU underlines that the Israeli military operation must be proportionate and in line with international humanitarian law..."is particularly appalled by the human cost" of the operation in Shejaia and was "deeply concerned at the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation...This tragic escalation of hostilities confirms again the unsustainable nature of the status quo with regard to the situation in the Gaza Strip."
• Non-Aligned Movement – NAM and President of Iran Hassan Rouhani condemned the Israeli air strikes and called on international bodies to force Israel to stop raids on civilians. "[The] siege of Gaza Strip must be fully and immediately lifted and humanitarian aids must be forwarded to the Palestinians in need of them there."
• UN – UNSC called for de-escalation, restoration of the 2012 ceasefire, respect for international law and resumption of direct negotiations between both the parties. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay stated that reports of attacks on homes raise doubts about whether Israeli attacks are legal under international law. She also called for an investigation into the Israeli air strikes.

States

Involved parties

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Benjamin Netanyahu, Tel Aviv, 23 July 2014

• Israel – On 11 July, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the criticism of international and local human rights groups and promised to continue the attacks. He declared: "No international pressure will prevent Israel from continuing its operation in Gaza ... The leaders of Hamas are hiding behind the citizens of Gaza, and they are responsible for all casualties."
  • The IDF spokesman's office tweeted when the operation began that the "IDF has commenced Operation Protective Edge in Gaza against Hamas, in order to stop the terror Israel's citizens face on a daily basis."
• Palestinian Authority – On 8 July Palestinian government spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh said the operation was "a declaration of war on Palestinians". Protesting what he described as a massacre of innocents, he added that "Palestinians have the right to defend themselves by all legitimate means."
  • Khalil al-Haya, Palestinian negotiator said "It was a war of necessity not a war of choice. We had no choice but to defend ourselves,". He further said "We are united and are unified in blood and dead bodies. We are one front, one side, one body ... We are all engaged in one battle defending our people. The war is the beginning of liberation."

International

• Algeria – On 16 July, Foreign Minister Ramtane Lamamra urged the international community to act to get Israel to immediately cease its attacks and respect the truce from November 2012. "While condemning in the strongest terms the barbaric attacks against the defenceless Palestinian people, we believe that these attacks were encouraged by the complacent silence of the international community to Israeli expansionist policies and their negative impact on peace and security in the region," Lamamra said. He also underlined the need for urgent action within the United Nations.
• Argentina – On 20 July, the Foreign Ministry condemned the violence, while speaking out against the acts committed by both sides in the conflict. "Once more, and for the third time in less than six years, civilian populations have been trapped in the middle of armed actions from Hamas and the disproportionate, excessive use of military force by Israel. Argentina sends a profound, pained tribute to all of the children that have been killed in the last few weeks. We vigorously condemn Israel, defying calls from the Security Council, the Secretary General and many other voices from the international community, for having decided to escalate the crisis launching a ground offensive. This decision will only create further instability in the region, more victims and more suffering. At the same time, we condemn the continued and indiscriminate launch of rockets from Gaza to Israeli cities." Soon afterwards, Argentina's representative at the U.N. Security Council, Maria Cristina Perceval, reiterated the position, condemning Israel's "indiscriminate abuse of militarism" and "disproportionate use of force."
• Bangladesh – On 12 July, the Foreign Ministry issued a statement that strongly condemned the "Israeli aggression" and called for an immediate cessation of atrocities on Gaza civilians. The statement also said that they were shocked at the recent Israeli violence.
• Bahrain – On 10 July, The Kingdom of Bahrain condemned the latest Israeli escalation and repeated its rejection of violence and the need to stop all military operations. The Kingdom advised the international community to compel Israel to comply with international law and end its violations. They also stressed their full support and solidarity with the Palestinian people.
• Belgium – On 22 July, in a statement Belgian Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo stated "Although I accept Israel's legitimate security measures, I also condemn the completely disproportionate use of force by the Israeli military, including the attack on the neighborhood of Shujaya."
• Bolivia – On 10 July, the Bolivian Foreign Ministry condemned the Israeli offensive and called on Jerusalem to cease hostilities. The Foreign Ministry also called on the international community to intervene to stop "the genocide" and stressed that "should respect and comply with international agreements and treaties." On 31 July Bolivian President Evo Morales declared Israel a "terrorist state".
• Bosnia and Herzegovina – Republika Srpska leader Milorad Dodik expressed his support for Israel and the Jewish people. He stated that the Republika Srpska was closely following events, that it supported Israel's right to protect its citizens and property and defend itself from "terrorist threats and the actions of Islamist militant groups". Bakir Izetbegović, the Bosniak member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, called for an end to conflict and wished for "the peaceful co-existence of all inhabitants of Gaza and other places". He stated that Gaza "was for many years a target of Israeli attack" and warned that the world was "becoming used to violence perpetrated by Israel".
• Brazil – On 17 July, the Federal government of Brazil released a statement condemning the Israeli bombing as a disproportionate use of force that had resulted in civilian deaths. It recalled its ambassador in protest. Brazil's Special Advisor for International Relations was quoted saying "For the love of God, what we have here is genocide, a massacre, to the point where top UN officials are starting to talk about war crimes".
• Canada – Prime Minister Stephen Harper expressed support for Israel and condemned Hamas. Harper said "It is evident that Hamas is deliberately using human shields to further terror in the region." Foreign Minister John Baird also condemned Hamas' rocket attacks against Israel. Baird added that the attacks "prove that Hamas continues to target innocent civilians," and that "Canada believes that Israel has every right to defend itself from such belligerent acts of terrorism."
• Chile – The Foreign Ministry complained that Israeli bombing had caused a number of fatalities, including civilians, women and children. "The condemned kidnappings and deaths of three young Israeli and Palestinian youth can not be an excuse to launch actions nor to attack densely populated by civilians". Chile called on all actors in the conflict to "establish a truce and respect international humanitarian law" and endorsed the words of the United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, who urged a solution. On 29 July, the Chilean government recalled its ambassador and criticized Israeli operations, which it considered a violation of "the principle of proportionality in the use of force, an essential requirement to justify self-defense".
• Costa Rica – On 11 July, the Costa Rican Foreign Ministry deplored the escalation and was particularly concerned about the impact on civilians and the risk of escalation. "The Government of Costa Rica condemns the rocket attacks launched by Palestinian militants from the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory, and likewise, the military operations of the Defence Forces towards reaching Gaza Strip, causing deaths and damage to civilians."
• Cuba – The Foreign Ministry condemned "Israel's attack against the population of the Gaza Strip" and accused Israel of using its military and technological superiority to execute a policy of collective punishment with disproportionate use of force, which causes the death of civilians and material damage.
• Czech Republic – On 15 July, Czech Republic Foreign Ministry released a statement as follows: "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic welcomed the truce initiative that aimed to restore calm in Gaza and appreciates the constructive role played by Egypt. The Czech Republic regrets the failure of this initiative in spite of its previous acceptance by Israel. We urge Hamas and other militant groups in Gaza to immediately stop attacking Israeli territory in order to allow the implementation of the cease fire. The Czech Republic recognizes that the people of Israel as well as the people of Gaza have the right to live in peace and security. However, we are extremely concerned about the disastrous impact of the current situation on civilians, who are endangered the most by the conflict. While recognizing the right of Israel to take appropriate measure to protect its population, we strongly regret the Palestinian civilian casualties, in particular children, caused by the recent crisis."
• Djibouti – On 10 July, Djibouti "condemned the Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip." Djibouti held Israel responsible for a "dangerous escalation of violence" and called on the international community to end Israel's "blind and intolerable repression."
• Ecuador – On 12 July, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement that condemned Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people and demanded the end of attacks against the civilian population. "The Government of Ecuador strongly condemns the disproportionate military operations by the Israeli army against the civilian population of the Gaza Strip, which have left more than a hundred casualties," the official statement said.
• Egypt – Egyptian FM Sameh Shoukry made remarks following a meeting with his Jordanian counterpart where he said it was important to address the crisis in a manner that protects the Palestinians and their interests.

On 11 July, the Foreign Ministry then criticised the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) operation in Gaza as "oppressive policies of mass punishment. Egypt rejects the irresponsible Israeli escalation in the occupied Palestinian territory, which comes in the form of excessive and unnecessary use of military force leading to the death of innocent civilians." It demanded Israel adopt self-restraint and keep in mind that as an "occupation force", it had a legal and moral duty to protect civilian lives. They urged world powers to intervene and stop the crisis and that its ceasefire efforts had been met with "obstinacy and stubbornness". The same day, Egypt informed authorities in Gaza that it had closed the Rafah Border Crossing after re-opening it the previous day to receive injured Palestinians for medical treatment. This comes after Egyptian forces seized 20 Grad rockets being smuggled from Gaza to Sinai after clashing with militants in Rafah, Egypt. However, shortly after the closure, President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi ordered the Egyptian military to transport 500 tons of food and medical supplies to the Gaza Strip. A military statement stated that Egypt was pursuing its efforts to "stop the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip" under the president's supervision.

