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2014 Gaza War

Coordinates: 30°40′N 34°50′E / 30.667°N 34.833°E / 30.667; 34.833
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2014 Israel–Gaza conflict
Part of the Gaza–Israel conflict

(left) Iron Dome shooting down a rocket from Gaza
(right) A bombed Palestinian home
Date8 July 2014 (2014-07-08) – present
(10 years and 1 week)
Location
State of Palestine Palestine (Gaza Strip)
Israel Israel
30°40′N 34°50′E / 30.667°N 34.833°E / 30.667; 34.833
Status Ongoing
Belligerents

 Israel

Armament Support:

State of Palestine Palestinian resistance groups[3][4][5]

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
Shin Bet		 Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades
al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades
Abu Ali Mustapha Brigades
Al-Quds Brigades
Al-Nasser Salah al-Deen Brigades
Strength

176,500 active personnel[7]

445,000 reservists[7]

Al-Qassam Brigades: 10,000[8]-40,000[9]

Al-Quds Brigades: ~5,000[10]
Casualties and losses

Israel:
63 soldiers, 2 civilians and 1 Thai worker killed; 400 soldiers[11] and 23 civilians wounded;[12] 1 soldier captured[11]

Hamas:
146 soldiers killed[13] and 2 soldiers captured[14][13]

Gaza Health Ministry: 1,499 killed[11] and 8,300 wounded[15]

PCHR: 1,324 killed (1,130 civilians)[16]

UN OCHA: 1,373 killed (852 civilians, 181 militants, 329 unknown)[17]

ITIC: 1,122 killed (347 civilians, 335 militants, 440 unknown)[18]

IDF: At least 335 militants killed (as of 14 July)[19][20][21] and 179 arrested[22]

According to Emergency Relief Coordinator:[23]

  • More than 9,000 homes in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed
  • Two of the three main UN compounds have been damaged
  • 24 medical facilities have been damaged or destroyed
  • More than 130 schools have sustained damage
  • The fuel tank of Gaza's only power plant was struck

An escalation of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict began in 2014 following a series of events.[24] Those events included the collapse of American-sponsored peace talks, attempts by rival Palestinian factions to form a coalition government, the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers, the subsequent kidnapping and murder of a Palestinian teenager, and increased rocket attacks on Israel by Hamas militants in response to an extensive crackdown by Israeli troops on Hamas in the West Bank.[24] On 8 July 2014, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched Operation Protective Edge in the Gaza Strip.[25]

Following the kidnapping and murders of three Israeli teenagers in mid-June 2014, the Israeli Military initiated Operation Brother's Keeper in search of them.[26] During the operation, in the following 11 days Israel's military killed five to ten Palestinians,[27][28][29] and arrested between 350 and 600 Palestinians,[27][30][31][32] including nearly all of Hamas' West Bank leaders.[33][34][35]

On the night of 6 July, an Israeli strike killed seven Hamas militants.[36] In response, Hamas' militants increased rocket attacks on Israel.[37] By 7 July, Hamas militants had fired 100 rockets from Gaza at Israeli territory and the Israeli Air Force had bombed several sites in Gaza.[38][39][40] Early on 8 July IAF bombed 50 targets in the Gaza Strip.[41] Israel's military thwarted a militant infiltration from the sea.[42] That same day, Hamas declared that "all Israelis" had become "legitimate targets"[43][44] and 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.[45]

On 13 July, the Israeli military reported that more than 1,300 Israeli attacks had taken place, while more than 800 rockets were fired from Gaza into Israel.[46] The next day, 14 July, Egypt announced a cease-fire initiative. The Israeli government declared acceptance for the proposal, and temporarily stopped hostilities in the morning of 15 July. However, all Palestinian factions announced they had not been consulted on the reported Egyptian initiative and were informed of the supposed proposal via the media, including Palestinian President Abbas.[47] Hamas rejected it in "its current form", as did other Palestinian factions.[47][48] On 16 July, Hamas and Islamic Jihad offered Israel a 10-year truce, with ten conditions, mostly centered on ending the blockade.[49]

