2012 Israeli operation in the Gaza Strip
In November 2012, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched Operation Pillar of Defense (Hebrew: עַמּוּד עָנָן, ʿAmúd ʿAnán, literally: "Pillar of Cloud"),[23] which was an eight-day campaign in the Hamas-governed Gaza Strip, beginning on 14 November 2012 with the killing of Ahmed Jabari, chief of the Gaza military wing of Hamas, by an Israeli airstrike.[24][25][26][27]
The operation was preceded by a period with a number of mutual Israeli–Palestinian responsive attacks.[28] According to the Israeli government, the operation began in response to the launch of over 100 rockets at Israel during a 24-hour period,[29][30] an attack by Gaza militants on an Israeli military patrol jeep within Israeli borders, and an explosion caused by improvised explosive devices (IEDs), which occurred near Israeli soldiers, on the Israeli side of a tunnel passing under the Israeli West Bank barrier.[31][32] The Israeli government stated that the aims of the military operation were to halt rocket attacks against civilian targets originating from the Gaza Strip[33][34] and to disrupt the capabilities of militant organizations.[35] The Palestinians blamed the Israeli government for the upsurge in violence, accusing the IDF of attacks on Gazan civilians in the days leading up to the operation.[36] They cited the blockade of the Gaza Strip and the occupation of West Bank, including East Jerusalem, as the reason for rocket attacks.[24]
During the course of the operation, the IDF claimed to have struck more than 1,500 sites in the Gaza Strip,[37] including rocket launchpads, weapon depots, government facilities, and apartment blocks.[38] According to a United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) report, 174 Palestinians were killed and hundreds were wounded.[39] Approximately 350–700 families were displaced.[40][19][41][42] One airstrike[43] killed ten members of the al-Dalu family. Some Palestinian casualties were caused by misfired Palestinian rockets landing inside the Gaza Strip.[44] Eight Palestinians were executed by members of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades for alleged collaboration with Israel.[45][46][47]
During the operation, Hamas, the al-Qassam Brigades and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) further intensified their rocket attacks on Israeli cities and towns, in an operation code named Operation Stones of Baked Clay (Arabic: حجارة سجيل, ḥijārat sijīl) by the al-Qassam Brigades,[48] firing over 1,456 rockets into Israel, and an additional 142 which fell inside Gaza itself.[49] Palestinian militant groups used weapons including Iranian-made Fajr-5, Russian-made Grad rockets, Qassams, and mortars. Some of these weapons were fired into Rishon LeZion, Beersheba, Ashdod, Ashkelon, and other population centers. Tel Aviv was hit for the first time since the 1991 Gulf War, and rockets were fired at Jerusalem.[50] The rockets killed three Israeli civilians in a direct hit on a home in Kiryat Malachi.[25][46][51] By the end of the operation, six Israelis had been killed, two hundred forty were injured, and more than two hundred had been treated for anxiety by Magen David Adom, an Israeli medical organization.[56] About 421 rockets were intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome missile defense system, another 142 fell on Gaza itself, 875 fell in open areas, and 58 hit urban areas in Israel.[49][57] A bus in Tel Aviv was bombed by an Arab-Israeli, injuring 28 civilians.[58]
Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States, and other Western countries expressed support for what they considered Israel's right to defend itself, or condemned the Hamas rocket attacks on Israel.[70] China,[71] Iran, Russia, Egypt, Turkey, and several other Arab and Muslim countries condemned the Israeli operation.[75] The United Nations Security Council held an emergency session on the situation, but did not reach a decision.[76] After days of negotiations between Hamas and Israel, a ceasefire mediated by Egypt was announced on 21 November.[77][78][79] Both sides claimed victory. Israel said that it had achieved its aim of crippling Hamas's rocket-launching ability,[80] while Hamas stated that Israel's option of invading Gaza had ended.[81][82] According to Human Rights Watch, both sides violated the laws of war during the fighting.[83][84][85]
Spillover
West Bank
The conflict sparked widespread protests in the West Bank, leading to an upsurge in clashes between Palestinians and the IDF.[46][223] On 14 November, two Israelis were lightly injured when their vehicle was stoned near Gush Etzion. The road from Jerusalem to Gush Etzion was closed as a result of fierce protests.[224]