• El Salvador – On 14 July, the Foreign Ministry called for the "immediate cessation" of the "Armed Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip". It said that the Israeli Army's action had "caused the loss of lives, hundreds of injuries and the flight of thousands of Palestinians from their homes, as well as serious damage." The note urged "the immediate cessation of armed attacks at the same time asked the United Nations and the actors that have accompanied the parties in finding solutions by means peaceful to intensify their diplomatic actions in the short term."
• Estonia – On 10 July, Foreign Minister Urmas Paet expressed concern about the escalation of tensions and added that "cities and towns shootings [sic] are completely unacceptable. The strained Israeli-Palestinian situation is very worrying and unfortunately, in recent days the situation has not improved, but rather escalated." He added that the parties needed to find a peaceful solution. "We call on the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority to take all necessary measures to prevent a further escalation of the tense situation."
• France – President Francois Hollande issued a statement that read it "expressed France's solidarity [with Israel] in the face of rocket fire from Gaza" and told Netanyahu, "France strongly condemns these aggressions [by Hamas]." Hollande also said that it was up to Israel "to take all measures to protect its population in the face of threats" but reminded the Israeli premier "of the need to prevent an escalation of violence." On 18 July, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius stated that "France is extremely concerned by the Israeli decision to launch a ground offensive in Gaza." On 22 July, Fabius condemned the Gaza "massacres," stating that "nothing justifies continued attacks and massacres which do nothing but only claim more victims and stoke tensions, hatred."
• Gambia – On 16 July, the Gambian Foreign Ministry welcomed the truce brokered by Egypt and called on the parties to fully adhere to the truce. On 29 July, President Yahya Jammeh condemned the "extraordinary brutality" being shown by the Israelis in Gaza, and pointed out that even though "nobody is condemning them, Allah would condemn them". Speaking, during the traditional meeting with Muslim elders after the Eid al Fitr prayer at State House in Banjul, the Gambian leader spoke of "the bad things they are doing in Palestine, in the last ten days of Ramadan". He also lamented the fact that "nobody is saying a word. The white people are engaged in hypocrisy; their media is putting out lies". Citing the fact that the Israelis were bombing hospitals, Jammeh further declared: "This is excessive brutality that we condemn in the strongest terms possible". He also called attention to "the satanic Western media", which had been justifying Israel's actions "because Hamas were firing rockets".
• Georgia – On 10 July, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs blamed Hamas for causing intense armed clashes and expressed concern over the plight of civilians. It also expressed concern over the escalation of tensions and the deteriorating humanitarian situation.
• Germany – Chancellor Angela Merkel telephoned Netanyahu on 9 July to condemn "without reservation rocket fire on Israel"
• Greece – On 13 July, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos issued a statement:: "We again express our strong concern at the recent developments and the escalation of the situation in Israel and the Gaza Strip. At this time, the absolute priority is the implementation of the ceasefire and a return to the truce of 2012, with the aim of averting a new humanitarian tragedy in the region. Together with the other member states of the European Union, as well as within the framework of the UN, Greece will work in that direction."
• Guatemala – On 14 July, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed its concern at the rapidly deteriorating situation, which led to a "spiral of violence between Palestinians and Israelis." The country called for prudence and responsibility for all international parties and partners so that Hamas ceased firing rockets into Israeli territory, and at the same time ceased attacks against civilians in Gaza."The return of stability is essential to return to the path of negotiations nevertheless, could still lead to a lasting peace based on the two-state solution, living behind secure borders condition.".
• Guyana – On 11 July, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, "Peace becomes harder to achieve with each military confrontation, each loss of life, and the creation of further mayhem on the ground," the government said; adding that "as a member of the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People and as the first CARICOM country to recognize Palestine as a sovereign state based on its 1967 borders, Guyana supports the Palestinians' aspiration to the full realization of their inalienable rights." The administration supported the peace process and the two-State solution in accordance with the relevant UN resolutions.
• Holy See – Pope Francis called for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas. He insisted that the joint prayer held on 8 June, with Mahmoud Abbas and Shimon Peres was not in vain.
• Honduras – On 14 July, the Secretariat of State in the Offices of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, condemned the violence. They called on the parties to cease hostile actions and demanded a prompt return to dialogue. Finally, it expressed its condolences to victims' families.
• Hungary – On 15 July, Nissim Ben-Shitrit, Hungary's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade – Tibor Navracsics, expressed support for the international mediatory efforts to halt the armed conflict and defend the civilian population.
  • On 2 August, the mayor of Érpatak, Mihaly Zoltan Orosz, led a demonstration against what he called the "freemason media" conspiracy to silence the "ongoing genocide" committed by the Israeli military against Hamas in Gaza. After stomping on an Israeli flag (the Star of David in the flag had been replaced with a masonic compass), Orosz condemned both Peres and Netanyahu to death for warcrimes, spreading false notions about the "chosen people", labelled them the Anti-Christ, and laying the groundwork for the Anti-Christ New World Order. He then carried out a symbolic hanging of both Israeli leaders.
• Iceland – On 14 July, Minister of Foreign Affairs Gunnar Bragi Sveinsson called for "the full force" of the UNSC to be used to stop the violence. Sveinsson stated, "I condemn all use of violence in the area....This is an express demand to the Israeli government to stop its attacks on Gaza, which have led to great tragedy for civilians there. In the same spirit, all attacks on Israel need to cease forthwith."
• India – Deputy Chair Kurien refused to bring in a parliament resolution over the matter.
• Indonesia – The Foreign Ministry condemned the ongoing Israeli military aggression in Palestine's Gaza area, saying such an onslaught may ruin conditions towards creation of peace between Palestine and Israel. "Israel's move needs to be opposed. A military aggression that worsens the suffering that has been suffered by Palestinians in Gaza and West Bank until today due to siege which is actually a 'collective punishment' against Palestine people," Said Indonesian Foreign Affairs Minister Marty Natalegawa.
• Iran – Ayatollah Ali Khamenei expressed his deep concern over the bloodshed and criticised the "governments of the United States and the United Kingdom for their continued support for the Zionist regime's military operation against the innocent people." He added that the two states "do not care about the Tel Aviv regime's killings in Gaza Strip and officially support these attacks. The domineering world powers back evil as long as it is in their interest while they confront good savagely." The Foreign Ministry condemned Israel's operation as a "human catastrophe" and demanded that the West halt the conflict.
• Ireland – Foreign Affairs Minister Eamon Gilmore said that he was "gravely concerned at the escalating violence and civilian casualties" and that he "equally condemns" both rocket attacks from Gaza towards Israel and air strikes by the Israeli military. He went on to appeal "to all sides to exercise the utmost restraint, avoid all civilian casualties and negotiate the earliest possible ceasefire." Members of Dáil Éireann stood in silence in the parliament chamber in solidarity with the people of Gaza at the request of Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams. the Dublin city council passed a motion calling for trade sanctions and an arms embargo on Israel.
• Italy – On 8 July, Minister for Foreign Affairs Federica Mogherini expressed concern over the worsening situation in Israel and the Gaza Strip. "The repeated rocket strikes on Israel warrant the firmest possible condemnation; all attacks on civilian areas must stop immediately. It is of utmost importance to avoid triggering an irreversible spiral that could potentially further destabilise a region already battered by numerous conflicts." She expressed her "deep sorrow" for the deaths of so many civilians, including children in Gaza, and said that "it is now critical to protect civilians, restore calm and resume the peace process."
• Jamaica – On 23 July, Jamaica's Permanent Representative to the United Nations "strongly condemned" Israel's targeting of civilian populations, expressing dismay at the "disproportionate and indiscriminate use of force against an unarmed civilian population that has limited options for shelter."
• Japan – Japan's Foreign Ministry released a press statement expressing concern over the escalation of violence. "Japan is deeply concerned about the situation in which the Israeli Air Force strike has caused civilian casualties in the Gaza Strip and strongly condemns rocket attacks by Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip against Israel." It urged both sides "to exercise maximum restraint to prevent further civilian casualties. Japan is convinced that the issues of Middle East peace can never be solved through violence but only through negotiations and efforts to build mutual trust among parties to the conflict. Japan calls for all the parties concerned to make the utmost efforts to that end."
• Jordan – Jordanian spokesperson Mohammed Momani described the Israeli military operation in Gaza as "barbaric" and urged Israel to end its aggression.
• Kazakhstan – On 25 July, Kazakhstan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement expressing concern over the exacerbation of crisis."Further escalation of violence will result in a destabilization of the situation in the Middle East, and also will blow up efforts of the conflicting parties and the whole international community which are focused on long-term peace making and regional stability," said the statement. "We call on Israelis and Palestinians to take urgent and effective measures to stop bloodshed and resume peace negotiations, " it added. Kazakhstan endorsed the agreed-upon steps of the international community, including those under the aegis of the United Nations.
• Kenya – On 21 July, Kenya's Foreign Affairs cabinet Secretary Amina Mohammed said Kenya is a friend to both the Israelis and Palestinians and would like to see a peaceful resolution.
• Kuwait – On 14 July Kuwait's Cabinet reiterated its denunciation of criminal acts and practices committed by Israel. The condemnation came during a weekly cabinet meeting. The cabinet voiced much concern over Israel's continuing air strikes. The Kuwaiti cabinet called on the international community to exert more pressure on the "Israeli entity" to stop its continuing aggression and crimes against humanity. It urged the world to provide international protection for the Palestinian people.
• Lebanon – On 10 July, the Lebanese cabinet condemned Israel's offensive. Minister of Information Ramzi Jreij said "the Lebanese government and its people would show solidarity with the Palestinians in a struggle towards the restoration of their legitimate rights. The ministers also urged the Arab League and the international community to take action in order to halt the "Israeli killing machine."
• Lithuania – On 16 July, President of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaite expressed "very much concern" about the situation."We want as soon as possible a peaceful solution and real ceasefire on both sides," she told journalists.
• Malaysia – On 9 July, Prime Minister Najib Razak condemned the Israeli air strikes and called for an immediate cessation of military operations. He added "peace can only come with the creation of a viable two-state solution and all parties should adhere to this principle."
• Maldives – On 13 July, the President of Maldives issued a statement that read "during a telephone conversation with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, President Abdulla Yameen said that no nation can truly understand the constant fear and heartbreak that the Palestinian people are subjected to each day. The president further condemned the gross violation of human rights being committed by the Israeli government and said that he will continue to pray for Palestine. President Yameen also assured President Abbas that his government would undertake all efforts to encourage international condemnation of Israeli violence." On 22 July, Maldives announced it would boycott Israeli goods and suspend co-operation agreements on health, culture and education, and tourism until Israel stops its bombardment of Gaza.
• Mali – On 24 July, the Government of Mali declared a national day of mourning for the victims of Gaza, stating its solidarity with the Palestinian people in their struggle for "liberty, dignity, and independence."
• Malta – On 10 July, the Foreign Ministry issued a statement that expressed its regret at the "bloody violence" and declared that it "unreservedly condemned any form of violence. [The] Government firmly believes that violence is never the solution. Rather, it only serves to create even more reprisal and retribution. This, in turn, leads to more hatred, more suffering and more barbaric acts."
• Mauritania – A Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation stated that it "strongly condemns the brutal military operation launched by Israel against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and confirmed that the policy of repression, torture, destruction and mass murder pursued by Israel against the Palestinian people will have dire consequences for the security and stability of the region and will contribute to undermining the path of peaceful negotiation process. The ministry reiterated the support of Mauritania's leadership, government and people to the Palestinian people to obtain all their legitimate rights in the establishment of an independent state on its entire territory with Jerusalem as its capital."
• Mexico – Mexico's Secretariat of Foreign Affairs (SRE) issued a statement that condemned Israeli attacks and called for the immediate cessation of hostilities and the protection of civilians on both sides.
• Morocco – On 9 July, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement that offered its condolences to the families of Palestinian victims. After denouncing Israel's escalation, it warned that this could damage efforts made to resume the peace process. It called on the international community to take urgent action to end the fighting, protect the Palestinian people, hold Israel accountable for its flagrant aggression and force it to abide by international law.
• Namibia – On 15 July, the Ministry of Foreign affairs stated, "The Government of the Republic of Namibia has been following with grave concern the massive aerial bombardment of Gaza, Palestinian Territory, by the Israeli Air and Naval Forces." It also "called on the two warring parties to immediate cease fighting and strongly urged them to agree to a ceasefire."
• New Zealand – On 9 July, Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully said "New Zealand is greatly concerned at the recent escalation of violence in Gaza and Israel, and in particular the deaths of civilians. New Zealand urges both sides to show restraint and to prevent any further civilian casualties. We call for an immediate end to rocket attacks into Israel and for proportionate responses that do not further escalate the situation. The current situation reinforces the urgent need for a sustainable resolution to the conflict between Israel and Palestinians." "New Zealand wants to see progress in the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians and we urge the political leadership on each side to find a peaceful way through the current flare up."
• Nicaragua – On 11 July, President Daniel Ortega expressed "solidarity with the Palestinian people and condemned the genocidal bombing of Israel. How are we going to condemn us not, at this time, the genocide being committed against the Palestinian people again? Now go over there 80 dead, children, youth of all ages. Who for that genocide?"
• Niger – On 22 July, the Government of Niger released a statement condemning the aerial bombardment of Gaza and calling on Israel to "put an end to its policy of occupation and colonization as well as to the blockade unjustly imposed on Gaza, which are at the root of the legitimate revolt by the Palestinian peoples." Niger called on the UNSG as well as the UNSC to put an immediate end to the "abominable crimes committed in Gaza" and to find the basis for a just and durable solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
• North Korea – On 15 July, the Foreign Ministry stated, "We bitterly denounce Israel's brutal killings of many defenseless Palestinians through indiscriminate military attacks on peaceable residential areas in Palestine as they are unpardonable crimes against humanity."
• Norway – On 15 July, Minister for Foreign Affairs Børge Brende stated, "the events of the past weeks in Gaza and the West Bank have once more underscored the importance of reaching a lasting political solution to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, through the establishment of an independent Palestinian state." On 18 July, Brende condemned Israel's ground operations. "This is an unacceptable action, especially when a ceasefire could have been reached. While visiting Israel during the conflict, he entered a bomb shelter in Ashkelon.He advised Netanyahu against a ground operation because "it would create a much bigger problem."
• Oman – Majlis Al Shura Chairman Khalid Al Mawali said the events in Gaza are "an act of madness and reflect the weakness of the community, differences and divide within and the absence of a clear vision. We have to cooperate and be more responsible to minimise the sufferings of Palestinians and do our best to stop Israeli aggression, which is beyond description. Now, people of Gaza do not know if it is day or night. The number of those being killed and injured is multiplying into thousands. Even the medical teams and civil defence ambulances are not safe from bombings, depriving the injured and sick people of their most basic minimum right to receive treatment and be healed. The world is not doing anything but just expressing pain".
• Pakistan – Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said: "I am saddened and disappointed to note the silence of international community against this injustice, the silence and ineffectiveness of the Muslim Ummah has made Palestinians more vulnerable and made Israel more aggressive. The world must stop Israel from this naked and brutal aggression". He termed the Israeli acts against in Gaza as ‘genocide’. Sharif said Israeli atrocities were no lesser a tragedy and that the bombardment on human settlements and massacre of innocent people was a lesson for the world community. He said, "Pakistan strongly condemns it. The civilised world must take cognisance of the situation because it was a tragedy for the whole humanity."
• Peru – On 13 July, Foreign Minister Gonzalo Gutierrez "condemned the killing of Palestinian civilians by Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip and recalled that his country recognised the State of Palestine. [The events] can not and should not continue. No attack scenario and that is affecting bombing civilian targets sensitive way possible." On 29 July, Peru recalled its ambassador to Israel.
• Philippines – The Department of Foreign Affairs issued an "Alert Level Warning 3" for Filipinos in the Gaza Strip. It stated that its embassies in Egypt, Jordan and Israel "are ready to assist Filipinos who wants to leave Israel. [We] are concerned on growing threats of Hamas to the Filipino citizens in Israel."
• Qatar – On 8 July, the Foreign Ministry "strongly condemned the series of Israeli raids on Gaza Strip on Sunday night, which killed and injured a group of Palestinian people. Qatar strongly denounces Israel's ongoing hostile acts in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. It urged the international community to move to stop Israeli aggression against Palestinians and lift the unjust siege on the Gaza Strip."
• Romania – The Ministry of Foreign Affairs activated a crisis cell for granting consular assistance to Romanian citizens in Gaza. Likewise, several consular teams equipped with mobile means of granting consular assistance were dispatched.
• Russia – The Kremlin stated that President Vladimir Putin had telephoned Netanyahu, urging him to stop the operation that lead [sic] to civilian deaths. It added that "the conversation was requested by the Israeli side." On 9 July, Putin told a delegation of visiting rabbis that he supported "Israel's battle that is intended to keep its citizens protected". In a 23 July telephone conversation with Netanyahu, Putin said further fighting would lead to a dramatic deterioration of the humanitarian situation and to more casualties and suffering. Putin stressed that "there is no alternative to ceasefire and a political settlement" and reiterated his readiness to "facilitate mediatory efforts and the implementation of peace initiatives, including within the UN framework". Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Federation Council, the upper house of the Russian Parliament Mikhail Margelov said Russia was ready to facilitate reconciliation. He also said, "It is very important for us that the parties complied with the UN resolutions. Our position remained unchanged: we want the Jewish and Arab peoples to live in peace and accord. We’re ready to facilitate the peace process at the bilateral level and within international organizations. Amid the ground operation in Gaza the logic of events prevails over political expediency. In Gaza there are different groups that do not maintain contacts. The situation is not controlled by a single centre. This complicates attempts to find a political solution". On 25 July Russian Foreign Ministry published a message calling for an immediate ceasefire under Egypt's initiative saying "The events in Gaza arouse growing concern. We condemn the death of innocent people, primarily children, during the attack on the UN school in Beit-Hanoun".
• Sahrawi Republic – On 23 July, the Polisario Front, which claims Western Sahara (disputed with Morocco), condemned "the genocide and mass destruction Israel is committing" and reaffirming its "strong solidarity" with the Palestinian people.
• Saudi Arabia – The governing cabinet issued a statement that read it "condemned Israeli military aggression and brutal raids on Gaza Strip." During a weekly cabinet session, headed by Crown Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the cabinet called on the UNSC and HRC "to live up to their responsibilities and implement the Fourth Geneva Convention on Israel." It also called for a "quick action to stop the Israeli aggression on Gaza Strip in addition to all crimes and violations against the Palestinian people." Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud ordered $50 million in aid to be transferred to the Palestinian Red Crescent. He also described the Israel offensive as a war crime and state terrorism. He said "We see the blood of our brothers in Palestine shed in collective massacres that did not exclude anyone, and war crimes against humanity without scruples, humanity or morality"
• Senegal – On 18 July, the Senegalese government said that the solutions must take into account "the legitimate rights" of the Palestinian people. It also urged Israeli restraint and called for an immediate ceasefire while reaffirming its solidarity and support to the Palestinian cause.
• Serbia – Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić stated that Serbia respected Israel's right to existence and peace and expressed hope that the situation will be resolved peacefully.
• Singapore – On 19 July, Singapore issued a statement that read it "strongly supports the United Nation's Secretary-General's call for an immediate cessation of hostilities in Gaza and urged all parties involved to do their utmost to ensure the protection of civilians." In response to media queries about Israel's ground offensive, a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that "the deteriorating situation in Gaza will sharply exacerbate the humanitarian crisis. Singapore urged all parties to work towards a lasting ceasefire that would bring an end to the suffering, the spokesman said, adding that it was important to break the cycle of violence and the focus now has to be the safety and security of all innocent people affected by the conflict and for humanitarian aid to be delivered to them on an urgent basis."
• Somalia – Deputy Prime Minister Ridwan Hirsi Mohamed, who was attending the Muslim Scholars Forum in Istanbul, said that the international community had failed to oppose Israeli aggression. "The ongoing genocide committed by Israel against our brothers in Palestine is something that we can not accept. Killing innocent people of women and children, targeting hospitals, mosques and schools is something very hateful. We share the pain with Palestinians, as we strongly say that Somalia is very upset about what is going in Gaza". He called on the Israeli government to stop killing and asked the world, particularly the Muslim World, to break its silence and do something.
• South Africa – Foreign Ministry spokesman Clayson Monyela stated that the country "strongly urge all sides to refrain from responding to violence with violence and to exercise restraint, including a halt to the arbitrary arrest of Palestinian civilians and the use of collective punishment on Palestinians."
• Spain – On 18 July, Spain released a statement expressing its "profound concern" over ground operations and called on Israel to scrupulously respect civilian life and social services infrastructure such as schools and hospitals. Spain called on all parties to cease military action."
• Sri Lanka – On 16 July, the External Affairs Ministry called for a ceasefire. "Sri Lanka is deeply concerned at the recent escalating violence in Gaza, resulting in tragic loss of civilian lives and extensive damage to property. Cross-border provocation on locations in parts of Israel also need to cease."
• Sudan – On 13 July, the Foreign Ministry called for "urgent international protection for Palestinians....Without that international protection, it becomes meaningless to speak about the international legitimacy, justice, humanitarian values and fighting terrorism. Sudan condemns the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip [and] denounces weak international reactions."
• Sweden – On 11 July, Foreign Minister Carl Bildt wrote on Twitter that "no one was winning by resorting to violence" and called for a ceasefire between the two sides.
• Syria – Prime Minister Wael Nader al-Halqi said that "the massacres perpetrated by the Zionists are within the same scope of the acts of terrorism practiced by the armed groups in Syria." Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad expressed support for the Palestinian people and condemned Israel's "bloody aggression on the Palestinian people and the crimes committed by hordes of settlers who have burned Palestinians to death". On 15 July, The cabinet condemned the savage massacres committed by the 'racial Zionist occupation'.
• Tanzania – On 14 July, Foreign Minister Bernard Membe called for an immediate ceasefire and condemned the killings of civilians. He called upon the international community to continue supporting diplomatic efforts in ending the conflict and emphasized that the solution to this conflict is to support self determination via an independent Palestinian State.
• Thailand – On 16 July, Foreign Ministry Permanent Secretary Sihasak Phuangketkeow, also serving as acting Foreign Minister, called on Israel and Palestine to talk. "Thailand did not want to see the situation worsen as it would affect innocent people, particularly children. There are a number of Thais currently working in Israel. This deteriorating situation requires all sides to return to the negotiating table and seek a way out together."
• Trinidad and Tobago – On 16 July, Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Dookeran called for peace and "expressed deep concern over the recent escalation of hostilities between the two states. Trinidad and Tobago urges the combatants to avoid any action that would complicate the current situation and lead to an extensive military campaign. It was imperative that as a first step the hostilities be brought to an immediate halt, in order to permit the space and time for sober reflection and dialogue among the parties, with the involvement of the international community. Trinidad and Tobago renews its support for the important role played by the United Nations and other international agencies in seeking to definitively resolve this conflict and, in that regard, we call upon the parties to work, in good faith, towards the full and effective implementation of previous resolutions passed by United Nations Security Council, in order to establish the basis for lasting peace and security. Trinidad and Tobago urges all concerned to take all necessary steps to ensure that persons and communities in need of humanitarian aid and support are allowed immediate, unimpeded access to such services, in order to reduce the burden of suffering visited upon them."
• Tunisia – On 9 July, the Foreign Ministry condemned the Israeli military escalation and demanded the UNSC "immediately intervene to stop such attacks." It restated Tunisia's solidarity with the Palestinian people and called on "the international community and the UN Security Council to assume their responsibilities and urgently intervene to force the Israeli government to immediately stop these unjustified attacks, which aim to further destroy the lives of the Palestinian people and puts the area on the brink of explosion."
• Turkey – President Abdullah Gül said that: "Israel should stop its intensified bombardment of the Gaza Strip and never contemplate a possible ground offensive". Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan accused Israel of conducting "state terrorism" and a "genocide attempt" against the Palestinians. He also stated that "as long as children are being slaughtered in Palestine, normalisation of Turkey-Israel relations are no longer possible". Erdoğan later added that Netanyahu "surpasses Hitler in barbarism". Turkey declared three days of national mourning for Palestinian victims.
• United Kingdom – Foreign Secretary William Hague expressed concern over the violence. He stated, "I condemn the firing of rockets into Israel by Gaza-based militants. The UK calls on Hamas and other militant groups to stop these attacks". In separate telephone calls to Abbas and Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, he spoke of the British government's "deep concern about the number of civilian casualties and the need for all sides to avoid further civilian injuries and the loss of innocent life." Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg stated that Israel's airstrikes against the Gaza Strip were "deliberately disproportionate" and constituted "collective punishment". Senior Foreign Office minister Baronness Warsi resigned from her post on 5 August, saying that the government's "approach and language during the current crisis in Gaza is morally indefensible."
• United States –On 8 July President Barack Obama repeated his request that both sides use restraint and that the "only way to achieve long lasting peace is not through fighting but through a common understanding and agreement." White House spokesman Josh Earnest stated: "No country can accept rocket fire aimed at civilians and we support Israel's right to defend itself against these vicious attacks."
  • On 11 July, the United States House of Representatives passed a non-binding resolution supporting Israel and denouncing Hamas.
• Uruguay – On 10 July, the Foreign Ministry "strenuously condemned" Israel's attacks, calling them a "disproportionate response" to Hamas' rockets. The statement also condemned the rocket attacks that threatened the civilian population of Israel.
• Venezuela – On 10 July President Nicolás Maduro said his government "vigorously condemns the unfair and disproportionate military response by the illegal state of Israel against the heroic Palestinian people."
• Vietnam – On 18 July, Foreign Ministry spokesman Le Hai said: "Vietnam strongly concern [sic] escalating violence inflicting severe casualties to civilians. We urge the parties concerned to stop firing, resuming the negotiations and supported the efforts of the international community in order to soon bring peace and stability to the region."
• Yemen – Undersecretary of Foreign Ministry for Political Affairs Hameed al-Awadhi, who heads Yemeni delegation to the extraordinary meeting of the executive committee of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), called for intensifying efforts to stop Israel actions.
• Zimbabwe – On 21 July, at the Joint Commission of Co-operation meeting held in Harare, the respective foreign ministers, host Simbarashe Mumbengegwi expressed grave concern over the aerial bombardment, called for a ceasefire. He highlighted the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and reiterated support for a two-state solution.