The conflict is the deadliest military operation to have taken place in Gaza since the Second Intifada although the exact number of deaths and percentage composed of civilians has been in dispute.[50][51] According to the Gaza Health Ministry, at least 1,499 Palestinians were killed[11] and 8,300 were injured.[15] Among the dead were 315 children, 166 women,[52] and 50 elderly.[53] The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimated that 852 of those killed were civilians, of whom 433 were women or children.[17] OCHA's spokesman said "There is literally no safe place for civilians" in Gaza.[54] 63 IDF soldiers have been killed (1 lt. colonel, 3 majors, 6 captains)[55], as well as two Israeli civilians and a Thai worker. One soldier has also been captured.[11] The Israel Defense Forces has accused Hamas of using civilians as "human shields";[19] an allegation denied by Hamas.[56] 44% of the territory of the Gaza Strip has been declared a no-go zone by the Israeli military.[57]

According to OCHA, as of 31 July 2014 in the Gaza Strip, over 250,000 Palestinians have been displaced of which 236,375 are taking shelter in 88 UNRWA schools (over eleven percent of the Gazan population). UNRWA has exhausted its capacity to absorb displaced persons, and overcrowding in shelters risks the outbreak of epidemics.[17] 1.8 million people are affected by a halt or reduction of the water supply,[58] 136 schools and 24 health facilities have been damaged, homes of 9,395 families have been totally destroyed or severely damaged and homes of 4,735 families have been damaged but are still inhabitable. Throughout the Gaza Strip people receive only 3 hours of electricity per day. The destruction of Gaza’s only power plant had an immediate effect on the public health situation and reduced water and sanitation services, with hospitals becoming dependent on generators. And more than 250,000 IDPs are in need of emergency food assistance.[17]

Background

Main article: Israeli–Palestinian conflict
Street in Ramallah, Palestine after IDF raid during Operation Brother's Keeper, June 2014
Factory bursts in flames after rocket attack in Sderot, Israel, 28 June 2014

Violations of the truce

2005 withdrawal

In the view of The Guardian, the roots of the conflict go back to Ariel Sharon's unilateral withdrawal of Israeli settlements from Gaza in 2005, which, it is argued, was a tactical measure to both gain concessions on the West Bank and postpone a final peace settlement with the Palestinian National Authority, thereby weakening it. Exercising a form of 'occupation by remote control, ' Israel retained control of Gaza's borders, its coastal waters, and the movement of Gazans, leaving them without any freedom, and hence strengthening the PLO’s more militant rivals. Finally, Hamas, which felt less pressure after the disengagement went on to win the 2006 Palestinian legislative elections and the conflicts originates from this group's coup of 2007 as a stage for the periodic confrontations.[59]

2011 (First Hamas–Fatah reconciliation)

Influenced by the Arab Spring, the gap between Hamas and Fatah was bridged in 2011. Reconciliation talks was accelerated by demonstrations in Ramallah and Gaza. Two Hamas activists in Gaza were killed by IDF when Mahmoud Abbas declared his willingness to travel to Gaza and sign an agreement, although it was claimed to be a response to the launching of a single Qassam rocket, which hit no one. [60] In an interview with CNN, Benjamin Netanyahu declared that the reconciliation talks calls for Israel's destruction and strongly opposed the unity government idea.[61]

2012-2013

Both sides have argued that the other side violated the ceasefire agreement from November 2012. 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 wounded by Israeli forces. The Israelis, White wrote, fired inside Gazan territory on 63 occasions, made 13 incursions into the Strip, and attacked the Gazan fishing fleet 30 times.[62]

According to Israel Security Agency, dozens of rockets and mortar shell were fired from Gaza Strip into Israel during the 19 months following the ceasefire agreement that ended IDF Operation Pillar of Defense from November 2012 till June 2014.[63]

According to the Middle East Monitor, in the year following the truce, Israel violated the cease-fire nearly 120 times.[64]

