Operation Protective Edge

Operation Protective Edge

Part of: Middle East conflict

Map of the Gaza Strip

date	July 8, 2014 to August 26, 2014
place	Gaza Strip ; South District (Israel)
output	armistice

Parties to the conflict
Israel ( Israeli South Command )	Hamas Islamic Jihad (PIJ) Popular Resistance Committees al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades Abdullah Azzam Brigades
Commander
Benjamin Netanyahu (Prime Minister) Moshe Ya'alon (Defense Minister) Benny Gantz (Chairman of the General Staff) Amir Eschel (Commander of the IAF ) Sami Turdzheman (Commander of the Israeli Southern Command ) Yoram Cohen (Chief of the Shin Bet ) Ghassan Alian (Commander of the Golani Brigade )	Ismail Haniyeh (Vice-Chief of Hamas) Mohammed Deif (Commander of the al-Qassam Brigades ) Ramadan Shallah (Commander of the PIJ)
losses
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs : 67 dead, including 64 soldiers as of August 26th. Israeli data: 73 dead, including 66 soldiers (as of August 31, 2014)	United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs: 2,101 dead in total, 1,460 civilians of whom 493 were children and 253 were women (as of August 26). Israeli data: 1,065 militants from Hamas and other terrorist organizations and around 900 civilians

The operation Protective Edge ( Hebrew מִבְצָע צוּק אֵיתָן, Miv'tza Tzuk Eitan , "Operation Strong Rock", "Operation Guard Line") was a military operation by the Israel Defense Forces . It began on July 8, 2014 in response to continued rocket fire on Israel by Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups from the Gaza Strip, and ended on August 26, 2014 with an indefinite ceasefire .

The military operation is part of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and as such is part of the Middle East conflict . The term Gaza War or Gaza Conflict has also been used in the media .

Starting position

prehistory

On June 2, 2014, a “government of national consensus” made up of non-partisan experts was formed for the Palestinian Authority with the support of Fatah and Hamas, which had previously been at odds. This was u. a. welcomed by the UN Secretary General , or at least recognized by the United States, while Israel rejected it.

On June 12, 2014, three Israeli youths were kidnapped while hitchhiking in the occupied West Bank . One of them was able to make an emergency call to the police with his mobile phone, then a noise could be heard that reminded of gunshots. The police initially assumed an emergency call abuse . The police officers responsible were later suspended. An extensive manhunt for kidnappers and abductees began, with numerous house searches and around 300 arrests in the West Bank. There were serious incidents with several wounded and dead. Israeli authorities blamed members of Hamas for the act, which in turn initially denied responsibility. Hamas accused Israel of using the case as an excuse for further military action against the Palestinians. A spokesman commented on the arrest of their entire leadership in the West Bank and several recently released Hamas members by saying that "the door to hell" had "opened". In "response to this action," the Qassam Brigades and other Palestinian militias intensified rocket fire on Israel. Between mid-June and early July, around 200 rockets were fired from Gaza into Israeli territory. On June 30, the bodies of young people from were Israeli army north of Hebron found. They were murdered shortly after the kidnapping. In an interview with Yahoo News published on August 22, 2014 , Hamas leader Khalid Mashal admitted that the murder of the three was carried out by members of his organization and justified it as a legitimate act of resistance, but denied that Hamas political leadership was behind the Act would stand.

On July 2, a Palestinian youth was abducted and murdered in East Jerusalem. The police assumed an act of revenge. Four days later , the Israeli secret service arrested six young Jewish Israelis who were suspected of the crime. Three of the six suspects confessed to the youth's murder shortly afterwards. The Israeli government accused them of “racism against the innocent”. She was charged with murder by the Israeli prosecutor's office a few days after the confession. In May 2016, the three defendants were sentenced to two life sentences and one 21 year prison term. In February 2018, the Israeli Supreme Court rejected their petitions for appeal. The crime is seen as a contribution to the escalation of violence prior to the start of the Israeli military operation.

On July 3, the Israeli Air Force said it had attacked multiple targets from the air in response to rocket strikes from Gaza.

Motives of the conflicting parties

Observers assume that, beyond the ostensible cause of the four teenage murders and the ensuing wave of arrests, the decisive motive of Hamas for intensifying the rocket fire has been the loss of influence and financial support in recent years. Since Hamas had sided with the Sunni rebels in the Syrian civil war against the Iranian-backed President Assad , around 20 million US dollars a month that the previous main supporter, Shiite Iran , had paid to the Hamas government, were lost. The upheaval in Egypt also had a negative impact because the support of the Sunni Muslim Brotherhood was no longer available and the borders were closed. According to such assessments, keeping peace would not bring Hamas any advantages, while concessions could be forced through negotiations in return for ending the rocket fire.

Israel stated that the aim of its military activities was to end the rocket fire from the Gaza Strip on its own civilian population. As the fighting progressed, the focus of the Israeli operation shifted to the detection and destruction of tunnel systems that Hamas had apparently created to infiltrate Israeli territory for further terrorist activities.

course

Israel's own military approach is called Operation Protective Edge ( Hebrew מִבְצָע צוּק אֵיתָן Mivẓaʿ Ẓuq ʾÉyṯan ; German "Operation Fels in der Brandung", also "Operation Schutzrand", "Operation Schutzende Klippe", "Operation Schutzlinie", literally "Operation mighty, unshakable cliff").

Phase 1: Artillery and air strikes

Ranges of Palestinian missiles

Hit house in Gaza Strip

Missile hit in a gas station in Ashdod

The Israeli army bombs targets in Ansar (Gaza Strip).

A house in Beersheba was hit by a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip on July 10, 2014.

On July 8, the Israeli army announced the start of a military operation called the Protective Edge. On the first day of the operation, the Israeli Air Force attacked around 50 targets in Gaza. At the same time, Israel began to pull together troops for a possible ground offensive.

The United Nations Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Middle East (UNRWA) reported on July 12 that large parts of Gaza City's electricity supply had been disrupted by rockets fired by Hamas and that 25 people were killed in the Gaza Strip in the last 24 hours alone. A total of 130 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip since June 8, including around 28 children. A detailed list published by the Arab broadcaster Al Jazeera shows 16 children and eight young people among the first 130 deaths. The Israeli military announced that a Hamas rocket had disabled parts of the electricity grid and cut off around 70,000 people from the electricity supply.

On July 13, for the first time since the operation began, Israeli commandos entered the Gaza Strip to destroy a launch site. By then, more than 783 missiles had been fired at Israel, 143 of which were intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system - the Israeli military had attacked around 1,220 targets by then.

On July 14, it was estimated that more than 800 rockets had been fired at Israel so far, and the Israeli air force would have carried out 1,300 attacks since the operation began on July 8.

On July 14, Egyptian authorities had proposed a ceasefire and subsequent peace negotiations in Cairo to the conflicting parties. The Israeli Security Cabinet accepted the proposal, Hamas officials refused and named a number of preconditions that must be met in order to enter into negotiations, including the release of various prisoners from Israeli custody and the opening of a border crossing into Egypt. Following the rejection of the ceasefire offer and continued bombardment of Israeli territory from Gaza, Israeli authorities announced on July 15 that their military operation in the Gaza Strip would be intensified.

On July 16, a UNRWA worker discovered about 20 rockets stored in a UNRWA school building in Gaza. The agency then condemned the storage of weapons on their premises and said that the relevant parties had been informed of the find and that the missiles had been removed. They continued to promise to open an investigation. Israeli authorities announced that they had information that UNRWA officials had not rendered the weapons unusable, but handed them over to Hamas. According to Israeli information, UNRWA also refused to hand over photos of the discovery situation to Israel.

In the early morning of July 17, a Hamas commando entered Israeli territory through a tunnel. The heavily armed fighters left the tunnel around 250 meters behind the border fortifications, around 1.5 kilometers from Kibbutz Sufa. The Israeli military said the fighters fled back into the tunnel as soon as they realized they had been discovered; Hamas announced that the fighters had withdrawn after carrying out their assignment.

Phase 2: Ground Offensive

July 17th to 19th: start of the ground offensive

Entrance to a tunnel in Gaza discovered by the Israeli military

In the further course of July 17, both sides announced a five-hour "humanitarian ceasefire". a. was brokered by the UN coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Robert Serry . It should serve civilians to treat the injured, to take care of the bare minimum, or to flee. Israel also announced that it would investigate the deaths of four Palestinian children.

However, the ceasefire was broken several times by Hamas shortly after it began. Since further negotiations did not come about, both sides resumed the fire after the ceasefire. Hamas fired rockets again, and Israel deployed ground troops on a large scale for the first time in this conflict. Their primary goal was to destroy the Hamas tunnel system, which it uses to infiltrate Israeli territory for attacks and hostage-taking. According to Israeli sources, 13 Hamas fighters were killed and 20 rocket launchers destroyed on the first day of the ground offensive, with one dead and seven injured. Palestinian authorities spoke of 23 dead.

July 20-22: Increasing losses and disruption to air traffic

July 20th brought casualties with 13 fallen soldiers, especially for the Golani Brigade , whose Druze commander Colonel Ghassan Alian was wounded. Among the 13 killed were two US citizens . This brought the total number of Israeli soldiers killed up to this point in time to 18.

The greatest loss, with seven dead, was caused by an armored personnel carrier crashing into an anti-tank mine ; according to other sources, their combat vehicle was hit by an RPG projectile. As it became known on July 22, only six of the seven crew members of the Israeli troop transport could be recovered. A Hamas spokesman alleged that his organization captured an Israeli soldier on July 20. Whether it was the missing seventh crew member, 21-year-old Oron Shaul, is not yet clear.

Seven other Israeli soldiers were killed on July 21. Four soldiers were killed by RPG gun fire when their military vehicle was hit by a bullet dropped by Hamas fighters. Hamas fighters had penetrated into Israeli territory through a tunnel from north Gaza near Kibbutz Nir Am . While one group of the attackers had previously been eliminated by the Israeli air force, a second group managed to fatally shoot the Israeli military jeep.

According to the Israeli Armed Forces, by July 22nd (day 15 of the operation) the number of fallen soldiers rose to 27, 186 militant Palestinians were killed in the fighting and 20 were captured and brought to Israel. In addition, 2,040 rockets have been fired at Israel since the start of the operation, of which 1,570 have struck. 396 projectiles were intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system. By that day, Israel's army had fired at 2924 targets from the air, sea and on the ground.

UNRWA workers again discovered missiles in one of their schools in the Gaza Strip. As on July 16, the organization condemned the storage of weapons in its facilities, but in this case immediately withdrew its staff from the building so that the number and whereabouts of the missiles could not be determined. Another comprehensive investigation has been announced. The official death toll on the Palestinian side is 633, according to hospital spokesmen until July 22nd. On July 23, 2014, the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the storage of rockets in a UNRWA school made school a legitimate military target and endangered the lives of innocent children, UN workers and all civilians who use schools as shelter. The Secretary General also pointed out that this contradicts Resolution 1860 of the UN Security Council of January 8, 2009, which calls for an end to arms smuggling.

On July 22, 2014, numerous airlines ceased operations at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv for the time being after the US aviation authority FAA banned the approach and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) advised against the approach because it is 1.6 km away Distance from the airfield a Hamas rocket had hit. Ben Gurion Airport is the main airport in Israel with international connections. The former airport Eilat-Ovda - today the military airfield Ovda - was provided as a replacement destination. Two days later, the first airlines resumed flight operations. Lufthansa and Air Berlin did this on July 26, 2014.

