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Gaza War (2008–2009)

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Operation Cast Lead
Part of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict

Area of the conflict
DateDecember 27, 2008–present
Location
Gaza Strip & Southern Israel
Result Conflict ongoing
Belligerents
 Israel (Israeli Air Force) Hamas
Commanders and leaders
Israel Ehud Barak (DefMin)
Israel Gabi Ashkenazi (CoS)
Israel Ido Nehoshtan (IAF)
Israel Yoav Galant (SoCom)
Israel Yair Golan (HFC)
Ismail Haniyeh
Mahmoud az-Zahar
Ahmed Jabari
Strength
80+ fighter aircraft & helicopters[1]
Casualties and losses
1 civilian killed and 12 wounded[2] 287 killed[3][4]
(including 20 children under the age of 16 and 9 women[5]) and 900+ wounded[6][4]

The December 2008 Gaza Strip airstrikes, codenamed Operation Cast Lead (Template:Lang-he) by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), after a line in a children's song for Chanukah,[7][8] is an Israeli air strike operation launched on December 27, 2008 at 11:30 am local time (9:30 am UTC)[9] against Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip. According to Israeli officials, the operation, conducted by F-16 jet fighter aircraft and Apache attack helicopters, was a retaliation against frequent Palestinian Qassam rocket and mortar fire on Israel's southern communities, perhaps the most well-known of these being the town of Sderot.[10][11][12] Israel began targeting dozens of buildings belonging to the ruling Hamas militant group. By the first evening, the Israeli Air Force deployed approximately 100 tonnes (110 short tons) of explosives, with an estimated 95 percent reaching their intended targets accoding to Israeli sources,[13] and destroyed 50 Hamas operated security installations (including police stations, prisons, and command centers[14]) in a few minutes during the first wave of the strike.[15][16] Israel hit Hamas operated security installations[14] in all Gaza's main towns, including Gaza City in the north and Khan Younis and Rafah in the south.[17]

Local medics and officials reported at least 287 Palestinians dead and about 900 wounded.[18][13][19] Palestinian officials said that most of the dead in Gaza were policemen employed by the Hamas movement[14], there have been civilian casualties as well, including children.[19] There has been both voices of support and criticism of the Israeli attack, claiming that the attack was a response to rocket and mortar attacks against Israel.[20]

Background

Main article: 2008 Israel–Gaza conflict
Main article: Blockage of the Gaza Strip

In June 2008, a six-month Egyptian brokered cease-fire agreement was signed between Hamas and Israel,[21] and while hostilities did not end on both parts, a blockade of the Gaza Strip was resumed by Israel, leading to shortages of gas, electricity, water, and medicine, among other goods.[22]

On December 13, Israel announced that it was in favor of extending the cease-fire, provided Hamas adhered to its conditions.[23] On December 20, Hamas officially announced an end to the truce citing Israeli border closures as the reason, and resumed its shelling of the western Negev.[24] Hamas blamed Israel for the end of the ceasefire, saying it had not respected its terms, including the lifting of the blockade under which little more than humanitarian aid has been allowed into Gaza. Israel said it initially began easing the blockade, but this was halted when Hamas failed to fulfil the agreed conditions, including ending all rocket fire and halting weapons smuggling.[17]

The New York Times[14] summed up the situation leading to the complete breakdown of the cease-fire and the dramatic increase in hostilities thusly:

Opening the routes to commerce was Hamas’s main goal in its cease-fire with Israel, just as ending the rocket fire was Israel’s central aim. But while rocket fire did go down drastically in the fall to 15 to 20 a month from hundreds a month, Israel said it would not permit trade to begin again because the rocket fire had not completely stopped and because Hamas continued to smuggle weapons from Egypt through desert tunnels. Hamas said this was a violation of the agreement, a sign of Israel’s real intentions and cause for further rocket fire. On Wednesday, some 70 rockets hit Israel over 24 hours, in a distinct increase in intensity.[14]

On December 23, the IDF killed three Palestinian militants who were planting explosives on the Gaza border. Israel was also reluctant to open the border crossings, which had been closed since November.[25] On December 24, the Negev was hit by more than 60 mortar shells and Katyusha and Qassam rockets, and the IDF was given a green light to operate.[26]

On 26 December 2008, in an apparent concession, Israel reopened five crossings between Israel and Gaza for humanitarian supplies.[27] Fuel was allowed in for Gaza’s main power plant and about 100 trucks loaded with grain, humanitarian aid and other goods were expected during the day.[28] Rocket attacks continued — about a dozen rockets and mortar bombs were fired from Gaza into Israel, one accidentally striking a northern Gaza house and killing two Palestinian sisters, aged five and 13, whilst wounding a third.[29] According to Israeli defense officials, the subsequent Israeli offensive took Hamas by surprise and served to increase casualties among Hamas men.[28]