Second Hamas–Fatah reconciliation

According to Al Jazeera, Israel hopes to disenfranchise the Palestinian national unity government between Fatah and Hamas by this assault.[65] On 23 April 2014, Hamas agreed to a reconciliation deal with the other main Palestinian faction, Fatah [36][66] following seven years of division. The Palestinian unity government was sworn in by 2 June 2014[67][68] and Israel announced it would not negotiate any peace deal with the new government and would push punitive measures.[69] Declaring this unity will "strengthen terrorism" a day before the agreement, Benjamin Netanyahu said: "The international community must not embrace it."[70] The European Union, the United Nations, the United States, China, India, Russia and Turkey all agreed to work with the Palestinian unity government.[71][72][73][74] The agreement was likely to have a significant impact on the current round of peace talks between Mahmoud 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.[68][75] Netanyahu had warned before the deal it would be incompatible with Israeli–Palestinian peace and that Abbas has 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 in which they voted to authorise Netanyahu to impose unspecified sanctions against the Palestinian Authority.[68]

Immediate events

The operation follows a chain of events that began with the abduction of three Israeli teenagers Naftali Fraenkel (16; who held dual US-Israeli citizenship), Gilad Shaer (16) and Eyal Yifrah (19) in the West Bank in June 2014, for which Israel blamed Hamas. The IDF stated that the two men Israel suspects of having kidnapped the teenagers were known members of Hamas,[76][77] No evidence of Hamas involvement has been offered by the Israeli authorities[78] and high-ranking members of Hamas have denied the group had any involvement in the incident;[32] The alleged murderers come from the Qawasameh clan which is notorious for acting against Hamas's policies and any attempts to reach an entente with Israel.[79] Hamas political chief Khaled Meshal said he can neither confirm nor deny the kidnapping of the three Israelis, but congratulated the abductors.[80] 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 died in numerous raids, and several hundred senior figures and Hamas representatives were arrested,[81][82][83] among them many of those recently freed under the terms of the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange.

On 30 June, search teams found the bodies of the three missing teenagers near Hebron.[84][85] Israeli authorities appear to have known almost from the outset that the three had been shot almost immediately after the kidnapping,[86][87][88] and according to BBC reporter Jon Donnison, Micky Rosenfeld told him anonymously that Israel police are working on the assumption that the abductors were a lone cell operating independently of the Hamas leadership, although this claim has not been verified.[89] Al-Monitor has reported that the kidnappers were once Hamas-related branch that had gone rogue.[90]

Operation timeline

Main article: Timeline of the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict
House in Beersheba, Israel, after a direct hit by a rocket during the fourth day of the conflict, 11 July 2014
File:Massacre in Shuja'iyya 20.07.2014.mp4 snapshot 04.32.jpg
Shuja'iyya Incident (2014). Israeli bombs and artillery shells killed at least 65 Palestinians and wounded around 288 others in Shuja'iyya, Palestine. 20 July 2014
  • From 8 to 16 July, the IDF bombarded targets in the Gaza Strip with artillery and airstrikes. Meanwhile, Hamas continued to fire rockets and mortar shells into Israel, many of which were intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome air defense system. By 16 July, the death toll within Gaza had surpassed 200 people.[91]
  • On 17 July, a five-hour humanitarian ceasefire, proposed by the UN, took place. After the ceasefire, IDF began a ground offensive on the Gaza Strip. Initially, the focus of the ground operation was on destroying tunnels near the edge of the enclave. The tunnels were used by militants to transport people and materials.
  • On 20 July, the Israeli military entered Shuja'iyya, a neighborhood of Gaza City. This was followed by heavy fighting in the neighborhood.
  • On 24 July, over 10,000 Palestinians in the West Bank protested against the operation, resulting in at least 2 Palestinian deaths.[92]
  • On 25 July, an Israeli airstrike killed Salah Abu Hassanein, the leader of Islamic Jihad's military wing.[93]
  • On 26 July, another humanitarian ceasefire took place for twelve hours,[94] followed by a unilateral extension by Israel for another twenty-four hours.[95] The Palestinian death toll in the Gaza Strip topped 1,000.[96]
  • On 1 August, Hamas breached a 72-hours ceasefire agreed by Israel, the UN, John Kerry and the Palestinians, by kidnapping an Israeli officer and killing two soldiers in a suicide bombing attack.[97] But senior Hamas leader Moussa Abu Marzouk accused Israel of creating pretexts to undermine the Gaza ceasefire and said that Palestinian fighters abducted the officer and killed the two soldiers before the start of the humanitarian truce.[98]