July 23 and 24: Further casualties and shelling of UN facilities

On the morning of July 23, the Israeli army announced the deaths of two more soldiers who had fallen the previous evening. Among the two dead was a 36-year-old tank corps company commander who was killed by a sniper . Around noon, a Hamas rocket struck near Ashkelon, wounding a harvest worker from Thailand so badly that he died in hospital. UNRWA accused Israel of attacking a girls' school in the Maghazi camp where refugees are staying. The impact of an explosive body injured a child. During a subsequent tour of the facility, there was further fire, although Israel had previously been informed about the deployment of the personnel. UNRWA officials called for an investigation. During the day, the number of Israeli soldiers killed rose to 32 after three members of a paratrooper unit fell in South Gaza . More wounded paratroopers were flown to hospitals. In addition to its own losses, the Israeli army announced that it had killed more than 200 Hamas fighters, including some of the enemy’s military leaders, since the ground offensive began. The army also announced that it was investigating its own soldiers who were suspected of posting the names of those killed on social media before their families could be officially informed.

On the night of July 24, riots broke out in Bethlehem when Palestinian youths attacked Israeli soldiers with stones and Molotov cocktails . They responded with tear gas and the use of a water cannon . During the night, the Israeli air force attacked more than 30 targets in Gaza. Palestinian officials announced on the morning of July 24 that there had been 18 deaths in the past hours from the actions of the Israeli army. This increased the total number of casualties in Gaza to 714 people. It was initially unclear who was responsible for 15 victims who died when a projectile hit a UNRWA school in Beit Hanun after the Israeli army fired grenades in the area and Hamas fired several rockets in the area. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon strongly condemned the attack on the building, which occurred at 2:50 p.m. local time. According to the UN top diplomat, women, children and UN employees were killed in the attack and up to 200 other people were injured. According to Palestinian rescue workers, a total of 98 people were killed by Israeli air strikes that day in the Gaza Strip.

July 25 to August 3: efforts to reach a ceasefire

Israeli soldiers discover tunnels in Gaza

On the night of July 25, Israeli security forces shot dead at least two Palestinian protesters at the Kalandina border crossing. Before that, thousands of Palestinians had marched from Ramallah to the checkpoint and pelted the Israeli soldiers with stones and fireworks. Some observers saw this development as the possible beginning of a third intifada . In the early afternoon of July 25, the Israeli army announced the name of the 33rd soldier who had fallen since the fighting began. At the time this statement was not clear whether the 36-year-old sergeant a victim of friendly fire had become. Late that afternoon, the Israeli army announced that Oron Shaul, the missing crew member of a personnel carrier wrecked by Hamas fighters on July 20, had been pronounced dead by the army chief rabbi . His parents were officially informed that he was classified as a dead man whose place of death is unknown. In the evening it was announced that an Israeli tank had been hit by an anti-tank missile during heavy fighting in central Gaza. One crew member was killed and several others were wounded.

In the course of the ground offensive, the extent of the Hamas tunnel system and the associated dangers became increasingly clear. Interrogations of Hamas supporters captured in Gaza are said to have revealed that a mass attack was planned for the Jewish New Year celebrations in September. In a coordinated attack, hundreds of Hamas fighters were supposed to penetrate through the tunnels into the border area around Gaza, attack six villages there and kill and abduct as many civilians as possible, according to the Israeli military.

July 25th was also marked by diplomatic efforts by US Secretary of State John Kerry to broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. After this was initially rejected by both sides, the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu surprisingly informed the US Minister shortly before midnight that a 12-hour ceasefire was to begin on July 26 from 8:00 a.m. local time. The break in the fight should allow rescue workers to rescue the dead and care for the injured. On the night before the ceasefire, the fighting continued unabated. On the Israeli side, they claimed two dead, three seriously wounded and 32 lightly wounded. The army had attacked no fewer than 155 targets in Gaza in the past 24 hours. According to the army, 31 Hamas tunnels had been discovered since the start of the ground offensive and eleven of them had already been destroyed.

According to the current status report by the UN organization OCHA , 857 people have been killed since the start of the fighting, 649 of them were classified as civilians. Among them were 194 children and 101 women. 94 UNRWA facilities and 18 hospitals were damaged in the fighting. Three of these civilians were killed in Israel. 167,000 people had sought refuge in UNRWA bases. The organization reported heavy fighting in central Gaza and north Gaza near Beit Hanoun. There is also the school that was hit by a bullet on July 24th. The UNRWA General Manager Pierre Krahenbuhl described the states after the attack, he found there in person, as appalling and intolerable ( appalling and intolerable ).

During the three-day ceasefire, the residents of Beit Hanun come back to their homes to rescue the dead, among other things.

On July 26, at 8:00 a.m. local time, the agreed 12-hour ceasefire came into force punctually, but Hamas again failed to comply with it. This enabled people to get the bare minimum. For the first time, Palestinian rescue workers were able to penetrate areas that Israel had massively attacked since the start of its ground offensive on July 17. According to the rescue services, helpers recovered at least 85 bodies in the Gaza district of Sadschaija and in the southern town of Chan Junis . Reporters and camera teams who were also there were presented with a picture of extensive destruction. At that time, the rescue workers assumed at least 985 Palestinians were killed and around 6,000 injured. At the same time, a meeting of foreign ministers took place in Paris , the aim of which was to achieve a lasting ceasefire. The conference was attended by US Secretary of State John Kerry, Germany's Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier , Laurent Fabius from France and representatives from Great Britain, Italy, Qatar, Turkey and the EU.

While the foreign ministers were negotiating in Paris, the number of victims in the Gaza Strip was revised upwards despite the ceasefire. Israel's army confirmed the deaths of five more soldiers, bringing the total dead to 42. Israeli air strikes shortly before the start of the ceasefire left 20 dead within a single family, including 11 children and two pregnant women. Together with the more than 130 bodies that rescue workers found in the previously inaccessible areas, the number of Palestinian victims rose to over 1,000.

At the request of the UN, Israel's security cabinet unilaterally agreed to extend the ceasefire until Sunday evening. The radical Islamic Hamas, on the other hand, fired more rockets at Israel on Saturday evening shortly after the twelve-hour ceasefire had passed. a. on Tel Aviv.

On Sunday (July 27, 2014), Hamas requested the Israeli government for another 24-hour ceasefire. The Israeli housing minister Uri Ariel then called on Prime Minister Netanyahu to reject them immediately because, in addition to last night's rocket attacks, there had also been a dead soldier during the ceasefire on Saturday. On Sunday evening there were diplomatic attempts on the part of the UN to persuade both parties to the conflict to agree to another ceasefire. US President Barack Obama also phoned the Israeli Prime Minister on the matter. The UN Security Council adopted a declaration on Monday night calling on both parties to an immediate and unconditional humanitarian ceasefire.

In the late afternoon of July 28, a Hamas rocket struck a group of civilians near Eshkol . Four people were killed instantly, and nine more were transported to hospitals. According to the Israeli army, five soldiers were killed after Hamas fighters entered Israeli territory through a tunnel. Ten people died that day in an impact in the Shifa hospital in the Gaza Strip. Hamas and the Israeli army held each other responsible for this incident. In the evening, Prime Minister Netanyahu, held Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon and Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz a press conference. On the night of July 29th, the only power plant in Gaza was hit by tank shells. The power plant had to be shut down.

On July 29, missiles were again found in a UNRWA school. In this case, UNRWA did not publish any information on its website. UNRWA boss Pierre Krähenbühl confirmed all three findings to the Security Council. According to the Israeli Armed Forces, three other Israeli soldiers were killed while working in the south of the Gaza Strip in the afternoon.

On July 30, at least 15 people were killed and more than 150 injured in an attack on a market in a suburb of Gaza City, according to Palestinians.

On July 31, according to the Israeli forces, another five soldiers were killed by mortar fire. The Israeli army shot 110 targets in Gaza within 24 hours. In the evening, according to the US State Department, the conflicting parties agreed on a 72-hour ceasefire, which should begin on August 1, 2014 at 8 a.m. local time and last at least until 8 a.m. on August 4, 2014. However, it only lasted two hours. When IDF soldiers set out to destroy a tunnel in the no man's land near Rafah , several Hamas fighters attacked from it, one of which blew himself up . Two Israeli soldiers were killed and IDF Lieutenant Hadar Goldin was missing. Israel assumed that he was going to be taken prisoner in the Gaza Strip and then canceled the ceasefire in order to be able to free him. At least 50 Palestinians died and hundreds were injured in the fighting that followed in the kidnapping area. Subsequently, both sides blamed themselves for the failure of the ceasefire. Hamas accused Israel that the kidnapping was just an excuse to break the ceasefire. The deputy head of the Hamas Politburo, Mussa Abu Marsuk , claimed that the attack took place "before the ceasefire began". The capture of Goldin commemorates the capture of soldier Gilad Shalit by Hamas in the summer of 2006. Shalit was released after five years of imprisonment in exchange for more than 1,000 Palestinians from Israeli custody.

The US government and the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki Moon, accused Hamas of breaching the ceasefire and condemned the kidnapping of Goldin. The US demanded his immediate and unconditional release. The US Senate decided to give Israel $ 225 million for the Israeli anti-missile defense system Iron Dome. The US House of Representatives has yet to agree. On the morning of August 3, the Israeli forces announced that Goldin was believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack on August 1. The al-Qassam brigades had already denied a kidnapping on August 2 and announced that they had lost contact with the fighters involved in the attack. All own fighters and Goldin were probably killed in the Israeli bombardment after the attack. Regarding the timing of the Hamas attack (before or after the agreed ceasefire), there are still contradicting statements.

Ten people died on the street next to a UN shelter near Rafah on August 3 when Israeli forces attacked three Islamic Jihad fighters who passed the facility on a motorcycle. The rocket launched by the Israelis hit the motorcycle, but the fragments of the explosion also hit a group of civilians queuing up at street vendors outside the UN complex. It was initially unclear whether the three fighters were among the ten victims. UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon and a spokeswoman for the US State Department condemned the attack.

On August 4, 2014, the Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman proposed that the Gaza Strip should be administered by the UN in the future.

Phase 3: Truce August 5th to 7th

On August 5, Israel and Hamas negotiated a three-day ceasefire. The UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon welcomed the agreement and urged that it be adhered to. Shortly before the start of the ceasefire, Hamas fired another 20 rockets at the Israeli towns of Ashdod and Ashkelon from. The Israeli army said they had tracked down and destroyed 31 Hamas tunnels, so the operation is now complete and they are withdrawing.

Phase 4: New battles from August 8th

At the end of the internationally negotiated three-day ceasefire - according to some reports even before that - rockets flew again towards Israel on August 8th. Israeli forces said more than 50 rockets were fired at Israel from Gaza, most of which hit uninhabited territory, but one injured a civilian and slightly wounded a soldier. Israel said the missiles were launched hours before the end of the ceasefire. A Hamas spokesman in Gaza denied responsibility for the rocket attacks, while the Islamic Jihad group said they were fired because Israel violated the ceasefire by refusing to comply with Palestinian demands in Cairo.

Thereupon Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon instructed the military to react forcefully. The IDF then resumed firing on targets in the Gaza Strip. According to CNN, at least three air strikes were carried out by the IDF on August 9, and artillery fired at targets in the north of the Gaza Strip.

Phase 5: Second multi-day ceasefire from August 11th to 19th

As of Monday, August 11, 2014, another three-day ceasefire came into force. On the advice of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, the conflicting parties should try to negotiate a permanent ceasefire in Cairo through Egyptian mediation.

