2014 Israel–Gaza conflict

2014 Israel–Gaza conflict 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) – present (1 month, 1 week and 5 days) Location Gaza Strip Israel Status Ongoing Ceasefire from 13 through 19 August Belligerents Israel Israel Defense Forces Southern Command Supported by: United States (armament) Egypt (tactical) Gaza Strip Hamas Islamic Jihad DFLP PFLP PRC Abdullah Azzam Brigades Supported by: Iran (armament) 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 445,000 reservists Al-Qassam Brigades: 10,000–40,000 Al-Quds Brigades: ≈5,000 Casualties and losses 64 soldiers and 3 civilians (including 1 Thai citizen) killed, 450 soldiers and 80 civilians wounded Gaza Health Ministry: 2,036 killed and 10,196 wounded (80% civilians) PCHR: 2,008 killed (1,670 civilians) UN OCHA: 1,999 killed (1,434 civilians) ITIC: 1,552 killed (480 civilians, 467 militants, 605 unknown) IDF: 1,768–2,000 killed (900 militants), 250 captured (159 identified as militants)

On 8 July 2014, an escalation of the Gaza–Israel conflict began when Israel launched Operation Protective Edge (Hebrew: מִבְצָע צוּק אֵיתָן, Mivtza' Tzuk Eitan, lit. "Operation Strong Cliff"), in the Palestinian unity-governed Gaza Strip. The stated aim was to stop rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip, which several non-Hamas affiliated groups had engaged in launching in June in response to an Israeli crackdown on Hamas members in the West Bank. After an Israeli Air Force airstrike killed 7 Hamas members, Hamas itself fired rockets into Israel.

On 13 July, the Israeli military reported that more than 1,300 Israeli air strikes had taken place on Gaza, while more than 800 rockets had been fired from Gaza into Israel. Several attempts to arrange a cease-fire between the two sides failed, and several arranged cease-fires (including one on 5 August, during which all Israeli soldiers were withdrawn from the Gaza Strip) fell apart or expired, before an Egyptian proposal for a 72-hour ceasefire was accepted by Israeli and Palestinian officials on 10 August.

The conflict is the deadliest military operation to have taken place in Gaza since the Second Intifada, though both the exact number of deaths and the percentage of the dead who were militants as opposed to civilians have been in dispute. According to the Gaza Health Ministry, 2,036 Gazans have been killed and 10,196 have been wounded. (80% civilians) According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), 1,417 (72%) of 1,976 deaths they documented were civilians, of whom 698 (35% of all deaths) were women or children. According to the Israeli government, 40%-50% of Gazan fatalities have been combatants. 64 IDF soldiers have been killed, as well as two Israeli civilians. The Israel Defense Forces have stated that Hamas has used civilians as "human shields"; Hamas has stated that it does not use human shields. 44% of the territory of the Gaza Strip has been declared a no-go zone by the Israeli military.

As of 5 August 2014 an OCHA report stated that in the Gaza Strip, 520,000 Palestinians (approximately 30% of Gaza's population) may have been displaced, of whom 273,000 were taking shelter in 90 UN-run schools. UNRWA has exhausted its capacity to absorb displaced persons, and overcrowding in shelters risks the outbreak of epidemics. On at least six occasions Israeli forces have shelled UNRWA schools that were serving as shelters. 1.5 million people in Gaza have limited or no access to water supplies. 26 health facilities have been damaged, 16,792 homes have been totally destroyed or severely damaged, and 5,635 homes have suffered major damaged but are still inhabitable. More than 485,000 internally displaced persons are in need of emergency food assistance. In Israel, an estimated 5,000-8,000 citizens of Southern Israel have fled their homes due to the threat of rocket attacks.

Background

Main article: Israeli–Palestinian conflict

In 2005 Ariel Sharon implemented a unilateral withdrawal of Israeli settlements from the Gaza Strip. 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 counter-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. Most international institutions consider the blockade as collective punishment and unlawful. It has led to considerable economic damage and humanitarian problems in Gaza.