Impact

Impact on residents

A map showing the location of missile damage in Northern Gaza[99]
File:Gaza 15.07.2014.jpg
A Palestinian child being treated at the Shefaa Hospital
Israeli soldiers shielding a 4-year old Israeli boy during a Hamas rocket attack.
Shaymaa al-Masri, five years old, at a-Shifaa Hospital, Gaza. Shaymaa was injured when her uncle’s house was bombed in the early afternoon of 9 July 2014

As of 20 July 2014 hospitals in Gaza were ill-equipped and facing severe shortage of various categories of medicine, medical supplies, and fuel.[100] Egypt temporarily reopened the Rafah crossing with Gaza to allow medical supplies to enter, and injured Palestinians to receive treatment in Egypt.[101] Also, due to the operation prices of food, including fish and produce, rose dramatically.[102] A 21 July news report stated that over 83,000 Palestinians had taken shelter in U.N. facilities.[103]

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.[104] Additionally, all gatherings of 300 or more people were banned.[105] Due to the trajectory of rocket fire from Gaza, many flights in and out of Ben-Gurion Airport were delayed or rerouted.[106] Hamas said: "This is a great victory for us."[107]

According to the United Nations' Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), as of 31 July 2014 in the Gaza Strip, over 250,000 Palestinians have been displaced, of which 236,375 are taking shelter in 88 UNRWA schools (over eleven percent of the Gazan population). UNRWA has exhausted its capacity to absorb displaced persons, and overcrowding in shelters risks the outbreak of epidemics.[17] 1.8 million people are affected by a halt or reduction of the water supply,[58] 134 schools and 26 health facilities have been damaged, 136 schools and 24 health facilities have been damaged, homes of 9,765 families have been totally destroyed or severely damaged and homes of 4,955 families have been damaged but are still inhabitable. Throughout the Gaza Strip people receive only 2 hours of electricity per day. The destruction of Gaza’s only power plant had an immediate effect on the public health situation and reduced water and sanitation services, with hospitals becoming dependent on generators. OCHA estimated that at least 303,000 children require psychosocial support.[17] "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..."[58] Throughout the Gaza Strip people receive only 2 hours of electricity per day. The destruction of Gaza’s only power plant had an immediate on the public health situation and reduced water and sanitation services, with hospitals becoming dependent on generators. And more than 255,000 IDPs are in need of emergency food assistance.[17]

Casualties and losses

Palestinian

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

Number of Palestinians killed in Gaza, per various sources:

Source Total Killed Civilians Killed Combatants Killed Unidentified Killed Last Updated
Gaza Health Ministry 1,499 — — — 1 August[11]
Palestinian Centre for Human Rights 1,324 1,130 194 — 30 July[16]
United Nations 1,373 852 181 329 31 July[17]
Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center 1,122 347 335 440 29 July[18]
Israel Defense Forces — — 330 — 25 July[19][20]

According to Gaza's Health Ministry, thus far 1,499 Palestinians have been killed.[11] According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, at least 83% of those killed were civilians.[17] 8,300 have been wounded, according to Gazan medical officials.[15] According to data provided by the Palestinian Health Ministry, 79.7 percent of the Palestinians killed in Gaza are male, with the majority between sixteen and thirty-five.[108]

Over 250,000 people have been displaced who have taken refugee in UNRWA schools. 137 schools and 24 medical facilities were damaged. In addition, over 14,130 homes have been destroyed or damaged by the air strikes.[17][109] The IDF has estimated that about 30–40% of the rockets stockpiled by Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups has been wiped out.[110]

According to the Israeli Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Center, as of 29 July 2014, 335 "terrorist operatives", 347 civilians, and 440 unidentified Palestinians have been killed in Gaza.[18] While the Israel–Gaza fighting has gone on, solidarity protests in the West Bank have sporadically occurred as well with violence throughout them, a total of 11 Palestinians dying over the 22–26 July period.[111]