Launched during the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, the operation was codenamed after a Hanukkah poem by Haim Nachman Bialik referring to a “dreidel cast from solid lead”.[30]

Planning

Planning for the operation itself began more than six months before it was finally implemented, and included a large intelligence gathering operation by Aman and the Shin Bet to map out Hamas security targets. It reached Defense Minister Ehud Barak's desk for approval on November 19, though it was not until December 18 that he and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert met to approve it; the plan was subsequently delayed in order to see how Hamas would react after the cease-fire's expiration. On December 24 the Israeli cabinet met for the stated purpose of discussing global jihad, but in fact met to talk about the proposed operation, and approved it unanimously after a five hour meeting. Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni informed Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak of the decision in Cairo. Egyptian Foreign Minister Abou el Gheit said that Egypt didn't have prior knowledge of the date of the attack.[31] A final meeting of defense and intelligence chiefs took place on the morning of December 26, followed by a meeting between Olmert, Livni, and Barak. They gave the final orders for the operation to the Israeli Air Force, and that night into the morning of December 27, various Israeli political leaders were told of the decision. Several actions were taken purposefully to deceive Hamas, including the reopening of border crossings and the announcement that deliberations on what course of action to take would continue on December 28.[32]

International public relations campaign

Haaretz reported that Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni “instructed senior ministry officials to open an aggressive and diplomatic international public relations campaign in order to gain support for Israel Defense Forces operations in the Gaza Strip.” The campaign includes Ministry officials at Israeli embassies and consulates around the world mounting public relations campaigns that focus on local media and governmental officials, contacts by Livni with foreign officials in Israel, recruitment of people who speak Arabic, Italian, Spanish and German, and the opening of an international media centre in Sderot, to which “foreign media and diplomatic figures” will be invited. Livni will also hold a series of talks with foreign officials, “in which she will attempt to explain the rationale for the expanded IDF operations in the Gaza Strip.” Livni said Israel “expects the support and understanding of the international community, as it confronts terror, and advances the interest of all those who wish the forces of peace and co existence to determine the agenda of this region.”[12] Hamas has termed the attacks on Palestinians in Gaza as the “Massacre of the Black Saturday”.[33]

Air strike

December 27

The Jerusalem Post, an Israeli newspaper, reported based on Israeli military sources that:

At 11:30 a.m., more than 50 fighter jets and attack helicopters swept into Gazan airspace and dropped more than 100 bombs on 50 targets. The planes reported ‘alpha hits,’ IAF lingo for direct hits on the targets, which included Hamas paramilitary bases, training camps, headquarters and offices. Thirty minutes later, a second wave of 60 jets and helicopters struck at 60 targets, including underground Kassam launchers — placed inside bunkers and missile silos — that had been fitted with timers.[34]

The aircraft used were F-16 fighter jets and AH-64 Apache helicopters. The air-strikes against Hamas targets in Gaza killed at least 228 and wounded around 780. Israeli authorities stated that the attack was a response to Qassam rocket attacks on southern Israel which intensified during the few weeks preceding the operation.[34][35][36][18] About 140 members of Hamas security forces had been killed, including police chief Tawfiq Jabber and the head of Hamas’ security and protection unit, along with at least 15 civilians. Children have been reported among the casualties.[4][37] A passing out ceremony for new police officers was struck, killing around 40 cadets.[38]

Sixty Israeli planes targeted Hamas security and military training compounds, as well as weapon storage buildings,[39][40] and dropped more than 100 tons of bombs. It is the most extensive attack in Gaza since 1967 in terms of the number of Palestinian casualties in one day.[41] The Israeli attack is considered to be the bloodiest one-day death toll in 60 years of conflict with the Palestinians.[42]

Hamas fired 70 rockets and mortars in response to the Israeli operation. One of the rockets hit the town of Netivot, killing an Israeli man, destroying a house and wounding six other people.[40][43] Another rocket hit a synagogue in the Eshkol Regional Council injuring two men, one seriously.[44] In the evening, two men in Mivtahim, an Israeli settlement, injured from a direct hit of a Hamas' rocket, one of them seriously wounded.

