Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip

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The Israeli Air Force was founded on 28 May 1948. Since the 2005 Israeli disengagement from Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces have launched thousands of airstrikes [1] on the Gaza Strip from Israel as part of the continuing Gaza–Israel conflict. [2] [3] [4] [5] The airstrikes, widely condemned for targeting civilians, [6] [7] have been described as war crimes by the United Nations, [8] human rights groups Amnesty International [9] and Human Rights Watch. [10] The international community considers indiscriminate attacks on civilian targets to be illegal under international law. [11] Israel says the airstrikes are a response to the rocket attacks by Palestinian militants. [12]

West Bank

The vast majority of Israeli airstrikes are aimed at the Gaza Strip, but smaller munitions, such as from drones and helicopters, are occasionally used in the West Bank region.

In 2001, PFLP leader Abu Ali Mustafa was killed by two rockets fired from two Israeli Apache helicopters through his two office windows, as he sat at his desk in his office in Al-Bireh city, in a targeted killing on 27 August 2001. [13] [14] [15]

Between October 2023 and August 2024, Israeli forces carried out 50 or 60 air strikes in the West Bank. [16]

Gaza Strip

Killing of Ahmed Yassin

On 22 March 2004, Ahmed Yassin, the founder and spiritual leader of the Palestinian group Hamas, was killed by an Israeli airstrike outside a mosque in Gaza City. [17] [18]

Destruction of the al-Jalaa Building

On 15 May 2021, an Israeli airstrike targeted and destroyed a high-rise building in Gaza City that housed offices of Al Jazeera, the Associated Press and other media outlets. [19] [20]

Israel-Hamas war (2023 to 2024)

World Central Kitchen

On 1 April 2024, a strike by Israel's armed forces on a convoy of the humanitarian group World Central Kitchen, traveling from Deir al-Balah to Khan Younis, killed six aid workers and their Palestinian driver. [21]

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Qassam rocket</span> Palestinian homemade artillery rocket

The Qassam rocket is a simple, steel artillery rocket developed and deployed by the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military arm of Hamas. These rockets cannot be fired to target specific military objectives in or near civilian areas, and are "indiscriminate when used against targets in population centers".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Al-Quds Brigades</span> Palestinian paramilitary organisation

Al-Quds Brigades is a paramilitary organisation and the armed wing of the Palestinian Islamist organization Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), which is the second largest armed group in the Gaza Strip, after Hamas. AQB's leader is Ziyad al-Nakhalah, based in Damascus, Syria. The head of AQB in the Gaza Strip was Baha Abu al-Ata until he was killed in November 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2006 Gaza–Israel conflict</span> Israeli military offensive in the Gaza strip

The 2006 Gaza–Israel conflict, known in Israel as Operation Summer Rains, was a series of battles between Palestinian militants and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) during summer 2006, prompted by the capture of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit by Palestinian militants on 25 June 2006. Large-scale conventional warfare occurred in the Gaza Strip, starting on 28 June 2006, which was the first major ground operation in the Gaza Strip since Israel's unilateral disengagement plan was implemented between August and September 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gaza–Israel conflict</span> Part of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict

The Gaza–Israel conflict is a localized part of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict beginning in 1948, when about 200,000 of the more than 700,000 Palestinians who fled or were expelled from their homes settled in the Gaza Strip as refugees. Since then, Israel has been involved in about 15 wars involving organizations in the Gaza Strip. The number of Palestinians killed in the Gaza war (47,000+) is higher than the death toll of all other wars in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict combined.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gaza War (2008–2009)</span> Armed conflict between Israel and Palestinian militant groups in the Gaza Strip

The Gaza War, also known as the First Gaza War, Operation Cast Lead, or the Gaza Massacre, and referred to as the Battle of al-Furqan by Hamas, was a three-week armed conflict between Gaza Strip Palestinian paramilitary groups and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) that began on 27 December 2008 and ended on 18 January 2009 with a unilateral ceasefire. The conflict resulted in 1,166–1,417 Palestinian and 13 Israeli deaths. Over 46,000 homes were destroyed in Gaza, making more than 100,000 people homeless.