On 30 July, Israeli and Palestinian[citation needed] media outlets reported that thirty civilians from various areas of Gaza had been accused of collaboration with Israel and summarily executed. As well, approximately twenty civilians from Shejaia were alleged to have been killed during a political protest against Hamas blaming them for the massive destruction inflicted on their neighborhood.[112]

Israeli

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

Since the start of the conflict, 63 IDF soldiers have been killed, as well as two Israeli civilians and a Thai worker. One soldier has also been captured[11] and one person died due to natural causes brought on by the conflict.[113]

Rocket attacks from Gaza have caused damage to Israeli civilian infrastructure, including factories, gas stations, and homes.[114] According to Magen David Adom there have been injuries to 123 people: 1 seriously, 21 moderately to lightly and 101 from shock.[115]

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,[116] was hit by mortar fire.[117] The second Israeli civilian killed was a 32-year-old Bedouin Ouda Lafi al-Waj, who was hit by a rocket in the Negev Desert.[118] A Thai migrant worker was also killed by mortar fire while working at a greenhouse in the Ashkelon Coast Regional Council.[119] In addition, an elderly woman in Wadi Nisnas collapsed and died of heart failure during an air-raid siren.[113]

Hamas says over 145 Israeli soldiers have been killed in the past 24 days. This is seen as the heaviest loss of life for the Israeli military in years. [120][121][122]

The IDF stated that as of 21 July more than 2,000 rockets have been fired at Israel since the start of the operation.[103]

Financial impact

Israel's Minister of Finance estimated that the operation would cost 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 indicates that if the operation lasts 20 days, the loss in GDP will be 0.4%.[123]

A number of tunnels leading into both Israel and Egypt have been destroyed throughout the operation. There are claims that the tunnels between Gaza and Egypt were bringing in an estimated $700 million into Gaza's economy through goods or services. Several Palestinians have argued that these tunnels have been critical to supporting the residents either through the employment they provide or through they goods that they have shipped that are otherwise not available in Gaza.[124] Tunnels between Gaza and Israel serve a purely military purpose.[125]

Reactions of the Commercial Aviation Community

Further information: 2014 Ben Gurion Airport flight bans

The United States State Department on the 21st of July advised U.S. citizens to "consider the deferral of non-essential travel to Israel" in consideration of the firing of rockets into different parts of Israel including cities.[126][127] On the 22th of July, after a rocket landed about a mile from Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) told U.S. airlines that they are prohibited from flying to or from the airport for up to 24 hours.[128] The FAA cited "the potentially hazardous situation created by the armed conflict in Israel and Gaza."[129] The European Aviation Safety Agency stated that it "strongly recommends" that airlines do not fly into or out of the Tel Aviv airport. On the 23rd of July the FAA extended its prohibition another 24 hours.[130]

Shortly after the FAA announcement, Israeli Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz stated that Ben Gurion Airport was safe for take-offs and landings, and that there was no security concern for passenger planes.[131] Israel previously stated that the Iron Dome has successfully intercepted "about 90% of rockets headed toward populated or strategic areas".[131] Israel's Civil Aviation Authority wrote a document which said that Israel is taking efforts to avoid commercial airline cancellations of flights going into Ben Gurion Airport. It submitted the document to Transportation Minister Katz, indicating that the airport was safe for landings and departures.[132]

In response to the cancellations, Israel offered to open Ovda airport (near Eilat) to international flights, due to its distance from Gaza.[133][134] There was crowding and chaos at the airport after it opened; 5,000 people were expected to pass through the airport on 24 July.

El Al followed these announcements by stating under no circumstances are they canceling any flights.[131] From 23–24 July, both the FAA[135] and the EASA[136] lifted the ban on the flights to Israel.

Reactions

Main article: Reactions to the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict
Pro-Israel demonstration in Helsinki, Finland.

The conflict has received reactions from both states and organizations, some supporting Israel's actions, some condemning it, and others condemning both Israel and Hamas and urged to stop violence. Meanwhile, majority of Israelis support the Operation Protective Edge.[137][138]

Protests in Israel and the West Bank

Demonstration against Operation Protective Edge by Arab Israeli and political left Israeli youth in Tel Aviv, Israel.