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 Mahmoud Abbas declared his willingness to travel to Gaza and sign an agreement, the IDF killed two Hamas activists in Gaza; the IDF stated that 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, 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 21 November 2012 a ceasefire was brokered by Egypt, putting an end to a conflict that started with an Israeli air strike that assassinated Ahmed Jabari, the commander of Hamas's military wing, an act which led to a barage of rocket fire from Gaza and brought Hamas into open warfare with Israel. The Israeli attacks continued after the assassination in what is known as Operation Pillar of Defence. The ceasefire, brokered by Egypt, contained the following agreements:

• A. Israel should stop all hostilities in the Gaza Strip land, sea and air including incursions and targeting of individuals.

• B. All Palestinian factions shall stop all hostilities from the Gaza Strip against Israel including rocket attacks and all attacks along the border.

• C. Opening the crossings and facilitating the movements of people and transfer of goods and refraining from restricting residents' free movements and targeting residents in border areas and procedures of implementation shall be dealt with after 24 hours from the start of the ceasefire.

Gaza Strip: access and closure

2012–13

Both Israel and Hamas have argued that the other violated the 2012 ceasefire agreement. According to the Israeli Security Agency there was a sharp decrease in attacks from Gaza in 2013, with 1 Israeli fatality occurring; 5 injuries (0.5 per month) being sustained; with 63 rockets launched (5 per month) in 36 attacks, and various mortars fired from Gaza, all in violation of the November 2012 ceasefire. Regarding Israeli attacks, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) reported 8 deaths from Israeli actions in Gaza and 66 injuries (5.5 injuries per month) [OCHAO 2013 data – 11 deaths in Gaza and 81 injuries.], also being violations of the ceasefire terms. The PCHR reported attacks involving IDF drones, missiles, small arms fire and air strikes. Six of these deaths in Gaza occurred in the border area’s Access Restricted Areas (ARAs), non-demarcated zones within Gaza territory defined by Israel as being of restricted access, and a zone that was specifically excluded from attacks by Israel in the ceasefire terms.

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.

Writing in The National Interest, David C. Hendrickson said that in the period after 2012 ceasefire, although there was "intermittent rocket fire from Gaza splinter groups. ... Hamas kept its fire" and Netanyahu acknowledged in March 2014 that number of rocket attacks from Gaza in the past year was the "lowest in a decade." J.J. Goldberg, writing in The Forward, said that at the time of Operation Pillar of Defense in November 2012, "Hamas hadn't fired a single rocket since" the 2012 ceasefire "and had largely suppressed fire by smaller jihadi groups."

Further non-compliance with the November 2012 ceasefire terms by Israel was the continued embargo on Gaza during 2013 on the passage of goods and the restrictions on the movement of people in and out of the Strip. . "Crossings were repeatedly shut, buffer zones...were reinstated. Imports declined, exports were blocked, and fewer Gazans were given exit permits to Israel and the West Bank." The Economist's summary was "The ceasefire generally held, but the siege continued."

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.

January to June 2014

According to 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 who were attempting to fire rockets.

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", Benjamin 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 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. 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, West Bank after 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 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. On 5 August, Israel said that it had arrested Hossam Kawasmeh on 11 July, and suspected him of having organized the killing of the three teenagers. According to court documents, Kawasmeh stated that Hamas members in Gaza financed the recruitment and arming of the killers. 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 between 350 and 600 Palestinians, including nearly all of Hamas' 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."

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, and BBC reporter Jon Donnison says police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told him the abductors were a lone cell operating affiliated with Hamas but not operating under its leadership. Al-Monitor has reported that the kidnappers were once Hamas-related branch that had gone rogue. A day after the Israeli teens were buried, a Palestinian teenager was kidnapped and murdered.

From 1 May to 11 June six rockets and three mortar shells were launched from Gaza towards Israel. On 29 June, an Israeli air strike targeted a rocket crew, killing a Hamas operative. The next day Hamas responded with a barrage of rockets, the first time Hamas itself had launched rockets since the conflict in 2012. From the day of the abductions on 12 June through 5 July 117 rockets were launched from Gaza and there were approximately 80 Israeli air strikes on Gaza.

