Просмотр кода страницы Английская Википедия:2014 Gaza War

{{Английская Википедия/Панель перехода}}
{{Short description|Armed conflict between Israel and Palestinian militants}}
{{pp-30-500|small=yes}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict          = 2014 Gaza War
| partof            = the [[Gaza–Israel conflict]]
| date              = 8 July – 26 August 2014<br/>({{Age in months, weeks and days|2014-07-08|2014-08-26}})
| place             = [[Gaza Strip]] and [[Israel]]
| coordinates       = 
| result            = Victory claimed by both sides<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Prusher |first1=Ilene |title=Israel and Palestinians Reach Open-Ended Cease-Fire Deal |url=http://time.com/3182848/israel-gaza-ceasefire-abbas-netanyahu/ |access-date=5 September 2014 |magazine=Time |date=26 August 2014 }}</ref>
*According to Israel, Hamas was severely weakened and achieved none of its demands<ref>{{Cite web |title=Netanyahu: Hamas suffered its greatest blow since it was founded |url=https://www.jpost.com/arab-israeli-conflict/netanyahu-hamas-failed-achieved-nothing-except-sustaining-worst-blow-since-its-founding-372535 |access-date=2022-04-29 |website=[[The Jerusalem Post]] |date=27 August 2014 |language=en-US}}</ref>
*According to Hamas, Israel was repelled from Gaza<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/israelgaza-conflict-hamas-says-longterm-truce-agreed-with-israel-9691910.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220501/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/israelgaza-conflict-hamas-says-longterm-truce-agreed-with-israel-9691910.html |archive-date=1 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |title=Israel-Gaza conflict: Hamas claims 'victory for the resistance' as long-term truce is agreed with Israel |work=The Independent |access-date=30 September 2014 |location=London |first1=Mohammed |last1=Daraghmeh |first2=Karin |last2=Laub |date=26 August 2014}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
| image             = [[File:The home of the Kware' family, after it was bombed by the military.jpg|140px]] [[File:Iron Dome in Operation Protective Edge.jpg|155px]]
| caption           = '''Left, right:'''<br/>{{hlist|Destroyed Palestinian house in Gaza|[[Iron Dome]] intercepts [[Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel|Palestinian rockets]] aimed at [[Ashdod]]}}
| combatant1        = {{flag|Israel}}<!--

DO NOT ADD EGYPT without finding consensus on the talk page. This has been discussed before. Military infoboxes are for combat support only, not financial support.

-->
<!-- Do not remove the following tags until the issue has been resolved on the talk page -->| combatant2        = {{flag|Gaza Strip}}
*<!-- Per WP:INFOBOXFLAG, avoid flag icons in infoboxes [[File:Flag of Hamas.svg|border|20px]]--> [[Hamas]]
*<!-- Per WP:INFOBOXFLAG, avoid flag icons in infoboxes [[File:Flag of the Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine.svg|border|20px]]--> [[Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine|Islamic Jihad]]
*<!-- Per WP:INFOBOXFLAG, avoid flag icons in infoboxes [[File:Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine - Flag.svg|border|20px]]--> [[Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine]] (DFLP)<ref name=maan715014>"[http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=715014 Qassam brigades claim rocket, mortar fire at southern Israel] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141219025332/http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=715014 |date=19 December 2014 }}", Ma'an News Agency, Monday 21 July 2014.</ref>
*<!-- Per WP:INFOBOXFLAG, avoid flag icons in infoboxes [[File:PFLP flag.png|border|20px]]--> [[Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine]] (PFLP)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://pflp.ps/english/2014/08/09/abu-jamal-palestinian-resistance-continues-to-confront-the-occupier-with-rockets-and-missiles |title=Abu Jamal: Palestinian resistance continues to confront the occupier with rockets and missiles |publisher=PFLP |access-date=10 August 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140812224510/http://pflp.ps/english/2014/08/09/abu-jamal-palestinian-resistance-continues-to-confront-the-occupier-with-rockets-and-missiles/ |archive-date=12 August 2014}}</ref>
* [[Popular Resistance Committees]] (PRC)<ref name=maan715014 />
* [[al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/moderate-fatah-joins-hamas-and-islamic-jihad-in-missile-launches |title=Armed wing linked to Mahmoud Abbas's faction says it shot rockets at Ashkelon, Sderot and elsewhere Wednesday night |website=[[The Times of Israel]] |access-date=20 October 2014}}</ref>
* [[Abdullah Azzam Brigades]]<ref>{{cite web |last1=Ben Solomon |first1=Ariel |title=Videos show Lebanese jihadi group active in Gaza |url=http://www.jpost.com/Operation-Protective-Edge/Videos-show-Lebanese-jihadi-group-active-in-Gaza-362355 |work=The Jerusalem Post |date=11 July 2014 |access-date=11 July 2014}}</ref>
* [[Jaysh al-Ummah (Gaza)|Jaysh al-Ummah]]<ref>{{cite news |url=https://ecfr.eu/special/mapping_palestinian_politics/jaysh_al_umma_gaza/ |title=Jaysh al-Ummah (Gaza) |author= |work=[[European Council on Foreign Relations]] |date= |access-date=18 June 2021 }}</ref>
<!--

DO NOT ADD QATAR, TURKEY, etc, without finding consensus on the talk page. This has been discussed before. Military infoboxes are for combat support only, not financial support.

