Gaza War (2008–2009)

This article is about the war from 2008 to 2009. For the war starting in 2023, see Israel–Gaza war (2023-2024).

The Gaza War was a three-week armed conflict that took place in the Gaza Strip during the winter of 2008–2009. It was codenamed Operation Cast Lead (Hebrew: מבצע עופרת יצוקה Mivtza Oferet Yetzuka) by the Israeli government.^[29]

Gaza War
Part of the Gaza–Israel conflict
Israeli advances in Gaza during 2009
Date 27 December 2008 – 18 January 2009 (3 weeks and 1 day) Location Gaza Strip and Southern Israel Result Israeli military victory[1][2][3][4] IDF declared unilateral ceasefire, 12 hours later Hamas announced a one-week ceasefire.[5][6] Humanitarian crisis and deterioration of infrastructure and basic services in Gaza.[7] Number of rockets being fired from Gaza reduced. See results
Belligerents
Israel Israel Defense Forces Israel Security Agency	Gaza Strip[8] Hamas Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine Abu Ali Mustapha Brigades  Palestinian Islamic Jihad Al-Quds Brigades Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Popular Resistance Committees
Commanders and leaders
Ehud Olmert Prime Minister Ehud Barak Minister of Defense Gabi Ashkenazi Chief of General Staff Yoav Galant Southern Command Ido Nehoshtan Air Force Eli Marom Navy Eyal Eisenberg Gaza Division Yuval Diskin Internal Security Service	Khaled Mashal[9] Ismail Haniyeh Said Seyam † Mohammed Deif Abu Zakaria al-Jamal † Ahmed Jabari Tawfik Jaber †[10] Osama Mazini Nizar Rayan †[10] Mahmoud al-Zahar Ramadan Shallah Jamil Mezher
Strength
IDF: 4,000[11]–20,000[12] deployed in ground invasion and tens of thousands of reservists mobilized[13] (176,000 total active personnel)[14]	Hamas (Izzedine Al-Qassam Brigades and paramilitary police): 20,000 (est. total)[15][16] Other Palestinian paramilitary forces: 10,000[17]
Casualties and losses
Total killed: 13 Soldiers: 10 (friendly fire: 4)[18] Civilians: 3 Total wounded: 518 Soldiers: 336[19] Civilians: 182[19]	Total killed: 1,166–1,417[fn 1] Militants and police officers: 491* (255 police officers, 236 fighters) (PCHR),[22][23] 600* (B'Tselem),[21] 709 (IDF),[20] 600–700 (Hamas)[24] Civilians: 926 (PCHR),[22] 759 (B'Tselem),[21] 295 (IDF)[20] Total wounded: 5,303 (PCHR)[22] Total captured: 120 (IDF)
One Egyptian border guard officer killed and three wounded, and two children wounded.[25][26] Over 50,800 Gaza residents displaced.[27] Over 4,000 homes destroyed; around $2bn worth of damage to Gaza[28]
*255 (PCHR)[22] or 265 (B'Tselem)[21] police officers were killed.

The Gaza War is said to have begun when Israel started an air strike against the Gaza Strip on Dec. 27.^[30] This was after a six-month truce between Israel and Hamas had run out and Hamas had resumed rocket attacks against Israel.^[31] Israel's said its aim was to stop Hamas' rocket attacks on Israel^[32] from and arms import into the territory.^[33][34] Israeli forces attacked military targets, police stations and government buildings. Hamas intensified its rocket and mortar attacks against Southern Israel, reaching the major cities of Beersheba and Ashdod for the first time.^[35][36][37] An Israeli ground invasion began on January 3, 2009. The war ended on January 18, when Israel first declared a unilateral(one-sided) ceasefire, followed by Hamas' announcing a one-week ceasefire twelve hours later.^[5][6] Israel completed its withdrawal on January 21.^[38] The conflict resulted in between 1,166 and 1,417 Palestinian and 13 Israeli deaths.^[39]

References

Notes

1. 1,166 according to the IDF,^[20] 1,391 according to B'Tselem,^[21] and 1,417 according to the PCHR.^[22]