On the night of 6 July, an Israeli air raid on the house of a Hamas operative in Khan Yunis killed seven people. The following day, Hamas referred to the incident as a "massacre against women and children [and] a horrendous war crime" and claimed "all Israelis have now become legitimate targets"; it then 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

House in Beersheba, Israel, after a direct hit by a rocket during the fourth day of the conflict, 11 July 2014

Snapshot taken in the Shuja'iyya neighborhood of Gaza City, 20 July 2014

A Palestinian civilian tries to transfer a child wounded in an air raid, 8 July 2014

As the Israeli operation began, Hamas continued to fire rockets and mortar shells into Israel, and the IDF bombarded targets in the Gaza Strip with artillery and airstrikes in response. A cease-fire proposal was announced by the Egyptian government on 14 July, backed by PA President Mahmoud Abbas; the Israeli government accepted it and temporarily stopped hostilities on the morning of 15 July, but Hamas rejected it in "its current form", citing the fact Hamas has not been consulted in the formation of the ceasefire and it omitted many of their demands. By 16 July, the death toll within Gaza had surpassed 200 people.

On 16 July, Hamas and Islamic Jihad offered the Israeli government a 10-year truce with ten conditions centred on the lifting of the blockade and the release of prisoners who were released in the Gilad Shalit prisoner swap and were re-arrested; it was not accepted. 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 focussed on destroying Tunnels crossing the Israel border. On 20 July, the Israeli military entered Shuja'iyya, a populous neighborhood of Gaza City, resulting in heavy fighting.

On 24 July, over 10,000 Palestinians in the West Bank protested against the Israeli operation; 2 Palestinian protesters died. On 25 July, an Israeli airstrike killed Salah Abu Hassanein, the leader of Islamic Jihad's military wing. On 26 July, another humanitarian ceasefire took place for twelve hours, followed by a unilateral extension by Israel for another twenty-four hours, which was rejected by Hamas. The Palestinian death toll in the Gaza Strip topped 1,000.

On 1 August The US and UN announced that Israel and Palestine had agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire starting at 08:00. There was dispute about the terms of the ceasefire: Israel and the US stated that they allowed Israel to "continue to do operations to destroy tunnels that pose a threat to Israeli territory that lead from the Gaza Strip into Israel proper as long as those tunnels exist on the Israel side of their lines"; Hamas said that it would not accept such a condition. The ceasefire broke down almost immediately after it started. Israel blamed Hamas for violating the ceasefire, saying a group of Israeli soldiers were attacked by Palestinian militants emerging from a tunnel. Palestinians said the IDF was the first to breach the ceasefire when at 08:30 it destroyed 19 buildings while undertaking work to demolish tunnels. According to the PLO, the Palestinian Authority and Gazan sources, Hamas attacked an Israeli unit, killing an Israeli officer (Hadar Goldin, who was initially thought to have been captured) while Israeli forces were still engaged in military activities in Rafah on Gaza's territory before the truce came into effect. Tweets reported the battle in Rafah before the deadline for the cease-fire. Hamas also killed two soldiers in a suicide bombing attack. 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, while Israel said the took place at 09:20, after the 08:00 start of the ceasefire.

On 3 August, IDF pulled most of its ground forces out of the Gaza Strip after completing the destruction of 32 tunnels built by Hamas and other militants. On 5 August, a 72-hour ceasefire began after all remaining Israeli soldiers withdrew from the Gaza Strip. Fighting resumed after the end of the truce, with Gazans resuming rocket attacks on Israel and IDF responding with airstrikes on Gaza. On 10 August, another Egyptian proposal for a 72-hour ceasefire was negotiated and agreed upon Israeli and Palestinian officials, and on 13 August it was extended for another 120 hours to allow both sides to continue negotiations for a long-term solution to end the month-long fighting. On 19 August, a 24 hour ceasefire extension renewal was violated just hours after agreement with 29 Hamas rockets fired in 20 minutes, with IAF airstrikes in response, killing 9 Gazans. The Israeli delegation was ordered home from Cairo.