Accusations of violations regarding international humanitarian law, which governs the actions by belligerents during an armed conflict, have been directed at both Israel and Hamas for their actions during the 2008–2009 Gaza War. The accusations covered violating laws governing distinction and proportionality by Israel, the indiscriminate firing of rockets at civilian locations and extrajudicial violence within the Gaza Strip by Hamas. As of September 2009, some 360 complaints had been filed by individuals and NGOs at the prosecutor's office in the Hague calling for investigations into alleged crimes committed by Israel during the Gaza War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2014 Gaza War</span> Armed conflict between Israel and Palestinian militants

The 2014 Gaza War, also known as Operation Protective Edge, and Battle of the Withered Grain, was a military operation launched by Israel on 8 July 2014 in the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian territory that has been governed by Hamas since 2007. Following the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers in the West Bank by Hamas-affiliated Palestinian militants, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) initiated Operation Brother's Keeper, in which it killed 10 Palestinians, injured 130 and imprisoned more than 600. Hamas reportedly did not retaliate but resumed rocket attacks on Israel more than two weeks later, following the killing of one of its militants by an Israeli airstrike on 29 June. This escalation triggered a seven-week-long conflict between the two sides, one of the deadliest outbreaks of open conflict between Israel and the Palestinians in decades. The war resulted in over two thousand deaths, the vast majority of which were Gazan Palestinians. This includes a total of six Israeli civilians who were killed as a result of the conflict.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wehda Street airstrikes</span> 2021 bombing of civilian area in Gaza

The Wehda Street airstrikes, known in Palestine as the Wehda Street massacre, took place on May 16, 2021, when Israeli forces bombed al-Wehda Street, a densely populated area located in one of Gaza's most prominent residential and commercial neighbourhoods. The bombardment was the single deadliest operation in an 11-day conflict between Israel and Gaza that erupted after weeks of turmoil in East Jerusalem. Some 44 Palestinian civilians died and approximately 50 were injured in the strike, the heaviest of many that, in exchanges between the IDF and Gaza militants, left 2500 Palestinians homeless, and displaced tens of thousands.

The year 2023 in Israel was defined first by wide-scale protests against a proposed judicial reform, and then by the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, which led to a war and to Israel invading the Gaza Strip.

Events in the year 2023 in Palestine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">May 2023 Gaza–Israel clashes</span> 2023 Israeli military operation

The clashes between Israel and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in May 2023 started on 2 May 2023 when Khader Adnan, a former Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) spokesman, died in an Israeli prison following an 87-day hunger strike protesting his continual administrative detention and PIJ militants fired around 102 rockets towards southern Israel, injuring seven individuals in Sderot. On 9 May 2023, Israel conducted a series of airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, called Operation Shield and Arrow that lasted until 13 May.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gaza war</span> Ongoing armed conflict in the Middle East

The Gaza war has been fought between Israel and Hamas-led Palestinian militant groups in the Gaza Strip and Israel since 7 October 2023. It is the fifth war since 2008 in the Gaza–Israel conflict, and the most significant military engagement in the region since the Yom Kippur War in 1973. The first day of the war was the deadliest for Israel, and it is the deadliest war for Palestinians in the history of the conflict, sparking an ongoing Middle Eastern crisis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Israeli war crimes</span> War crimes perpetrated by Israel

Israeli war crimes are violations of international criminal law, including war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of genocide, which Israeli security forces have committed or been accused of committing since the founding of Israel in 1948. These have included murder, intentional targeting of civilians, killing prisoners of war and surrendered combatants, indiscriminate attacks, collective punishment, starvation, persecution, the use of human shields, sexual violence and rape, torture, pillage, forced transfer, breach of medical neutrality, enforced disappearance, targeting journalists, attacking civilian and protected objects, wanton destruction, incitement to genocide, and genocide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Church of Saint Porphyrius airstrike</span> 2023 bombing of a church in Gaza City, Palestine