December 28

Twenty-five air strikes were carried out on Sunday resulting in the rise of the death toll to 287 and the wounded to 900.[45] The situation was further complicated by Hamas' refusal to allow the wounded to leave Gaza for medical treatment.[46] One rocket shot by an F-16 fighter jet on a mosque near Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, from which rockets were reported to be launched, killed four Hamas militants.[47][48] Israeli Jets bombed tunnels in the Rafah area, used to bring supplies into Gaza from Egypt. Israel says they are used for arms smuggling.[17] The main road of Sallah el-Dein in northern Gaza Strip was bombed. The road leads to the towns of Beit Hanoun, Beit Lahia and Jabalia. No injuries were reported. An Israeli air-to-ground rocket destroyed a metal workshop in northern Gaza City which according to Israel, was used in manufacturing Qassam rockets fired at Israel. The Al-Noor organization in Gaza City, belonging to the Hamas movement was bombed, causing severe destruction to the building.[49] The main building of the Al Aqsa TV station allegedly used by Hamas was destroyed by an airstrike. The station continued broadcasting via a "mobile unit."[50] The IAF attacked Jabalia and northern Gaza killing two more people and wounding others.[6] An attack on Al Saraya, a building which includes government offices, security offices and a prison in Gaza city, was carried out causing the deaths of four people.[6] A fuel lorry traveling in Rafah near the Egyptian border was destroyed killing six people.[51] IDF also confirmed the attack on weapon smuggling underground tunnels and claimed successful destroy of 40 of them in just four minutes.[52]

The rockets shooting from Gaza strip continued, when the range was extended. Three rockets landed near the city of Ashdod - fifth biggest Israeli city and main sea port.[53]


Ground attack

The IDF is preparing for a possible ground offensive on the Gaza strip. Defence Minister Ehud Barak said that “if boots on the ground will be needed, they will be there,” and that Israel’s “intention is to totally change the rules of the game”.[54] On the 28th of December the government approved the call-up of 6,500 reservists (2,000 had been called up the day before the decision, and 4,500 were to be called up on the day of the decision).[55]

Reactions

Reactions to the attacks were mixed. Members of the Arab League including Libya, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Yemen condemned the attacks by Israel. Russia, France, and the United Kingdom condemned both sides. The United States said that the attack by Israel was a result of the Hamas bombing of Israel and that it condemned the attacks by Hamas. Some Arab states were condemned by others for being sympathetic or indifferent to the attacks.[56][57] The United Nations Security Council called on December 28th "for an immediate halt to all violence".[58]

Involved parties

  • Israel Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said "we tried to avoid, and I think quite successfully, to hit any uninvolved people - we attacked only targets that are part of the Hamas organizations".[59]
  • State of Palestine Palestine Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the attacks and called for restraint.[59] Speaking from Cairo, he said Hamas could have avoided the attacks[60]
  • Hamas Leader of Hamas in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, said Palestine has never witnessed an uglier massacre and there would be no white flags and no surrender.[59] The leader of Hamas in Damascus, Khaled Meshal, threatened revenge attacks, saying "the time for the third Intifada has come."[61]

Reaction from International Organisations

  •  Arab League: The Arab League was planning on holding an emergency summit in Cairo on December 28, to discuss the attack.[62] The summit was delayed to January 2, 2009 and will be held in Doha.[63]
  •  European Union: A spokesman for the European Union’s Foreign Policy Chief, Javier Solana, called “for an immediate ceasefire” and urged “everybody to exert maximum restraint”.[64]
  •  United Nations: The United Nations - Secretary General Ban Ki-moon spokesperson stated that “the secretary general is deeply alarmed by today’s heavy violence and bloodshed in Gaza, and the continuation of violence in southern Israel. Ki-moon condemned Israel’s “excessive use of force leading to the killing and injuring of civilians” and ‘the ongoing rocket attacks by Palestinian militants.’”[65] He appealed for ”an immediate halt to all violence [and reiterated] previous calls for humanitarian supplies to be allowed into Gaza to aid the distressed civilian population.”[64]
  • United Nations United Nations Security Council: The UNSC called on December 28th “for an immediate halt to all violence”.[58]