Military forces and technologies employed

Gaza

Gazan rockets

Range of missiles launched from Gaza Strip

The number of rockets used by Gazan militias vary in range, size and lethality.

• M-302 – In some attacks, Hamas has used the M-302, a Syrian made rocket. The M-302 was based on a design used by the Chinese military; the rocket type was further developed by the Syrian military.
• M-75 – In Gaza, Hamas has produced the M-75 rockets in local workshops. The location of the workshops is unknown, though Hamas has displayed their production on Gaza television stations. The M-75 has the range to strike Tel Aviv.
• Others – Other rockets used include the Soviet Katushya, the Qassam among others.

Lethality

According to American professor of Science and Technology Theodore Postol, the vast majority of Gazan artillery rocket warheads contain 10- to 20-pound explosive loads. Postol claims that these missiles are incapable of causing damage to well-sheltered people. Mark Perry, a former advisor to Yassir Arafat, writing in Foreign Affairs, states that "Hamas’ arsenal is considerably weaker today than it was in 2012" and that "Hamas’ Fajr-5 [long range rocket] guidance system was crude, at best, and its warhead nearly non-existent."

Israel

Israel's early warning sirens and extensive shelters have been an effective defense against Gazan rocketry.

IDF Artillery Corps fires 155 mm M-109 howitzer gun, 24 July 2014

Impact

Impact on Gaza residents

A map showing the location of damage in Gaza

Ruins in Beit Hanoun, August 2014

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. 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.

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), as of 31 July 2014 in the Gaza Strip, over 273,000 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. 1.8 million people are affected by a halt or reduction of the water supply, 138 schools and 26 health facilities have been damaged, 872 homes have been totally destroyed or severely damaged and homes of 5,005 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 has 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 373,000 children require 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 are in need of emergency food assistance.

The UN described the level of destruction as without precedent. Oxfam estimates the damage at $5 billion, in an economy with a GNP OF $6.6 billion. 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 knocked out on 29 July, and the infrastructure of power transmission lines and sewage pumps and have been 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, are often inaccessible, and the damage to agriculture is estimated at over $200 million. 10 out of 26 hospitals have been closed.

Impact on Israeli residents

Hamas and other Islamist groups in Gaza have fired rockets and mortars at Israeli towns and villages. Despite Israel's use of the Iron Dome missile defense systems, 3 civilians were killed, 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 are noted to suffer increasingly during both short term and long term conflicts. Experts have identified a number of mental health symptoms which rise during conflict especially anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, interpersonal sensitivity, phobias, and paranoia. There is some doubt whether these issues will dissipate after the conflict is resolved.

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.

Casualties and losses

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 civilian/militant proportions are incomplete and not final, as real time errors, intentional data manipulation, and diverse methodologies on both sides produce notable variations in sources, depending on provenance.

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	Percent civilians	Last updated
Gaza Health Ministry	2,016	≈1,610	No figure given	—	80%	18 August
Palestinian Centre for Human Rights	2,008	1,670	338	—	83%	11 August
United Nations OCHA	1,976	1,417	230	329	72%	19 August
Al Mezan Center for Human Rights	1,927	1,651	276	—	85.6%	8 August
Israel Defense Forces	1,768–2,000	No figure given	900	—	50%–60%	9 August
Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center	1,552	480	467	605	54%	5 August

• The PCHR counts militants who at the time of their death were not participating in combat as civilians.

According to Gaza's Health Ministry, 2,016 Palestinians have been killed and 10,196 wounded, with 80% of them being civilians.

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.

On 30 July, Israeli and Palestinian media outlets reported that thirty civilians from various areas of Gaza had been accused of collaboration with Israel and summarily executed by Hamas. As well, approximately twenty civilians from Shejaia were said to have been killed during a political protest against Hamas blaming them for the massive destruction inflicted on their neighborhood. A few days later, Hamas reportedly killed 2 Gazans, and wounded 10 after a scuffle broke out over food handouts.