Armistice negotiations in Egypt

Hamas insisted on the complete lifting of the Gaza blockade , an open port and a fishing zone up to 12 miles from the coast. They refused to demilitarize and demanded that Israel return the 500-meter-wide security zone at the border fence. In addition, she called for a seaport and an international airport.

Israel called for the complete demilitarization of Gaza, including disarming Hamas. This demilitarization was already provided for in the Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement. Barack Obama and Frank-Walter Steinmeier supported this demand for demilitarization. Steinmeier also offered that the EU could take over the surveillance of border crossings as part of an EU mission. The purpose is to prevent arms smuggling.

Breaking the truce

After the three-day ceasefire, which was originally planned to be largely maintained and extended several times (most recently to the late evening of August 19), militant Palestinians fired several rockets into Israel as early as noon on August 19. Israel then called back its delegation from Cairo and announced a military response to the renewed rocket fire. Hamas again rejected all responsibility. According to the Arab newspaper Al Hayat , the ceasefire negotiations failed because Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani of Qatar had asked Hamasch chief Khaled Maschal to break the negotiations because Qatar wanted to lead them instead of Egypt. After the Emir Maschal, who is also a citizen of Qatar, threatened to be expelled from Qatar, he ordered rocket attacks.

Phase 6: Further fighting from August 19th

On the night of Tuesday, August 19, Wednesday, at least 50 rockets were shot down on Israel. Israel responded with a total of 30 air strikes. On the evening of August 19, Israel also attempted the targeted killing of the head of Hamas' military wing, Mohammed Deif . One of his wives and one of his children and four other people were killed. Deif himself survived. August 20 reached the highest daily figure of all Gaza conflicts with 168 rockets fired. In subsequent Israeli attacks, Palestinian sources say that six people were killed.

On the night of August 21, three high-ranking Hamas commanders were killed: Mohammed Abu Shamala was involved in the kidnapping of the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in 2006 and coordinated the infiltration of Israel through the tunnels. Raed al-Atar is considered to be the architect of the tunnels and coordinated the smuggling of arms. The third dead, Mohammed Barhum, is said to have been a high-ranking member of the Qassam Brigades.

Phase 7: Rocket fire also from Syria and Lebanon from 23 August

On August 23, Israel was also hit by rockets from Syria and Lebanon. The rocket attack from Lebanon hit a house in Galilee and injured two children. Israel did not respond to the shelling, but protested sharply at Unifil , which is responsible for securing the border between Lebanon and Israel. On August 25, Israel was again hit with rockets from Lebanon. This time Israel responded with mortar fire.

Phase 8: unlimited ceasefire from August 26th

On August 26, a new, this time indefinite, ceasefire came into force. This came about through Egyptian mediation after Israel had made concessions.

Result

Both sides declared the outcome of the conflict to be their own victory.

Realization of the Israeli war goals

Israel's primary war goal, ending rocket fire by Hamas and other Palestinian groups, has been achieved. The further goal of damaging the attack tunnels and other terrorist infrastructure facilities of the enemy was partially achieved.

Realization of Hamas' war goals

The precarious situation of Hamas, which was the cause of the escalation, has hardly improved due to the outcome of the conflict: The organization is still largely isolated in the Islamic world and cut off from financial support. Only Qatar is still loyal to Hamas. The ceasefire does not contain any specific provisions regarding the release of the 300 or so militant activists Hamas is seeking, who were arrested by Israeli security forces in connection with the kidnapping or murder of the three young people. However, with regard to the lifting of the "Gaza blockade", which was named as a further objective in the course of the conflict, some concessions were obtained. The Gaza Strip's fishing zone is to be gradually expanded and some border crossings have been reopened. However, the fact that Israel is foregoing some of the measures that are harmful to the Palestinians does not mean that it is lifting the restrictive restrictions on the border with the Gaza Strip altogether.

Effects

Victim

Burning factory in Sderot after a rocket hit from the Gaza Strip on June 28

According to Palestinian sources, at least 1,030 people had been killed by July 26. According to the UN Emergency Aid Office Ocha , two thirds of the fatalities are civilians, according to Palestinian figures 70 percent of the injured are civilians, two thirds of the dead are women and children. This information on the age and gender of the dead is contradicted by a constantly updated list of deaths from both sides with names, ages and places of death published by the Arab news channel Al Jazeera . According to Israeli investigations, at least 47 percent of those killed are not civilians but fighters. This was documented with names and photos and would be handed over to independent investigators. An evaluation on July 14th showed that 150 of the 170 Palestinian victims at that time were male, of whom 130 were over 16 years old. The contradicting statements can also be traced back to the tactics of the Hamas fighters not to identify themselves as soldiers, but to mix with civilians, for example by wearing long women's clothes. In addition, civilians were repeatedly urged to leave the combat areas days before the attacks through Israeli leaflets, text messages and phone calls. However, many did not leave because Hamas forced them to stay in the area. With the expansion of the fighting, however, the warning times were sometimes reduced to less than an hour.

In the 24 hours from July 20-21 alone, 107 Palestinians were killed, including 23 women and 35 children. Thirteen Israeli soldiers were killed during the same period. The number of homeless people who have to seek refuge in UNRWA emergency shelters rose from 63,000 to 84,843 in these 24 hours. Among the dead on July 21 was a couple and their five children aged four to twelve, all of whom had acquired German citizenship.

After the ceasefire was announced, the Hamas-led authorities counted the deaths up to August 4, 1865, but did not break them down by civilians and fighters. The UN counted 1,814 deaths and estimated that 72% of them were civilian victims. Israeli authorities assume that around 900 enemy fighters were killed. Based on the names of 1,431 victims, the New York Times calculated that 34% of the deaths were men between the ages of 20 and 29. However, this group, most likely to be involved in combat operations, makes up only 9% of the population of the Gaza Strip. Women and children, who make up 71% of the population, made up 33% of the victims.

Although around 3,000 rockets had been fired at Israel by August 3, the death toll and injuries were few. This is due to the various warning and protection options such as bunkers, sirens and the iron dome system. On July 15, a 37-year-old died after being hit by a mortar shell. One soldier died on July 17 during an operation in the north of the Gaza Strip, the cause of death remains uncertain. On July 19, two other soldiers were killed in a gun battle with Hamas fighters who had entered Israel through a tunnel. On July 20, 13 soldiers of the Golani Brigade were killed in combat. As of July 21, 2014, Israel had a total of 25 casualties. An elderly woman died on July 11th while visiting a shelter; the authorities assume a heart attack. On July 11, was in Ashdod a gas station by a Hamas rocket hit a 50-year-old man suffered serious, seven others minor injuries. In Ashkelon , a 16-year-old was seriously injured and a 50-year-old was slightly injured on July 13 after two projectiles were struck in a residential area in the south of the city. On the same day, four Israeli naval soldiers were wounded in a commando operation. As of July 15, a total of 28 Israeli civilians and 17 soldiers had been wounded.

Human shields

Netanyahu justified the high number of civilian Palestinian casualties with the fact that Israel used its missile defense to protect the population, while Hamas used the population to protect the rockets. Hamas calls on the people of Gaza to position themselves as human shields. They should stand on the roofs of their houses and thereby prevent Israeli attacks, because Israel is trying not to harm civilians. In one case, the IDF defended an attack in which previously warned residents had returned immediately before the attack that the impact of the Israeli missile could no longer be prevented at that time. Various observers are convinced that the numerous civilian Palestinian victims are deliberately accepted by Hamas, since their calculation aims at the fact that they are not blamed in public opinion but Israel.

According to Colonel a. D. Richard Kemp, who led the British Afghanistan contingent in Kabul in 2003, the Israeli armed forces are trying as far as possible to avoid casualties among the Palestinian civilian population. Hamas has a win-win situation by using the population as human shields . Either this leads to Israel breaking off the operation out of consideration, or, if victims arise, that they can be misused for propaganda purposes. Other observers disagree with the allegation of the human shields, because Hamas is not exerting any pressure on the residents in these cases and the population density is too high overall for civilians to avoid the attacks.

However, Hamas also controls the reporting in a targeted manner. For example, the ARD correspondent Richard C. Schneider wrote in an article for the FAZ that Hamas' censorship was also a known problem with agency material . "Images that are not acceptable to Hamas are not allowed." Among other things, journalists and photographers are instructed not to document any uniformed persons, military facilities or preparations for attacks. On the Israeli side, too, journalists can only access the front if they are accompanied by IDF press officers. Israel refuses to open border crossings to Gaza for journalists because of security concerns.

After the fighting ended, around 30 of these terror tunnels were discovered and destroyed by Israeli forces. Hamas uses schools and other facilities protected under international martial law as protection for its tunnel system: In June 2017, one was found in the Maghasi refugee camp among two schools of the UN refugee agency UNRWA . In October 2017 UNRWA itself discovered a tunnel under one of its schools and protested against the "violation of the location and the disregard for the neutrality of the UN's locations". Israel's UN Ambassador Danny Danon interpreted the discoveries as evidence that "the children of Gaza are being used as human shields".

Self-fire

On July 16, 2014, the spokesman said the IDF , Peter Lerner , Hamas has fired 100 missiles that could hit but the Gaza Strip. Over 500 rockets that Hamas shot down in the past three weeks landed on their own territory . According to the Israeli ambassador to the US, Ron Dermer, this was a fifth of all 2,500 rockets shot down. He also referred to two incidents, namely the shelling of the Shifa hospital and that of a park near a refugee camp. These are also due to Hamas. Peter Lerner said that the IDF had not operated on either the Shifa hospital or the Al Shati refugee camp at the time in question. The 10 dead and 46 injured are solely attributable to Hamas. Hamas fired rockets at Israel, but they often flew too short. This presentation was by Gabriele Barbati, an Italian journalist on site, confirmed. One of the Hamas rockets even hit the West Bank and destroyed a Palestinian house there.

Hamas executes alleged collaborators

At the end of July, the Times of Israel reported , citing a Palestinian news agency, that Hamas had executed more than 30 Palestinians as " collaborators " , as it had previously done . According to the report, Hamas arrested suspected spies in the north of Shejaiya, a district of Gaza City , and then executed them in a fast-track trial. They are said to have indicated possible targets such as Hamas houses to the Israeli army. Weapons, phones and SIM cards from the Israeli provider Orange were found on them. Human Rights Watch and other human rights groups condemned the executions. The Hamas interior minister reported on July 15 that the internal security service had prevented a series of “subversive attacks” against “our people and our resistance”. Ministry spokesman Iyad Al-Bozom confirmed that “any treason or cowardly act against our people” would be punished with the harshest punishment under Palestinian law. The eyes of the internal security service were spread across the Gaza Strip and would secure the "home front".

The Times of Israel also reported on August 11, 2014, citing a former tunnel worker, that Hamas had executed dozens of tunnel workers in the past few weeks. The reason is that Hamas feared that the tunnel workers could reveal the location of the tunnels to Israel.

On August 22, Hamas killed another 18 Palestinians, including two women, on charges of collaboration with Israel. Eleven were executed in the morning in front of a former police station, and seven others were shot in front of a mosque following Friday prayers. Three Palestinians were killed as "spies" the day before. The public executions are intended to deter imitators. Palestinian human rights groups criticized the executions, but Hamas announced further executions.