International reaction from countries

  •  Brazil: The Brazilian government called Israel’s action “disproportionate response” and called “on the parties to refrain from further acts of violence and extends its sympathy to families of the victims of the bombing”.[66]
  •  Canada: Canada’s foreign affairs minister, Lawrence Cannon, also issued a statement in which he pointed to Israel’s “clear right to defend itself” against continuing attacks by militants he accused of “deliberately” targeting civilians. “First and foremost, those rocket attacks must stop. At the same time, we urge both sides to use all efforts to avoid civilian casualties and to create the conditions to allow safe and unhindered humanitarian access to those in need in Gaza.” Cannon also urged renewed efforts to reach a truce. While the ceasefire brought some calm to the coastal area around Gaza and saw fewer rocket attacks on southern Israeli towns, both Israel and Hamas have accused one another of violating the terms of the agreement. [67]
  •  Chile: Chile formulates a call to an immediate cease of hostilities and provocations, “and deeply regrets the disproportionate use of force by Israel in the Palestinian territories. The Government of Chile reiterates its most absolute conviction that the military solution wont conduct to peace, to which Israelis as well as Palestinians have rights.”[68]
  •  China: “China expresses serious concern about the escalation of the tense situation in Gaza, denounces actions that cause injuries and deaths to ordinary people, opposes the use of military force in resolving disputes, appeals to related parties to exercise maximum restraint and to settle differences through dialogue,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang in a statement posted on the ministry’s website.[69]
  •  Egypt: Egypt condemned the Israeli attacks but Egypt’s foreign minister, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, said that Egypt has long warned Hamas that this would be Israel’s response should Qassam fire continue.[70] As a result of many protests, Egypt opened up the Rafah Border Crossing to allow the wounded into Egyptian hospitals.[71] 30 ambulances were sent by Egyptian Ministry of Health to North Sinai to help transport injured Palestinians.[72] The Egyptian minister of foreign affairs said that Hamas does not allow the wounded Gazans to cross the borders to Egypt.[73] Egypt also deployed 500 CSF anti-riot police along the border.[36]
  •  Finland: Minister Alexander Stubb, has declared that “Finland condemns the escalation of violence in Gaza and urges the parties to calm down the situation. Finland is particularly worried about the rapid deterioration of the civilian living conditions in Gaza. The Israeli air strikes have demanded a disproportionate amount of civilian victims and they must end immediately. Simultaneously Hamas and other extremist groups must immediately cease their rocket attacks. The parties must reinstate the truce without delay.”[74]
  •  France: France’s president Nicolas Sarkozy stated he “firmly condemns the irresponsible provocations that have led to this situation, as well as the disproportionate use of force.”[75]
  •  Libya: Libya, which holds a seat on the United Nations Security Council, is expected to pressure the Council to hold an emergency meeting.[76]
  •  Iran: The Iranian Foreign Ministry said that “Iran strongly condemns the Zionist regime’s wide-ranging attacks against the civilians in Gaza” and that “the raids against innocent people are unforgivable and unacceptable”.[64] Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei issued a religious decree to Muslims around the world on December 28, ordering them to defend Palestinians in Gaza against Israeli attacks “in any way possible”.[77]
  •  Iraq: The Government of Iraq condemned the attack. Stating that “the Iraqi government demands to stop the military operations and not to expose the civilians’ life to danger and requests the international community to hold its responsibilities and take the required measures to stop the attack.”[78]
  •  Jordan: King Abdullah II of Jordan “urges Israel to end the Gaza offensive”[79]
  •  Lebanon: In Lebanon, dozens of youths set fire to tires in protest in Ein el-Hilweh, a Palestinian refugee camp. They also demanded that Hezbollah renew rocket attacks on Israel. [80] Protestors also demonstrated in front of the Egyptian Embassy against the closed borders at Rafah.[81]
  •  Malaysia: Malaysia’s Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has called upon the United Nations Security Council to take the necessary action following the air strikes by Israel on Gaza and the escalating violence.[82]
  •  Qatar: Qatar has condemned the attacks on the Gaza Strip, and has arranged for an extraordinary Arab League summit to be held in Doha on the 2nd of January to discuss a unified Arab stance against the operation.[83]
  •  Russia: Russia called for a stop of ”large-scale military action against Gaza” and at the same time called for Hamas “to stop shelling Israeli territory”.[64]
  •  Syria: Syria condemned the acts, calling them a "heinous crime and convicted terrorist act."[84] In al-Yarmouk camp, outside Damascus, dozens of Palestinian protesters vowed to continue fighting Israel.
  •  South Africa: Anglican Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu said that Israel’s bombardment of Gaza bears all the hallmarks of war crimes.[85]
  •  Sweden: Foreign Minister Carl Bildt has said that he hopes both sides will stop the bombings. He also stated that the current isolation of Gaza should end, calling it “counterproductive” for the Israeli side. Bildt says that Hamas should have agreed to a continued cease-fire agreement.[86]
  •  United Kingdom: The United Kingdom’s government called for “maximum restraint to avoid further civilian casualties” and for an “immediate halt to violence”[87] and on the other side for "militants in the Gaza Strip to immediately cease all rocket attacks on Israel".[64] Up to 1,500 protesters gathered outside the Israeli embassy in London shouting: "Five, six, seven, eight — Israel is a terror state."[88] Some of the protesters attempted to break into the embassy before being pushed back by riot police.[88]
  •  United States: The United States condemned Hamas, saying that "Hamas’ continued rocket attacks into Israel must cease if the violence is to stop," but also urging "Israel to avoid civilian casualties as it targets Hamas in Gaza."[20] U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Zalmay Khalilzad said "We believe the way forward from here is for rocket attacks against Israel to stop, for all violence to end,"[89]
  •  Vatican City: At the end of his December, 28, Angelus Address Pope Benedict XVI launched an urgent appeal for peace in the Holy Land.[90] A spokesman for the Vatican commented, "Hamas is a prisoner to a logic of hate, Israel to a logic of faith in force as the best response to hate. One must continue to search for a different way out, even if that may seem impossible."[64]
  •  Yemen: Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh condemned the attack as a "barbaric aggression".[91]

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