Gaza War (2008–09)

Operation 'Cast Lead' - The name assigned by the Israeli military to its 22 day offensive against the Gaza Strip that began on 27 December 2008.

White phosphorous shells explode over Gaza City. January 2009

Background

Rocket/mortars on Israel 2008.
Average 380/month drops to 3 per month as ceasefire holds.

In 2006 an election held in both parts of Palestine (ie Gaza and the West Bank) was won by Hamas, the electoral wing of an Islamist party once noted for suicide bombings. These had ceased in 2005 and . With Israeli supplied arms (including armoured cars) a putsch was attempted against this new government by the losers, the party of Fatah. All elected and many other members of Hamas were rounded up in the West Bank but Hamas members fought off the coup in Gaza and remained in a form of control. Hamas was declared a terrrorist organisation by most of the Western world.

Gaza, from which all the settlers had been withdrawn in 2005, became a hub of militancy from which considerable numbers of home-made rockets were launched into Israel causing occasional casualties. Sporadic control was sometimes exerted by the new (but largely unfunded) government of Hamas while at other times launches were made in its name.

On 19th June 2008 an Egyptian-brokered truce came into effect between Gaza and Israel, though with no mutually agreed text. Israel killed another Palestinian (allegedly preparing to fire a rocket) minutes before the cease-fire came into effect. Israel warned that even a single rocket firing would be considered a violation and they would hold Hamas responsible. There must also be movement towards the release of Gilad Shalit.

Gazans understood that, after two weeks of success, Israel would open the crossings and allow normal transfer of goods. Hamas agreed that for its part it would stop rocket attacks from its own armed groups and from others based in Gaza, including Islamic Jihad and Al Aksa Martyrs Brigades.

Hamas imposed its will and imprisoned some of those firing rockets/mortars for short periods. While counts vary somewhat (eg 30 reaching Israel in 4.5 months), all observers agree that the number of firings plummeted from an average of around 380/month in early 2008 to 10s of projectiles in July and August and single figures in September & October combined.

Goods shipments increased by 25% or so but remained at less than 1/5th of what Gazans considered normal. The UN recorded seven IDF violations of the ceasefire between June 20 and June 26, and three violations by Palestinian groups not affiliated with Hamas between June 23 and 26.

On 4 November 2008 Israel entered Gaza and killed 6 Palestinians and there was retaliatory firing of 190 rockets in that month. However, on the expiry of the formal cease-fire on 19th Dec 2008, despite Israel having previously warned that only total peace would be acceptable, most published sources expected that the cease-fire would probably be renewed.

"... each operation is just an exercise in massive death and destruction. Two years ago it was Operation Summer Rains. Succeeded a few months later by Operation Autumn Clouds. It’s just nonstop destruction and death, and these names they dream up, if they had any honesty they would call it Operation Attila the Hun, followed by Operation Genghis Kahn, followed by Operation Murder, Incorporated." Norman Finkelstein on a visit to Gaza in June 2009.

Opening attacks

With no news on the status of the ceasefire, Israel's attack on 27 December came with no warning and first targetted four police facilities (including a passing out parade of newly qualified policemen) resulting in the death of 99 policemen and nine members of the public. Some 250 policemen were killed in total. The circumstances of the attacks and Israeli governments report of July 2009 report confirm that the policemen were deliberately targeted and killed on the ground that the police, as an institution or a large part of the policemen individually part of the Palestinian military forces in Gaza.

The Goldstone Mission (para 34) analysed the institutional development of the Gaza police since Hamas took complete control of Gaza in July 2007 and merged the Gaza police with the "Executive Force" it had created after its election victory. The Mission found that, while a great number of the Gaza policemen were recruited among Hamas supporters or members of Palestinian armed groups, the Gaza police were a civilian law-enforcement agency. The Mission concluded that the policemen killed on 27 December 2008 cannot be said to have been taking a direct part in hostilities and thus did not lose their civilian immunity from direct attack as civilians on this basis. The Mission accepts that there may be individual members of the Gaza police that were at the same time members of Palestinian armed groups and thus combatants. It concludes, however, that the attacks against the police facilities on the first day of the armed operations failed to strike an acceptable balance between the direct military advantage anticipated (i.e. the killing of those policemen who may have been members of Palestinian armed groups) and the loss of civilian life (i.e. the other policemen killed and members of the public who would inevitably have been present or in the vicinity), and therefore violated international humanitarian law. Further attacks on the police killed around 255 of them.

The Mission also examined (para 32) the strikes on the Palestinian Legislative Council building and the Gaza main prison (chap. VII), both of which were destroyed. The Mission rejects the stated position of the Israeli Government and armed forces representatives that justified the attacks on the basis that political and administrative institutions in Gaza are part of the "Hamas terrorist infrastructure". The Mission finds that there is no evidence that the Legislative Council building and the Gaza main prison made an effective contribution to military action. On the information available to it, the Mission finds that the attacks on these buildings constituted deliberate attacks on civilian objects in violation of the rule of customary international humanitarian law whereby attacks must be strictly limited to military objectives.

The Israeli ground invasion began on January 3, 2009 but made slow progress and on 18 January Israel declared a unilateral ceasefire and completed its withdrawal on January 21.

The Aftermath

The invasion left 1,500 Palestinians dead. 13 Israelis were killed - mostly by 'friendly fire'. Tens of thousands of homes were damaged or destroyed as were 15 of Gaza’s 27 hospitals and 43 of its 110 primary health care facilities, 800 water wells, 186 greenhouses, and 10,000 family farms. About half a million people were left without running water and one million without electricity.