According to Israeli and Palestinian sources some rockets that have fallen short have caused some Palestinian casualties. Hamas has denied that any of its rockets hit the Gaza Strip.

According to data provided by the Palestinian International Middle East Media Center, 79.7 percent of the Palestinians killed in Gaza were male, with the majority between sixteen and thirty-five (fighting-age). As of 8 August, Israeli investigators reportedly put the number of combatants killed at 40–50% of the total. As evidence, Israelis have cited the relatively small numbers of fatalities among women, children and men over 60, and instances of Hamas fighters being counted as civilians, perhaps due to the broad definition of "civilian" used by Gaza's Health Ministry.

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.

Israeli

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

Since the start of the conflict, 64 IDF soldiers have been killed, as well as two Israeli civilians and a Thai worker. One person has also died due to natural causes brought on by the conflict.

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

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 Ouda Lafi al-Waj, 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.

IDF has estimated that as of 27 July about 30–40% of the rockets stockpiled by Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups has been wiped out.

The IDF stated that as of 3 August some 2,800 rockets have been fired at Israel since the start of the operation.

Hamas claims

Hamas reports, so far unverified, include:

• Killing 161 IDF soldiers
• Capturing a soldier
• Shooting down an F16 plane
• Destroying at least two Merkava tanks
• Flying UAVs over Tel Aviv and taking pictures of IDF HQ.

Economic impact

Palestinian officials in early August estimated that, with 10,000 homes destroyed and 30,000 partially destroyed by the bombing, the reconstruction of habitations alone will cost $5 billion. 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 GNP OF Gaza's economy. Strikes on the few industries will take years to repair. Gaza's main power plant on Salaheddin Road was destroyed, leaving the Strip with only electric generator power for the next year. 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 have target 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 have been destroyed throughout the operation. There are reports that the tunnels between Gaza and Egypt were bringing 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 of Gaza, either through the employment they provide or through the goods that they allow in—goods which are otherwise not available unless shipped through Egypt. However, tunnels along the Israeli border serve a purely military purpose.

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%.

Reactions

Main article: Reactions to the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict

Pro-Palestinian demonstration in Dublin, Ireland.

Pro-Israel demonstration in Helsinki, Finland.

Various states and organizations have reacted to the conflict; some support Israel's actions, some condemn them, and others condemn both Israel and Hamas. Commercial airlines in several countries banned flights to Israel because of safety concerns.

Protests in Gaza

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.

Protests in Israel and 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. Tensions were exacerbated by Israeli restrictions on Muslim access to the city's Al-Aqsa Mosque complex, to only men 50 or older. Dozens of protesters burnt tires, threw Molotov cocktails and threw stones at police.

Demonstration against Operation Protective Edge in Tel Aviv, Israel.

A majority of the Israeli public supports Operation Protective Edge. Nonetheless, there have been protests throughout Israel, after which nearly 700 people were arrested, including 224 people from East Jerusalem. Most were subsequently released, but some face charges. On 21 July, 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. On 27 July, about 7,000 protesters (official estimates) gathered at Tel Aviv's Rabin Square in the largest protest against the Israeli military operation in Gaza to date.

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 almost a decade. Israeli security closed the Qalandia checkpoint earlier on Thursday to prevent protesters 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.

After clashes on Thursday, 24 July, Palestinian factions in the West Bank declared Friday a "Day of Rage." 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. 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.

As of 8 August, sixteen Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank during the past thirty days.

International diplomacy

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

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

Cyber attacks

In response to Israeli attacks on Gaza, pro-Palestinian hackers have 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 in an attack 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 have 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

A number of pro-Palestinian protests in Europe have turned to violence against the local Jewish communities. In a number of instances the 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 as well.