-->| commander1        = [[Benjamin Netanyahu]]<br />{{small|([[Prime Minister of Israel|Prime Minister]])}}<br />[[Moshe Ya'alon]]<br />{{small|([[Ministry of Defense (Israel)|Defense Minister]])}}<br />[[Benny Gantz]]<br />{{small|([[Chief of General Staff (Israel)|Chief]] of [[General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces|General Staff]])}}<br />[[Amir Eshel]]<br />{{small|([[Commander of the Israeli Air Force|Air Force Commander]])}}<br />[[Ram Rothberg]]<br />{{small|([[Israeli Navy|Naval Commander]])}}<br />[[Sami Turgeman]]<br />{{small|([[Southern Command (Israel)|Southern Commander]])}}<br />[[Mickey Edelstein]]<br />{{small|([[Gaza Division]])}}<br />[[Yoram Cohen]]<br />{{small|([[Shin Bet|Chief of Shin Bet]])}}
| commander2        = <!--there were many groups involved, so they all have their leaders-->[[Khaled Mashal]]<br />{{small|(Leader of Hamas)}}<br />[[Ismail Haniyeh]]<br />{{small|(Deputy Chief of Hamas)}}<br />[[Mohammed Deif]]<br />{{small|(Head of [[Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades]])}}<br />[[Ramadan Shalah]]<br />{{small|(Leader of Islamic Jihad)}}
| units1            = {{flagicon|Israel}} [[Israel Defense Forces]]<br/>{{flagicon|Israel}} [[Shin Bet]]
| units2            = {{flagicon|Hamas}} [[Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades]]<br />{{flagicon|Hamas}} [[al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades]]<br />{{flagicon|Hamas}} [[Abu Ali Mustapha Brigades]]<br />{{flagicon|Hamas}} [[Al-Nasser Salah al-Deen Brigades]]<br />{{flagicon|Hamas}} [[Al-Quds Brigades]]
| strength1         = 176,500 active personnel<br />565,000 reservists<ref>{{cite book |title=The Military Balance 2012 |author1=International Institute for Strategic Studies |author-link1=International Institute for Strategic Studies |editor=Hackett, James |date=7 March 2012 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |location=London |isbn=978-1-85743-642-6 |ref=IISS2012}}</ref> {{small|(2012 figures, of which not all are directly involved)}}
| strength2         = [[Al-Qassam Brigades]]: 20,000<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=711780 |title=Rockets, naval commandos boost Hamas arsenal |publisher=Maannews.net |date=25 July 2014 |access-date=4 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140729201253/http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=711780 |archive-date=29 July 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref>–40,000<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/hamas-gains-credibility-fighting-force-analysts-say-371780262 |title=Hamas growing in military stature, say analysts |publisher=Middleeasteye.net |date=17 July 2014 |access-date=4 August 2014}}</ref><br />
[[Al-Quds Brigades]]: 8,000<ref name=gedalyahu>{{cite web |url=http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/149498#.TrhgmnF4Vow |title=Iran Backs Islamic Jihad's 8,000-Man Army in Gaza |last=Ben Gedalyahu |first=Ben |date=7 November 2011 |work=Israel National News |publisher=Arutz Sheva |access-date=7 November 2011}}</ref>
| casualties1       = 67 soldiers and 6 civilians (1 [[Thai people|Thai]]) killed,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ynet.co.il/home/0,7340,L-11584,00.html|title=Operation Protective Edge, Casualties|access-date=28 August 2014}}</ref><ref name="OCHA" /><ref name=benari /> 469 soldiers and 87 civilians wounded<ref name=MDA>[http://www.mdais.com/316/7004.htm Cease fire in Operation "Protective Edge" is holding MDA sums up 50 days of saving lives] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150626112327/http://www.mdais.com/316/7004.htm |date=26 June 2015 }}, Magen David Adom, 29 August 2014: 'During the 50 days of Operation "Protective Edge", MDA teams treated 842 civilians, including 6 who were killed by shrapnel of rockets, and another 36 who were injured by shrapnel in varying degrees, including: 10 casualties in serious condition, 6 in a moderate condition and 20 who were slightly wounded. In addition, MDA teams also treated during Operation "Protective Edge" 33 people who were injured by shattered glass and building debris, 18 who were injured in road traffic accidents which occurred when the sirens were heard, including 1 person in a serious condition, and the rest lightly or moderately wounded. 159 people were injured as a result of falling and trauma on the way to the shelters and 581 people suffered anxiety attacks.'</ref><ref name="OPE-Israeli-wounded" />
| campaignbox       = {{Campaignbox Gaza–Israel conflict}}
| casualties2       = '''[[Health Ministry of the Gaza Strip|Gaza Health Ministry]]:''' 2,310 killed<ref name="Ma'an2015Jan">[http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=751290 'Ministry: Death toll from Gaza offensive topped 2,310,'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150111023729/http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=751290 |date=11 January 2015 }} [[Ma'an News Agency]] 3 January 2015.</ref> (70% civilians<ref name="jihad121">{{cite web|url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/islamic-jihad-121-of-our-fighters-killed-in-gaza/|title=Islamic Jihad: 121 of our fighters killed in Gaza|work=The Times of Israel|access-date=30 September 2014}}</ref>), 10,626 wounded<ref name="Ma'an2015Jan" /><br />'''[[United Nations Human Rights Committee|UN HRC]]:''' 2,251 killed{{refn|group=note|Based on figures of the Palestinian Ministry of Health, p. 149<ref name=HRC_REPORT />}}<ref name=HRC_REPORT /> (65% civilians<ref name=HRC_REPORT />)<br />'''[[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Israel)|Israel MFA]]:''' 2,125 killed{{refn|group=note|<ref name="MFA-report-fatalities" /> p. 10, para. 21: "Israel does not presume to be able to produce a definitive account of all fatalities that occurred during the 2014 Gaza Conflict."}}<ref name="MFA-report-fatalities" /> (36% civilians, 44% combatants, 20% uncategorized males aged 16–50<ref name="MFA-report-fatalities" />)
| casualties3       = At least 23 Gazans executed by Hamas<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-05-27 |title=Gaza: Palestinians tortured, summarily killed by Hamas forces during 2014 conflict |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2015/05/gaza-palestinians-tortured-summarily-killed-by-hamas-forces-during-2014-conflict/ |access-date=2022-04-29 |website=Amnesty International |language=en |quote=‘Strangling Necks': Abduction, torture and summary killings of Palestinians by Hamas forces during the 2014 Gaza/Israel conflict highlights a series of abuses, such as the extrajudicial execution of at least 23 Palestinians and the arrest and torture of dozens of others, including members and supporters of Hamas's political rivals, Fatah.}}</ref>
| notes             = 
}}