On 19 October 2023, part of the Church of Saint Porphyrius, a Greek Orthodox church in Gaza City, in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories, was damaged during an Israeli aistrike, killing at least 18 Palestinian civilians during the 2023 Israel–Hamas war. Over 450 Christian and Muslim Palestinian residents of the Gaza Strip had been sheltering there.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">War crimes in the Gaza war</span> Violations of the laws of war during the Gaza war

Since the start of the Gaza war on 7 October 2023, the UN Human Rights Council has identified "clear evidence" of war crimes by both Hamas and the Israel Defense Forces. A UN Commission to the Israel–Palestine conflict stated that there is "clear evidence that war crimes may have been committed in the latest explosion of violence in Israel and Gaza, and all those who have violated international law and targeted civilians must be held accountable." On 27 October, a spokesperson for the OHCHR called for an independent court to review potential war crimes committed by both sides.

Hamas has been accused of using human shields in the Gaza Strip, purposely attempting to shield itself from Israeli attacks by storing weapons in civilian infrastructure, launching rockets from residential areas, and telling residents to ignore Israeli warnings to flee. Israel has accused Hamas of maintaining command and control bunkers and tunnel infrastructure below hospitals, with some of the accusations being supported by the United States, the European Union, and the United Nations Secretary General. Hamas has denied using civilians and civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, as human shields.

On 31 October 2023, the Israeli Defense Forces struck a residential building in the Gaza Strip during its operations in Gaza in the Israel–Hamas war, killing at least 106 people, including 54 children. Human Rights Watch said there was no evidence of any military targets in the area at the time of the attack, making the strike an apparent war crime.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palestinian war crimes</span> Accusations and allegations of war crimes committed by Palestinian groups

Palestinian war crimes are the violations of international criminal law, including war crimes and crimes against humanity, which the Islamist Nationalist organization Hamas and its paramilitary wing, the al-Qassam Brigades have been accused of committing. These have included murder, intentional targeting of civilians, killing prisoners of war and surrendered combatants, indiscriminate attacks, the use of human shields, rape, torture and pillage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Israeli war crimes in the Gaza war</span>

Since the beginning of the Gaza war in 2023, the Israeli military and authorities have been charged with committing war crimes, such as indiscriminate attacks on civilians in densely populated areas ; genocide; forced evacuations; the torture and executions of civilians; sexual violence including rape and gang rape of Palestinian men, women and children; destruction of cultural heritage; collective punishment; and the mistreatment and torture of Palestinian prisoners. Humanitarian organizations such as Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, B'tselem, and Oxfam, as well as human rights groups and experts, including the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry and United Nations special rapporteurs, have documented these actions.

Attacks on protected zones and civilians in Gaza during the Israel–Hamas war have led to the killing of over 30,000 Palestinians and the displacement of over 2 million people, as well as the collapse of the education system and the destruction of most homes and hospitals in Gaza. Israel has faced accusations of war crimes from South Africa, the UN Human Rights Council, and Amnesty International, among others, due to the number of civilian casualties and the percentage of civilian infrastructure destroyed, including Palestinian refugee camps, schools, mosques, churches, and more. Analysis of satellite data shows that 80% of buildings in northern Gaza have been damaged or ruined. As of January 2024, researchers from Oregon State University and the City University of New York estimated that 50 to 62 percent of all buildings in the Gaza Strip were damaged or destroyed.

