The Gaza War 2014

On July 8, 2014, Israel launched air strikes on Hamas-controlled Gaza, followed by a ground invasion. The ensuing fifty-one days of war left more than 2,200 people dead, the vast majority of whom were Palestinian civilians, including over 500 children. During the assault, at least 10,000 homes were destroyed and, according to the United Nations, nearly 300,000 Palestinians were displaced. Max Blumenthal was in Gaza and throughout Israel-Palestine during what he argues was an entirely avoidable catastrophe. In this explosive work of intimate reportage, Blumenthal reveals the harrowing conditions and cynical deceptions that led to the ruinous war -- and tells the human stories. Blumenthal brings the battles in Gaza to life, detailing the ferocious clashes that took place when Israel's military invaded the besieged strip. He radically shifts the discussion around a number of highly contentious issues: the use of civilians as human shields by Israeli forces, the arbitrary targeting of Palestinian civilians, and the radicalization of Israeli public officials and top military personnel. Amid the rubble of Gaza's border regions, Blumenthal recorded the testimonies from scores of residents, documenting potential war crimes committed by the Israeli armed forces while carefully examining the military doctrine that led to them. More than a chronicle of war and devastation, The 51 Day War is an urgent warning that the aftermath of the conflict has made another military assault on Gaza almost inevitable. And while the people of Gaza will once again prove their resilience, the world can no longer just stand aside and watch.

The war Israel did not want and the disaster it averted.

A chronicle of the war that Israel did not expect to fight during the summer of 2014. A compilation of the author's magazine columns posted each day of the war (a.k.a. Tel Aviv Diary) along with introductory background context, a summary with final conclusions.

Through its millennium–long existence, Gaza has often been bitterly disputed while simultaneously and paradoxically enduring prolonged neglect. Jean-Pierre Filiu’s book is the first comprehensive history of Gaza in any language. Squeezed between the Negev and Sinai deserts on the one hand and the Mediterranean Sea on the other, Gaza was contested by the Pharaohs, the Persians, the Greeks, the Romans, the Byzantines, the Arabs, the Fatimids, the Mamluks, the Crusaders and the Ottomans. Napoleon had to secure it in 1799 to launch his failed campaign on Palestine. In 1917, the British Empire fought for months to conquer Gaza, before establishing its mandate on Palestine. In 1948, 200,000 Palestinians sought refuge in Gaza, a marginal area neither Israel nor Egypt wanted. Palestinian nationalism grew there, and Gaza has since found itself at the heart of Palestinian history. It is in Gaza that the fedayeen movement arose from the ruins of Arab nationalism. It is in Gaza that the 1967 Israeli occupation was repeatedly challenged, until the outbreak of the 1987 intifada. And it is in Gaza, in 2007, that the dream of Palestinian statehood appeared to have been shattered by the split between Fatah and Hamas. The endurance of Gaza and the Palestinians make the publication of this history both timely and significant.

Bachelor Thesis from the year 2015 in the subject Politics - Region: Near East, Near Orient, grade: 2,3, University of Bamberg, language: English, abstract: Since the establishment of an Israeli state on May 14, 1948, there has been conflict between the Israeli and the Palestinian people.The conflict was fueled by Israel ́s occupation of the historic regions of Palestine in 1967, which included the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Both the West Bank and the Gaza Strip are controlled by Israel. Today many Palestinian refugees are still suffering under the military pressure and of the blockades of the borders by Israel. It is not surprising that the Palestinian people want to free themselves from the occupation by Israel and establish their own autonomous state. That is why the “Palestine Liberation Organization“, was established in 1969 that saw a military fight and the destruction of Israel as the only options for liberating Palestine at that time. In 1974, the PLO indirectly recognized Israel as a state. The Arabic states liked the idea that a national authority should be established in the free parts of the Palestinian territories. Hence the Arabic States recognized the PLO as the only legitimate representation of the Palestinians. Over time, many Palestinian parties were established such as Fatah, who articulated and transferred its interests through the PLO and constituted the government of the Palestinians before the elections in 2006. Hamas, as the major opponent of Fatah, which was listed as a terrorist organization by the international community until today, was elected as the (quasi) government in the Gaza Strip in 2006. Since then, tensions between Palestinians (respectively Hamas) and Israel increased. After the elections of Hamas, there have been several attacks by Israel and Hamas. In November 2012, Israel and Hamas agreed on a ceasefire. However, both Israel and Hamas launched minor attacks against each other. In doing so, both have violated the agreements of the ceasefire, which still remained at that time. It can be said that a cold peace, existed between both Hamas and Israel. Until the outbreak of the Gaza War in 2014, there have been no major military operations by Israel and no major rocket attacks by Hamas. It can be said that a cold peace existed between both the Hamas and Israel. However, on June the 8th, 2014, Hamas fired large numbers of rockets into Israel and initiated the

Beginning July 8, 2014, Israel launched air strikes and a ground invasion of Gaza that lasted fifty-one days, leaving over 2,000 people dead, the vast majority of whom were civilians. During the assault, at least 10,000 homes were destroyed and, according to the United Nations, nearly 300,000 Palestinians were displaced. Max Blumenthal was on the ground during what he argues was an entirely avoidable catastrophe. In this explosive work of reportage, Blumenthal reveals the harrowing conditions and cynical deceptions that led to the ruinous war. Here, for the first time, Blumenthal unearths and presents shocking evidence of atrocities he gathered in the rubble of Gaza.

The human rights records of more than ninety countries and territories is put into perspective in Human Rights Watch’s signature yearly report, which, in the 2014 volume, highlighted the armed conflict in Syria, international drug reform, drones and electronic mass surveillance, and more, and also featured photo essays of child marriage in South Sudan, the cost of the Sochi Winter Olympics in Russia, and religious fighting in Central African Republic. Reflecting extensive investigative work undertaken in 2014 by Human Rights Watch staff, in close partnership with domestic human rights activists, the annual World Report 2015 is an invaluable resource for journalists, diplomats, and citizens, and is a must-read for anyone interested in the fight to protect human rights in every corner of the globe.

This report describes how the Israel Defense Force fought an adaptive hybrid adversary in a dense urban setting under intense public scrutiny during its wars in Gaza and draws lessons from the Israeli experience for the U.S. Army and the joint force.