The '''2014 Gaza War''', also known as '''Operation Protective Edge''' ({{lang-he|מִבְצָע צוּק אֵיתָן|translit=Miv'tza Tzuk Eitan}}, {{Literal translation|Operation Strong Cliff}}),{{refn|group=note|Turkish [[Anadolu Agency]] reported that an Israeli military spokesman had explained that the non-literal translation of the operation's name into English was to "give a more 'defensive' connotation".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Arnaout |first1=Abdel-Raouf |title=From 'Shield' to 'Edge': How Israel names its military ops |url=http://www.aa.com.tr/en/world/355946--from-shield-to-edge-how-israel-names-its-military-ops |publisher=[[Anadolu Agency]] |access-date=28 July 2014 |date=9 July 2014}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=April 2022|reason=[[Wikipedia:Reliable_sources/Perennial_sources#Anadolu_Agency_(controversial_topics)]]}} The IDF's official Arabic name for the operation, translated into English, is "Operation Resolute Cliff".<ref name=Ghert-Zand>{{cite web |last1=Ghert-Zand |first1=Renee |title=Name 'Protective Edge' doesn't cut it |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/name-protective-edge-doesnt-cut-it |work=[[The Times of Israel]] |access-date=18 July 2014 |date=9 July 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=Kordova, Shoshana |title=Why is the English name of Operation Protective Edge so different from the Hebrew version? |url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/features/word-of-the-day/.premium-1.605936#! |work=[[Haaretz]] |date=19 July 2014}}</ref>}}<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2014/09/03/heres-what-really-happened-in-the-gaza-war-according-to-the-israelis/ |title=Here's what really happened in the Gaza war (according to the Israelis) |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |last=Booth |first=William |date=3 September 2014 |access-date=26 August 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.haaretz.com/st/c/prod/eng/2015/year-to-gaza-war/israel-gaza-conflict/ |title=The last Gaza war–and the next |newspaper=[[Haaretz]] |last=Harel |first=Amos |author-link=Amos Harel |date=8 July 2015<!-- http://www.haaretz.com/st/c/prod/eng/2015/year-to-gaza-war/ states that this series of articles was published precisely one year after the war began --> |access-date=26 August 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2016/08/24/world/middleeast/ap-ml-israel-gaza-war-probe.html |title=Israel Clears Forces in Several Deadly 2014 Gaza War Cases |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |agency=[[Associated Press]] |date=24 August 2016 |access-date=26 August 2016}}</ref> and '''Battle of the Withered Grain''' ({{lang-ar|معركة العصف المائكول|translit=Mʿa-rakkat Al-ʿasf Al-Ma’kool}})
<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.aljazeera.net/amp/blogs/2017/12/18/فلسطين-ووهم-أسلمة-الصراع | title= فلسطين.. ووهم أسلمة الصراع! =1 December 2023|work=Al Jazeera}}</ref>
<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.aljazeera.net/amp/encyclopedia/2015/7/7/العدوان-الإسرائيلي-على-غزة-2014 | title= العدوان الإسرائيلي على غزة 2014 =|work=Aljazeera}}</ref> was a military operation launched by [[Israel]] on 8 July 2014 in the [[Gaza Strip]], a [[Palestinian territories|Palestinian territory]] that has been [[Governance of the Gaza Strip|governed by Hamas since 2007]].<ref group=note>Though Hamas governs the Gaza Strip, the majority of the international community (including the UN General Assembly, the United Nations Security Council, the European Union, the International Criminal Court, and many human rights organizations) consider Israel to be occupying Gaza, as it controls the region's airspace, coastline and most of its borders.</ref> Following the [[2014 kidnapping and murder of Israeli teenagers|kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers]] in the [[West Bank]] by [[Hamas]]-affiliated [[Palestinians|Palestinian]] militants, the [[Israel Defense Forces]] (IDF) initiated ''Operation Brother's Keeper'', in which some 350 Palestinians, including nearly all of the active Hamas militants in the West Bank, were arrested.<ref name="nathanthrall">{{cite journal |author=Nathan Thrall |date=1 August 2014 |title=Hamas's Chances |url=http://www.lrb.co.uk/v36/n16/nathan-thrall/hamass-chances |journal=London Review of Books |volume=36 |issue=16}}</ref><ref name="HamasAcc">Jack Khoury, [http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.611676 Hamas claims responsibility for three Israeli teens' kidnapping and murder'], ''[[Haaretz]]'', 21 August 2014.</ref><ref name="HamasAcc2">[http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4562328,00.html 'Mashal: Hamas was behind murder of three Israeli teens'], [[Ynet]], 22 August 2014.</ref> Hamas [[List of Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel in 2014|subsequently fired a greater number of rockets into Israel]] from the Gaza Strip, triggering a seven-week-long conflict between the two sides. It was one of the deadliest outbreaks of [[Israeli–Palestinian conflict|open conflict between Israel and the Palestinians]] in decades. The combination of [[Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel|Palestinian rocket attacks]] and [[List of Israeli strikes and Palestinian casualties in the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict|Israeli airstrikes]] resulted in over two thousand deaths, the vast majority of which were Gazan Palestinians.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Zonszein|first=Mairav|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/27/israel-kills-more-palestinians-2014-than-any-other-year-since-1967|title=Israel killed more Palestinians in 2014 than in any other year since 1967|date=2015-03-27|work=The Guardian|access-date=2020-03-03|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