References

  1. ↑ "Gaza under siege: Israel dropped 6,000 bombs in 6 days". Samaa. 5 November 2023.
  2. ↑ Sharp, Alexandra (10 October 2023). "Israel Pummels Gaza Despite Hamas Threats to Hostages". Foreign Policy. The Israel Defense Forces unleashed devastating airstrikes on the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, flattening entire neighborhoods, reducing streets and buildings to rubble, and flooding hospitals and morgues with the wounded and dead. Israeli strikes targeted apartment buildings, mosques, and markets...
  3. ↑ Casey, Nicholas; Pronczuk, Monika; Boxerman, Aaron (17 October 2023). "'No More Safe Places in Gaza': Evacuees Face Airstrikes in North and South". The New York Times.
  4. ↑ Parker, Claire; Dadouch, Sarah (9 October 2023). "Gaza reels from Israeli airstrikes and braces for all-out war". Washington Post.
  5. ↑ "Israeli airstrikes pummel Gaza, including civilian refuge areas, ahead of expected ground invasion". PBS NewsHour. Associated Press. 23 October 2023.
  6. ↑ "UN Middle East envoy condemns deadly Israeli airstrikes in Gaza". news.un.org. UN News. 9 May 2023.
  7. ↑ Landler, Mark; Bergman, Ronen (3 November 2023). "As Gaza War Enters New Phase, Israel Faces Pressure Over Civilian Deaths". The New York Times.
  8. ↑ "UN rights chief: Israel's airstrikes on Gaza may constitute 'war crimes'". Times of Israel. 27 May 2021. "...airstrikes in such densely populated areas resulted in a high level of civilian fatalities and injuries, as well as the widespread destruction of civilian infrastructure," she said. "If found to be indiscriminate and disproportionate in their impact on civilians and civilian objects, such attacks may constitute war crimes."
  9. ↑ "Israel/OPT: unlawful Israeli airstrikes on Gaza have 'decimated' entire Palestinian families". www.amnesty.org.uk. Amnesty International. 20 October 2023. As Israeli forces intensify their cataclysmic assault on the occupied Gaza Strip, Amnesty International has documented unlawful Israeli attacks in Gaza - including indiscriminate ones - which caused mass civilian casualties and must be investigated as suspected war crimes.
  10. ↑ "Gaza: Israel's May Airstrikes on High-Rises". Human Rights Watch. 23 August 2021. The Israeli military's airstrikes that destroyed four high-rise buildings in Gaza City during the May 2021 fighting apparently violated the laws of war and may amount to war crimes, Human Rights Watch said today.
  11. ↑ "Protection of the civilian population". Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts (Protocol I), 8 June 1977. International Committee of the Red Cross.
  12. ↑ "Gaza before and after: satellite images show destruction following Israeli airstrikes". The Guardian. Israel has vowed to wipe out Hamas, which rules Gaza, in retaliation for the 7 October attacks in which they killed 1,400 people and took more than 200 people hostage. Since then, Israel has continuously struck Gaza from the air, imposed a siege and is preparing a ground invasion.
  13. ↑ "Israel kills key Palestinian leader". BBC. 27 August 2001. Retrieved 27 June 2024.
  14. ↑ Marmari, Hanoch (6 June 2002). "Digging beneath the surface in the Middle East conflict". Haaretz. Retrieved 27 June 2024.
  15. ↑ Cave, Peter (28 August 2001). "Israel assassinates Abu Ali Mustafa". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 26 September 2004. Retrieved 22 May 2010.
  16. ↑ "Daily Briefing Aug. 4: Day 303 – Iran attack scenarios and how Israel could counter them". Times of Israel . 4 August 2024. Retrieved 4 August 2024. (Segment starts at approximately timestamp 12:45)
  17. ↑ "LEADER OF HAMAS KILLED BY MISSILE IN ISRAELI STRIKE". The New York Times. 22 March 2004.
  18. ↑ "Hamas founder killed in Israeli airstrike". edition.cnn.com. CNN. 22 March 2004.
  19. ↑ "Israeli air strike flattens Gaza building housing AP, Al-Jazeera as violence spirals". France 24. 15 May 2021.
  20. ↑ Stelter, Brian (16 May 2021). "Media offices destroyed by Israeli airstrike in Gaza". CNN.
  21. ↑ "7 World Central Kitchen aid workers killed by Israeli airstrike in Gaza". www.cbsnews.com. CBS News. 2 April 2024.
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