On 18 November, a 31-year-old Palestinian man participating in a demonstration in Nabi Salih was killed by Israeli fire. The IDF, which described the protest as "illegal and violent", launched an investigation into the incident.[225][226] By 19 November, over 50 Palestinians had been reported injured during solidarity protests held in East Jerusalem, Ramallah, Bethlehem, Beit Ummar, and Qalandia.[227]
On 19 November, thousands marched in response to the killing of a protester the previous day.[223] An Israeli civilian vehicle was firebombed on Highway 60 in the West Bank. The passengers managed to flee before the vehicle was incinerated.[228] According to Israel Hayom, a protester in Halhul who attempted to attack an Israeli soldier was shot and killed.[228] Agence France-Presse (AFP) stated that the circumstances of the killing were unclear. The Palestinian police and ambulance service stated that no clashes had taken place where the man was killed.[223] The IDF launched an investigation into the incident. Five firebombs were thrown at an Israeli Border Police base in Atarot. Assailants opened fire on Israeli soldiers at a military base near Jenin. Palestinians tried to infiltrate Nahliel by cutting through the security fence surrounding the Israeli town. Palestinians stoned Israeli vehicles on Route 443, a main highway connecting Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. A 22-year-old Palestinian in Hebron attempting to throw a firebomb at a soldier was shot and wounded. A Border Police officer was injured during a demonstration in Qalandiya.[228]
On 20 November, an Israeli soldier was lightly wounded in clashes with Palestinian protesters near Gush Etzion, and an Israeli civilian woman was moderately injured in a stoning attack on a vehicle near Husan.[46] Palestinian demonstrations throughout the West Bank that day praised the rocket strikes and called for a new uprising and the abandonment of diplomacy with Israel. According to The Christian Science Monitor, the demonstrations signaled a blow to the prestige of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who has supported talks with Israel.[229]
Further protests and clashes occurred throughout the West Bank on 21–22 November. Thousands of Palestinians protested the death of Rushdi al-Tamimi, whose funeral procession passed through Ramallah and Birzeit University before ending in Tamimi's hometown of Nabi Salih. Several protesters attending the funeral lobbed stones at Israeli troops manning the entrance of the village, who responded with tear gas and rubber bullets. Hundreds of mourners attended the funeral of the Palestinian man killed in Hebron on 20 November. Following his burial many young protesters approached an Israeli settlement near Bab al-Zawiya Square, sparking clashes with Israeli forces who fired rubber bullets and tear gas. About 40 Palestinians were injured.[230] In the city of Nablus, hundreds of protesters waved Hamas flags.[231] The entrance to Bani Naim was closed by the IDF after clashes between them and the town's residents. Meanwhile, the northern West Bank village of al-Jalama was declared "a closed military zone" after hundreds of Palestinian demonstrators protested at the village checkpoint. Five Palestinians were arrested in house raids by the Israeli military in Ya'bad and Tubas. Israel alleged that the detained men had previously thrown stones at Israeli troops.[230]
Other
On 14 November, the Egyptian military confirmed that four rockets had been fired from Sinai toward Israel by militant groups in an area with a history in the prior eighteen months of cross-border shootings and rocket launches.[232][233]
On 20 November, a Lebanese army patrol discovered two ready-to-launch 107mm Grad rockets between the villages of Halta and Mari, about 2 miles from the Israeli border. The forces defused the rockets. IDF official Brigadier General Yoav Mordechai said Palestinian factions in Lebanon were probably behind the plot. (See: List of Lebanese rocket attacks on Israel.)[234]
On 21 November, the day of the ceasefire, two rockets fired from Lebanon at Israel landed within Lebanon, according to Beirut officials.[235] The next day, the Lebanese army disarmed an additional rocket aimed at Israel, this one in Marjayoun, about 10 kilometers from the border.[235]
Damage
Based on a large-scale survey by workers in the field, which Al Mezan claims to be extremely accurate, Al Mezan reported the total destruction of 124 houses located in all of the Gaza Strip, and partial damage of 2,050 homes. In just one week, the Israeli army destroyed numerous public and private premises, including 52 places of worship, 25 non-governmental organizations (NGOs), 97 schools, 15 health institutions, 14 journalist premises, 8 police stations, 16 government buildings, and 11 political sites. Fifteen factories and 192 trade shops were damaged or destroyed. Twelve water wells as well as agricultural lands were destroyed.[247]