Verifiability of the number of victims

Information on Palestinian victims in terms of number and status as combatants or civilians is difficult to verify in the ongoing conflict. Hamas itself only calls the dead in camouflage uniforms as fighters. The Basler Zeitung wrote that in the Gaza conflict of 2008 Hamas activists fought in civilian clothes and thus manipulated the ratio of civilians killed to their own fighters, ARD recordings showed Hamas fighters in civilian clothes with assault rifles hidden underneath , and Hamas I later corrected the number of my own killed fighters upwards by a factor of three. For Operation Protective Edge, too, the Israel Defense Forces put the number of casualties in the Gaza Strip up to August 5, in line with other reports, at 1,768, but at 750 to 1,000, a significantly higher percentage of fighters killed than the Palestinian sources.

return

At a memorial service for the fallen in July 2019, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised to retrieve the bodies of Oron Shaul and Hadar Goldin, which are still in the hands of Hamas. Oron Schaul died on July 20, 2014 and Hadar Goldin on August 1, 2014.

International reactions

politics

Chancellor Angela Merkel has repeatedly stressed Israel's legitimate right to defend itself appropriately. At a press conference, she said that this right also applies to the ground offensive. Germany is on the side of Israel. Every country must defend itself if it is attacked like this. In the daily Haaretz, President Barack Obama called on both the Israeli and Palestinian sides to exercise restraint and advocated a peaceful solution that should end in two states. In a unanimous declaration announced on July 12, 2014, the UN Security Council also called on both parties to the conflict to conclude a ceasefire. At an election rally, the Turkish Prime Minister Erdoğan accused the Israelis of having “no conscience, no honor, no pride. Those who condemn Hitler day and night have surpassed Hitler in matters of barbarism. "

The Iranian President Hassan Rohani said on the occasion of the al-Quds day on 25 July 2014 it could for the Palestinians no diplomatic way out, but give only the resistance, and threw Israel genocide before. To break the fast at the end of Ramadan , Iran's highest political and religious leader , Ayatollah Ali Khamenei , described Israel as a “rabid dog” in a televised address: “This rabid dog, this rapacious wolf has attacked innocent people, and humanity must respond. This is genocide, a catastrophe of historic proportions. ”He went on to say that the people in the Gaza Strip had few means of“ defense ”that the Americans and Europeans wanted to take away from them. Khamenei emphasized that Iran was expressly in favor of arming Hamas and demanded: "Everyone who has the opportunity, especially in the Islamic world, should do everything in their power to arm the Palestinian nation." He called on all Muslims to support the Palestinians with weapons so that they could defend themselves against "this genocide".

In late July, Chile , Peru and El Salvador expressed concern about the situation in Gaza and called their ambassadors back to Israel for consultations. In addition, the five Mercosur countries called for an immediate ceasefire at their summit in Caracas . Bolivia's President Evo Morales , who broke off all diplomatic relations with Israel in 2009, described Israel as a “terrorist state” and announced that Israeli citizens are now prohibited from entering the country without a visa according to a cabinet decision. In a statement, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said it was "disappointed" with the steps taken by these states.

According to UN Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay, there are signs of war crimes on the part of Israel. It is likely that by the Israel Defense Forces , the law has been violated, since attacks on apartment buildings, schools and UN agencies took place. However, they also condemn the attacks by Hamas for taking Israeli settlements indiscriminately under rocket and mortar shell fire.

On July 28, 100 US congressmen called on the UN to condemn Hamas for human rights abuses. Hamas is using its people as human shields , bombarding the people of Israel and breaking the ceasefire agreements. The complainants also said that Israel was doing everything in its power not only to protect its own people but also, as best as possible, to protect the people of Gaza. The abuse of the population by Hamas to secure military targets is a direct violation of the Geneva Conventions and would drive up the number of victims.

Practically all Arab states - with the exception of the Emirate of Qatar , which supports Hamas - behaved noticeably cautious . In contrast to previous conflicts, Israel was not criticized for its actions; Egypt even openly blamed Hamas for the escalation. Observers attribute this to the fact that Islamist extremism has itself become a threat to these states more than ever, so that Israel's position is tacitly tolerated.

On August 5, 2014, the British Foreign Secretary Baroness Warsi resigned from her post because she could no longer support the British government's Gaza policy.

Demonstrations and anti-Jewish riots

Largely peaceful demonstration with over 10,000 participants against the Israeli military offensive in the Gaza Strip in Vienna

Pro-Palestinian demonstrations in Western Europe sometimes led to pogrom-like riots: In Paris, two synagogues were attacked on July 13, 2014 , an incendiary being hurled against one and several hundred participants in a service being prevented from leaving the church for hours outside a few dozen demonstrators, mostly from North Africa, chanted "Death to the Jews". In Bremen, demonstrators physically attacked an editor of the taz and injured a passer-by rushing to his aid so badly that he was admitted to an intensive care unit. Journalists were also insulted, threatened and prevented from taking photos at a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Regensburg .

In the run-up to a demonstration against the Gaza war with around 1000 participants registered by the left-wing youth firm Solid Ruhr, 14 people were arrested in Essen for allegedly planning an attack on the Old Synagogue . At the demonstration itself, some anti-Israel and Holocaust-denying banners (inscription “Israel Terrorist” and “Allegedly former victim - today self-perpetrator” as well as an image of an Israeli flag with a swastika ) were shown and the slogan “Israel child murderer” was shouted. The Ruhrbarone web portal also reported throwing stones and bottles at peaceful counter-demonstrators, ISIS and Hamas flags, and shouts of “shit Jews”. After the WDR initially described the Essen event on the day itself as peaceful and without anti-Semitic incidents, it corrected this assessment on July 21, 2014 both in the local time Ruhr and in its current hour and reported attacks against pro-Israeli counter-demonstrators as well as anti-Israeli and anti-Semitic utterances, such as the chanting of " Adolf Hitler " and showing the unconstitutional Hitler salute . In January 2015, the District Court sentenced eating a 24-year-old who at the demonstration "death and hate the Zionists" had called, because of sedition , as the term Zionist was used here as a code word for Jew. Almost all of the 48 other proceedings for this demonstration had been discontinued because, contrary to original assumptions, the perpetrators could not be identified on the basis of video recordings. The Essen District Court upheld the verdict and increased the suspended sentence from three to ten months.

There were also violent attacks on pro-Israel rallies in Göttingen and Hanover .

In Mainz on July 18, in addition to a pro-Palestinian demonstration with around 1,500 participants, two smaller pro-Israeli rallies were held. The Allgemeine Zeitung reported on the strict gender segregation of the pro-Palestinian event, at which slogans such as “Freedom for Palestine”, “Down, down Israel”, “Child murderer Israel” and “Death, death, Israel!” Were chanted under the coordination of the organizer Fatih Bayram . In addition, "green flags similar to those of the terrorist organization Hamas" and pictures of German crimes from World War II were shown. The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was compared to Adolf Hitler on banners . Fatih Bayram was subsequently charged with sedition.

At a demonstration on July 20th in Frankfurt am Main , slogans such as “Israeli murderers” and “Zionists are fascists” were shouted alongside “Israeli child murderers”. The rally was originally supposed to end at the Westend Synagogue , but this was forbidden by the public order office.

Demonstration in Berlin on July 17, 2014: When participants in the foreground is the framed by swinging number on the forearm eighty-eight tattooed, a Nazi-number code for the Nazi salute.

On July 20, 2014, anti-Semitic riots broke out again in Paris, in which pro-Palestinian demonstrators attacked synagogues and set one on fire. The fire was quickly extinguished. A Jewish pharmacy and a kosher supermarket, however, burned out. On the same day, Israeli tourists who happened to cross the path of a pro-Palestinian rally were attacked in Berlin. Furthermore, anti- Semitic slogans such as “ Jew, Jew, cowardly pig , come out and fight alone” were shouted at several anti-Israeli demonstrations in Berlin . Yakov Hadas-Handelsman , the Israeli ambassador to Germany, denounced this as an abuse of freedom of expression. The police and the public prosecutor's office are investigating suspicions of sedition . A demonstration in Vienna on July 20 with 11,000 (police information) and 30,000 participants (organizer information), however, proceeded largely peacefully, although anti-Semitic posters could also be seen here. During a demonstration in Bregenz with 1200 participants on the same day, stones were thrown at a small group of counter-demonstrators. Demonstrations the day before in Graz and Linz , each with 500–600 participants, remained peaceful.

On July 23, a friendly match between Maccabi Haifa and Lille OSC was canceled in Austria after around twenty locals of Turkish origin stormed the football field and physically attacked the Israeli players. Although the police stopped the attack, they did not arrest any of the perpetrators and contented themselves with recording their personal details. Top Austrian politics (including Federal President Heinz Fischer and Federal Chancellor Werner Faymann and FPÖ boss Heinz-Christian Strache ) condemned the incident.

In the course of the demonstrations on al-Quds Day on July 25, 2014 in Berlin, despite the announcement by the police that they would take tough action, shouts of “ Sieg Heil ” and the chanting of slogans such as “ Child murderer Israel "," Women murderer Israel "," Zionists into the gas "and" Israel, Israel cowardly pig, come out and fight alone! ". The demonstrators also called for an end to the " genocide ". According to police, several anti-Israel activists have been arrested for assault and chanting anti-constitutional slogans. In addition to members of the anti-Zionist wing of the Left Party , some neo-Nazis such as Sebastian Schmidtke from the NPD also marched . The two counter-demonstrations, taking place at the same time and in close proximity, were attended by a total of around 600 people who shouted, among other things, “Free Gaza from Hamas”. Stir the police action caused, compared to pro-Israeli demonstrators with Israel flag offs because of "provocation" to speak while they loudly BZ after a long examination, among other things an imaged with two persons poster, of which holds one of the other a machine gun to his head, the text "We kill your family, occupy your land, you terrorist" and a sign that read "Stop genocide, stop the massacre". On the same day in Osnabrück around 250 Germans, Israelis and Palestinians demonstrated together against the war in the Holy Land in an action that was "unique in Germany". However, there were individual controversies and provocations (poster “The world must stop Israel” and the speech by the honorary chairman of the Erich Maria Remarque Society, Tilman Westphalen , and his assessment of the Six Day War of 1967).

The neo-Nazi micro-party The III. Weg and the Islamist website Muslim-Markt published calls to boycott Israeli goods.

In Paris on July 26th, around 5,000 people gathered despite a ban on demonstrations imposed after the past anti-Semitic riots. When participants in the anti-Israeli rally threw stones at the police, they used tear gas. An Israeli flag was burned to the applause of bystanders and slogans such as "Israel out of Palestine, the time of the colonies is over", "Israel murderer, Hollande accomplice" and "Israel disappear, Palestine does not belong to you". Demonstrations in Marseille and Nice with thousands of participants passed off peacefully. In London , too , around 10,000 protesters marched past the Israeli embassy in Kensington and shouts of "Shame on you, David Cameron" past Prime Minister David Cameron's office to the Parliament in Westminister. Banners called for "Stop Israel's State Terror", "Freedom for Palestine" and "Gaza - End the Siege". The Stop the War Coalition (StWC) as one of the organizers had to guard against anti-Semitism allegations, previously called on the participants to NS - and Holocaust to abandon comparisons. The speakers at the rallies were controversial people such as Baroness Jenny Tonge , who described Israel as a “criminal state” that should be excluded from the community of states.