Non-governmental organizations

• Amnesty International – Called for an arms embargo on all sides enforced by the UN and an investigation into possible war crimes.
• B'Tselem – Stated that attacks by Israel on homes of members of armed Palestinian groups are violations of international humanitarian law and that deliberate targeting of civilians by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups defies humanity and is morally and legally reprehensible.
• Human Rights Watch – Stated, "Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel appear to be indiscriminate or targeted at civilian population centers, which are war crimes, while Israeli attacks targeting homes may amount to prohibited collective punishment."
• Red Cross – Stated, "The International Committee of the Red Cross calls on all sides to protect civilians and medical workers caught in the midst of the escalating conflict."

Demonstrations

Pro-Palestinian

Pro-Palestinian demonstration in Hanover, Germany to show solidarity for Gaza

Pro-Palestinian demonstration in Casablanca, Morocco, 27 July 2014

Pro-Palestinian protest in Brisbane, Australia, 1 August 2014

Protests were organized by pro-Palestinian groups throughout the world. Around 45,000 people demonstrated in London, 20,000 in Santiago, 3,000 in Oslo, hundreds in Caracas and around 2,000 in Tunis. Protests were planned in Amman, at the UN in Geneva and in Kashmir. In Ireland, 3,000 people demonstrated in Dublin. Demonstrations also took place in Derry, Galway, Cork and Limerick.

In Paris, France, on 13 July, around 10,000 people and on 18 July about 5,000 protested the Israeli operation. Dozens of protesters tried to force their way into a synagogue with around 150 people inside, attempting to enter it armed with bats and chairs, and chanting "Death to Jews" and ultimately clashed with Parisian police who blocked them from entering. The city's government banned pro-Palestinian protests after two synagogues were attacked on 13 July. On 19 July, Parisian protesters clashed with riot police in a working-class neighborhood.

In Frankfurt, Germany, neo-Nazis and Islamists clashed with police, resulting in 8 injured police officers. Signs held by these groups read as things such as "You Jews are Beasts". After the clash, the groups looked for Jewish institutions, and Frankfurt police said they were going to protect these institutions.

Demonstrations in solidarity with Gaza took part or were scheduled in all regions of Spain, from Bilbao in the Basque Country to Santiago de Compostela in Galicia to Barcelona in Catalonia and in the Canary Islands. On 14 July some 500 people of different nationalities demonstrated in the area near the Israeli Embassy in Madrid. The protesters chanted, "Long live the struggle of the Palestinian people!" and "You Zionists are the terrorists!"

In Brazil, protests organized by the Arab-Brazilian community and left-wing movements against Israel and for Palestine were attended by over 2000 people in São Paulo and over hundreds in Rio de Janeiro, Recife, Porto Alegre, Foz do Iguaçu, Curitiba and Campinas.

Some 150–200 participants joined a demonstration organised by the association of Palestinians living in Hungary. The demonstration called for stopping the "terrorist bombing" of Gaza and for "Palestine's freedom."

One teenager aged 15–16 years old was killed in Khudwani, a village south of Srinagar when Indian government forces fired on a pro-Palestinian rally. Kashmiris held pro-Palestinian protests every day since the start of the conflict. On 17 July, demonstrations were held in Morocco and Yemen in solidarity with Gazan civilians, while protestors burned Israeli flags.

In Jordan, a protest was held in front of the Israeli embassy in Amman. Demonstrators in Amman burned Israeli flags and urged Palestinian factions in Gaza to increase rocket attacks on Israel.

In Cape Town, South Africa approximately 4,000 protested in support of the Palestinians on 16 July. A Pro-Palestinian protest was held in Pretoria, South Africa, calling for the freedom of Palestine.

134 demonstrations were held in the first fifteen days of the conflict in the United States. Demonstrations took place in Los Angeles and New York. In August 2014, the Port of Oakland was the scene of a protest against an Israeli-owned ship. Palestinian demonstrators claimed to have the support of the port's International Longshore and Warehouse Union(ILWU) dockworkers who they said had refused to unload the ship's cargo. The union however denied this saying the ILWU had not taken a position on the conflict. The demonstration produced a heavy police presence, initially comprising more than 100 police officers. The ship's cargo remained unloaded for four days.

2014 Quds Day

Quds Day 2014 in Berlin

On 25 July 2014, International Quds Day, millions of people around the world called for the liberation of Palestine and an end to the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories. Pro-Palestinian demonstrators, marched in streets of Afghanistan Argentina, Azerbaijan, Germany Iran Lebanon Australia South Africa Pakistan India Iraq Bahrain Belgium West Bank Canada Jordan Egypt Singapore Syria Tunisia Turkey Yemen Saudi Arabia China, South Korea Kenya New Zealand Nigeria Sudan Algeria Bangladesh Kyrgyzstan United States United Kingdom, Tanzania, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Japan.

The Quds Day march was banned in France. Despite the ban, pro-Palestinian protest took place in Paris and other French cities.

In Nigeria, the Nigerian Army fired on members of the Islamic Movement taking part in a Quds Day rally in the ancient city of Zaria, in Nigeria's Kaduna State, killing 35. Numerous other Islamic Movement members were arrested. The Nigerian Army claimed that soldiers had acted in self-defense. According to eyewitnesses, the incident happened when protesters tried to force their way through a military checkpoint, defying orders from soldiers to take another route. The event became known as the Zaria Quds Day massacres.

Global Day of Rage

On 9 August 2014, a "Global Day of Rage" drew tens of thousands of people across the world to protest Israel's offensive. According to Palestinian Solidarity Campaign, 150,000 people marched through London, shouting anti-Israel slogans and calling for an "end to the siege". Demonstrators first marched to the BBC's Broadcasting House headquarters to denounce what they called pro-Israeli bias. They filled the main shopping artery of Oxford Street , marched to the US embassy in Grosvenor Square and to Hyde Park. One banner said "UK – Stop Arming Israel".

In Paris, several thousand people marched, calling for end to Israeli aggression, carrying banners condemning the violence. Some protesters carried mannequins wrapped in a Palestinian flag, depicting Palestinian deaths. In Berlin 1,000 people took part in two rallies. In Tehran hundreds of doctors, nurses and paramedics gathered in "Palestine Square"

In New Delhi, a protest was organized by 70 political and social groups on the theme of "Stop The Genocide in Gaza! Boycott Israel!" Protestors demanded that the international community, including India should "boycott Israel till the time it continues the illegal occupation of Palestine".

In Melbourne protesters marched down Swanston Street and gathered in front of Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade building. Protesters called for an end to Israel's blockade. They called on Australia to cut all ties with Israel, release Palestinian political prisoners and end Israel's occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Protesters urged the UN to convene a special general assembly to condemn Israeli aggression and demand the country abide by International law, Agreements and Conventions

In Yemen, an estimated 100,000 people attended a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Sanaa.

At least 100,000 held a pro-Palestine march called by the National Coalition for Palestine in Cape Town on 9 August.

Pro-Israel

Pro-Israel demonstration in Helsinki, Finland

Pro-Israel demonstration in Cape Town, South Africa

Pro-Israel rallies were held in Argentina, Canada, Chile, El Salvador, Mexico, Russia, Uruguay and the United States.

On 10 July 200 people voiced support for Israel at the Rockland County Courthouse. On 11 July, In Philadelphia, Israel supporters rallied outside the Israeli consulate. A plethora of actors, producers, directors and other entertainment professionals signed a statement opposing Hamas. A pro-Israel rally of more than 1,200 supporters in Los Angeles resulted in physical violence after its protesters ripped a Palestinian flag away from a passing vehicle and began stomping on it. On 13 July, a pro-Israel rally attacked a passing car that was flying Palestinian flags in Westwood, Los Angeles. A police officer fired a shot to intervene in the situation. On 14 July, over two dozen elected officials rallied at New York City Hall in support of Israel. On 17 July over 1,200 supporters attended a demonstration at a local synagogue in the Greater Toronto area. Around 5,000 people attended a 20 July pro-Israel rally in New York City, while a smaller counter-protest was held nearby. Both rallies were held without incident.

On 3 August 2014, 3000 people participated in The Bay Stands With Israel solidarity rally in downtown San Francisco, after which approximately 1,200 demonstrators marched under police escort. Signed carried by the protestors included "Israel is the only country in the Middle East where they don't burn American flags" and "More Hummus, Less Hamas."

On 27 July, supporters of Israel marched through the streets of Mexico City to show their solidarity with Israel, asking for peace and condemning Hamas' rocket fire.

On 10 August, up to 600 people including several MPs marked their support for Israel in a demonstration outside the Norwegian Parliament in Oslo. A pro-Israel rally was held at the South African Jewish Museum in Cape Town on 10 August attended by some 5,000 people. In Budapest some 4,500 people attended an interfaith rally in support of Israel, while a smaller counter demonstration was held near the synagogue building by the far-right Hungarian Jobbik political party.

In Paris, a pro-Israeli rally was attended by some 8,000 people who gathered near Israel's embassy, while a similar demonstration in Marseilles gathered some 2,000 participants.

In London some 5,000 people turned out to show solidarity In Helsinki, the pro-Israeli rally was attended by some 1,000 participants Pro-Israeli rallies were held in Sydney, where some 10,000 people participated. Another pro-Israeli rally was held in Brisbane.

In Brazil, some 2,500 people gathered in at the Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro, to support Israel, another pro-Israel rally in Brazil took place in São Paulo, where some 3,000 people marched.

Hundreds of Israeli supporters marched in Guatemala City. In the city of Gori in Georgia, a support rally was organized, with children painting their faces with the Israeli flag Another pro-Israeli rally was held in Tokyo. On 16 August 2014 in Kolkata, India 20,000 demonstrators from the Hindu, Sikh, and Buddhist communities held the biggest pro-Israel rally so far with many Indian political activists proclaiming Israel's rights to defend itself.

Civic reaction within Israel

Reaction among the non-Arab Israeli population was strongly supportive of the military action. Israel's Arab minority mostly opposed the war. Opinion polls consistently showed a very high level of support for the military operation among the Jewish public, varying between 91% and 95%. An opinion poll which surveyed Israeli-Arabs found that 62% of the Arab public opposed the operation while 24% supported it.