Western MSM Coverage of the Conflict

Coverage in the Western mainstream media was, as always in matters involving Israel, appallingly one-sided with the Israeli version of what was happening and why uniformly portrayed as 'understandable' where not sycophantically supportive - the BBC being first among equals in this respect. John Pilgers article 'Gaza Under Fire' , published in The New Statesman on 8th January at the height of the Israeli military offensive was an exceptional beacon in the dark. It put matters in the historical perspective of 60 years of Zionist expansion, dispossession and systematic persecution of its indigenous population and lampooned the sycophancy of the Western main-stream media towards the Zionist State with laser accuracy.

Amnesty International Report

In February 2009, Amnesty International published a report entitled "Fueling Conflict: Foreign arms supplies to Israel/Gaza . In company with the Later Goldstone Report (see below), it is commendable for its even-handedness in criticizing both sides. Likewise, in the disparities it reveals. Disparities in quantity, quality, technical sophistication and destructive power is confirmed as absolutely overwhelmingly on the side of Israel, as is the firepower actually used and the damage and death tolls resulting. That start vulgarity 'farting against thunder' sums the matter up accurately.

Human Rights Watch Report on the use of white phosphorous munitions

Late in the conflict, 7 white phosphorous (and 3 HE) shells struck the UNRWA depot.
600+ civilians survived as attack failed to ignite fuel tankers the IDF had been repeatedly warned about.

In March 2009, Human Rights Watch published a report on the extensive use of white phosphorous munitions by the Israeli forces entitled 'Rain of Fire - Israel's unlawful use of white phosphorous in Gaza.

Late in the operation, several obviously humanitarian facilities were hit by White Phosphorus munitions including (from the HRW report Summary, p.3): "... on January 15 ... white phosphorus shells struck the al-Quds Hospital and its administration building run by the Palestinian Red Crescent Society ... Also on January 15, at least three white phosphorus shells struck the main UNRWA compound in the Rimal neighborhood of central Gaza City ... At another well-marked UN facility – a school in Beit Lahiya sheltering roughly 1,600 displaced persons – the IDF air-burst at least three white phosphorus shells on January 17".

UNRWA’s Gaza director John Ging adamantly denied the IDF claim, made by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon that any Palestinian fighters had entered the compound, let alone fired from it at IDF soldiers.

UN officials said they made dozens of increasingly frantic phone calls with IDF officers as the shells got closer, asking them to stop, and the IDF did not warn UNRWA about Hamas activity in or near the compound. “They should tell us if there are militants operating in our compound or in our area,” Ging said. “The fact that they don’t, we take that as indicative of the fact that there wasn’t.”

The UNRWA shortly issued a statement saying that “Attacks Against the UN in Gaza Must Be Investigated”.

The UN Commissioned 'Goldstone Report

In September 2009, a UN special mission, headed by Justice Richard Goldstone, produced a report accusing both Palestinian militants and Israeli Defense Forces of war crimes and possible crimes against humanity, and recommended bringing those responsible to justice. Israel rejected the report out of hand. The UN Human Rights Council has endorsed the report with heavy criticism of Israel.

Goldstone "retraction"

7 months later Judge Richard Goldstone (after intense personal pressure) wrote an article hailed by supporters of Israel as a retraction of the report that bears his name.

The statement was made alone and was repudiated by the other members of the committee and refered to a change in his view that Israel, as policy, had deliberately targetted civilians. None of the specific allegations of war-crimes aimed at Israel and at Gaza were mentioned. [Roughly speaking, there were six other broad findings of serious war-crimes in the Goldstone report (1) Siege on Gaza (2) Attack on political institutions and buildings of Gaza (3) taking insufficient measures to protect civilians (4) "indiscriminate" attacks (as distinct from "deliberate" attacks) (5) illegal weapons, such as white phosphorous and flechette missiles and (6) deliberate destruction of civilian infrastructure.]

Goldstone's three colleagues cited the final UN report on the Gaza war, written by a follow-up committee led by Judge Mary McGowan Davies, which criticised Israel for the slow pace with which it conducted its investigations and for its refusal to address some of the most serious allegations about its conduct.

UN report on investigations, Judge McGowan

The final UN report on the Gaza war, written by a follow-up committee led by Judge Mary McGowan Davies, This committee was refused any cooperation by Israel or access to Gaza - but was able to hold video-teleconferences with victims. The Palestinians amongst whom recounted their first-hand experience with Israeli criminal investigations. These witnesses detailed their frustration with the Israeli investigating authorities and gave articulate voice to their perception that Israeli justice mechanisms were completely ineffective and non-existent. The Committee criticised Israel for the slow pace with which it conducted its investigations and for its refusal to address some of the most serious allegations about its conduct.

Wikipedia article on this topic

Wikipedia has a substantial article on the "Gaza War" with many more references than this one.

However, examining the writing of the Wikipedia article might make it appear that, even more than usual, only incompetent editors have had any input. This may even have been recognised by someone in authority, the article has been slapped with a "neutrality disputed" label.

Worth examining is the balance or imbalance of the references cited. Two different versions of the Goldstone report (15th[1] and 25th Sept 2009[2]) are referenced - the correct one not until nearly 3/4s of the way through the article. And not referenced very often, of course, despite the huge amount of specific information contained therein. Instead "challenges" to the report (and Judge Richard Goldstone's supposed "retraction") get around 3 times more attention.

Moreover, the Wikipedia article fails to mention the (equally critical) final UN report on the Gaza war by a committee led by Judge Mary McGowan Davies and reporting in March 2011. All the material shows a strong bias towards sources that are either pro-Israel or, in some cases, are actual mouth-pieces of the government that carried out this operation.

Past experience suggests that this Wikipedia article will continue to be so heavily biased towards an Israeli narrative that it will never even reflect what a predominance of Western observers reported about the event.