On the night of July 29, 2014, three Palestinians threw several incendiary devices at the Bergische Synagogue in Wuppertal . In February 2015, the perpetrators were sentenced to 200 hours of community service and imprisonment of three to 15 months for attempted arson , which were suspended on probation in view of the several months in custody and the lack of evidence for an anti-Semitic act. This has been criticized as a dangerous lack of knowledge, sensitivity and courage to label an anti-Semitic attack that way.

In Arab states, however, there were no demonstrations on this further escalation of the Middle East conflict.

religion

At his Friday sermon on July 18 in the Al-Nur mosque in Berlin , Imam Abu Bilal Ismail, often referred to as a hate preacher , described Gaza as the "land of jihad " and the Jews as " butcher of prophets ", for whose worldwide annihilation he began a prayer. Fifteen reports of incitement were received against him - including from the Central Council of Jews and from Hakan Taş , the security policy spokesman for Die Linke in the Berlin House of Representatives , who also called on all members of the Bundestag and Landtag of Turkish origin to join the report.

The Central Council of Muslims in Germany condemned anti-Semitic slogans against the policies of Israel: "Whoever preaches hatred of Jews or thinks they have spread anti-Semitism in the wake of the Gaza war, moves outside of our communities."

In Osnabrück, Jews, Muslims and Christians agreed on a joint appeal for peace, despite very contrary assessments of the events in Gaza. Representatives of the three religions planted a vine on the Peace of Westphalia place as a symbol of peace.

On July 31, 2014, members and representatives of the Islamic and Jewish communities also took part in a demonstration against anti-Semitism with 2,000 participants in Nuremberg .

Media and social networks

Prop-Palestinian activists complained about what they believed to be one-sided media coverage of the conflict, which masked the suffering of the people of Gaza. For this reason, several demonstrations against the BBC took place in Great Britain. The BBC denied the allegations, saying it had different points of view in explaining the context of this complex conflict. Conversely, the Israeli side criticizes what it sees as one-sided anti-Israeli media coverage of the conflict.

On some Swiss Facebook pages promoting participation in a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Zurich, Palestine sympathizers posted anti-Semitic comments such as “Only a dead Jew is a good Jew”, “The only medicine against Jews was Adolf Hitler ” and “We the need to Jews exterminated "or" gas ". Those responsible face criminal proceedings for violating the racism penal norm and for inciting violence. There has also been an increase in anti-Semitic hate comments on the Internet in Turkey , including from celebrities like Yıldız Tilbe , who asked Allah's blessings for Hitler on Twitter and prayed for the end of the Jews. Ankara's Mayor Melih Gökçek ( AKP ) congratulated her on Twitter. Ran Cohen of the Israeli branch of the physicians' organization " Physicians for Human Rights " lamented an increase in anti-Palestinian hateful comments on Israeli social media, demanding that they "finally finish the job this time." The Israeli and Palestinian sides and their respective supporters make massive use of social networks to spread their view of the conflict. Palestinian bloggers also use images that have nothing to do with the conflict.

Numerous Twitter users oppose the conflict using the hash tag #JewsAndArabsRefuseToBeEnemies .

Report of the High Level Military Group

The High Level Military Group (HLMG) was established in early 2015 to investigate the behavior of the Israeli military during Operation Protective Edge. It consists of high-ranking military personnel from a number of Western countries. Members of the group made a total of six trips to Israel in the summer of 2015. According to the group, the Israeli authorities provided the HLMG with "unprecedented insight, undoubtedly beyond what our own countries would provide insight in comparable situations."

The HLMG first emphasizes the asymmetrical character of the conflict in which a democratic state fights an opponent who disregards the international law of war and at the same time exploits the fact that the other war party adheres to international law. The strategic concept of Hamas is largely based on the deliberate embedding of its military operations in the urban civil infrastructure of Gaza in violation of international law, which forces the Israeli military to fight in these urban centers. According to the HLMG, such operations are among the most complex and dangerous challenges in warfare.

According to the HLMG, Hamas was solely responsible for the outbreak of the Gaza conflict in 2014. Israel was forced into the conflict by Hamas and had the right to defend its civilian population from the continued rocket attacks. Israel's military response was necessary and justified. The group also comes to the conclusion that, throughout Operation Protective Edge, Israel met and in some cases even exceeded the highest standards that apply to military operations in Western countries. "We believe that Israel has conducted an exemplary operation, with adequate planning and reasonable limited goals, demonstrating both a high level of operational skills and full compliance with international martial law." The Israeli military is often even beyond the requirements of the Going beyond martial law, accepting tactical disadvantages.

If there were violations of the company's own high standards in individual cases, these were investigated by independent bodies, including criminal investigations.

The HLMG accuses Hamas of having resorted to some terrorist tactics. On the one hand, Hamas had targeted Israeli civilians before and during the entire conflict. On the other hand, the Israeli forces were forced to operate in areas inhabited by civilians. By embedding its operations in such areas, Hamas not only accepted losses among its own civilian population, but this is actually an essential part of its concept. In particular, this also included the fact that Hamas had set up its military headquarters in one of the largest hospitals in Gaza. Hamas' strategy of maximizing losses among its own people serves to deliberately delegitimize Israel. Another component of this concept are targeted disinformation campaigns to influence the world public in their favor.

Human rights organizations

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch criticized human rights abuses by both parties to the conflict. Amnesty listed eight cases in which civilians were not warned about their homes being shot at, contrary to what the Israeli military claimed, and said the strategy of repeated and disproportionate house demolition was fundamentally contrary to international law. Hamas has accused Amnesty International of indiscriminately firing weapons at civilian areas in Israel, killing or injuring both Israeli and Palestinian civilians. Human Rights Watch criticized human rights groups for being denied access to Gaza by both Israel and Egypt.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) announced an investigation into the attacks on rescue workers in the Gaza conflict and stated that international humanitarian law had been "not applied precisely and ambitiously" in the conflict. The office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights called for possible war crimes in the Gaza conflict to be brought before the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

In a report released nine months after the end of the hostilities, Amnesty International accused Hamas of conducting a brutal campaign not only against alleged collaborators but also to eliminate political rivals during the struggles with torture , kidnappings and mass shootings. Six men were dragged in front of a mosque and then shot in the head in front of hundreds of spectators.

In an interview with Deutschlandfunk on July 30, 2014, international law expert Claus Kress , director of the Cologne Institute for Peacekeeping Law and member of the Expert Committee on Humanitarian International Law of the German Red Cross, said that he saw no signs of Israeli war crimes in the conflict, but that there were violations of international law by Hamas. The rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip are terrorist acts contrary to international law. In addition, Hamas is making targeted attacks on the Israeli population, which is a gross violation of international conflict law. Hamas also violates martial law because it systematically mixes military targets and civilian locations with one another, thereby placing civilians in the Gaza Strip in an eminent, constant danger of becoming victims of the fighting.

Reactions in Israel

The majority of the Israeli public is clearly behind the military operation. According to surveys published by the Israel Democracy Institute (from July 14, 16/17 and 23, 2014), on average 95% of Jewish Israelis consider the military operation to be fair, over 90% consider the military means used to be appropriate (37– 60%) or insufficient (33–57%). In contrast to previous military operations, this support was constant, despite Israeli losses and international criticism.

Some hardliners in Israel have criticized what they consider to be a lack of harshness in Gaza. The former chairman of the National Security Council, Major General a. D. Giora Eiland , said that one should not only have declared war on Hamas, but also on the State of Palestine and should have acted more ruthlessly against the civilian population in Gaza, who in the true sense of the word should have been there because of their massive anti-Israeli stance, their massive support for the Hamas and its eliminatory anti-Semitism, which threatens Israel's existence, would not even exist. In an open letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu published in Hebrew on Facebook, Israel's deputy speaker of parliament and member of the ruling party, Likud Moshe Feiglin, demanded that Gaza be transformed into a “new Jaffa” by relocating the Arab population to neighboring Arab countries or other states and all of them to destroy Arab civil and military facilities directed against Israel. Subsequently, the Gaza Strip should be annexed by Israel and the Jewish settlements cleared in August 2005 should be rebuilt and form a basis for the complete Jewish settlement of the Gaza Strip. Feiglin's proposals met with some fierce international criticism, which in turn attempted to compare concentration camps , which did not prevent him from repeating them in a CNN interview, whereby he attached importance to the fact that he did not use concentration camps but sheltered areas for the the Palestinian civilian population.

After an attack on August 4th with an excavator in which an Arab killed a rabbi in Jerusalem and overturned a bus, an angry group of people shouted "Death to the Arabs". Supporters of the right-wing Lehava movement chanted the same slogan at the wedding of a Muslim converted from Judaism to a Muslim on August 17th in Tel Aviv. President Reuven Rivlin disapproved of this as undermining the coexistence of the population groups in democratic Israel. Israeli police kept the demonstrators at bay and arrested four of them. Left-wing counter-demonstrators and Israel's Minister of Health Ja'el German wished the bridal couple luck.

The Holocaust researcher Yehuda Bauer stated that the "overwhelming majority of Israeli Jews and a large number of Israeli Arabs" identify with the Israeli approach and that "right-wing attitudes" have been strengthened. Part of the opposition is against it, which they have made clear through demonstrations. But, says Bauer, beyond the mostly approved tunnel destruction, there is a "growing rejection of further steps" and the army leadership does not want to conquer Gaza either. Furthermore, he considers it impossible to militarily defeat Hamas, which he describes as "violent, genocidal and anti-Semitic," and calls on Israel to be willing to enter into dialogue with Hamas in order to weaken it ideologically, and to strengthen moderate forces in the Palestinians in order to reach a compromise in association with regional and international powers.

While even left-liberal Israelis like the sociology professor Natan Sznaider supported their conservative government during the war, a two-state solution with an independent Palestinian state also gained approval from hardliners like the publicist Noah Klieger .

On August 31, 2014, the Israeli government approved a five-year plan worth 1.5 billion shekels (about 320 million euros) for Sderot and the communities along the border with the Gaza Strip, with which the damage will be repaired and the security of the Civil population should be increased. In a second, similar package, the development of cities and municipalities in the south is to be promoted. The Zionist answer to those who seek our lives is not only to let them be denied […], but also to develop our state further.

Reactions in Palestine

Shortly after the end of the fighting, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas accused Hamas of unnecessarily delaying it. He described all deaths, injuries and building damage as avoidable for the Palestinians. The Hamas missile war, however, found the approval of the population and parts of Abbas' Fatah party in the West Bank and East Jerusalem .