On July 21, the main commercial street in Nazareth was shuttered, as residents and businesses joined a general strike and staged protests against the two-week-old Israeli offensive in Gaza. There have been other scattered protests elsewhere in Israel. Nearly 700 people were arrested after those protests, rights groups say, including 224 from East Jerusalem. Most were subsequently released, but some face charges.[139]

A poll by Gisha, an Israeli group that monitors Palestinian freedom of movement, showed more than a quarter of the 1.8 million people living in Gaza have relatives in the West Bank.[140]

On Thursday 24 July, more than 15,000 Palestinians marched from Ramallah towards Jerusalem and clashed with the Israeli army until the early hours of Friday, in the largest such demonstration in close to a decade. Israeli security closed Qalandia checkpoint earlier on Thursday to prevent protestors from crossing. Some Palestinians marched towards the checkpoint and hurled stones, shot live ammunition and threw Molotov cocktails at the IDF. The IDF used riot dispersal means that included tear gas, rubber bullets and live ammunition. At least one protester from Qalandiya refugee camp was killed and 265 people were injured, with five of them in critical condition.[141][142][143]

After clashes on Thursday, July 24, Palestinian factions in the West Bank declared Friday a "Day of Rage."[142][144] On Friday, clashes began during a demonstration which was held after the midday prayer at a local mosque. Hashem Abu Maria, 45, was shot in the chest. Abu Maria works at the Defense for Children International organization. Two more Palestinians were killed by IDF troops in subsequent clashes.[141] In a separate incident near another protest against the conflict in Gaza, a settler shot dead Khaled Azmi Odeh, 18, and wounded three others near Nablus. In the subsequent escalation the Border police fatally shot another Palestinian, Tayeb Shehadeh.[141]

Violations of international humanitarian law

Further information: International law and the Arab–Israeli conflict

A number of legal issues concerning the conflict have arisen 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 violate international humanitarian law and might constitute war crimes, violations of international humanitarian law.[145][146][147] 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 specifically criticized Israel's actions in Gaza as disproportionate.[148] She also condemned indiscriminate rocket attacks by Palestinian armed groups. On July 23, the United Nations Human Rights Council voted to establish an inquiry into human rights violations.[149]

Israeli killing of Palestinian childrens

Monica Awad, the spokeswoman of the UNICEF, condemned Israel's targeting of women and children in its ongoing assault on the Gaza Strip. In an interview with Al-Jazeera yesterday, Awad said Israeli forces had deliberately killed 264 children in Gaza, which is equal to 11 children per day, and injured more than 2,000.[150][151]

Civilian deaths

Many of those killed have been civilians, prompting concern from many humanitarian organisations. 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’iyyeh. They have also directly attacked civilian objects."[152] Nine people were killed while watching the World Cup in a cafe,[153] and 8 members of a family died that Israel has said were inadvertently killed.[154]

Human shields

The Israeli government has argued that many civilian casualties were the result of Hamas using the Gazan population as 'human shields' at alleged rocket launch targets.[155] As evidence of Israel's allegations that Hamas is using human shields, the IDF has pointed to the storage of weapons in UN schools, as well as videos and photographs showing civilians on rooftops of buildings, 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, I believe this strategy is proving itself".[156][157][158][159][160][161] Hamas has told Gazan civilians to return to their homes or stay put following Israeli warnings to leave prior to air strikes.[162] Hamas officials have denied allegations of human shield use.[56] Gazans have stated that "nobody is safe and nobody can flee anywhere because everywhere is targeted."[103]

Media outlets have provided conflicting reports on the use of human shields. BBC's Middle East editor, Jeremy Bowen, has written, "I saw no evidence during my week in Gaza of Israel's accusation that Hamas uses Palestinians as human shields."[163] The Independent reported that no Gazans have said "they had been forced by [Hamas] to stay in places of danger and become unwilling human-shields", adding that "the outside is unaware of how small and confined the place is."[164] The Guardian reported that "claims [about Human Shields] have not been backed up by independent reporting from international journalists covering the war from Gaza."[165] Other journalists in Gaza have reported differently and have stated that Hamas has used human shields.[166] Peter Stefanovic of Australia's Channel Nine News reported the launching of Hamas rockets from a site about two hundred meters from his hotel. Financial Times Jerusalem Bureau Chief John Reed reported seeing two rockets fired from near al-Shifa hospital.[167] Some journalists have accused Hamas of intimidating those who wish to report human shield use[168] and others have cited a French correspondent's account of intimidation by Hamas to support such claims.[168][169][170]