Citations

1. Eshel, David (11 May 2009). "New Tactics Yield Solid Victory in Gaza". Aviation Week. Archived from the original on 14 June 2011. Retrieved 3 July 2009.
2. Spyer, Jonathan (10 September 2009). "Hamas seeks new doctrine after Gaza War failures". The Jerusalem Post. Archived from the original on 3 November 2012. Retrieved 24 March 2010.
3. Ethan Bonner, Hamas Shifts From Rockets to Culture War The New York Times, 24 July 2009.
4. Sengupta, Kim; MacIntyre, Donald (18 January 2009). "Victorious, but vilified: Israel has 'destroyed its image and its soul'". The Independent. London. Retrieved 3 May 2010.
5. "Hamas leader in Syria announce one-week ceasefire in Gaza". Xinhua. 18 January 2009. Retrieved 3 August 2009.
6. "Hamas agrees to 1-week ceasefire". CBC News. 18 January 2009. Retrieved 3 August 2009.
7. "Gaza Humanitarian Situation Report – January 2, 2009 as of 14:30" (PDF). United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. 2 January 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 January 2009. Retrieved 2 January 2009.
8. Shane Bauer. "Palestinian factions united by war". Al Jazeera English. Archived from the original on 22 January 2009. Retrieved 23 January 2009.
9. Altman, Alex (4 January 2009). "Hamas Leader Khaled Mashaal". Time. Archived from the original on 6 February 2009. Retrieved 5 June 2010.
10. Butcher, Tim (2 January 2009). "Israel bombs Gaza for seventh day after killing Hamas leader". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022. Retrieved 5 June 2010.
11. "Israel vows no let-up over Gaza". BBC News. 5 January 2009. Retrieved 4 May 2010.
12. Jason Koutsoukis (4 January 2009). "Israeli troops enter Gaza". The Sydney Morning Herald.
13. Fletcher, Martin (12 January 2009). "Israel reinforces army before 'third phase' of war in Gaza". The Times. London. Retrieved 17 May 2010.^{[permanent dead link]}(subscription required)
14. "Institute for National Security Studies" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 March 2010. Retrieved 5 June 2010.
15. "Israeli think tank: Hamas has 20,000 armed men in Gaza Strip", Associated Press, Haaretz, 10 April 2008
16. Butcher, Tim (5 January 2009). "Hamas fighters now a well-organised force". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022. Retrieved 3 May 2010.
17. Haidar Eid (2 January 2009). "Israel's war of terror against Gaza". Socialist Worker. Archived from the original on 15 June 2010. Retrieved 5 June 2010.
18. "Israeli troops step up attacks on Hamas outside Gaza City". Sebastian Rotella and Rushdi abu Alouf, Los Angeles Times, 13 January 2009
19. "Field update on Gaza from the Humanitarian Coordinator" Archived 5 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine. 24–26 January 2009. OCHA oPt (United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs – occupied Palestinian territory). oachopt.org.
20. Lappin 2009.
21. B'Tselem.
22. PCHR 2009.
23. Efraim Inbar & Eitan Shamir 'Mowing the Grass': Israel's Strategy for Protracted Intractable Conflict, Journal of Strategic Studies, 37:1, 65–90 p. 83
24. "Hamas admits 600–700 of its men were killed in Cast Lead" (9 November 2010). Haaretz. Retrieved 2 March 2011
25. "קצין מצרי נהרג מירי אנשי חמאס סמוך למעבר רפיח" [Egyptian officer killed by Hamas near the Rafah crossing] (in Hebrew). nana 10. Archived from the original on 25 December 2018. Retrieved 1 January 2009.
26. "Two Egyptian Children, Police Injured in Israeli Air Strike Near Gaza Border". 11 January 2009. Archived from the original on 14 January 2009.
27. "Gaza 'looks like earthquake zone'". BBC. 19 January 2009
28. "Gaza: Humanitarian situation". BBC News. 30 January 2009. Retrieved 24 March 2010.
29. Whitlock, Craig; Finer, Jonathan (18 January 2009). "Israelis Announce Cease-Fire In Gaza". The Washington Post. Retrieved 3 May 2010.
30. Ben-David, Alon (9 January 2009). "Israeli offensive seeks 'new security reality' in Gaza". Jane's Defence Weekly. Retrieved 1 August 2010.
31. "Ilene R. Prusher, 'Hamas remains defiant despite pounding' Christian Science Monitor 13/01/2009". Csmonitor.com. 13 January 2009. Archived from the original on 20 February 2009. Retrieved 5 June 2010.
32. TIMELINE - Israeli-Hamas violence since truce ended Archived 2011-01-04 at the Wayback Machine, Reuters 05-01-2009
33. Bright, Arthur. Israel set to launch ‘limited operation’ in Gaza, Christian Science Monitor, December 26, 2008. Archived March 8, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
34. Rory McCarthy in Jerusalem (16 September 2009). "Israel rejects war crimes findings of UN Gaza inquiry | World news | guardian.co.uk". Guardian. Retrieved 8 May 2010.
35. Rockets land east of Ashdod m Ynetnews, December 28, 2008; Rockets reach Beersheba, cause damage, Ynetnews, December 30, 2008. Archived 2009-02-04 at the Wayback Machine
36. "Israel News | Online Israeli News Covering Israel & The Jewish World - JPost". Archived from the original on 22 February 2012. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
37. "Another Miracle: Rocket Hits Empty Synagogue - Defense/Middle East - Israel News". Israel National News. 17 January 2009. Retrieved 8 May 2010.
38. Hamas, Israel set independent cease-fires Archived 2010-09-02 at the Wayback Machine, CNN International; Last Israeli troops 'leave Gaza', BBC News, January 21, 2009.
39. Al-Mughrabi, Nidal. Israel tightens grip on urban parts of Gaza Archived 2009-01-09 at the Wayback Machine

Sources

• "Fatalities during Operation Cast Lead". B'Tselem. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
• "Confirmed figures reveal the true extent of the destruction inflicted upon the Gaza Strip; Israel's offensive resulted in 1,417 dead, including 926 civilians, 255 police officers, and 236 fighters". Palestinian Centre for Human Rights. 12 March 2009. Archived from the original on 12 June 2009. Retrieved 19 March 2009.
• Lappin, Yaakov (26 March 2009). "IDF releases Cast Lead casualty numbers". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 24 November 2020.

Other websites

• Aljazeera coverage
• Gaza crisis: key maps and timeline, BBC News.
• CNN coverage.
• "Gaza war crimes investigation collected news and commentary". The Guardian.
• Gabi Siboni, "From the Second Intifada through the Second Lebanon War to Operation Cast Lead: Puzzle Pieces of a Single Campaign" Archived 2016-08-20 at the Wayback Machine, Military and Strategic Affairs, Volume 1, No. 1, April 2009.
• Gabi Siboni, "Operations Cast Lead, Pillar of Defense, and Protective Edge: A Comparative Review" Archived 2016-08-20 at the Wayback Machine, a chapter inside The Lessons of Operation Protective Edge, eds. Anat Kurz and Shlomo Brom, INSS, 2014.