Web links

Commons : Operation Protective Edge  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ^ Ariel Ben Solomon: Videos show Lebanese jihadi group active in Gaza. In: The Jerusalem Post . July 11, 2014, accessed July 23, 2014 . 
2. ↑ ^{a b} UN OCHA: Situation Report (as of August 26, 2014) ( Memento of August 27, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF); Retrieved August 26, 2014.
3. ↑ IBA news, August 31, 2014.
4. ↑ IDF soldier dies of wounds from Gaza; Israeli death toll rises to 73 , Haaretz , August 31, 2014.
5. ↑ Foreign media doubt the high death rate . Israel Today, August 10, 2014; accessed on August 14, 2014.
6. ↑ unmultimedia.org
7. ↑ theguardian.com
8. ↑ nytimes.com
9. ↑ Netanyahu threatens Hamas with retaliation. In: ARD Tagesschau. July 12, 2014, filed by the original on July 6, 2014 ; Retrieved August 18, 2014 . 
10. ↑ Israel arrests Hamas members en masse . In: handelsblatt.com. June 19, 2014, accessed July 14, 2014 . 
11. ↑ Hans-Christian Rößler: With a living body. In: FAZ . July 6, 2014, accessed July 7, 2014 . 
12. ↑ Hamas leader: Don't compare us to ISIL . Yahoo news dated August 22, 2014.
13. ↑ Shin Bet forces arrest six in connection with Palestinian teens killing. In: Israel News.Net. July 6, 2014, archived from the original on July 14, 2014 ; accessed on July 7, 2014 (English). 
14. ↑ Three suspects confess to murder of Palestinian teenager. In: Spiegel Online . July 7, 2014, accessed July 11, 2014 . 
15. Jump up ↑ murder charges against three Jewish extremists . Stern from July 17, 2014.
16. ↑ Michael Bachner: Court upholds sentences of Israelis who murdered Palestinian teen. In: Times of Israel. February 8, 2018, accessed September 24, 2018 . 
17. ↑ Isabel Kershner: Israeli Convicted in Murder of Palestinian Teenager. In: New York Times. April 19, 2016, accessed September 24, 2018 . 
18. ↑ Live updates, July 2: Israel strikes Gaza; Sderot hit by rocket. In: Haaretz . Haaretz Group , July 3, 2014, accessed on July 7, 2014 . 
19. ↑ Kevin Connolly: Gaza-Israel conflict: What can Israel and Hamas gain? BBC, July 11, 2014; Retrieved July 13, 2014
20. ↑ Reuters: Operation Protective Edge: Israel bombs Gaza in retaliation for rockets . theguardian.com, July 8, 2014; Retrieved July 18, 2014
21. ↑ William Booth and Ruth Eglash: support Israelis and Gaza Netanyahu was despite rising deaths on bothsides . WP, July 29, 2014; Retrieved July 29, 2014
22. ↑ Escalation in the Middle East: The missile war returns to Israel. In: Spiegel Online . July 8, 2014, accessed July 9, 2014 . 
23. ↑ Rockets in Gaza Strip: Several dead in Israeli air strikes. In: Spiegel Online . July 12, 2014, accessed July 13, 2014 . 
24. ↑ Escalation in Gaza - Questions and Answers. In: DW.de . Deutsche Welle , July 13, 2014, accessed on July 15, 2014 . 
25. ↑ Ephraim Lapid: Create Gaza without weapons. At the end of "Operation Protection Line" there must be a demilitarized stretch of coast. In: Jüdische Allgemeine . Central Council of Jews in Germany , July 17, 2014, accessed on July 23, 2014 . 
26. ↑ Renee Ghert-Zand: Name 'Protective Edge' doesn't cut it. In: The Times of Israel . July 9, 2014, accessed July 21, 2014 . 
27. ↑ Shoshana Kordova: Word of the Day / Tzuk: Cast Lead II. In: Haaretz . Haaretz Group , July 19, 2014, accessed on July 19, 2014 . 
28. ↑ Reuters: “Operation Protective Edge: Israel bombs Gaza in retaliation for rockets” . theguardian.com, July 8, 2014; Accessed July 10, 2014
29. ↑ Israel is preparing to deploy ground troops. In: Zeit Online . Zeit Online GmbH, July 8, 2014, accessed on July 8, 2014 . 
30. ^ The Latest Updates from Gaza. In: UNRWA-24-hour-Update - 08.00hrs, 12 July 2014 - issue 04. United Nations Relief Organization for Palestine Refugees in the Middle East , July 12, 2014, accessed on July 13, 2014 (English). 
31. ↑ Gaza under siege: naming the dead . Al Jazeera, July 16; Retrieved July 16, 2014.
32. ↑ Batsheva Sobelman, Rushdi abu Alouf, Henry Chu: Israel pounds northern Gaza Strip after warning residents to flee . LA Times. July 13, 2014; Retrieved July 13, 2014
33. ↑ Shooting with Hamas: Israel sends elite troops to the Gaza Strip . Spiegel Online , July 13, 2014; Retrieved July 13, 2014.
34. ↑ Peter Beaumont: Israel says it has shot down drone launched from Gaza . theguardian.com, July 14, 2014; Retrieved July 14, 2014.
35. ↑ Griff Witte and William Booth: As cease-fire with Hamas fails to take shape, Netanyahu says, 'Our answer is “fire”' . WEP, July 15, 2014; accessed on July 15, 2014.
36. ↑ nne Gearan: A Israel’s vow to strengthen attacks against Hamas in Gaza puts US in tough position . Washington Post , July 15, 2014; accessed on July 15, 2014.
37. ↑ UNRWA Strongly condemns placement of Rockets in School . UNRWA, July 17, 2014; Retrieved July 17, 2014.
38. ↑ UNRWA Gives Rockets to Hamas . Israel National News (Arutz Sheva), July 20, 2014; accessed on September 15, 2014.
39. ↑ Isabel Kershner, Anne Barnard: Israel Says It Foiled Attack Amid Broader Halt in Fighting . NYT July 17, 2014; Retrieved July 17, 2014.
40. ^ Break of fire in the Middle East ( Memento from July 18, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) www.tagesschau.de from July 17, 2014.
41. ↑ Israel wants to expand the ground offensive. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung from July 18, 2014.
42. ↑ Golani Brigade Commander Seriously Injured . israelnationalnews.com; Retrieved July 21, 2014.
43. ↑ 2 US citizens among 13 dead Golani Brigade soldiers . israelhayom.com; Retrieved July 21, 2014.
44. ^ Seven Golani soldiers killed in Gaza . jpost.com; Retrieved July 21, 2014.
45. ↑ S ix fall Golani Brigade soldiers named by IDF . hairetz.com; Retrieved July 21, 2014.
46. ^ The lone survivor of the golani 13 . jewishpress.com; Retrieved July 22, 2014.
47. ↑ IDF soldier missing in Gaza reportedly presumed dead . jpost.com; Retrieved July 22, 2014.
48. ^ Four IDF soldiers killed by terrorist squad that infiltrated Israel from Gaza . jpost.com; Retrieved July 21, 2014.
49. ↑ Day 15 of operation protective edge idf continues to eradicate terror infrastructure in gaza . jewishpress.com; Retrieved July 22, 2014.
50. ↑ UNRWA condemns placement of Rockets, for a Second Time in One of Its Schools . July 22, 2014; Retrieved July 22, 2014
51. ↑ ^{a b c d} Live Blog Jerusalem Post; Retrieved July 23, 2014
52. ↑ Newsletter of the Embassy of the State of Israel of July 24, 2014
53. ^ Gaza conflict: Lufthansa cancels all flights to Tel Aviv. Spiegel-online, July 22, 2014, accessed July 25, 2014 . 
54. ↑ Tel Aviv flights still stopped. Jüdische Allgemeine , July 23, 2014, accessed July 27, 2014 . 
55. ↑ spiegel.de
56. ↑ UNRWA strongly condemns shelling of a school in Gaza sheltering civilians and calls for an investigation . July 22, 2014; Retrieved July 22, 2014
57. ↑ ^{a b c} Live Blog Jerusalem Post; accessed July 24, 2014
58. ↑ Gil Yaron: Bloodbath in United Nations School in Gaza . Welt Online July 24, 2014; Retrieved July 24, 2014
59. ↑ Ban Ki-moon upset after rocket finds in UN schools derstandard.at; Retrieved July 25, 2014.
60. ↑ ^{a b} Palestine could face the third Intifada . n-tv.de; Retrieved July 25, 2014.
61. ↑ Israeli soldiers shoot Palestinian demonstrators , website de.euronews.com, accessed July 25, 2014.
62. ↑ ^{a b} Fallen IDF soldiers in Operation Protective Edge , www.timesofisrael.com, accessed on July 25, 2014.
63. ↑ Kilometers of tunnels, dug by hand , Welt.de, July 25, 2014.
64. ↑ 12-hour break between Israel and Hamas began . derstandard.com; Retrieved July 26, 2014.
65. ↑ Gaza: Dozens of bodies recovered from the rubble . krone.at; Retrieved July 26, 2014.
66. ↑ ^{a b} LIVE BLOG: Israel's Operation Protective Edge in Gaza. jpost.com; Retrieved July 26, 2014.
67. ↑ Noam Chomsky: Who rules the world? The global upheavals in American politics . 3. Edition. Ullstein Buchverlage, Berlin 2016, ISBN 978-3-550-08154-5 , p. 232 .
68. ^ Occupied Palestinian Territory: Gaza Emergency Situation Report (as of 25 July 2014, 1500 hrs) . ( Memento of July 27, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF) ochaopt.org; Retrieved July 26, 2014.
69. ↑ Twelve hour truce in Gaza, crisis meeting in Paris . salzburg.com; Retrieved July 26, 2014.
70. ↑ Foreign ministers meeting on the Gaza conflict begins in Paris . rhein-zeitung.de; Retrieved July 26, 2014.
71. ↑ Fallen IDF soldiers in Operation Protective Edge . timesofisrael.com; accessed on July 27, 2014.
72. ↑ OCHA: Gaza Emergency Situation Report (as of July 26, 2014, 1500 hrs) . ( Memento from August 2, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF) ochaopt.org; accessed on July 27, 2014.
73. ↑ Hamas fires rockets at Israel again . derstandard.com; accessed on July 27, 2014.
74. ↑ Conflict between Israel and Hamas: Israel unilaterally extends the ceasefire until Sunday evening . Spiegel Online , July 26, 2014.
75. ↑ Gaza: UN Security Council calls for an immediate ceasefire . derstandard.at; Retrieved July 28, 2014.
76. ↑ ^{a b} LIVE BLOG: Israel's Operation Protective Edge in Gaza. jpost.com; Retrieved July 28, 2014.
77. ↑ jpost.com accessed on July 28, 2014.
78. ↑ idfblog.com
79. ↑ War in the Middle East: Israel's army shoots at the only power plant in Gaza . Spiegel Online , July 29, 2014; accessed August 1, 2014.
80. ^ Ilan Ben Zion: Rockets found in UNRWA school, for third time . July 30, 2014; Retrieved July 30, 2014
81. ↑ An UNRWA historic moment: UNRWA Commissioner-General briefing to the UN Security Council . UNRWA, July 31, 2014; accessed on July 31, 2014
82. ↑ tagesschau.de ( Memento from August 1, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
83. ↑ idfblog.com
84. ↑ state.gov ( Memento from August 4, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
85. ^ Cease-fire collapses between Israel, Hamas . WP, August 1, 2014; accessed on August 1, 2014
86. ↑ Israel's nightmare - another soldier dragged to Gaza . WAZ, August 1, 2014; accessed on August 2, 2014
87. ^ Israel extends offensive after kidnapping soldiers . Handelsblatt, August 1, 2014; accessed on August 1, 2014.
88. ↑ US Senate gives $ 225 million for Israel's "iron dome" . Stern , August 1, 2014; accessed on August 1, 2014.
89. ↑ Missing soldier is dead. Faz.net, August 3, 2014.