Numerous demonstrations in support of the operation were held in Israel. In Sderot, Israelis gathered on the hillside to watch and cheer Israeli military strikes on nearby Gaza. Anti-war demonstrations were also held, but demonstrators were often confronted by counter-demonstrators in support of the war and in some cases faced verbal and physical harassment. About 1,500 Arabs and a handful of Jews were arrested for involvement in anti-war demonstrations. A one-day general strike in solidarity with Gaza was declared among Israeli-Arabs, and many Arab businesses temporarily closed.

War crimes accusations

As the scale of Operation Protective Edge expanded, civilian casualties mounted and accusations of war crimes were levelled from different quarters. On 19 July, Nabil el-Araby, the head of the Cairo-based Arab League, accused Israel of perpetrating "war crimes".

On 21 July, Navi Pillay, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, criticized Israel's military operation stating that there was "a strong possibility that international law has been violated, in a manner that could amount to war crimes". She also criticized Hamas for "indiscriminate attacks" on Israel.

Human rights advocacy group B'Tselem argued that both Palestinian rocket fire and Israeli targeting the homes of militia members, could constitute war crimes and be violating international law. The international organization Human Rights Watch described Hamas's deliberate targeting of Israeli civilians as war crimes in a 9 July statement and also called Israel's attacks on civilian structures as "unlawful under the laws of war" and "collective punishment". Amnesty International said that the "UN must impose arms embargo on Israel/Gaza and mandate an international investigation".

On 23 July HRC announced an investigation into the accusations of war crimes.

International diplomacy

See also: Speeches given at the United Nations regarding the Gaza Conflict (2014)

Ecuador, Brazil, Peru, El Salvador and Chile recalled their ambassadors from Tel Aviv as a reaction to Israel's offensive. Brazil and Chile suspended trade talks with Israel.

Spain froze arms and military technology exports to Israel, stopping sales of defense and dual use technology. Britain was reported to be reviewing its arms sales to Israel.

Cyber attacks

Pro-Palestinian hackers carried out cyber-attacks on Israeli commercial, government, aviation and banking websites. Anonymous's 'OpIsrael' defaced or took down more than 1,000 Israeli websites, including Israeli government web domains such as those of Mossad, the Tel Aviv Police Department and the Israeli Ministry of Defense. Hackers claimed to have published over 170 emails and passwords of Israeli officials on 21 July. A report by Arbor Networks showed a direct correlation between cyber attacks and the intensity of the conflict. Iranian and Chinese hackers were blamed for some of the attacks.

In some instances, Israeli security forces responded to attacks with 'counter hacks' targeting Hamas websites. Pro-Israeli hackers called the Israeli Elite Force published what were said to be 45,000 usernames and passwords of government officials at the Gaza Ministry of Health.

Rise in antisemitism

Multiple pro-Palestinian protests in Europe descended into antisemitic violence against local Jewish communities. Some demonstrators called for the death of Jews and attacked Jews and Jewish-owned property. These actions raised concerns over antisemitism and the safety of Jews in European countries. Similar concerns over antisemitism were raised following protests in other countries.

During a rally in the capital of Belgium's Flemish region one speaker reportedly used a loudspeaker to chant in Arabic "slaughter the Jews." A sign on a Belgian cafe declaring that no Jews were allowed inside was removed by following a complaint. A Holocaust memorial in the Netherlands was defaced with "free Gaza" graffiti. In Morocco, the rabbi of the Jewish community of Casablanca was attacked while walking to synagogue for Shabbat services and severely beaten by a man who told the rabbi that he was taking retribution for Gaza. The rabbi claimed that he asked passerby for help but was ignored. There was a reported increase of antisemitic harassment in Morocco. Rome's historic Jewish quarter was vandalized with swastikas and antisemitic graffiti.

Police in England recorded more than 100 antisemitic hate crimes since the start of the Gaza conflict. In Toulouse, France, a man was arrested by local police for throwing fire-bombs at a Jewish community center. The fire-bombs failed to ignite. In Malmö, Sweden, a rabbi and a member of his congregation were assaulted at different times on the same day. In Australia, antisemitic attacks occurred in Sydney, Perth and Melbourne. Teenagers harassed Jewish schoolchildren on a Sydney bus, a Jewish school was vandalized in Perth and a Jewish man was beaten in a street attack in Melbourne.

In South Africa, the South African Jewish Board of Deputies laid criminal charges of hate speech and incitement of violence against the South African Jewish community. Complaints were lodged at the South African Human Rights Commission against the regional secretary of the Western Cape region of COSATU, Tony Ehrenreich, over comments he made on social media that included the statement "The time has come to say very clearly that if a woman or child is killed in Gaza, then the Jewish board of deputies, who are complicit, will feel the wrath of the people of SA with the age old biblical teaching of an eye for an eye. The time has come for the conflict to be waged everywhere the Zionist supporters fund and condone the war killing machine of Israel".

Attacks on synagogues

Synagogues were targeted by pro-Palestinian protesters. Following a demonstration in Paris, protesters attempted to break into nearby synagogues. Six police officers and two Jewish residents were injured during the scuffle. In Wuppertal, Germany, a synagogue was firebombed. In Belfast, Northern Ireland, bricks were thrown through the windows of a local synagogue on two successive nights. A synagogue was vandalized in Malmö, Sweden. And a synagogue in Miami, Florida, was vandalized with graffiti; swastikas and the word "Hamas" were painted on the building. On 29 August, it was reported that French police uncovered a plot by two teenage Muslim girls, aged 15 and 17, to commit a suicide bombing attack at the Great Synagogue of Lyon, in Lyon, France. They were indicted on 22 August on charges of conspiracy to commit terrorism. During an anti-Israel rally in front of a synagogue in Turkey, demonstrators pelted the synagogue with eggs.

Antisemitism in the media

During the war, newspapers throughout the Arab and Muslim world published cartoons with antisemitic caricatures and themes. A mainstream newspaper in Spain published an op-ed which claimed that Israel's military operation demonstrated why Jews were so frequently expelled throughout history, and that "what is surprising is they persist. Either they are not good, or someone is poisoning them." Colombia's premiere weekly magazine also ran an op-ed which stated that Palestinian land has been occupied "since three thousand years ago, when Jews arrived there escaping from Egypt with Moses and Joshua, cutting heads and foreskins off of local inhabitants, Amalekites, Amorites, Canaanites, etc., to satisfy, they said, the demands of their bigoted one God who had appointed them his chosen people and had promised them all that foreign land." In Australia, The Sydney Morning Herald apologized after running a cartoon which was interpreted as antisemitic. Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull had phoned the Herald's editor to express concern. On 19 July, Turkish daily newspaper Yeni Akit used a picture of Adolf Hitler as the centerpiece for its daily word game, and the phrase "We long for you" [Seni arıyoruz] as the answer to the puzzle.

Reaction of world leaders

UN chief Ban condemned the rise of antisemitism in a published statement, declaring that the conflict in the Middle East must not be used as a pretext for prejudice affecting social peace. The foreign ministers of France (Laurent Fabius), Germany (Frank-Walter Steinmeier) and Italy (Federica Mogherini) condemned antisemitic attacks and protests in a joint statement, saying "antisemitic rhetoric and hostility against Jews, attacks on people of Jewish belief and synagogues have no place in our societies." French president François Hollande declared that fighting antisemitism would be a "national cause". A spokesman for German Chancellor Angela Merkel stated that the Chancellor "sharply condemns the flare-up of violence and the antisemitic utterances" as "an attack on freedom and tolerance and an attempt to undermine our free democratic order. This is something we can't and won't accept."

Holocaust survivors

Many Holocaust survivors were among the elderly in Israel who donated money to help IDF soldiers in Gaza, totaling over 100,000 shekels, saying "It's the least we can do". Some individuals compared helping the IDF to helping allied soldiers during WWII, with one saying "Now we must contribute to soldiers that are protecting us. My husband was a pilot, he fought for four years during the war and was seriously wounded. For me, donating is not a mitzva but rather a duty." and another saying "I served as an officer and a military doctor in the Red Army in the Soviet Union. It's the least we can do in this difficult atmosphere of war. As long as there's a continued threat to Israel's existence, we must all pitch in order to protect it."

Other Holocaust survivors both inside and outside of Israel were shocked about the rising anti-Semitism masked as anti-Israel criticism, with one saying "It's ok not to agree with the Israeli government, like lots of people do over here. But if they are yelling 'kill all Jews' during protests, you haven't learned anything from the past." and another saying "I am deeply worried about the future of my children and grandchildren. Most of the elderly people are afraid. Everybody hates us. We are being surrounded by danger."

Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel said Hamas must stop using children as human shields, adding "Do the two cultures that brought us the Psalms of David and the rich libraries of the Ottoman Empire not share a love of life, of transmitting wisdom and opportunity to their children? And is any of this discernible in the dark future offered by Hamas to Arab children, to be suicide bombers or human shields for rockets? Palestinian parents want a hopeful future for their children, just like Israeli parents do. And both should be joining together in peace."

See also

• International reactions to the Israel–Hamas war

External links

Gaza

On 6 August 2014, thousands of Palestinians rallied in Gaza in support of Hamas, they demanded an end to Blockade of Gaza strip.

Some Gazans have attempted to protest against Hamas. Hamas has accused such protesters of being Israeli spies and has killed more than 50 of them. Around 6 August, Palestinian protesters reportedly attacked and beat up Hamas spokesperson Sami Abu Zuhri because they blamed Hamas for inciting Operation Protective Edge. Many Gazans hold Hamas responsible for the humanitarian crisis. Others wanted the militants to stop firing rockets from their neighborhoods to avoid Israel's reaction.

An unknown number of Palestinians, estimated in the hundreds or thousands, have tried to flee to Europe due to the conflict. The Palestinian rights group Adamir collected the names of 400 missing persons. In what was described as the "worst shipwreck in years", a boat carrying refugees was rammed by smugglers and capsized off the coast of Malta, resulting in the deaths of about 400 people. According to interviews with survivors, they paid smugglers between $2,000-$5,000 or used legal travel permits, to get to Egypt. One refugee who died had considered the boat to be rickety but told his father "I have no life in Gaza anyway".

Israel and the West Bank

Demonstration against Operation Protective Edge in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Banners showing support for the IDF in Israel, quoting Psalm 18 verse 37: "I pursued my enemies and overtook them; I did not turn back till they were destroyed."

A majority of the Israeli public supported Operation Protective Edge. Nonetheless, there were protests throughout Israel, after which nearly 700 people were arrested, including 224 people from East Jerusalem. Most were subsequently released, but some face charges.

There were continuous protests and clashes in the West Bank. The funeral of Mohammed Abu Khdeir on 4 July was joined by thousands of mourners, and was accompanied by clashes across east Jerusalem throughout the weekend. According to OCHA, 23 Palestinians were killed and 2,218 were wounded by the IDF, 38% of the latter by live fire. According to the PLO, 32 Palestinians were killed in the West Bank in the period 13 June – 26 August, nearly 1400 were wounded by Israeli fire and 1,700 were detained in the largest offensive in the West Bank since the Second Intifada. The PLO also stated that 1,472 settlement homes had been approved over the summer.

During the war there were over 360 attacks on Jews from the West Bank, a spate that was thought by the Jerusalem Post to have "peaked" on 4 August with a tractor attack in Jerusalem and the shooting of a uniformed soldier in the French Hill neighborhood, leading to an increase in security in the city.

On 1 September, Israel announced a plan to expropriate 1,000 acres of land in the West Bank, reportedly as a "reaction to the deplorable murder in June of three Israeli teenagers", which Amnesty International denounced as the "largest land grab in the Occupied Palestinian Territories since the 1980s". The EU complained about the land expropriation and warned of renewed violence in Gaza; the US called it "counterproductive".

Alleged violations of international humanitarian law

Further information: International law and the Arab–Israeli conflict

A number of legal issues concerning the conflict arose during course of the fighting. Various human rights groups have argued that both Palestinian rocket attacks and Israeli targeted destruction of homes of Hamas and other militia members violated international humanitarian law and might constitute war crimes, violations of international humanitarian law.

Navi Pillay, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, accused Hamas militants of violating international humanitarian law by "locating rockets within schools and hospitals, or even launching these rockets from densely populated areas." She also criticized Israel's military operation, stating that there was "a strong possibility that international law has been violated, in a manner that could amount to war crimes", and specifically criticizing Israel's actions in Gaza as disproportionate.

Amnesty International found evidence that "[d]uring the current hostilities, Hamas spokespeople reportedly urged residents in some areas of the Gaza Strip not to leave their homes after the Israeli military dropped leaflets and made phone calls warning people in the area to evacuate", and that international humanitarian law was clear in that "even if officials or fighters from Hamas or Palestinian armed groups associated with other factions did in fact direct civilians to remain in a specific location in order to shield military objectives from attacks, all of Israel's obligations to protect these civilians would still apply."

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh has urged the Palestinian Authority to sign the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC); the fact that the PA has not done so yet has prevented the ICC from launching a formal investigation . ICC prosecutor Geoffrey Nice said that a "decision to do nothing clearly emerges from the meeting" with the PA foreign minister Riad Malki. The UNHRC has appointed a panel led by William Schabas to investigate war crimes allegations by both sides. Israel criticized Schabas as biased because he repeatedly made statements against Israel and in support of Hamas, and has announced its own investigations of both military and civilian leadership and the conduct during the war. Schabas denies any bias. According to the New York Times, "Of 44 cases initially referred to army fact-finding teams for preliminary examination, seven have been closed, including one involving the death of eight members of a family when their home was struck on July 8, the first day of the Israeli air campaign, and others are pending." Human rights organizations have expressed little confidence in Israel's measures, citing past experience. B'Tselem has refused to participate in the army investigation.

Alleged violations by Israel

Civilian deaths

Many of those killed were civilians, prompting concern from many humanitarian organisations. An investigation by Human Rights Watch concluded that Israel had probably committed war crimes on three specific incidents involving strikes on UNWRA schools. Amnesty International stated that: "Israeli forces have carried out attacks that have killed hundreds of civilians, including through the use of precision weaponry such as drone-fired missiles, and attacks using munitions such as artillery, which cannot be precisely targeted, on very densely populated residential areas, such as Shuja'iyya. They have also directly attacked civilian objects." B'tselem has compiled an infogram listing families killed at home in 72 incidents of bombing or shelling, comprising 547 people killed, of whom 125 were women under 60, 250 were minors, and 29 were over 60. On 24 August, Palestinian health officials said that 89 families had been killed.

Nine people were killed while watching the World Cup in a cafe, and 8 members of a family died that Israel has said were inadvertently killed. A Golani soldier interviewed about his operations inside Gaza said they often could not distinguish between civilians and Hamas fighters because some Hamas operatives dressed in plainclothes and the night vision goggles made everything look green. One soldier interviewed stated that if preserving IDF lives meant civilians were killed, that was acceptable. An IDF spokesperson said that Hamas "deploys in residential areas, creating rocket launch sites, command and control centers, and other positions deep in the heart of urban areas. By doing so, Hamas chooses the battleground where the IDF is forced to operate."

Warnings prior to attacks

In many cases the IDF warned civilians prior to targeting militants in highly populated areas in order to comply with international law. Human rights organizations including Amnesty International, confirmed that in many cases, Palestinians received warnings prior to evacuation, including flyers, phone calls and roof knocking. However, the IDF was criticized for not giving civilians enough time to evacuate. In one case, the warning came less than one minute before the bombing. Hamas has told civilians to return to their homes or stay put following Israeli warnings to leave. In many cases, Palestinians evacuated; in others, they have stayed in their homes. Israel condemned Hamas's encouragement of Palestinians to remain in their homes despite warnings in advance of airstrikes. Hamas stated that the warnings were a form of psychological warfare and that people would be equally or more unsafe in the rest of Gaza.