Members of the US Congress have introduced bills condemning Hamas for using human shields.[171][172][undue weight? – discuss]

The allegations of human shielding are disputed by Human Rights Watch Middle East and North Africa Director, who said that "in most of the sites we investigated so far (in this conflict) we found no valid military targets".[156] Amnesty International has reported in a statement that it "does not have evidence at this point" that Palestinian civilians have been 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 has documented that Palestinian armed groups have stored munitions in and fired indiscriminate rockets from residential areas, in violation of international humanitarian law. However, Amnesty International has 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 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."[152]

Warnings by Israel

In many cases IDF warned civilians prior to targeting militants in highly populated areas in order to comply with international law.[147][173][174][175] Human rights organizations including Amnesty International,[176][177] have confirmed that in many cases, Palestinians received warnings prior to evacuation, including flyers, phone calls and roof knocking. In many cases, Palestinians have evacuated and in others, they have stayed in their homes. Israel has condemned Hamas for the group's encouragement of Palestinians to remain in their homes despite warnings in advance of airstrikes.[103]

Hamas argued that the warnings were a form of psychological warfare and that people would be equally or more unsafe in the rest of Gaza.[103][178] Amnesty International has 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."[179] Human Rights Watch concurred.[180] Many Gazans, when asked, have told journalists that they remain in their houses simply because they have nowhere else to go. [178] OCHA's spokesman has said, "There is literally no safe place for civilians" in Gaza.[54] Roof knocking has been condemned as unlawful by Amnesty International[177] and Human Rights Watch[147] as well as the United Nations Fact Finding Mission in the 2008 war.

Rocket and tunnel attacks on Israeli civilians

One of the tunnels uncovered in the Gaza Strip, used by Hamas to carry out rocket and cross-border attacks on Israel civilians[181]

Human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, have pointed to Hamas's rocket attacks on Israeli cities as violations of international law and war crimes.[146] Palestinian ambassador to the UN Human Rights Council, Ibrahim Khraishi, conceded that Hamas had acted unlawfully by directing missiles at civilians.[182]

Hamas political figure Khaled Mashaal has defended the firing of rockets into Israel, claiming that "our victims are civilians and theirs are soldiers".[183]

Destruction of homes

Israel has targeted many homes in this conflict. Israel points to the reason being that they are homes of suspected Hamas militants or are storing weapons. This has led to many instances of multiple members of the same family killed in attacks. This has been condemned by B'Tselem[145] and Human Rights Watch[146][156] and Amnesty International[176] as unlawful, amounting to collective punishment and war crimes.

United Nations

See also: Israel, Palestine, and the United Nations

The UN agency UNRWA has a number of institutions and schools in the Gaza region, and as of 24 July, 23 had been closed, 77 damaged in the fighting and three Palestinian UNRWA employees killed, two at home and a third while walking home from his work place. Hamas took advantage of the closures to employ some of these vacant UNRWA buildings as weapon storage sites.[184] UNRWA officials, on discovering that three [185][186] such vacated schools had been employed for storing rockets, condemned Hamas's actions, calling it a "flagrant violation of the neutrality of our premises."[187][188][189]

Israel's foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman alleged that UNRWA had turned over some discovered rockets to Hamas.[190] 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.[191] 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".[184][192][193] UN Secretary Ban Ki-moon ordered an investigation.[194]

On July 30, the IDF falsely claimed 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.[195] 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 the site was not registered as belonging to UNRWA.[196]

Bombing of UNRWA schools/shelters

Main article: 2014 Israel raids on UNRWA schools

Approximately 170 UNRWA-run schools are being used as temporary shelters for some 117,000 Palestinians.[197] UNRWA shelters have been bombed by Israel on six separate occasions.[198] Some of these schools sustained damage or were destroyed during the conflict. In at least one instance the source of the bombing is disputed.[199][200]

There are times when tears speak more eloquently than words. Mine pale into insignificance compared with Gaza's. ... UNRWA is overwhelmed in Gaza. We have reached breaking point; our staff are being killed, our shelters overflowing. Where will it end ... UNRWA now has 225,178 displaced in 86 shelters. But Gaza is being destroyed. So when the war is over, where will these people go?