During a rally in the capital of Belgium’s Flemish region one of the speakers were reported to have used a loudspeaker to chant in Arabic “slaughter the Jews." In Casablanca, a local Moroccan rabbi was beaten until he was unconscious. Rome's historic Jewish quarter was vandalized with swastikas and antisemitic graffiti.

Police in England have 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 Malmo, Sweden, a rabbi and a member of his congregation were assaulted at different times on the same day. Antisemitic attacks occurred in Sydney, Perth and Melbourne as well. 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 has laid criminal charges of hate speech and incitment of violence against the South African Jewish community as well as complaints 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 Isreal".

Attacks on synagogues

A number of synagogues have been 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 Malmo, Sweden. And a synagogue in Miami, Florida, was vandalized with graffiti; swastikas and the word "Hamas" were painted on the building.

Reaction of world leaders

UN chief Ban Ki-moon 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.”

Alleged 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.

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. Ibrahim Khreisheh, Palestinian envoy to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), 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".

Amnesty International found evidence that "[d]uring the current hostilities, Hamas spokespeople have 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."

The European Union condemned Hamas, and in particular condemned "calls on the civilian population of Gaza to provide themselves as human shields." The international community considers the use of human shields and indiscriminate attacks on civilian populations as illegal under international humanitarian law.

The Palestinian authority has been considering signing the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. The UNHRC has appointed a panel led by William Schabas to investigate war crimes allegations by both sides. Israel has criticized Schabas as biased (which he denies) and has announced its own investigations of both military and civilian leadership and the conduct during the war. Human rights organizations have expressed little confidence in these measures, citing past experience.

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.

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." 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.

Monica Awad, the spokeswoman of the UNICEF, condemned civilian deaths from Israeli airstrikes and accused Israel of targeting women and children, saying that Israeli forces had deliberately killed 296 children in Gaza.

Human shields

Civilians and activists in Gaza have used themselves as 'human shields' in attempts to prevent Israeli attacks. Israel has stated that many civilian casualties were the result of Hamas using the Gazan population as human shields at rocket launch targets. 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.

Members of the US Congress have introduced bills condemning Hamas for using human shields. On 22 July, the European Union condemned "calls on the civilian population of Gaza to provide themselves as human shields." Amnesty International has declared 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."

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri specifically called up Gaza civilians on Hamas’s Al-Aqsa TV 8 July 2014 to volunteer in effect as human shields, in adopting the policy of the "Jihad-fighting people".

Use of civilian structures for military purposes

Israel has stated that many mosques, schools and hospitals have been used to store weapons. UNRWA has discovered rockets in three of its vacant schools (see section below), and on 17 July UNRWA condemned "the group or groups responsible" for placing weapons in one of its schools. There have been reports of the use of mosques to store weapons, and having launch sites very close to civilian structures. A Finnish reporter from Helsingin Sanomat reported seeing rockets fired from near the Gaza Al-Shifa hospital. Some journalists have stated that Hamas has been intimidating those who wish to report human shield use and others have cited a French correspondent's account of intimidation by Hamas to support such statements. 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".

Using civilian structures to store munitions and launch attacks from is unlawful. However, 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 have noted the high population density of Gaza in conjunction with Palestinian military activities and installations being in or near civilian structures; they also note that the headquarters of the IDF and Shin Bet, as well as an Israeli military training facility, are located near civilian centers.

Medical facilities and personnel

There have been some reports of Hamas using sites near hospitals to launch rockets. 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." IDF said that in several cases Hamas used Wafa hospital as a military base and used ambulances to transport its fighters.

More than 25 medical facilities have been damaged in this conflict; one attack on Al-Aqsa hospital killed 5 people. In many cases, ambulances and other medical personnel have been hit. Amnesty International has condemned the attacks and said that there is "mounting evidence" that Israel has deliberately targeted hospitals and medical personnel. Israel has denied the allegations.

Urging or forcing civilians to stay in their homes

IDF has released photographs purportedly 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". The EU has strongly condemned "calls on the civilian population of Gaza to provide themselves as human shields."