90. ^ Nidal al-Mughrabi and Dan Williams: Censured over shelter deaths, Israel declares seven-hour Gaza truce . Reuters, August 4, 2014; Retrieved August 4, 2014
91. ↑ Sudarsan Raghavan, Griff Witte: Attack near UN shelter leaves 10 dead as Israel pulls most ground troops from Gaza . WP, August 3, 2014; Retrieved August 4, 2014
92. ↑ Lieberman brings UN administration of Gaza into discussion . 1 p.m. news from Deutschlandfunk, August 4, 2014; Retrieved August 4, 2014.
93. ↑ UN Secretary General Ban welcomes new ceasefire 11 a.m. news from Deutschlandfunk on August 5, 2014, accessed on August 5, 2014.
94. ↑ Response to Hamas rockets: Israel attacks Gaza Strip again . Spiegel Online , August 8, 2014, accessed August 9, 2014.
95. ↑ ^{a b} Explosions rock Gaza after cease-fire . CNN, Aug. 9, 2014; Retrieved August 9, 2014.
96. ↑ Israel carries out strikes on Gaza after rocket fire resumes . CNN, Aug. 8, 2014; Retrieved August 9, 2014.
97. ↑ Israel suspends long-lasting Gaza offensive; Another three-day ceasefire ( Memento from August 12, 2014 in the Internet Archive ), web.de on August 11, 2014, accessed on August 11, 2014.
98. ↑ The ceasefire runs out at midnight - and then ...? , Israel Today, August 13, 2014, accessed August 13, 2014.
99. ↑ No breakthrough in discussions , NTV, August 12, 2014, accessed on August 13, 2014.
100. ^ Israel and Hamas in negotiations , Neue Zürcher Zeitung of August 13, 2014, accessed on August 13, 2014.
101. ↑ A Gaza Strip without weapons, Upper Palatinate Network of July 30, 2014, accessed on August 13, 2014.
102. ↑ Consent to the demilitarization of Gaza , Die Welt, July 29, 2014, accessed August 13, 2014.
103. ↑ Steinmeier confirms offer from EU border mission in the Gaza Strip , Tiroler Tageszeitung, August 7, 2014, accessed on August 13, 2014.
104. ↑ Palestinians break ceasefire in the Gaza conflict , SZ-Online from August 19, 2014, accessed on August 19, 2014.
105. ↑ The most recent ceasefire burst because of Qatar , Israel Today August 20, 2014, accessed August 21, 2014.
106. ↑ Report: Qatar threatened to expel Mashaal if Hamas okayed Egypt-proposed truce , The Jerusalem Post of August 20, 2014, accessed on August 21, 2014.
107. ↑ Rockets are raining again on Israel , Israel Today, August 20, 2014, accessed August 21, 2014.
108. ^ After Strike on Family, Fate of Hamas Commander Is Unknown , The New York Times, August 20, 2014, accessed August 21, 2014.
109. ↑ Hamas military commander Deif said to be alive in Gaza Strip , Jerusalem Post, April 29, 2015.
110. ↑ ^{a b} Air strike in the Gaza Strip: Israel kills three Hamas commanders , Spiegel Online from August 21, 2014, accessed on August 21, 2014.
111. ↑ Air strike in the Gaza Strip: Israel kills three Hamas commanders , Spiegel Online from August 21, 2014, accessed on August 21, 2014.
112. ↑ New rocket attacks on Israel , SZ-Online of August 24, 2014, accessed on August 24, 2014.
113. ↑ Rockets from Syria and Lebanon targeting Israel , nachrichten.at from August 24, 2014, accessed on August 24, 2014.
114. ^ Army finds rocket launch pads in south Lebanon , The Daily Star Lebanon, August 24, 2014, accessed August 24, 2014.
115. ↑ Northern Israel Under Rocket Fire from Syria, Lebanon , Breaking Israel News, August 24, 2014, accessed August 24, 2014.
116. ↑ Rockets fired into north Israel from Lebanon , The Daily Star Lebanon, August 26, 2014, accessed August 26, 2014.
117. ^ Israel and Palestinians agree on permanent ceasefire Zeit-Online from August 26th
118. ↑ Tagesschau.de: Palestinians recover dozens of corpses ( memento from July 29, 2014 in the Internet Archive ); accessed on July 27, 2014.
119. ↑ Rocket after rocket . faz.de, July 12, 2014; Retrieved July 13, 2014.
120. ↑ Fearful paralysis has settled over the coastal strip . Süddeutsche.de, July 12, 2014; Retrieved July 13, 2014.
121. ↑ Gaza under siege: naming the dead , Al Jazeera of July 16. Retrieved July 16, 2014.
122. ↑ Israel says has evidence 47% of Gaza dead were combatants , Reuters, August 2, 2014.
123. ↑ Reporting of Casualties in Gaza , Camera from July 14th. Retrieved July 16, 2014.
124. ↑ Raniah Salloum: Gaza Strip Conflict: The War of Invisible Fighters , Spiegel-Online, July 21, 2014. Retrieved July 22, 2014.
125. ↑ ^{a b} Richard C. Schneider: Our text is powerless against the images , FAZ, August 3, 2014.
126. ↑ Gaza Situation Report 13 , UNRWA, July 21, 2014.
127. ↑ US government defends flight ban to Tel Aviv SZ-Online, July 23, 2014.
128. ↑ Jodi Rudoren: Civilian or Not? New Fight in Tallying the Dead From the Gaza Conflict . NYT, Aug 5, 2014; accessed on August 5, 2014.
129. ↑ Netanyahu's exit strategy , SZ, August 3, 2014.
130. ↑ This is how Israel's defense system works . focus.de, July 12, 2014; Retrieved July 14, 2014.
131. ↑ Shelling from Gaza: First Israeli dies from Hamas grenade , Spiegel Online, July 15, 2014. Retrieved July 17, 2014.
132. ↑ Israel deepens Gaza push to destroy Hamas tunnels . The Seattle Times, July 17, 2014; Retrieved July 18, 2014.
133. ↑ Two Israeli soldiers killed by Hamas fighters . faz.net, July 19, 2014; Retrieved July 19, 2014.
134. ↑ Hit hospital in Gaza Strip. ( Memento of July 22, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) tagesschau.de, July 21, 2014. Accessed July 22, 2014.
135. ↑ Israel prepares ground offensive . Stern.de, July 11, 2014; Retrieved July 13, 2014.
136. ↑ Explosion after a rocket hit the gas station in Ashdod . Israel today, July 11, 2014; Retrieved July 13, 2014.
137. ↑ Rocket explodes in Ashkelon; teen seriously injured . The Times of Israel, July 13; Retrieved July 13, 2014.
138. ↑ Operation Protective Edge - Update No. 5 . (PDF) terrorism-info.org.il, July 15, 2014; Retrieved July 18, 2014.
139. ↑ Netanyahu to CNN's Wolf Blitzer: “I support taking whatever action is necessary to stop this insane situation ...” CNN interview by Wolf Blitzer with Benjamin Netanyahu from July 20, 2014, accessed on July 23, 2014.
140. ↑ Hamas wants to use Gaza residents as protective shields , Zeit Online of July 10, 2014. Accessed July 23, 2014.
141. ↑ Peter Münch: Dead civilians are part of the Hamas calculation . Süddeutsche Zeitung, July 23, 2014; Retrieved July 23, 2014.
142. ↑ Amos Yadlin: To Save Gaza, Destroy Hamas . NYT July 25, 2014; Retrieved July 25, 2014
143. ↑ 'Colonel (Rtd.) Richard Kemp, commander of British Forces Afghanistan' ( Memento of 29 July 2014 Internet Archive ) Royal United Services Institute. Retrieved July 28, 2014.
144. ^ British Commander: IDF Most Moral Army World Has Ever Known , Israeltoday Online, July 24, 2014. Retrieved July 26, 2014.
145. ↑ Hamas has win-win tactic, UK colonel tells 'Post'
146. ↑ independent.co.uk: Israel-Gaza conflict: The myth of Hamas's human shields , accessed August 6, 2014.
147. ↑ Huffingtonpost.com - Gary Burge: 'But They Use Human Shields!' , accessed on August 6, 2014.
148. ↑ ^{a b c} How Hamas manipulates the number of victims , Basler Zeitung , August 5, 2014.
149. ^ Jerusalem Post: Reporter's Notebook: The Gaza looking glass , accessed August 9, 2014.
150. ↑ [derstandard.at/2000066870118/Israel-protestiert-gegen-Tunnel-unter-UN-Schule-im-Gazastreifen Israel protests against tunnels under UN schools in the Gaza Strip ], Der Standard of October 30, 2017
151. ↑ 'IDF Says at Least 100 Hamas Rockets Hit Within Gaza' , the Algemeiner, July 16, 2014. Retrieved July 30, 2014.
152. ↑ Dermer: Over 500 rockets fired at Israel landed back in Gaza , Jewish Journal of July 29, 2014. Retrieved July 30, 2014.
153. ↑ 'Israel Blames Hamas For Gaza Children's Deaths' , Sky News, July 28, 2014. Retrieved July 30, 2014.
154. ↑ Italian Journalist Defies Hamas: 'Out of Gaza Far From Hamas Retaliation: misfired Rocket Killed Children in Shati' , algemeiner.com, July 30, 2014.
155. ↑ Monika Bolliger: Gaza negotiations in suspension , NZZ of August 5, 2014.
156. ↑ Hamas said to kill over 30 suspected collaborators with Israel , Times of Israel, July 28, 2014.
157. ↑ Hamas said to have executed dozens of tunnel diggers . Times Of Israel, August 11, 2014; accessed on August 13, 2014.
158. ↑ Hamas executes dozens of their tunnel diggers . Bild.de, August 12, 2014; accessed on August 13, 2014.
159. ↑ Middle East conflict: Hamas kills 18 suspected "Israel collaborators" . Spiegel Online , August 22, 2014.
160. ↑ Hamas kills alleged informants ( memento of August 24, 2014 in the Internet Archive ), tagesschau.de, August 22, 2014.
161. ↑ Michael Borgstede: The cynical war with the number of victims in Gaza , Die Welt from July 22, 2014. Retrieved on July 23, 2014.
162. ↑ Richard Schneider: Our text is powerless against the images , FAZ August 3, 2014. Accessed August 5, 2014.
163. ↑ Op Protective Edge: 3,356 rockets fired from Gaza, 4,762 targets hit by IDF . ynetnews.com, August 5, 2014.
164. ↑ Netanyahu: We are trying to get the missing people back. In: Israelnetz .de. July 24, 2019, accessed August 10, 2019 . 
165. ↑ Right to self-defense . NTV, July 18, 2014; Retrieved July 24, 2014.
166. ↑ Merkel supports Israel's military offensive against Gaza German-Turkish Journal, July 18, 2014; Retrieved July 24, 2014.
167. ^ Barack Obama: Peace is the only path to true security for Israel and the Palestinians. In: Haaretz. July 8, 2014, accessed July 8, 2014 . 
168. ^ Gaza conflict: UN Security Council calls for a ceasefire. stern, July 12, 2014, archived from the original on July 14, 2014 ; Retrieved July 13, 2014 (AFP). 
169. ^ Security Council President, Ambassador Eugène-Richard Gasana, Rwanda: Security Council calls for Israeli-Palestinian ceasefire, protection of civilians. UN News Center, July 12, 2014, accessed July 13, 2014 . 
170. ↑ Erdoğan snubbed Israel with a Hitler comparison. zeit.de, July 20, 2014.
171. ^ Gaza conflict: Millions of Iranians demonstrate against Israel . Spiegel Online , July 25, 2014.
172. ^ Ayatollah Khamenei insults Israel , Handelsblatt , July 29, 2014.
173. ↑ ^{a b} Dozens of dead in Israeli attacks in Gaza , General-Anzeiger (Bonn) , July 30, 2014.
174. ^ Israel the "Terror State": Bolivia Bans Israelis Entry , Epoch Times , July 31, 2014.
175. ↑ Fierce Fighting over the Hamas Tunnel , Die Zeit , July 23, 2014, accessed August 4, 2014.
176. ↑ 'Congress Calls on UN to Condemn Hamas Use of Human Shields' ( Memento August 2, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) JSpace News July 30, 2014. Retrieved August 1, 2014.