Amnesty International said that "although the Israeli authorities claim to be warning civilians in Gaza, a consistent pattern has emerged that their actions do not constitute an "effective warning" under international humanitarian law." Human Rights Watch concurred. Many Gazans, when asked, told journalists that they remained in their houses simply because they had nowhere else to go. OCHA's spokesman has said "there is literally no safe place for civilians" in Gaza. Roof knocking has been condemned as unlawful by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch as well as the United Nations Fact Finding Mission in the 2008 war.

Destruction of homes

People in Beit Hanoun in Gaza using the 72-hour ceasefire to return to their homes and to retrieve the dead.

See also: § Use of civilian structures for military purposes, and House demolition in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Israel has targeted many homes in this conflict. This has led to many members of the same family being killed. B'Tselem documented 59 incidents of bombing and shelling, in which 458 people were killed. In some cases, Israel has stated that these homes were of suspected militants and were used for military purposes. The New York Times noted that the damage in this operation was higher than in the previous two wars and stated that 60,000 people had been left homeless as a result. The destruction of homes has been condemned by B'Tselem, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International as unlawful, amounting to collective punishment and war crimes.

Israel has also destroyed the homes of two suspects in the case of the abduction and killing of the three teenagers. The house demolition has been condemned by B'Tselem as unlawful.

Palestinians returning to their homes during the ceasefire reported that IDF soldiers had trashed their homes, destroyed home electronics such as TV sets, spreading feces in their homes, and carving slogans such as "Burn Gaza down" and "Good Arab = dead Arab" in walls and furniture. The IDF did not respond to a request by The Guardian for comment.

Shelling of UNRWA schools

Main article: 2014 Israeli shelling of UNRWA Gaza shelters

There were seven shellings at UNRWA facilities in the Gaza Strip which took place between 21 July and 3 August 2014. The incidents were the result of artillery, mortar or aerial missile fire which struck on or near the UNRWA facilities being used as shelters for Palestinians, and as a result at least 44 civilians, including 10 UN staff, died. During the 2014 Israel-Gaza conflict, many Palestinians fled their homes after warnings by Israel or due to air strikes or fighting in the area. An estimated 290,000 people (15% of Gaza's population) took shelter in UNRWA schools.

On three separate occasions, on 16 July, 22 July and on 29 July, UNRWA announced that rockets had been found in their schools. UNRWA denounced the groups responsible for "flagrant violations of the neutrality of its premises". All of these schools were vacant at the time when rockets were discovered; no rockets were found in any shelters which were shelled. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) stated that "Hamas chooses where these battles are conducted and, despite Israel's best efforts to prevent civilian casualties, Hamas is ultimately responsible for the tragic loss of civilian life. Specifically in the case of UN facilities, it is important to note the repeated abuse of UN facilities by Hamas, namely with at least three cases of munitions storage within such facilities."

The attacks were condemned by members of the UN (UNRWA's parent organization) and other governments, such as the U.S., have expressed "extreme concern" over the safety of Palestinian civilians who "are not safe in UN-designated shelters." The Rafah shelling in particular was widely criticized, with Ban Ki-moon calling it a "moral outrage and a criminal act" and US State Department calling it "appalling" and "disgraceful". UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said that both Hamas militants and Israel might have committed war crimes. A Human Rights Watch investigation into three of the incidents concluded that Israel committed war crimes because two of the shellings "did not appear to target a military objective or were otherwise indiscriminate", while the third Rafah shelling was "unlawfully disproportionate". On 27 April 2015, the United Nations released an inquiry which concluded that Israel was responsible for the deaths of at least 44 Palestinians who died in the shelling and 227 were injured.

Infrastructure

On 23 July, twelve human rights organizations in Israel released a letter to Israeli government warning that "Gaza Strip's civilian infrastructure is collapsing". They wrote that "due to Israel's ongoing control over significant aspects of life in Gaza, Israel has a legal obligation to ensure that the humanitarian needs of the people of Gaza are met and that they have access to adequate supplies of water and electricity." They note that many water and electricity systems were damaged during the conflict, which has led to a "pending humanitarian and environmental catastrophe". The Sydney Morning Herald reported that "almost every piece of critical infrastructure, from electricity to water to sewage, has been seriously compromised by either direct hits from Israeli air strikes and shelling or collateral damage."

Between five and eight of the 10 power lines that bring electricity from Israel were disabled, some by Hamas rocket fire. On 29 July, Israel bombed Gaza's only power plant, which is estimated to take a year to repair. Amnesty International said the crippling of the power station amounted to "collective punishment of Palestinians". Human Rights Watch has stated that "[d]amaging or destroying a power plant, even if it also served a military purpose, would be an unlawful disproportionate attack under the laws of war". Israel immediately denied damaging the power plant, stating there was "no indication that [IDF] were involved in the strike...The area surrounding the plant was also not struck in recent days." Contradicting initial reports that it would take a year to repair, the power plant was reported "ready to begin running again" on 13 September.

Attacks on journalists

13 journalists were killed in the conflict, of which five were off-duty and two (from Associated Press) were covering a bomb disposal team's efforts to defuse an unexploded Israeli artillery shell when it exploded. In several cases, the journalists were killed while having markings distinguishing them as press on their vehicles or clothing. IDF stated that in one case it had precise information that a vehicle marked "TV" that was hit killing one alleged journalist was in military use. Several media outlets, including the offices of Al-Jazeera, were hit. The International Federation of Journalists has condemned the attacks as "appalling murders and attacks". Journalists are considered civilians and should not be targeted under international humanitarian law. The Israeli army said it does not target journalists, and that it contacts news media "in order to advise them which areas to avoid during the conflict". Israel has made foreign journalists sign a waiver stating that it is not responsible for their safety in Gaza, which Reporters Without Borders calls contrary to international law.

Israel has bombed Hamas's Al-Aqsa radio and TV stations because of their "propaganda dissemination capabilities used to broadcast the messages of (Hamas's) military wing." Reporters Without Borders and Al-Haq condemned the attacks, saying "an expert committee formed by the International Criminal Court's prosecutor for the former Yugoslavia, to assess the NATO bombing campaign of 1999, specified that a journalist or media organization is not a legitimate target merely because it broadcasts or disseminates propaganda." The U.S. government classifies Al-Aqsa TV as being controlled by Hamas, a "Specially Designated Global Terrorist," and states that it "will not distinguish between a business financed and controlled by a terrorist group, such as Al-Aqsa Television, and the terrorist group itself."

Human shields

Defense for Children International-Palestine reported that 17 year-old Ahmad Abu Raida was kidnapped by Israeli soldiers who, after beating him up, used him as a human shield for five days, forcing him to walk in front of them with police dogs at gunpoint, search houses and dig in places soldiers suspected there might be tunnels. the IDF confirmed that the troops suspected Ahmad of being a militant based on the affiliation of his father with Hamas (he worked in Gaza's Tourism Ministry) and so detained him during the ground operation. The IDF and Israeli authorities challenged the credibility of DCI-P noting their "scant regard for truth". The IDF Military Advocate General opened criminal investigation into the event.

Alleged violations by Hamas

Killing and shooting of Gazan civilians

The IDF stated on 31 July that more than 280 Hamas rockets malfunctioned and fell inside the Gaza strip, hitting sites including Al-Shifa Hospital and the Al-Shati refugee camp, killing at least 10 and wounding dozens. Hamas has denied that any of its rockets hit the Gaza Strip. While the incident is disputed, early news reports have suggested that the strike was from an Israeli drone missile.

Twenty civilians from Shuja'iyya were killed while protesting against Hamas. A few days later, Hamas reportedly killed two Gazans and wounded ten after a scuffle broke out over food handouts.

Killing of suspected collaborators

Throughout the conflict, Hamas has executed Gazan civilians it accuses of collaborating with Israel: thirty on 30 July; forty-six on 21 and 22 August, including twenty-five as part of a campaign codenamed "Strangling Necks"; four on 23 August; and eighteen more at other times. Overall, Hamas executed 30-40 suspected collaborators during Operation Protective Edge, according to Abbas. Abbas condemned the executions, calling them murders and a crime.

His Secretary-General, Al-Tayyib Abd al-Rahim, condemned the "random executions of those who Hamas called collaborators", adding that some of those killed had been detained for more than three years. Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and Palestinian human rights groups condemned the executions. Bodies of the victims were brought to hospitals to be added to the number of civilian casualties of Israeli operation. According to a Shin Bet official, "not even one" of the alleged collaborators executed by Hamas provided any intelligence to Israel, while the Shin Bet officially "confirmed that those executed during Operation Protective Edge had all been held in prison in Gaza in the course of the hostilities."

Senior Hamas official Moussa Abu Marzouk confirmed that some of the victims were kept under arrest before the conflict began and were executed to satisfy the public without due legal procedure.

Shurat HaDin filed a suite with the ICC charging Khaled Meshal with war crimes for executions of 38 civilians.

Hamas co-founder Ayman Taha was found dead; Al-Quds Al-Arabi reported he had been shot by Hamas for maintaining contact with the intelligence services of several Arab countries; Hamas stated he was targeted by an Israeli airstrike.

Human shields

Israel has stated that many civilian casualties were the result of Hamas using the Gazan population as human shields at rocket launch targets. But according to Harriet Sherwood in The Guardian, this is their justification for targeting such places, despite the legal requirement to ensure its attacks are proportional, distinguish between military and civilian objects, and avoid civilian casualties. The statements fall in two categories: using civilian structures like homes, mosques and hospitals to store munitions in or launch rockets from, and urging or forcing civilian population to stay in their homes, to shield militants. Israeli soldiers have also recounted Hamas operatives directly employing women and children as involuntary human shields to evade pursuit while Hamas and others denied such accusations.

Use of civilian structures for military purposes

Israel has stated that many mosques, schools and hospitals were used to store weapons. The IDF spokesman said that mortar shells were fired from a boys' school that served as a shelter for refugees. There were reports of the use of mosques to store weapons, and having launch sites very close to civilian structures. Gaza's Greek Orthodox archbishop has said that Hamas used the church compound, which sheltered 2000 Muslim civilians, to launch rockets into Israel. France 24 correspondent Gallagher Fenwick reported that a Hamas rocket-launching pad was placed in densely populated neighborhood of Gaza City, about 50 meters from the hotel where the majority of international media were staying and 100 meters from a UN building. Fenwick claimed that "children can be seen playing on and near the rocket launcher".

Israeli and Jewish critics of the war, including Uri Avnery, Gideon Levy and Richard Silverstein, recall that in its own war of independence and earlier Jews hid weapons in synagogues, kindergartens and schools. Correctness of such comparison is denied by Ross Singer, who notes that "the legacy of both the Irgun and Lehi was and to a large degree still is a matter of public debate", while Zionist paramilitary groups "rarely if ever" fired weapons "from within civilian population centers" and routinely evacuated civilians from areas of conflict.

According to Shabak, the Israeli internal security service, some of the militants, when interrogated, admitted using civilian buildings for military purposes. The admissions included more than ten mosques that were used for gatherings, training, storage of weapons, tunnel activities and military observations. During interrogations, one militant said that he was instructed in case of successful abduction using a tunnel to take the victim to a kindergarten located near its opening.

Israel released footage of Palestinian militants launching rockets from a school and a cemetery. In at least one case a cemetery was targeted by an Israeli airstrike.

Using civilian structures to store munitions and launch attacks from is unlawful, and the Fourth Geneva Convention states that "The presence of a protected person may not be used to render certain points or areas immune from military operations." On the other hand, another convention says that violating this law by one of the parties would not be a legal justification for other party to attack these areas. "Any violation of these prohibitions shall not release the parties to the conflict from their legal obligations with respect to the civilian population and civilians, including the obligation to take the precautionary measures," the conventions say. In fact, According to Harriet Sherwood, even if Hamas were violating the law on this matter, it would not legally justify Israel's bombing of areas where civilians are known to be.

Amnesty International stated that "Indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks (where the likely number of civilian casualties or damage to civilian property outweighs the anticipated military advantage to be gained) are ... prohibited." It said that "Israel's relentless air assault on Gaza has seen its forces flagrantly disregard civilian life and property". Human Rights Watch has said that in many cases "the Israeli military has presented no information to show that it was attacking lawful military objectives or acted to minimize civilian casualties." An investigation by Human Rights Watch found that "in most of the sites we investigated so far (in this conflict) we found no valid military targets".

Some commentators noted the high population density of Gaza in conjunction with Palestinian military activities and installations being in or near civilian structures. Some critics note that the headquarters of the IDF and Shin Bet, as well as an Israeli military training facility, are located near civilian centers.

On 24 August, Israel released part of what it says is a Hamas training manual on urban warfare, which states "the process of hiding ammunition inside buildings is intended for ambushes in residential areas and to move the campaign from open areas into built up and closed areas" and "residents of the area should be used to bring in the equipment...take advantage of this to avoid [Israeli] spy planes and attack drones." The manual also explains how fighting from within civilian population makes IDF operations difficult and what the benefits of civilian deaths are. Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri dismissed the document as a "forgery...aimed at justifying the mass killings of Palestinian civilians."

On 12 September, Ghazi Hamad, a senior Hamas official, acknowledged for the first time that Hamas did fire rockets from civilian areas and said "some mistakes were made".

Medical facilities and personnel

Photo taken during the 72-hour ceasefire between Hamas and Israel on 6 August 2014. A destroyed ambulance in Shuja'iyya in the Gaza Strip.

Medical units including hospitals and medical personnel have special protections under international humanitarian law. They lose their protection only if they commit, outside their humanitarian function, "acts harmful to the enemy." More than 25 medical facilities were damaged in the conflict; one attack on Al-Aqsa hospital killed 5 people. In many cases, ambulances and other medical personnel were hit. Amnesty International has condemned the attacks and said that there is "mounting evidence" that Israel deliberately targeted hospitals and medical personnel; Israel said it had not.

A Finnish reporter from Helsingin Sanomat reported seeing rockets fired from near the Gaza Al-Shifa hospital. The IDF said that in several cases Hamas used Wafa hospital as a military base and used ambulances to transport its fighters. According to the Israeli Shabak, many of the militants it interrogated said that "everyone knew" that Hamas leaders were using hospitals for hiding. Hamas security reportedly wore police uniforms and blocked access to certain parts of the hospitals. One of the interrogated militants reportedly said that civilians seeking medical attention usually were thrown out by the security.

French-Palestinian journalist Radjaa Abu Dagga reported that Hamas militants interrogated him in Gaza's main hospital (Al-Shifa); his report was later removed from his paper's website at his request.

Urging or forcing civilians to stay in their homes

The IDF has released photographs which it says show civilians on rooftops, and a video of Hamas spokesperson Sami Abu Zuhri saying "the fact that people are willing to sacrifice themselves against Israeli warplanes in order to protect their homes [...] is proving itself". The EU has strongly condemned "calls on the civilian population of Gaza to provide themselves as human shields" and US Congress-members introduced bills condemning Hamas for using human shields. Civilians and activists in Gaza used themselves as 'human shields' in attempts to prevent Israeli attacks.

