In 2008, Israel sought to halt the rocket and mortar fire from Gaza that killed four Israeli civilians that year and caused widespread trauma and disruption of life in Israeli towns and villages close to the Gaza border. In addition, Israel insisted that any deal include an end to Hamas's military buildup in Gaza, and movement toward the release of Corporal Gilad Shalit. Hamas wanted an end to the frequent Israeli military strikes and incursions into Gaza, and an easing of the economic blockade that Israel has imposed since Hamas took over the area in 2007. [1]
The military said Omar Jabar planned the attack at the Park Hotel in the coastal city of Netanya. The attack was a turning point in the conflict, spurring Israel's military to launch a broad offensive and retake control of West Bank cities. Also Wednesday, Gaza militants shot and lightly wounded an Israeli farmer in his kibbutz's fields near the border fence, according to the Israeli military. Militants also launched more than 10 rockets into Israel, but there were no casualties, the military said.
During October 2008 Israel-Palestinian violence fell to its lowest level since the start of the al-Aqsa intifada in September 2000. Several Israeli violations were reported: In South Gaza on 3 October the IDF fired on two unarmed Palestinians near the border and sent soldiers into the strip to arrest them and detain them in Israel. On the 27 October IDF soldiers fired into Gaza for unknown reasons damaging a school in Khuza and injuring one child. Palestinian fishing boats off the Gaza coast were fired upon on four separate occasions during the month wounding two fisherman. Throughout the month of October 2008 a single Palestinian violation was reported: 1 rocket was fired into Israel causing no damage or injuries. At the end of the month the American secretary of state Condoleezza Rice sent a message to Hamas acknowledging their efforts to keep the peace. [9]
Since violence flared on November 4, Israeli forces and militants, some of them from Hamas, engaged in almost daily tit-for-tat exchanges. [10] In about ten days since the November 4 incident, eleven militants were killed and about 140 rockets and mortars were fired from Gaza at Israel. On November 16, four Popular Resistance Committees fighters were killed by an Israeli airstrike as they fired mortars at Israel. [11] On November 17 Hamas leaders went underground amid Israeli targeting threats. [12]
Throughout December 12 - December 15 period, five Qassams and two mortar shells fired from northern Gaza landed in Israel's western Negev. [13] [14] [15] [16]
On December 16, eight Qassam rockets were fired at Israel from the Gaza Strip. [17] [18] On December 17, twenty three Qassam rockets landed in the western Negev. [19]
Throughout December 20, at least 15 Qassams and 26 mortars were fired toward the western Negev region. [20] The Israeli air force attacked several targets in the Gaza Strip, including a weapons storehouse in the Jabalya refugee camp, a rocket factory in Khan Yunis and a Hamas border police post, wounding two Hamas members. [21]
On December 23 night Israeli soldiers killed three Hamas gunmen. The army said the men were preparing to plant explosives along the border. [22]
On December 26, Israel reopened five border crossings between Israel and Gaza, after an eight-day closure, to supply fuel for Gaza's main power plant and to provide about 100 truck loads of humanitarian aid, including grain and other goods. [23] [24] On that day, militants fired approximately a dozen rockets and mortar shells from Gaza at Israel; one accidentally struck a northern Gaza house, killing two Palestinian sisters and wounding a third. [25] [26] According to Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs (IMFA), the commercial crossings into Gaza Strip were mostly closed since November 6, due to the barrage of approximately 230 rockets and mortar that were launched at Israel. IMFA stated that the Erez crossing has continued to be open to international and medical traffic. [27]