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).
Gaza War
Part of the Gaza–Israel conflict

Israeli advances in Gaza during 2009
Date27 December 2008 – 18 January 2009
(3 weeks and 1 day)
Location
Gaza Strip and Southern Israel
Result

Israeli military victory[2][3][4][5]

  • IDF declared unilateral ceasefire, 12 hours later Hamas announced a one-week ceasefire.[6][7]
  • Humanitarian crisis and deterioration of infrastructure and basic services in Gaza.[8]
  • Number of rockets being fired from Gaza reduced.
  • See results
Belligerents

Israel

 Gaza Strip[1]

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.
Blockade of the
Gaza Strip
  • Goods allowed or banned
  • Smuggling tunnels
Crossings
  • Rafah
  • Gaza–Israel
  • Erez
  • Karni
  • Kerem Shalom
2004
Philadelphi Accord
2006
2007
Fatah–Hamas battle
2008
2009
Viva Palestina "Lifeline 3"
2010
  • Freedom Flotilla
    • Participants
    • Ships (Mavi Marmara, Rachel Corrie)
    • Raid (reactions, legal assessments, Turkel Commission)
  • Other convoys
    • Viva Palestina "Lifeline 5"
    • Road to Hope
    • Jewish Boat to Gaza
2011
Freedom Flotilla II (participants)
2015
Freedom Flotilla III
2016
Women's Boat to Gaza
2023
Israeli "total blockade"
2024
2024 Gaza freedom flotilla
Blockade of the Gaza Strip


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]

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.[6][7] 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. ↑ Shane Bauer. "Palestinian factions united by war". Al Jazeera English. Archived from the original on 22 January 2009. Retrieved 2009-01-23.
  2. ↑ Eshel, David (2009-05-11). "New Tactics Yield Solid Victory in Gaza". Aviation Week. Archived from the original on 14 June 2011. Retrieved 2009-07-03.
  3. ↑ 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 2010-03-24.
  4. ↑ Ethan Bonner, Hamas Shifts From Rockets to Culture War The New York Times, 24 July 2009.
  5. ↑ Sengupta, Kim; MacIntyre, Donald (2009-01-18). "Victorious, but vilified: Israel has 'destroyed its image and its soul'". The Independent. London. Retrieved 2010-05-03.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Hamas leader in Syria announce one-week ceasefire in Gaza". Xinhua. 2009-01-18. Retrieved 2009-08-03.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Hamas agrees to 1-week ceasefire". CBC News. 2009-01-18. Retrieved 2009-08-03.
  8. ↑ "Gaza Humanitarian Situation Report – January 2, 2009 as of 14:30" (PDF). United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. 2009-01-02. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 January 2009. Retrieved 2009-01-02.
  9. ↑ Altman, Alex (2009-01-04). "Hamas Leader Khaled Mashaal". Time. Archived from the original on 6 February 2009. Retrieved 2010-06-05.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Butcher, Tim (2009-01-02). "Israel bombs Gaza for seventh day after killing Hamas leader". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022. Retrieved 2010-06-05.
  11. ↑ "Israel vows no let-up over Gaza". BBC News. 2009-01-05. Retrieved 4 May 2010.
  12. ↑ Jason Koutsoukis (2009-01-04). "Israeli troops enter Gaza". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  13. ↑ Fletcher, Martin (2009-01-12). "Israel reinforces army before 'third phase' of war in Gaza". The Times. London. Retrieved 2010-05-17.(subscription required)
  14. ↑ "Institute for National Security Studies" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 March 2010. Retrieved 2010-06-05.
  15. ↑ "Israeli think tank: Hamas has 20,000 armed men in Gaza Strip", Associated Press, Haaretz, 10 April 2008
  16. ↑ Butcher, Tim (2009-01-05). "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 (2009-01-02). "Israel's war of terror against Gaza". Socialist Worker. Archived from the original on 15 June 2010. Retrieved 2010-06-05.
  18. ↑ "Israeli troops step up attacks on Hamas outside Gaza City". Sebastian Rotella and Rushdi abu Alouf, Los Angeles Times, 13 January 2009
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 "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 Archived 2012-02-06 at the Wayback Machine.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 Lappin 2009.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 21.3 B'Tselem.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 22.3 22.4 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 2009-01-01.
  26. ↑ "Two Egyptian Children, Police Injured in Israeli Air Strike Near Gaza Border". 2009-01-11. Archived from the original on 14 January 2009.
  27. ↑ "Gaza 'looks like earthquake zone'". BBC. 19 January 2009
  28. ↑ "Gaza: Humanitarian situation". BBC News. 2009-01-30. Retrieved 2010-03-24.
  29. ↑ Whitlock, Craig; Finer, Jonathan (2009-01-18). "Israelis Announce Cease-Fire In Gaza". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2010-05-03.
  30. ↑ Ben-David, Alon (January 9, 2009). "Israeli offensive seeks 'new security reality' in Gaza". Jane's Defence Weekly. Retrieved August 1, 2010.
  31. ↑ "Ilene R. Prusher, 'Hamas remains defiant despite pounding' Christian Science Monitor 13/01/2009". Csmonitor.com. 2009-01-13. Archived from the original on 2009-02-20. Retrieved 2010-06-05.
  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 2010-05-08.
  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 2012-02-22. Retrieved 2021-01-19.
  37. ↑ "Another Miracle: Rocket Hits Empty Synagogue - Defense/Middle East - Israel News". Israel National News. 17 January 2009. Retrieved 2010-05-08.
  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

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