Hamas officials said that human shields were not used. Gazans stated that "nobody is safe and nobody can flee anywhere because everywhere is targeted." Many reporters, including from the BBC, the Independent and the Guardian said that they found no evidence of Hamas forcing Palestinians to stay and become unwilling human shields.

Fatah officials said that Hamas placed over 250 Fatah members under house arrest or in jail, putting them under threat of being killed by Israeli strikes and shooting them in the legs or breaking their limbs if they tried to leave. According to Abbas, more than 300 Fatah members were placed under house arrest and 120 were executed for fleeing.

Amnesty International reported in a statement that it "does not have evidence at this point" that Palestinian civilians were intentionally used by Hamas or Palestinian armed groups during the current hostilities to "shield" specific locations or military personnel or equipment from Israeli attacks". It additionally said that "public statements referring to entire areas are not the same as directing specific civilians to remain in their homes as "human shields" for fighters, munitions, or military equipment" and that "even if officials or fighters from Hamas or Palestinian armed groups ... did in fact direct civilians to remain in a specific location in order to shield military objectives ..., all of Israel's obligations to protect these civilians would still apply." Human Rights Watch said many of the attacks on targets appeared to be "disproportionate" and "indiscriminate".

Human Rights Watch attributed many civilian deaths to the lack of safe places to flee to, and accused Israel of firing at fleeing civilians. It stated that there are many reasons that prevent civilians from abiding by warnings, and that the failure to abide by warnings does not make civilians lawful targets.

A survey of Gazan residents by the Gatestone Institute addressed the subject of human shields, with respondents issuing statements such as "People received warnings from the Israelis and tried to evacuate...Hamas shot some of those people...the rest were forced to return to their homes and get bombed"; "Hamas imposed a curfew: anyone walking out in the street was shot without being asked any questions. That way Hamas made sure people had to stay in their homes even if they were about to get bombed"; and "My father received a text-message from the Israeli army warning him that our area was going to be bombed, and Hamas prevented us from leaving."

Rocket attacks on Israeli civilians

House destroyed by a rocket in Yehud.

Human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, pointed to Hamas's rocket attacks on Israeli cities as violations of international law and war crimes. Palestinian ambassador to the UN Human Rights Council, Ibrahim Khraishi stated in an 9 July interview on PA TV that the "missiles that are now being launched against Israel – each and every missile constitutes a crime against humanity, whether it hits or misses, because it is directed at civilian targets".

Hamas political figure Khaled Mashaal has defended the firing of rockets into Israel, saying that "our victims are civilians and theirs are soldiers". According to one report, "nearly all the 2,500–3,000 rockets and mortars Hamas has fired at Israel since the start of the war seem to have been aimed at towns", including an attack on "a kibbutz collective farm close to the Gaza border", in which an Israeli child was killed. Former Israeli Lt. Col. Jonathan D. Halevi stated that "Hamas has expressed pride in aiming long-range rockets at strategic targets in Israel including the nuclear reactor in Dimona, the chemical plants in Haifa, and Ben-Gurion Airport", which "could have caused thousands" of Israeli casualties "if successful".

According to Israel, Hamas continued to fire rockets at the Erez border crossing while sick and wounded Gazans tried to enter Israel for treatment. The Erez border crossing is the only legal border crossing between Gaza and Israel. Other people affected by this included journalists, UN workers, and volunteers.

Military use of UN facilities

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has a number of institutions and schools in the Gaza region, and, as of 24 July 23 had been closed. Hamas took advantage of the closures to employ some of these vacant UNRWA buildings as weapon storage sites. UNRWA officials, on discovering that three such vacated schools had been employed for storing rockets, condemned Hamas's actions, calling it a "flagrant violation of the neutrality of our premises."

Israel's foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman stated that UNRWA had turned over some discovered rockets to Hamas. Israel Democracy Institute Vice President, Mordechai Kremnitzer, accused the UNRWA of war crimes for handing over the rockets, while Hebrew University Professor Robbie Sabel stated that the UNRWA "had no legal obligation to hand the rockets over to Israel" and had little other choice in the matter. UNRWA states the armouries had been transferred to local police authorities under the Ramallah national unity government's authority, in accordance with "longstanding UN practice in UN humanitarian operations worldwide". UN Secretary Ban Ki-moon ordered an investigation.

On 30 July, the IDF said that they had discovered the entrance to a tunnel concealed inside a UNRWA medical clinic in Khan Yunis. The clinic was rigged with explosives, which then exploded and killed three Israeli soldiers. This report was later corrected by the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, the military unit that implements government policies in the Palestinian areas, who later that day stated that despite its UNRWA sign, the site was not registered as belonging to UNRWA.

Intimidation of journalists

Israeli officials said Hamas intimidates journalists in Gaza. A French reporter said that he was "detained and interrogated by members of Hamas's al-Qassam Brigade" in Gaza's Al-Shifa hospital, and forced to leave Gaza; he later asked the newspaper to remove his article from their site. Some journalists reported threats on social media against those who tweet about missile launch sites. John Reed of The Financial Times was threatened after he tweeted about rockets being fired from near Al-Shifa Hospital, and RT correspondent Harry Fear was told to leave Gaza after he tweeted that Hamas fired rockets from near his hotel. Isra al-Modallal, head of foreign relations for the Hamas Information Ministry, said Hamas did deport foreign journalists who filmed Hamas rocket launches, stating that by filming the launch sites the journalists were collaborating with Israel. The Foreign Press Association (FPA) in Israel and the Palestinian territories protested what it called "blatant, incessant, forceful and unorthodox methods employed by the Hamas authorities ... against visiting international journalists in Gaza", saying several had been harassed or questioned over information they reported. It also claimed Hamas was trying to "put in place a 'vetting' procedure" that would allow the blacklisting of specific journalists.

Some FPA members disputed the FPA's comments, including New York Times Jerusalem bureau chief Jodi Rudoren, who wrote "every reporter I've met who was in Gaza during [the] war says this Israeli/now FPA narrative of Hamas harassment is nonsense." The Israeli newspaper Haaretz interviewed many foreign journalists and found "all but a few of the journalists deny any such pressure". They said Hamas's intimidation was no worse than what they got from the IDF, and said no armed forces would permit reporters to broadcast militarily sensitive information. Furthermore, most reporters seldom saw Hamas fighters, because they fought from concealed locations and in places that were too dangerous to approach.

Military operations, weaponry and techniques

Palestine

Range of missiles launched from Gaza Strip

Rockets

The rockets used by Gazan militias vary in range, size and lethality. They include the Syrian-made (Chinese-designed) M-302 and the locally-made M-75, which have the range to target Tel-Aviv. Other rockets include the Soviet Katyushas and Qassams.

According to the Fars News Agency, Fajr-5 (long range Iranian) rockets have a warhead of 150–200 kg. According to Theodore Postol, the vast majority of Gazan artillery rocket warheads contain 10- to 20-pound explosive loads. Postol states that this fact makes bomb shelters more effective for protection. Mark Perry states that the "vast majority of the rockets are unsophisticated Qassams, with a 10-20 kg warhead and no guidance system". He also stated that "Hamas’ arsenal is considerably weaker today than it was in 2012". Regarding the Fajr-5, he stated that Iran had not transferred full-fledged rockets to Hamas, it only transferred technology to manufacture them. He also stated that "its guidance system was crude, at best, and its warhead nearly non-existent."

According to the IDF, of all the 4,564 projectiles fired at Israel, 224 hit built-up areas, 735 were intercepted by the Iron Dome, 875 fell inside Gaza and the rest fell in open territory or failed to launch.

According to OCHA, Palestinian militants fired 4,844 rockets and 1,734 mortar shells towards Israel. 25% of Gazan rockets had sufficient effectiveness to threaten to reach populated areas.

Gazan tunnels

Main article: Palestinian tunnel warfare in the Gaza Strip

See also: Gaza Strip smuggling tunnels

Not to be confused with Gaza Strip smuggling tunnels.

An Israeli soldier overlooking an uncovered Palestinian tunnel in the Gaza Strip during Operation Protective Edge, 2014

A vast network of underground tunnels used for smuggling and warfare exists in the Gaza Strip. This infrastructure runs throughout the Gaza Strip and towards Egypt and Israel, and has been developed by Hamas and other Palestinian military organizations to facilitate the storing and shielding of weapons; the gathering and moving of fighters, including for training and communication purposes; the launching of offensive attacks against Israel; and the transportation of Israeli hostages. On several occasions, Palestinian militants have also used this tunnel network, which is colloquially referred to as the Gaza metro,‌ to infiltrate Israel and Egypt while masking their presence and activities within the Gaza Strip itself. According to Iranian military officer Hassan Hassanzadeh, who commands the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps from Tehran, the Gaza Strip's tunnels run for more than 500 kilometres (310 mi) throughout the territory.

History

During the Macedonian siege of Gaza in 332 BC, both the Macedonian army and the Persian army (and Persia's Arab mercenaries) engaged in tunnel warfare. The digging of such tunnels was made possible by the area's loose soil, as is the case today. It enabled Alexander III to later invade and conquer the Second Egyptian Satrapy.

Size and dimensions

The total size and dimensions of the Palestinian tunnel network in the Gaza Strip is unknown, with all parties involved keeping the details classified. In 2016, Ismail Haniyeh, the former Prime Minister of the Palestinian National Authority and later Chairman of the Hamas Government, indicated that the tunnel network was double the size of the Củ Chi tunnels, which were developed by the Việt Cộng during the Vietnam War. Citing a private briefing in February 2015, Daniel Rubinstein wrote that Israel discovered 100 kilometres (62 mi) of tunnels during the 2014 Gaza War, one-third of which intruded upon Israeli territory; Ynet's Alex Fishman reported the same figure in 2017. Haaretz reporter Yaniv Kubovich reported in June 2021 that Hamas had constructed "hundreds of kilometers of tunnels the length and breadth of the Gaza Strip" after some of them were damaged during Operation Guardian of the Walls.

Animation by the Israel Defense Forces depicting an aspect of the Gazan tunnel network used primarily by Hamas, 2021

The tunnel system runs beneath many Gazan towns and cities, such as Khan Yunis, Jabalia and the Shati refugee camp. Typically, tunnel access points are hidden inside buildings, such as private homes or mosques, or camouflaged by brush, which impedes their detection via aerial imaging or drones. According to Eyal Weizman, "most tunnels have several access points and routes, starting in several homes or in chicken coops, joining together into a main route, and then branching off again into several separate passages leading into buildings on the other side." During the 2014 Gaza War the IDF encountered "complex tunnels, with a number of entry and exit shafts", and "[t]he main tunnel was often split, and sometimes there were parallel routes." The tunnels are usually 20 m (66 ft) to 30 m (98 ft) beneath the surface. On average, each tunnel is approximately 2 m (6.6 ft) high by 1 m (3.3 ft) wide, and equipped with lights, electricity, and sometimes tracks for transporting materials. The tunnels are often booby trapped with improvised explosive devices.

An IDF engineering officer tasked with locating tunnels told Haaretz that three tunnels discovered in 2013 opened the Israelis' eyes to proportions of the network. The engineering officer described "wide tunnels, with internal communication systems that had been dug deep beneath the surface and the sides were reinforced with layers of concrete" in which "[y]ou could walk upright in them without any difficulty." An Israeli army spokesman said that the tunnel system is "like the Underground, the Metro, or the subway."

In November 2022, the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for Palestine refugees reported that it found a tunnel underneath an elementary school operated by the agency. "The Agency protested strongly to the relevant authorities in Gaza to express outrage and condemnation of the presence of such a structure underneath one of its installations", which it complained was "a serious violation of the Agency's neutrality and a breach of international law" that "exposes children and Agency staff to significant security and safety risks." The UNRWA said in a statement that the agency had "cordoned off the area and swiftly took the necessary measures to render the school safe, including permanently sealing the cavity."

On 24 October 2023, Hamas released the 85-year-old Yocheved Lifshitz, who had been taken hostage in Hamas's attack on Israel on 7 October 2023. Lifshitz described walking for two to three hours through damp tunnels until she and other hostages reached a large hall. Lifshitz told reporters that Hamas has a "huge network" of tunnels that resembled a "spiderweb." According to Lifshitz, Hamas had prepared clean rooms with mattresses on the ground and the hostages received regular visits from doctors in their underground positions.

Largest tunnels

The largest known tunnel was discovered by the IDF on 17 December 2023, during the Israel–Hamas war. The tunnel has several branches and junctions, along with plumbing, electricity and communication lines. The largest of the branches discovered had a length of approximately four kilometers and goes down to a depth of 50 meters underground in some areas. The tunnel was wide enough for vehicles to travel inside. IDF also captured footage of the tunnel's construction which was released to the internet and showed Hamas using tunnel-boring machines. The tunnel was discovered a quarter of a mile from a border crossing, and was described by Israel as designed for "moving massive assets." In one video shown to journalists, Yahya Sinwar's brother Mohammad Sinwar is seen driving a car through what Israel described as the tunnel.

Origins and construction

Photograph of a Palestinian tunnel shaft uncovered by the Israeli military during Operation Protective Edge, 2014

The tunnel network used for warfare purposes has its origins in the smuggling tunnels connecting the Gaza Strip to Egypt. Tunnels have connected the Egyptian and Gazan sides of Rafah since the early 1980s, when the Philadelphi Route artificially divided the city. These tunnels grew in size, sophistication, and importance as a result of the Egyptian and Israeli economic blockade in 2007.

The implementation of the tunnel network was reportedly coordinated under the direction of Mohammed Deif, leader of Al-Qassam Brigades; and before that, Ahmed Jabari, formerly the head of operations for the Brigades before being killed by the IDF.

The tunnels into Israel were constructed using the expertise of the Rafah families who have specialized in digging tunnels into Egypt for commerce and smuggling. According to Eado Hecht, an Israeli defence analyst specialising in underground warfare, "[T]hese underground complexes are fairly similar in concept to the Viet Cong tunnels dug beneath the jungles of South Vietnam, though the quality of finishing is better, with concrete walls and roofs, electricity and other required amenities for lengthy sojourn."

The Israeli military has provided estimates in 2014 that Hamas spent around $30 to $90 million, and poured 600,000 tons of concrete, in order to build three dozen tunnels. Some tunnels were estimated to have cost $3 million to construct.

The Mako network published a description of the working conditions on the tunnels, citing an unnamed Israeli informant who said he worked on them, including the following details: Workers spent 8–12 hours a day on construction under precarious conditions and received a monthly wage of $150–$300. Hamas used electric or pneumatic jackhammers for digging tunnels. Tunnels were dug 18–25 meters (60–82 feet) underground at the rate of 4–5 meters a day. Tunnels were usually dug through sandy soil requiring their roof to be supported by a more durable level of clay. Tunnels were also reinforced by concrete panels manufactured in workshops adjacent to each tunnel. As of 2014, according to Yiftah S. Shapir and Gal Perel, the cost of digging a tunnel was around $100,000 and takes about three months to build.

According to reporting from Al-Monitor, individuals digging the tunnels spend long periods underground and use a device with a pedal-powered chain, similar to a bicycle, to dig through the dirt while lying on his back and pedaling with his feet.