UNRWA spokesman Chris Gunness[198]

On July 24, a UN-run school in Beit Hanoun used to shelter civilians was bombed; 13[201]–16[202] civilians were reported dead and 150 injured. Multiple news outlets reported Israel as responsible for the attack,[203][204][205] According to Israel's investigation, the school courtyard had been hit by a single 'errant' mortar round fired by the Israeli Army but it did not cause any casualties, since the ground was empty at the time.[206][207] UNRWA has rejected the IDF's account, saying an initial shell was followed by several others within minutes. Reporters who visited the school shortly afterwards said damage and debris was consistent with mortar rounds.[208] The Israeli military said the area surrounding the school in Beit Hanoun had turned into a battlefield, and it had asked that the facility be evacuated even before the school was hit. The military said that a four-hour window was given for evacuations. UNRWA disputed that, saying that Israeli military never responded to the agency's urgent requests for a cease-fire.[209][210]

Militant use of schools, mosques, hospitals

Hamas and other militant organizations are known to store weapons in schools and mosques.[211] The IDF released footage showing the entrance to a warfare tunnel built under the basement of a large mosque in Gaza.[212] The United Nations confirms that rockets have been stored in UNRWA schools.[213][214]

Infrastructure

On July 23, 12 human rights organizations in Israel released a letter to Israeli govt. warning that "Gaza Strip's civilian infrastructure is collapsing".[215][216] They noted 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".

On July 29, Israel bombed Gaza's only power plant, which is estimated to take a year to repair. Between five and eight of the 10 power lines that bring electricity from Israel have been disabled, some by Hamas rocket fire. Amnesty International said the crippling of the power station amounted to "collective punishment of Palestinians".[217][218]

Atacks on journalists

There are allegations that Hamas is threatening reporters in Gaza whom are critical of Hamas with retaliation.[219][220]

Eight journalists have been killed in the conflict by Israel. The International Federation of Journalists condemned the attacks and wrote to the UN to "remind the organisation of its international obligation to protect journalists."[221]

Israel has also bombed the radio and TV stations of Hamas, Al-Aqsa, saying that strikes "targeted the propaganda dissemination capabilities used to broadcast the messages of (Hamas') military wing,"[222] Reporters Without Borders condemned the attacks, saying that "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."[223] The targeting of Palestinian media has earlier (in 2012) been condemned by Human Rights Watch as unlawful.[224]

Media coverage

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

Portrayals of the conflict have varied much in different media outlets. In the English-speaking world, U.S. news sources were often more sympathetic to Israel while British news sources featured more criticism of Israel.[225] Commentators on both sides have claimed that the media is biased either for or against Israel.[226] According to The Times of Israel, British sources were more often critical of Israel.[225] As the conflict progressed and Palestinian deaths increased, media became somewhat more critical of Israel.[227] Within Israel, the newspaper Haaretz issued an editorial stating that the "soft Gaza sand... could turn into quicksand" for the Israeli military and also warning about the "wholesale killing" of Palestinian civilians. The article declared, "There can be no victory here".[228] The campaign in the Palestinian territories has received much coverage around the world.

Name of Israel's operation

The IDF's official English translation of the name of the military campaign is "Operation Protective Edge", but a literal translation of the operation's name (Template:Lang-he-n, Mivtza Tzuk Eitan) is "Operation Firm Cliff", and the IDF's official Arabic translation is "Operation Resolute Cliff".[229] More loosely translated, the name is "Operation Solid Rock" or "Operation Mighty Cliff".[230][231] According to the Turkish Anadolu Agency, an Israeli military spokesman for Arab Media, Avichay Adraee, explained that the change of the operation's name in English was done to "give a more 'defensive' connotation".[232]

See also

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External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Operation Protective Edge.
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