177. ^ Palestinians Find Show of Support Lacking From Arab Leaders Amid Offensive , New York Times, July 19, 2014.
178. ↑ Between the Mediterranean and Jordan: Left yes, pacifist no ( Memento from August 5, 2014 in the Internet Archive ), ARD-Studio Tel Aviv, August 4, 2014.
179. ^ Spiegel Online: Protest against Gaza policy: British Foreign Secretary Warsi resigns.
180. ^ Baroness Warsi wants end to UK complicity in Israeli war crimes
181. ^ ORF-Online: Thousands at the demonstration for peace in Gaza ; Retrieved July 20, 2014.
182. ^ Riots at demonstrations against Israel's military operations
183. ^ Anti-Israel protesters clash with police outside Paris synagogue Haaretz from July 13, 2017.
184. ^ Enemies of Israel out of control
185. ↑ Demand peace - incite against Israel MZ July 20, 2014.
186. ↑ ^{a b} Possible attack on the Old Synagogue - 14 arrests , Der Westen , July 18, 2014.
187. ↑ Linke surrounds himself with anti-Semites , Tagesspiegel, July 19, 2014.
188. Jump up ↑ Displeasure with the police after the Middle East demos in Essen , Der Westen, July 21, 2014.
189. ↑ Liveticker: Essen, Demonstrations for and against Israel , Ruhrbarone.de, July 18, 2014.
190. ↑ WDR local time Ruhr from July 18, 2014.
191. ↑ WDR local time Ruhr from July 21, 2014.
192. ↑ WDR current hour from July 21, 2014.
193. ↑ Stefan Laurin: Whoever wishes "Zionists" to die is inciters of the people , Die Welt from January 30, 2015
194. ↑ Stefan Laurin: Incitement of the people: "Death and hate the Zionists" remains punishable , Ruhrbarone from May 26, 2015
195. ↑ Israel flags: Gaza protesters attacked counter-demonstration on HNA-Online from July 21, 2014.
196. ^ Violence and anti-Semitism at the “Free Palestine” demonstration in Hanover. , www.sven-kindler.de of July 21, 2014.
197. ^ Central Council complains of hatred of Jews during demonstrations , FAZ , July 21, 2014.
198. ↑ Several demonstrations are in progress in Mainz: “Pro Gaza” with around 1,500 participants - Antifa demonstration against anti-Semitism , Allgemeine Zeitung , July 18, 2014.
199. ^ Follow-up to pro-Palestine demonstrations in Mainz: criminal complaint against the organizer for sedition , Allgemeine Zeitung , July 20, 2014.
200. ↑ Florian Leclerc, Ute Fiedler: Slogans against Israel. fr-online.de, July 20, 2014.
201. ↑ Young people attack synagogues in Paris , n24 of July 21, 2014.
202. ↑ Helga Embacher, Bernadette Edtmaier, Alexandra Preitschopf: Anti-Semitism in Europe. Case studies of a global phenomenon in the 21st century. Böhlau, Vienna 2019, p. 84
203. ↑ Demonstrators in Berlin attack an Israeli couple , Die Welt from July 21, 2014.
204. ↑ Suspicion of sedition . taz.de, July 21, 2014.
205. ↑ thousands at Demo for peace in Gaza . ORF-Online; Retrieved July 20, 2014.
206. ↑ Incident at Gaza demonstration: stones thrown at opponents . ORF, July 20, 2014:
207. ↑ 11,000 marched in Vienna at the Gaza demonstration - no riots . ( Memento from September 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) heute.at, July 19, 2014.
208. ↑ Austria's Federal President on aggression against Israeli athletes: We must unequivocally defend against the beginnings . ( Memento from July 26, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) bundespraesident.at; Retrieved July 24, 2014.
209. ↑ Werner Faymann: "To condemn in the strongest possible terms violent attacks on players from Maccabi Haifa in Bischofshofen" . ( Memento from July 27, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) bka.gv.at; Retrieved July 24, 2014.
210. ^ Bischofshofen test game Haifa Lille canceled due to anti-Israel protest . derstandard.at; Retrieved July 24, 2014.
211. ↑ ^{a b c} Live ticker for the Al-Kuds demonstration in Berlin: "Sieg Heil" calls on demo , Berliner Zeitung, July 25, 2014.
212. ↑ ^{a b c d} Rioting during a demonstration , Jüdische Allgemeine, July 25, 2014.
213. ↑ Regarding the allegation of child murder in relation to the legend of the ritual murder : Lars Rensmann , How can that be? , The World of 3 August 2014 page 18, and January Süselbeck , : What is secondary anti-Semitism? , literaturkritik.de
214. ^ Opponents of Israel meet supporters in Berlin , Zeit Online, July 25, 2014.
215. ^ Peace sign from the city of peace. ( Memento from July 26, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) www.ndr.de, July 25, 2014.
216. ↑ Angry Jewish community. Small provocations at the Middle East peace demonstration in Osnabrück. www.noz.de, July 25, 2014.
217. ↑ Sven Ullenbruch and Franz Feyder: neo-Nazis and Islamists together , Stuttgarter Nachrichten on August 6, 2014
218. ^ Riots in Paris: Thousands demonstrate against Israel's Gaza policy . Spiegel Online , July 26, 2014.
219. ↑ Helga Embacher, Bernadette Edtmaier, Alexandra Preitschopf: Anti-Semitism in Europe. Case studies of a global phenomenon in the 21st century. Böhlau, Vienna 2019, p. 161
220. ↑ Martin: Suspected Palestinians confess - confession to the arson attack on the Wuppertal synagogue . Evening newspaper from January 14, 2015
221. ^ Judgment on arson attack on synagogue. “No anti-Semitic act” , taz article from February 6, 2015
222. ↑ Antisemitism Worldwide 2014 ( Memento from December 17, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF) Tel Aviv University, 2014.
223. ↑ Martin Gehlen: Arab World and the Gaza War - Caught in their own strife. Der Tagesspiegel July 24, 2014.
224. ↑ Anti-Semitism: Public Prosecutor's Office investigates Berlin hate preachers , SPON from July 23, 2014.
225. ^ A hate speech against Jews kathisch.de of July 22, 2014.
226. ^ Religions call for peace in Osnabrück Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung of July 22, 2014.
227. ^ Against anti-Semitism, against hatred: rally in Nuremberg nordbayern.de (Nürnberger Nachrichten) on July 31, 2014.
228. ^ Hundreds protest against 'BBC pro-Israel bias' of Gaza coverage in cities across the UK. In: The Independent . July 16, 2014.
229. ↑ Manchester protesters march against BBC coverage and Gaza bombings BBC News Manchester, July 13, 2014.
230. ↑ My heart is in Tel Aviv - How Israelis in Germany experience the conflict Jüdische Allgemeine, July 16, 2014.
231. ↑ Call on Facebook for violence against Jews - Evil anti-Semitism before Gaza rally Neue Zürcher Zeitung of July 18, 2014.
232. ↑ "Call for violence against Swiss Jews"
233. ^ Frank Nordhausen: Anti-Jewish agitation in Turkey. Frankfurter Rundschau , July 13, 2014, (online)
234. ↑ Escalation in Israel and Palestine, medico partners from Gaza and Tel Aviv report medico international , July 10, 2014.
235. ^ The Independent , July 17, 2014: Israel-Gaza conflict: Social media becomes the latest battleground in Middle East aggression - but beware of propaganda and misinformation
236. ↑ Handelsblatt, July 25, 2014: Online Campaign for Peace # JewsAndArabsRefuseToBeEnemies
237. ↑ High Level Military Group: AN ASSESSMENT OF THE 2014 GAZA CONFLICT , high-level-military-group.org p. 7.
238. ↑ High Level Military Group: AN ASSESSMENT OF THE 2014 GAZA CONFLICT , high-level-military-group.org p. 7.
239. ↑ High Level Military Group: AN ASSESSMENT OF THE 2014 GAZA CONFLICT , high-level-military-group.org p. 7; P. 11.
240. ↑ High Level Military Group: AN ASSESSMENT OF THE 2014 GAZA CONFLICT , high-level-military-group.org p. 11.
241. ↑ Gaza War: Human Rights Watch accuses Israel of "massacres" in front , Spiegel Online , September 11, 2014
242. ↑ Amnesty calls Israeli airstrikes on homes in Gaza 'war crimes' , Michael Holtz, Christian Science Monitor , November 6, 2014
243. ↑ welt.de (ed.): Gaza conflict: Amnesty accuses Hamas of war crimes . March 26, 2015 ( welt.de [accessed January 4, 2020]).
244. ↑ Israel / Egypt: Provide Rights Groups Access to Gaza , Human Rights Watch , August 20, 2014
245. ↑ Gaza: International Red Cross wants to investigate attacks on civilians , Deutsches Ärzteblatt , August 8, 2014
246. ↑ A case for The Hague? ( Memento from September 24, 2014 in the Internet Archive ), Tagesschau , September 22, 2014
247. ↑ Amnesty accuses Hamas of torture , Neue Zürcher Zeitung of May 27, 2015
248. ^ Newsletter of the Embassy of the State of Israel of June 11, 2015
249. ↑ deutschlandfunk.de accessed on November 23, 2017
250. ^ Israel Democracy Institute: Peace Index - July 2014
251. ↑ Giora Eiland: In Gaza, there is no such thing as 'innocent civilians' - Fighting an enemy state with one hand while supplying food and energy to its residents with the other hand is absurd . ynetnews, August 5, 2014
252. ^ English translation of the original text by Moshe Feiglin jewishisrael.org Retrieved on August 6, 2014.
253. ↑ Lizzie Dearden: Israel-Gaza conflict: Right-wing Israeli politician calls for Gazans to be 'concentrated in camps' - and then all resistance 'exterminated' . Independent , August 5, 2014;
     Jill Reilly: Israeli official calls for concentration camps in Gaza and 'the conquest of the entire Gaza Strip, and annihilation of all fighting forces and their supporters' . Daily Mail , Aug. 4, 2014.
     Katie Halper: A refreshingly open call for ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from an Israeli deputy speaker . Raw Story , July 24, 2014.
     Duncan Roden, Stuart Munckton: Israeli calls for genocide rooted in its history . Green Left Weekly , August 3, 2014.
     Chris Doyle: Israel and the language of genocide . Al-Arabiya , August 6, 2014;
     Roland Nikles: Moshe Feiglin's vision of liberating Gaza by driving Palestinians into the Sinai . Mondoweiss , August 6, 2014.
254. ↑ CNN's Blitzer grills MK Feiglin over whether he called for 'Gaza concentration camp , Jerusalem Post , August 6, 2014.
255. ↑ washingtonpost.com
256. ↑ newsweek.com
257. ↑ Yehuda Bauer: "Israel will be left without a great victory." Dw.de, August 1, 2014.
258. ↑ Interview in Deutschlandfunk from August 2, 2014
259. ↑ The Hardcore Zionist Avoiding the Bunker , Die Welt, August 9, 2014
260. ↑ Newsletter of the Embassy of the State of Israel from September 1, 2014
261. ↑ Palestinian Leader Says Hamas Caused Prolonged War ( September 23, 2014 memento in the Internet Archive ) Time.com/Associated Press, August 29, 2014
262. ↑ Palestinians cheer radicals - rocket attacks make Hamas more popular ntv July 11, 2014