Construction and use of the tunnels is associated with mortal danger due to accidental detonation of explosives and tunnel collapses. Hamas reported that 22 members of its armed wing died in tunnel accidents in 2017; another militant was killed on 22 April 2018.

Iranian involvement

After the 2007 imposition of a blockade on the Gaza Strip by Israel and Egypt, the Iranian Quds Force under the longtime direction of General Qasem Soleimani has been active in supporting the further construction of tunnels under Gaza and the smuggling of weapons through these tunnels to the armed wings of Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. In 2021 senior Hamas representative to Lebanon, Ahmad Abd al-Hadi said:

The idea of [digging] tunnels... Today there are 360 kilometers of tunnels in Gaza. There are more than 360 kilometers of tunnels underground. I won't go into details on this. Two people came up with the idea of digging these tunnels: The first is the martyred commander Imad Mughniyeh, and the second is Hajj Qasem Soleimani who went to Gaza more than once and contributed to the defense plan from the moment it was first drafted. I am not divulging any secret, by the way. The enemies know all this but what the enemies do not know is way more than what they do know.

Iranian Brigadier-General Abdolfattah Ahvazian, adviser to the Commander of the Quds Force, said in November 2023 regarding Soleimani's role in the construction and proliferation of the Gaza tunnel network:

After the martyrdom of Hajj Qasem [Soleimani], the guys from Hamas showed us a movie. I watched the movie, and according to the people of Hamas there, Hajj Qasem had gone into Gaza. He said to them: 'Why are you sitting idly by?' They answered: 'Hajj, there is no way.' So he gave the order to take a Jihadi action, and dig hundreds of tunnels, crossing the [Gaza] borders. Within three years, the Palestinians have dug hundreds of tunnels, approximately 800 km-long, with pickaxes and hoes. These are not the kind of tunnels that only mice can use. These tunnels allow the passages of cars, mules with ammunition, and motorcycles. 700 kilometers with nothing but pickaxes and hoes.

Retired Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps General Ezzatollah Zarghami admitted in November 2023 of having visited and inspected the Gaza tunnels himself along with senior Hamas members, during his active service with the Quds Force:

Fajr-3, which is a 240 mm rocket, was one of our products. Later, we made its warhead smaller and it had a range of 70 km. My first mission was to take this rocket... I say this with the utmost pride and with no fear of anyone. The Leader has already said that we were helping [Hamas]. We support the oppressed everywhere – Shiite Hezbollah as well as Sunni Hamas. These are what [Khamenei] has declared in the past. I traveled to the region as the production manager of those rockets, and I supplied them both to Hezbollah and the Palestinians. For some time, I was inside the very same tunnels that they are fighting from. Six or seven years ago, I posted about this and got the nickname 'yellow canary.' In the tunnels, I provided training about the usage and specification of the rockets. These training courses were highly successful. I saw that they had cages of singing canaries in the tunnels. I praised their commander about their acumen to have music during military work. The commander replied that the birds are not meant for singing, they are meant to be [oxygen] sensors in case the airflow is disrupted. If the airflow becomes weaker, the birds stop singing and drop dead. When the bird dies, we realize that there is a problem with airflow.

In December 2023 Mansour Haghighatpour, also a retired Quds Force General, stated that the creation of the tunnels under Gaza was an effort not only by the Palestinians but by the whole "Axis of Resistance":

The other thing I would like to point out is that the resistance axis, which planned with the Palestinians to build more than 400 kilometers of tunnels under an area of land that did not exceed 40 square kilometers, took various possible “scenarios” into consideration. These scenarios include [Israel] flooding the tunnels with water, pumping toxic gas into them, or blowing up parts of them. Therefore, the Palestinian side in the tunnels knows very well how to deal with all possible challenges.

In January 2024 the Shi'ite cleric Sheikh Jaffer Ladak asserted that Soleimani had played a major role in influencing the strategy of the Palestinian factions, turning it away from the suicide bombing attacks widely employed at the time of the Second Intifada and towards an underground warfare strategy:

Zarqawi was the one who began the idea of suicide bombings and then, he used this influence upon the Palestinians who then felt it was needful to be able to do suicide bombings in the occupied territories. Suicide bombings, of course, not only has a great problem with it, it is not with the flavor of Islamic resistance. It doesn't yield the goals, and also drew the ire of the world community on the Palestinian resistance. Enter people like martyr Qasem Soleimani. And, with his influence, you would actually see that the structure of the Palestinian resistance was overhauled. The tunnels that were being tug, and its relationship with the rest of the Islamic world, particularly those in Lebanon, particularly those in Iran, flourished, to such an extent that now, the so-called strongest army in West Asia still cannot defeat those people who have been starved for more than three months.

During the November 2012 Israeli operation in the Gaza Strip, the Commander-in-Chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Major-General Mohammad Ali Jafari said that due to the geographical isolation of the Gaza Strip, Iran cannot directly provide weapons to Hamas but still provides them with the technology and parts through the tunnels, which is then used by the al-Qassam Brigades to manufacture a Palestinian homemade version of the Iranian Fajr-5 missile that has managed to hit Israeli targets within Israel's capital Tel Aviv.

Strategic objectives and uses

According to Eado Eado Hecht, an Israeli defence analyst specialising in underground warfare, "Three different kinds of tunnels existed beneath Gaza, smuggling tunnels between Gaza and Egypt; defensive tunnels inside Gaza, used for command centres and weapons storage; and—connected to the defensive tunnels—offensive tunnels used for cross-border attacks on Israel", including the capture of Israeli soldiers.

American ambassador Daniel B. Shapiro examining a part of the Palestinian tunnel network uncovered by the Israeli military during Operation Protective Edge, 2014

The Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, an Israeli security think tank, describes tunnel warfare as a shifting of the balance of power: "Tunnel warfare provided armies facing a technologically superior adversary with an effective means for countering its air superiority." According to the center, tunnels conceal missile launchers, facilitate attacks on strategic targets like Ben-Gurion Airport, and allow cross-border access to Israeli territory.

An editorial in The Washington Post described the tunnels as "using tons of concrete desperately needed for civilian housing" and also as endangering civilians because they were constructed under civilian homes in the "heavily populated Shijaiyah district" and underneath the al-Wafa Hospital.

Working on the tunnel system provides an outlet for Hamas militants to be productively engaged in relative peacetime.

Defensive uses

An Al-Monitor report described tunnels within Gaza and away from the border that serve two purposes: storing and shielding weapons including rockets and launchers, and providing security and mobility to Hamas militants. The report indicated that the latter function occurs in a set of "security tunnels": "Every single leader of Hamas, from its lowest ranking bureaucrats to its most senior leaders, is intimately familiar with the route to the security tunnel assigned to him and his family." Twenty-three militants in the Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, survived Israeli shelling on 17 July 2014 and remained alive but trapped in a tunnel until the early August ceasefire. In October 2013, Ihab al-Ghussein, spokesman of the Interior Ministry of the Palestinian National Authority, described the tunnels as an exercise of Gaza's "right to protect itself." In October 2014, Hamas leader Khalid Mishal denied that the tunnels were ever to be used to attack civilians: "Have any of the tunnels been used to kill any civilian or any of the residents of such towns? No. Never! . . . [Hamas] used them either to strike beyond the back lines of the Israeli army or to raid some military sites . . . This proves that Hamas is only defending itself."

The tunnels are used to conceal and protect weapons and militants and facilitate communication, making detection from the air difficult.In 2014, Hamas leader Khalid Meshal said in an interview with Vanity Fair that the tunnel system is a defensive structure, designed to place obstacles against Israel's powerful military arsenal and engage in counter-strikes behind the lines of the IDF. He said that the tunnels are used for infiltration of Israel, but said that offensive operations had never caused the death of civilians in Israel, and denied allegations of planned mass attacks on Israeli civilians.

In 1989, Hamas logistics officer and weapons smuggler Mahmoud al-Mabhouh escaped IDF forces through a smuggling tunnel into Egypt.

During Operation Pillar of Defense in 2012, Palestinian militants frequently made use of tunnels and bunkers to take cover from Israeli air strikes.

Offensive uses

Palestinian military personnel in Gaza explained to news website al-Monitor that the purpose of a cross-border tunnel was to conduct operations behind enemy lines in the event of an Israeli operation against Gaza. Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, commenting on the strategic importance of the tunnels, stated: "Today, we are the ones who invade them; they do not invade us." The tunnels have been described by former Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh as representative of "a new strategy in confronting the occupation and in the conflict with the enemy from underground and from above the ground." A Palestinian militia document obtained by al-Monitor and also published in The Washington Post described the objectives of the under-border tunnels:

The tunnel war is one of the most important and most dangerous military tactics in the face of the Israeli army because it features a qualitative and strategic dimension, because of its human and moral effects, and because of its serious threat and unprecedented challenge to the Israeli military machine, which is heavily armed and follows security doctrines involving protection measures and preemption. ... [The tactic is] to surprise the enemy and strike it a deadly blow that doesn't allow a chance for survival or escape or allow him a chance to confront and defend itself.

Israeli spokespersons have maintained that the aim of the tunnels is to harm Israel civilians. According to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the "sole purpose" of the cross-border tunnels from Gaza to Israel is "the destruction of our citizens and killing of our children." The Israeli government has called the tunnels "terror tunnels," stating that they have a potential to target civilians and soldiers in Israel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that the aim was to abduct and kill civilians. An IDF spokesman said the goal is "to abduct or kill civilians but will make do with a soldier, too." The Israeli newspaper Ma'ariv reported that, according to unnamed Israeli security sources, the tunnels were to be utilized in a mass casualty terror attack planned to take place on the Jewish high holy day of Rosh Hashanah, 24 September 2014. The plan was described to reporter Ariel Kahane by the sources, and reportedly revealed to the Israeli security Cabinet by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. The alleged plot entailed a planned assault in which two hundred of heavily armed Hamas fighters would have emerged at night from more than a dozen tunnels to infiltrate Israeli territory, killing and/or abducting Israeli citizens.

In September 2001, a Gazan tunnel was used to carry out an attack for the first time, in the context of the Second Palestinian Intifada, when "Palestinians detonated a 200-kilogram bomb inside a tunnel underneath the IDF border outpost of Termit on the Philadelphi corridor", resulting in the near-complete destruction of the outpost located in Rafah.

In June 2004, Hamas used tunnel bombs to attack an IDF outpost in Gaza, killing one soldier and injuring five.

In December 2004, shortly after the death of Yasser Arafat and purportedly in retaliation for the same, Hamas and Fatah tunneled under a border-crossing checkpoint at Rafah and detonated a bomb, killing five Israelis in the IDF outpost bombing attack, killing five Israeli soldiers and wounding six.

In June 2006, Hamas used a tunnel that exited near Kerem Shalom to conduct a cross-border raid that resulted in the death of two IDF soldiers and the kidnapping of a third, Gilad Shalit.

In November 2012, one Israeli soldier conducting maintenance work on the border fence was injured when Hamas's military wing, Izz al-Din Qassam Brigades, detonated a booby-trapped tunnel, and a 13-year-old Palestinian boy was killed by Israeli machine-gun fire following the explosion.

The tunnels were used in warfare on numerous occasions during the 2014 conflict. On at least four occasions during the conflict, Palestinian militants crossing the border through the tunnels engaged in combat with Israeli soldiers. Israeli officials reported four "incidents in which members of Palestinian armed groups emerged from tunnel exits located between 1.1 and 4.7 km from civilian homes." The Israeli government refers to cross-border tunnels as "attack tunnels" or "terror tunnels." According to Israel, the tunnels enabled the launch of rockets by remote control, and were intended to facilitate hostage-taking and mass-casualty attacks.

On 17 July 2014, Hamas militants carrying RPGs and assault rifles crossed the Israeli border through a tunnel about a mile away from the farming village of Sufa but were stopped by Israeli Defense Forces. The Israeli military reported that thirteen armed men had exited the tunnel, and shared video footage of them being hit by the explosion of an airstrike. Israeli authorities claimed the purpose had been to attack civilians.

On 21 July 2014, two squads of armed Palestinian militants crossed the Israeli border through a tunnel near Kibbutz Nir Am. The first squad of ten was killed by an Israeli air strike. A second squad killed four Israeli soldiers using an anti-tank weapon. The Jerusalem Post reported that the attackers sought to infiltrate Kibbutz Nir Am, but a senior intelligence source told the Times of Israel that "the Hamas gunmen were not in motion or en route to a kibbutz but rather had camouflaged themselves in the field, laying an ambush for an army patrol."

On 28 July 2014, Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants attacked an Israeli military outpost near Nahal Oz using a tunnel, killing five Israeli soldiers. One attacker was also killed.

On 1 August 2014, Hamas militants emerging from a tunnel attacked an Israeli patrol in Rafah, thus violating a humanitarian ceasefire, killing two Israeli soldiers. The militants returned to Rafah through a tunnel, bringing the body of Lieutenant Hadar Goldin with them. Israel at first believed that the militants had abducted Goldin and were holding him, but later determined that he had also been killed.

An unnamed senior intelligence source told The Times of Israel on 28 July 2014 that of the nine cross-border tunnels detected, none stretched into a civilian community, and that in the five infiltrations to that time Hamas had targeted soldiers rather than civilians. On 31 July 2014 IDF Army Radio quoted an unnamed senior military official as saying that "all the tunnels were aimed at military targets and not at the Gaza-vicinity communities". A UNHRC Commission of Inquiry on the Gaza Conflict published a report in 2015 concluding that during the 2014 conflict, "the tunnels were only used to conduct attacks directed at IDF positions in Israel in the vicinity of the Green Line, which are legitimate military targets." An Israeli intelligence source that spoke to Times of Israel indicated that none of the nine cross-border tunnels were aimed at civilian border communities. All the infiltration attempts focused on attacking military targets. The main aim of the attacks seems to have been to capture an IDF prisoner. Israeli officials condemned the UNHRC report.

On 7 October 2023, Hamas launched an attack on Israel, taking 252 people hostage. On 24 October 2023, a hostage was released and told reporters that she was transported and kept in the tunnel network with a group of 25 hostages.

Psychological impact

Eitan Shamir and Hecht wrote that, during the 2014 Gaza War, one objective of conducting cross-border raids on Israeli settlements using tunnels was to inflict psychological shock on the Israeli populations. A UN Commission of Inquiry found that "these tunnels and their use by Palestinian armed groups during the hostilities [of the 2014 Gaza War] caused great anxiety among Israelis that the tunnels might be used to attack civilians." According to Slesinger, the tunnels disrupt the Israelis' notion of territorial sovereignty and decreases the confidence of Israeli politicians' in their ability to manage external risks through ordinary border enforcement mechanisms such as patrols, fences, walls, and checkpoints–which in turn compromises the Israeli citizenry's "faith in the state's ability to provide security.

Kidnapping

Israel describes kidnapping Israeli civilians or taking Israeli soldiers hostage as one of the primary goals of tunnel construction. The Wall Street Journal described an attack tunnel inspected by one of its reporters as "designed for launching murder and kidnapping raids", noting that the "3-mile-long tunnel was reinforced with concrete, lined with telephone wires, and included cabins unnecessary for infiltration operations but useful for holding hostages." In October 2013, the newspaper Haaretz noted that "[t]he IDF's working assumption [was] that such tunnels [would] be made operative whenever there is an escalation in the area, whether initiated by Hamas or by Israel, and [would] be used for attacks and abduction attempts", adding that "[i]f Hamas initiates such an escalation while holding several Israeli citizens or soldiers, it would be in a much stronger position." According to The New York Times, one tunnel contained "a kidnapping kit of tranquilizers and plastic handcuffs".

