2014 Gaza War
The 2014 Gaza War, also known as Operation Protective Edge (Hebrew: מִבְצָע צוּק אֵיתָן, romanized: Miv'tza Tzuk Eitan, lit. 'Operation Strong Cliff'[note 3][26][27][28]), and Battle of the Withered Grain (Arabic: معركة العصف المائكول, romanized: Maʿrakat al-ʿAṣf al-Maʾkūl[29][30]), was a military operation launched by Israel on 8 July 2014 in the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian territory that has been governed by Hamas since 2007.[note 4] Following the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers in the West Bank by Hamas-affiliated Palestinian militants, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) initiated Operation Brother's Keeper, in which it killed 10 Palestinians, injured 130 and imprisoned more than 600.[31][32][33][34] Hamas subsequently fired a greater number of rockets into Israel from the Gaza Strip, triggering a seven-week-long conflict between the two sides. It was one of the deadliest outbreaks of open conflict between Israel and the Palestinians in decades. The combination of Palestinian rocket attacks and Israeli airstrikes resulted in over two thousand deaths, the vast majority of which were Gazan Palestinians.[35] This includes a total of six Israeli civilians who were killed as a result of the conflict.[36]
The Israeli military operation aimed to stop rocket fire into Israel from the Gaza Strip. Conversely, Hamas' attacks aimed to bring international pressure onto Israel with the strategic goal of forcing the latter to lift the Israeli–Egyptian blockade of the Gaza Strip; among its other goals were to end Israel's military offensive, obtain a third party to monitor and guarantee compliance with a ceasefire,[37] release Palestinian political prisoners and overcome its isolation.[38] According to the BBC, Israel launched airstrikes on the Gaza Strip in retaliation to the rocket attacks by Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), and other Palestinian militant groups.[39]
On 7 July, after seven Hamas militants died in a tunnel explosion in Khan Yunis that was caused either by an Israeli airstrike (per Hamas, Nathan Thrall, BBC, and a senior IDF official)[40] or an accidental explosion of their own munitions (per the IDF), Hamas assumed responsibility for rockets fired into Israel, and subsequently launched 40 more rockets towards Israel.[41][42] The Israeli aerial operation officially began the following day, and on 17 July, it was expanded to include a full-scale ground invasion of the Gaza Strip with the stated aim of destroying Gaza's tunnel system;[43] the Israeli ground invasion ended on 5 August.[44] On 26 August, an open-ended ceasefire was announced.[45] By this time, the IDF reported that Hamas, PIJ, and other Palestinian militant groups had fired 4,564 rockets and mortars into Israel, with over 735 projectiles having been intercepted mid-flight and shot down by Israel's Iron Dome. Most Gazan mortar and rocket fire was inaccurate, and consequently hit open land; more than 280 projectiles had landed within the Gaza Strip,[46][47][48] and 224 had struck residential areas.[49][50] Palestinian rocketry also killed 13 Palestinian civilians in Gaza, 11 of them children.[51][52] The IDF attacked 5,263 targets in the Gaza Strip; at least 34 known tunnels were destroyed[49] and two-thirds of Hamas's 10,000-rocket arsenal was either used up or destroyed.[53][54]
Between 2,125[21] and 2,310[18] Gazans were killed during the conflict while between 10,626[18] and 10,895[55] were wounded (including 3,374 children, of whom over 1,000 were left permanently disabled).[56] Gazan civilian casualty estimates range between 70 percent by the Gaza Health Ministry,[14][19][55] 65 percent by the United Nations' (UN) Protection Cluster by OCHA (based in part on Gaza Health Ministry reports),[20] and 36 percent by Israeli officials.[57][21] The UN estimated that more than 7,000 homes for 10,000 families were razed, together with an additional 89,000 homes damaged, of which roughly 10,000 were severely affected by the bombing.[58] Rebuilding costs were calculated to run from US$4–6 billion over the course of 20 years.[59] 67 Israeli soldiers, 5 Israeli civilians (including one child)[60] and one Thai civilian were killed[14] while 469 Israeli soldiers and 261 Israeli civilians were injured.[17] On the Israeli side, the economic impact of the operation is estimated to have had an impact of ₪8.5 billion (approximately US$2.5 billion) and a GDP loss of 0.4 percent.[61]
Efforts to reconstruct Gaza
An international conference took place on 12 October 2014 in Cairo, where donors pledged US$5.4 billion to the Palestinians with half of that sum being "dedicated" to the reconstruction of Gaza, which was more than the US$4 billion Abbas first sought.[624] Japan pledged US$100 million in January 2015.[625] The EU pledged €450 million to rebuilding Gaza.[626]
As of 1 February 2015, only US$125 million of the $2.7 billion for reconstruction had been paid out, while tens of thousands of Gazans were still homeless. In February 2015, 30 international aid organizations including UNRWA, the World Health Organization as well as NGOs such as Oxfam, ActionAid and Save the Children International released a statement saying that: "we are alarmed by the limited progress in rebuilding the lives of those affected and tackling the root causes of the conflict." They stated that "Israel, as the occupying power, is the main duty bearer and must comply with its obligations under international law. In particular, it must fully lift the blockade within the framework of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1860 (2009)".[627] Catherine Weibel, UNICEF's Communication Chief in Jerusalem said: "Four infants died from complications caused by the bitter cold in Gaza in January... All were from families whose houses were destroyed during the last conflict and were living in extremely dire conditions."[628]
Only one percent of the needed building material had been delivered. The mechanism agreed between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority, meant to allow delivery of such material, has not worked.[629]
Hamas spokesman blamed Israel for causing an electricity crisis. Israel provided 50,000 liters of fuel for generators running during blackouts and repaired three power lines damaged during storms within a week.[630]
On 15 September 2014, a Fatah spokesperson accused Hamas of misappropriating US$700 million of funds intended to rebuild Gaza.[631][632] On 6 January Hamas spokesperson said that Palestinian national consensus government ministers admitted redirecting rebuilding funds to PNA budget.[633] Israel's military estimated that 20% of cement and steel allowed by Israel to be delivered to Gaza for the reconstruction efforts were taken by Hamas.[634] Arne Gericke, a member of the European Parliament said "It would sicken most [European] taxpayers to know that the EU itself could be directly contributing to the tragic cycle of violence".[626]