Hamas officials have said that human shields have not been used. Gazans have 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 have said that they have found no evidence of Hamas forcing Palestinians to stay and become unwilling human shields.

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 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 civilian targets appeared to be "disproportionate" and "indiscriminate".

Human Rights Watch attributed many civilian deaths to the lack of safe places to flee to, and to Israel's targeting of 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.

Warnings by Israel

In many cases IDF warned civilians prior to targeting militants in highly populated areas in order to comply with international law. Human rights organizations including Amnesty International, have confirmed that in many cases, Palestinians received warnings prior to evacuation, including flyers, phone calls and roof knocking.

Hamas has told civilians to return to their homes or stay put following Israeli warnings to leave. In many cases, Palestinians have evacuated and in others, they have stayed in their homes. Israel has condemned Hamas' 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 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." Human Rights Watch concurred. Many Gazans, when asked, have told journalists that they remain in their houses simply because they have 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.

Rocket attacks on Israeli civilians

Human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, have 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, conceded that Hamas had acted unlawfully by directing missiles at civilians.

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

Destruction of homes

Israel has targeted many homes in this conflict. This has led to many members of the same family being killed. B'Tselem has documented 59 incidents of bombing and shelling, in which 458 people have been killed. In some cases, Israel has stated that these homes were of suspected militants and were used as military purposes (see section above). 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 have reported that IDF soldiers trashed their homes, destroyed home electronics such as TV sets, spread feces in their homes, and carved 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.

United Nations

Further information: United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict

Militant 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.

Attacks on UN-run civilian facilities and shelters

Main article: 2014 Israeli raids on UNRWA schools

77 UNWRA facilities have been damaged in the fighting and three Palestinian UNRWA employees have been killed, two at home and a third while walking home from his workplace.

Approximately 170 UNWRA schools are being used as temporary shelters for some 117,000 Palestinians. UNRWA shelters have been bombed by Israel on six separate occasions; some of these schools have sustained damage or been destroyed during the conflict. On one occasion, a Hamas rocket hit a school in Beit Hanoun.

On 24 July, a UN-run school in Beit Hanoun used to shelter civilians was bombed; 13–16 civilians were reported dead and 150 injured.

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

Multiple news outlets reported Israel as responsible for the attack, 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. 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. The Israeli military said the area surrounding the school in Beit Hanoun had turned into a battleground, 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.

Infrastructure

On 23 July, twelve human rights organizations in Israel released a letter to Israeli govt. warning that "Gaza Strip's civilian infrastructure is collapsing". 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". 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 have been 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".

Attacks on journalists

On 30 July, two Palestinian journalists were killed by artillery fire. The International Federation of Journalists condemned the killings and wrote to the UN to "remind the organisation of its international obligation to protect journalists." On 13 August, the number of journalists killed in the conflict rose to ten: two Associated Press journalists were covering a bomb disposal team's efforts to defuse an unexploded Israeli artillery shell when it exploded, killing the three bomb-disposal technicians and the two reporters (the first foreign reporters to die in 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. Israeli officials have said Hamas intimidates journalists in Gaza. Photographers have said they were questioned, threatened or had equipment confiscated after taking pictures of Hamas operatives fighting in civilian clothing or preparing to shoot rockets from civilian structures. French-Palestinian journalist Radjaa Abou Dagga wrote in Libération on July 23 that he was "detained and interrogated by members of Hamas's al-Qassam Brigade at a room in Gaza Shifa hospital" and forced to leave Gaza; he later asked Libération to remove his article from their website. John Reed of The Financial Times was threatened after he tweeted about rockets being fired from Gaza Shifa Hospital, while RT correspondent Harry Fear was told to leave Gaza after he tweeted that Hamas fired rockets from near his hotel.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 Jerusalem bureau chief of The New York Times 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' intimidation was no worse than they have gotten 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.