Israel's countermeasures

A Palestinian tunnel coming into Israel from the Gaza Strip, uncovered by the Israeli military between Kissufim and Nirim, 10 December 2017

Throughout the Second Intifada, the IDF launched numerous raids to counter-act the Palestinian use of tunnels, and had destroyed over 100 tunnels by June 2004.

In October 2006, the IDF identified 13 smuggling tunnels along the Philadelphi Route and The Jerusalem Post reported that IDF destroyed "five more tunnels".

In November 2007, the IDF identified a tunnel complex concealed in a tomato hothouse with exits near Netiv HaAsara and Erez.

In November 2008, six militants were killed and a tunnel within 300 m (980 ft) of the border fence was destroyed by Israeli forces.

In November 2012, the IDF carried out a one-week operation that targeted 140 smuggling tunnels and 66 tunnels used for attacks, of the estimated 500 tunnels thought to exist at that time. By the end of the operation, the network of attack tunnels had been largely destroyed.

A tunnel discovered in 2013 began in the Gazan village of Abasan al-Saghira with an initial depth at the entrance of 22 m (72 ft), a length of approximately 950 m (3,120 ft), a width of approximately 1.8 m (5.9 ft), a height of approximately 1.1 m (3.6 ft), and a final depth at the exit of 18 m (59 ft), opening into a spot some 2,800 m (1.7 mi) from the Israeli settlement of Ein HaShlosha.

According to Israel, between January and October 2013, three tunnels under the border were identified, two of which were packed with explosives.

In November 2013, the IDF demolished two cross-border tunnels.

Destroying the tunnels was a primary objective of Israeli forces in the July–August 2014 conflict. The IDF reported that it "neutralized" 32 tunnels, fourteen of which crossed into Israel. A column in the Wall Street Journal cited Yigal Carmon, head of the Middle East Media Research Institute, as saying that it was the tunnels, and not the 2014 Gush Etzion kidnapping and murder that was the immediate cause of war in the summer of 2014. According to Carmon's reading of the situation, the tunnels gave Hamas the ability to stake a mass-casualty attack on the scale of the 2008 Islamist terror attack on the Taj Hotel in Mumbai that killed 164 people.

On 5 July 2014, an Israeli airstrike damaged a tunnel near Kibbutz Kerem Shalom, and a group of Hamas military inspectors were killed in an explosion at the tunnel on 6 July 2014. According to Carmon, this may have persuaded Hamas that Israel was becoming aware of the scale of the capacity for militants to infiltrate Israel via tunnels, making a successful surprise mass-casualty attack less likely, and convincing the Hamas leadership to go to war immediately before more of the tunnels could be discovered and destroyed.

On 6 July 2014, the IDF killed six Hamas militants in an attack on a cross-border tunnel near Rafah. This resulted in an escalation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and was a key impetus to the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict.

On 17 July 2014, the IDF foiled an attempt by 13 militants to launch an attack near Kibbutz Sufa.

On 11 August 2014, the IDF announced they had successfully tested a system that could be used to detect these tunnels. This new system uses a combination of sensors and special transmitters to locate tunnels. The IDF expects development to cost up to NIS 1.5 billion, and could be deployed within the year.

In May 2016, the IDF located a cross-border tunnel exiting near the area of Holit that had apparently been rebuilt as a bypass after initially being destroyed during Operation Protective Edge.

In the summer of 2017, Israel began the construction of a border wall which stretched several meters underground to counter tunnel assaults. The structure is equipped with sensors to detect future tunnel construction. Concrete for the structure was produced using five concrete factories dedicated to the project and about 10 meters was completed daily. The structure was placed entirely on Israeli land.

On 30 October 2017, Israeli forces destroyed a tunnel that crossed the Gaza border into Israeli territory. Twelve Palestinians, including ten members of Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine and two Hamas militants, were killed in the blast and subsequent rescue efforts. The most senior person killed was Brigade Commander Arafat Marshood of Islamic Jihad's al-Quds Brigades.

On 10 December 2017, Israeli forces destroyed an additional tunnel that crossed the border.

In January 2018, following the destruction of an attack tunnel from Gaza that crossed into Egypt and Israel, IDF Major General Yoav Mordechai, speaking in Arabic, said, "I want to send a message to everyone who is digging or gets too close to the tunnels: As you've seen in the past two months, these tunnels bring only death," referring to Hamas tunnels that had recently been destroyed by Israel. Major General Eyal Zamir stated that more Hamas tunnels into Israel would be destroyed as the construction of a barrier around the Gaza Strip will soon be completed.

In April 2018, the Israeli military announced it destroyed a tunnel that was called the "longest ever" and stretched several kilometers from inside the Gaza Strip, near Jabalia, and reached several meters into Israel, towards Nahal Oz, though no exit had yet been built

In June 2018, for the first time, an Israeli airstrike destroyed a naval tunnel belonging to Hamas.

In August 2018, the Israeli Ministry of Defense released the first pictures of an underwater barrier with Gaza designed to prevent Hamas infiltrations by sea. Construction of the barrier started two months before and is expected to be completed by the end of the year, stretching two hundred meters into the Mediterranean.

In October 2018, the Israeli military destroyed a tunnel in the southern Gaza Strip that was 1 km (0.62 mi) long, 200 m (660 ft) of which encroached upon Israeli territory.

In May 2021, Israeli airstrikes destroyed over 100 kilometers of tunnel network inside Gaza during Operation Guardian of the Walls.

In December 2021, the Israeli Ministry of Defense announced that a 65-kilometer underground barrier to deal with the threat of cross-border tunnels along the border with Gaza had been completed.

In October 2023, the Israeli Defense Forces were reported to be considering the use of sponge bombs as a non-lethal means of sealing tunnels during their incursion into the Gaza Strip.

The Egyptian government has also regarded the tunnels as a security risk. In 2013, Egypt attempted to destroy certain tunnels along its Gaza border by filling them with sewage and demolishing houses that hid their entrances, according to Joel Roskin, a geology professor at Bar-Ilan University.

Daphne Richemond-Barak, the author of “Underground Warfare,” wrote in Foreign Policy magazine: “Never in the history of tunnel warfare has a defender been able to spend months in such confined spaces. The digging itself, the innovative ways Hamas has made use of the tunnels and the group’s survival underground for this long have been unprecedented.”

See also

• Anti-tunnel barrier along the Gaza–Israel border
• Gaza Strip smuggling tunnels
• Sinaloa Cartel#Tijuana Airport/Drug Super Tunnels
• 2014 Nahal Oz attack
• Mahmoud Rushdi Ishtiwi

References

Bibliography

• Black, Ian (2017). Enemies and Neighbors: Arabs and Jews in Palestine and Israel, 1917–2017. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press.
• Cohen, Raphael S.; Johnson, David E.; Thaler, David E.; Allen, Brenna; Bartels, Elizabeth M.; Cahill, James; Efron, Shira (2017). From Cast Lead to Protective Edge: Lessons from Israel's War in Gaza. Santa Monica, California: RAND Corporation. ISBN 978-0-8330-9787-3. Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 May 2023.
• Filiu, Jean-Pierre (2014). Gaza: A History. Translated by King, John. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780190201890.
• Haddad, Toufic (June 2018). "Insurgent Infrastructure: Tunnels of the Gaza Strip". Middle East – Topics & Arguments. 10: 71–85. doi:10.17192/meta.2018.10.7594. Archived from the original on 14 October 2023.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
• Lichtenwald, Terrance G.; Perri, Frank S. (17 June 2013). "Terrorist Use of Smuggling Tunnels". International Journal of Criminology and Sociology. 2: 210–226. doi:10.6000/1929-4409.2013.02.21. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 February 2020.
• Pelham, Nicholas (Summer 2012). "Gaza's Tunnel Phenomenon: The Unintended Dynamics of Israel's Siege". Journal of Palestine Studies. 41 (4). University of California Press: 6–31. doi:10.1525/jps.2012.xli.4.6. JSTOR 10.1525/jps.2012.XLI.4.6.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
• Rodman, David (2019). Combined Arms Warfare in Israeli Military History: From the War of Independence to Operation Protective Edge. Sussex Academic Press. ISBN 9781845199678.
• Rubenstein, Daniel (2015). "Hamas' Tunnel Network: A Massacre in the Making". In Goodman, Hirsh; Gold, Dore (eds.). The Gaza War 2014: The War Israel Did Not Want and the Disaster It Averted (PDF). Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. pp. 119–129. ISBN 9789652181251. Archived (PDF) from the original on 16 August 2023.
• Shamir, Eitan; Hecht, Eado (1 December 2014). "Gaza 2014: Israel's Attrition vs Hamas' Exhaustion". The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters. 44 (4): 81–90. doi:10.55540/0031-1723.2972. S2CID 152753536. Archived from the original on 31 January 2023.
• Shapir, Yiftah S.; Perel, Gal (2014). "Subterranean Warfare: A New-Old Challenge". In Kurz, Anat; Brom, Shlomo (eds.). The Lessons of Operation Protective Edge (PDF). Institute for National Security Studies (INSS). Archived (PDF) from the original on 27 October 2021.
• Slesinger, Ian (8 February 2018). "A Cartography of the Unknowable: Technology, Territory and Subterranean Agencies in Israel's Management of the Gaza Tunnels". Geopolitics. 25: 71–85. doi:10.1080/14650045.2017.1399878. S2CID 149236341.
• Watkins, Nicole J.; James, Alena M. (Spring 2016). "Digging Into Israel: The Sophisticated Tunneling Network of Hamas". Journal of Strategic Security. 9 (1): 84–103. doi:10.5038/1944-0472.9.1.1508. S2CID 264300495. Archived from the original on 5 June 2022.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
• Weizman, Eyal (2007). Hollow Land: Israel's Architecture of Occupation. New York: Verso. ISBN 978-1-78663-448-1.

External links

• The Gaza Tunnel Industry, Israel Defense Forces (including photos), 2018
• Peering Into Darkness Beneath the Israel-Gaza Border, The New York Times, 25 July 2014 (including a map of some of the tunnels)
• IDF footage of tunnel entrance built in basement of Gaza mosque

Some intelligence sources suggest that the tunnels are primarily meant to be used for military purposes.However, Israel reportedly stopped an attempt to raid a kibbutz during the war, and says that it has uncovered evidence that the tunnels were being prepared for massive attacks against Israeli civilians.

Other weaponry

Hamas has also used a "crude, tactical" drone, reported to be Iranian-made and named "Ababil-1".

Palestinian militant groups have also used anti-tank rockets against armoured vehicles, as well as against groups of Israeli soldiers. Some armored personnel carriers were hit by missiles, and the Israeli Trophy system reportedly intercepted at least 15 anti-tank missiles shot at Merkava IV tanks. Anti-tank mines had also been used against armored vehicles.

Israel

IDF Artillery Corps fires a 155 mm M109 howitzer, 24 July 2014

Israel has used air, land and naval weaponry. The artillery includes Soltam M71 guns and US-manufactured Paladin M109s (155-mm howitzers). The aerial weaponry includes drones and F-16 fighter jets. Drones are used to constantly monitor the Gaza strip.

The IDF stated that it attacked 5,263 targets in Gaza, including:

• 1,814 rocket and mortar launch or otherwise related sites
• 191 weapon factories and warehouses
• 1,914 command and control centers
• 237 government institutions supporting the militant activity
• hundreds of military outposts inside buildings

According to OCHA figures, Israel fired 5,830 missiles launched in 4,028 IAF air raids, the IDF's ground forces shot off 16,507 artillery and tank projectiles, and the Israeli navy's off-shore fleet fired 3,494 naval shells, into the Gaza Strip.

A bomb disposal expert in the Palestinian Interior Ministry said that by 22 August, 8,000 bombs and 70,000 artillery shells, or 20,000 tons of explosives (the equivalent of six nuclear bombs), had been dropped on Gaza; Channel 4 said a bomb disposal expert had reported the same figures. The Sydney Morning Herald quoted an anonymous expert who estimated that 10,000 tonnes of explosives were dropped from the air alone, which does not include tank and artillery shells.

Between 32 and 34 known tunnels were destroyed or neutralized, 13 of them destroyed completely.

The performance of the Iron Dome defense system was considered effective, achieving an almost 90% success rate. Israel's early warning sirens and extensive shelters have been an effective defense against Gazan rocketry. They are less effective against short-range mortars because they have less time to react.

Media coverage

Main article: Media coverage of the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict

Portrayals of the conflict in different media outlets varied. U.S. news sources were often more sympathetic to Israel while British news sources featured more criticism of Israel. Commentators on both sides claimed that the media was biased either for or against Israel. According to an article by Subrata Ghoshroy published in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, most United States media focused on Hamas rockets, of which only 3% actually strike populated areas (causing little damage), with less attention paid to Palestinian casualties, or to why Gazans back Hamas's rocket campaign. As the conflict progressed and Palestinian deaths increased, British media became somewhat more critical of Israel. Within Israel, the newspaper Haaretz issued an editorial stating that the "soft Gaza sand... could turn into quicksand" for the Israeli military and also warned about the "wholesale killing" of Palestinian civilians; the article declared: "There can be no victory here". The Sydney Morning Herald apologised for running an allegedly antisemitic cartoon after Australian Attorney-General George Brandis denounced it as "deplorable." Israel was accused of waging a propaganda war, and on both sides, sympathetic authors released video games relating to the conflict. In Israel, according to Naomi Chazan, the Gaza war sparked "an equally momentous conflagration at the heart of Israeli society": attempts to question government policy were met with severe verbal and physical harassment, incidents of Arab-bashing occurred daily, and 90% of internet posts on the war were found to be racist or to constitute incitement.

Diplomatic efforts

A number of diplomatic efforts were made to resolve the conflict. These attempts included efforts by United States Secretary of State John Kerry to broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, like the meeting in Paris with European G4 foreign ministers and his counterparts of Qatar and Turkey. Egypt brokered a number of ceasefires between Hamas and Israel.

On 17 September, a UN official said that the amount of building materials entering Gaza may quadruple under a reconstruction plan agreed to by the Palestinian Authority, Israel and the UN. According to the deal, use of the building materials will be overseen by the UN. An international conference on the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip is scheduled to begin in Cairo on 12 October 2014.

See also

• 2013–14 Israeli–Palestinian peace talks
• 2014 in Israel
• 2014 in the Palestinian territories
• History of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict
• List of the Israel Defense Forces operations
• List of wars involving Israel
• List of wars involving the State of Palestine
• Timeline of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict

External links

• "Gaza-Israel conflict: Is the fighting over?". BBC News Online. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
• "Operation Protective Edge". Israel Defense Forces. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
• "Gaza Crisis". United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
• "Israel under fire July-August 2014 - A Diary". Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
• "Gaza Under Fire: One Month On". Al Jazeera English. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
• "Operation Protective Edge". Jewish Virtual Library. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
• "Protective Edge Stats - Israel-Gaza war 2014". Google Docs. Retrieved 9 September 2014.