Isra al-Modallal, head of foreign relations for the Hamas Information Ministry, said Hamas did deport foreign journalists who filmed Hamas rocket launches: "when they [...] went on location to report, they would focus on filming the places from where missiles were launched. Thus, they were collaborating with the occupation. These journalists were deported from the Gaza Strip. The security agencies would [...] give them some time to change their message, one way or another", she said.

Israel has bombed Hamas' Al-Aqsa radio and TV stations because of their "propaganda dissemination capabilities used to broadcast the messages of (Hamas') military wing." Reporters Without Borders 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."

Gazan tunnels

Main article: Palestinian tunnel warfare in the Gaza Strip

See also: Gaza Strip smuggling tunnels

One of the tunnels uncovered in the Gaza Strip, used by Hamas

Tunnels crossing the Egyptian border have been used mostly for smuggling goods and weapons into the Strip. Tunnels crossing the Israel border have been used for attacking Israel and, according to the IDF, in preparation for future attacks. Gaza-Israel tunnels are based near the Khan Yunis, Jabaliya, and Shati refugee camps as well as other dense settlements. Destroying the tunnels has become one of the primary objectives of Israeli forces in the 2014 conflict. Both Egypt and Israel have located and destroyed a number of such tunnels crossing into their borders, and Israel has destroyed a number of tunnels in the Strip itself. Israeli military officials report that 80-90% of known tunnels in Gaza have been destroyed. Hamas, however, claims that their tunnels are still intact despite Israeli military actions. The threat of tunnels used against Israel has been recognized since 2006. A Gaza-Israel tunnel was used in the abduction of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. Some experts believe that the number and reach of the tunnel network was only identified over the course of the present conflict. The tunnels were built with pre-stressed concrete walls and ceilings and are sometimes equipped with internal railway tracks. Qatar is thought to have helped fund the tunnels' construction; funds were allegedly provided under the pretense of humanitarian donations. Critics have contrasted the cost of Hamas tunnels and rockets to the poverty and unemployment of Gaza's citizens, alleging that the funds and supplies used by Hamas should have been used for civilian purposes.

Israel maintains that the construction of the tunnels reaching into their terroritory is a breach of Israeli sovereignty. The Israeli military has conducted a number of strikes on tunnels; workshops used to manufacture concrete panels, often located next to the tunnels, were also targeted.

Media coverage

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

Portrayals of the conflict have varied much in different media outlets. U.S. news sources were often more sympathetic to Israel while British news sources featured more criticism of Israel. Commentators on both sides have claimed that the media is biased either for or against Israel. According to The Times of Israel, British sources were more often critical of Israel. As the conflict progressed and Palestinian deaths increased, 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 apologized for running an antisemitic cartoon after Australian Attorney-General George Brandis denounced it as "deplorable." The conflict has received much coverage around the world. Both sides are waging propaganda war, and have released video games relating to the conflict.

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 EU4 foreign ministers and his counterparts of Qatar and Turkey. Commentators have noted the Kerry's failure to achieve permanent results and the weakening of ties between the Israeli Cabinet and the Obama administration. Egypt has brokered a number of ceasefires between Hamas and Israel.

See also

• 2014 in Israel
• 2014 in the Palestinian territories
• History of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict
• List of the Israel Defense Forces operations
• Timeline of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict
• Palestinian tunnel warfare in the Gaza Strip

External links

• "Operation Protective Edge by the Numbers". Israel Defense Forces. Retrieved 19 August 2014. 
• Timelines of the first and second phases of operation. Israel Defense Forces. Retrieved 19 August 2014.
• "Gaza Crisis". United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Retrieved 19 August 2014. 
• "Gaza-Israel conflict: What is the fighting about?". BBC News Online. Retrieved 19 August 2014. 
• "The Toll in Gaza and Israel, Day by Day". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 August 2014. 
• "Operation Protective Edge". Jewish Virtual Library. Retrieved 19 August 2014. 
• "Gaza Under Fire: One Month On". Al Jazeera English. Retrieved 19 August 2014. 
• "Protective Edge Stats - Israel-Gaza war 2014". Google Docs. Retrieved 19 August 2014.