The Israeli military operation aimed to stop rocket fire into Israel from the Gaza Strip. Conversely, Hamas' attacks aimed to bring international pressure onto Israel with the strategic goal of forcing the latter to lift the [[blockade of the Gaza Strip|Israeli–Egyptian blockade of the Gaza Strip]]; among its other goals were to end Israel's military offensive, obtain a third party to monitor and guarantee compliance with a ceasefire,<ref>Ehab Zahriyeh, [http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/7/16/gaza-ceasefire-accountability.html 'Citing past failures, Hamas demands an enforceable cease-fire,']   [[Al Jazeera Media Network|Al-Jazeera]],16 July 2014.</ref> release [[Palestinian prisoners of Israel|Palestinian political prisoners]] and overcome its isolation.<ref>[http://www.dw.de/hamas-and-israel-cling-to-their-war-aims/a-17801137 'Hamas and Israel cling to their war aims,'] [[Deutsche Welle]] 23 July 2014.</ref> According to the ''[[BBC]]'', Israel launched airstrikes on the Gaza Strip in retaliation to the rocket attacks by Hamas, [[Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine|Palestinian Islamic Jihad]] (PIJ), and other [[Palestinian political violence|Palestinian militant groups]].<ref>[https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-28156268 'Hamas 'ready for Gaza ceasefire' if Israeli raids stop,'] [[BBC News]] 4 July 2014.</ref>

On 7 July, after seven Hamas militants died in a tunnel explosion in [[Khan Yunis]] that was caused either by an Israeli airstrike (per Hamas, [[Nathan Thrall]], ''BBC'', and a senior IDF official)<ref>{{cite news |last1=Zitun |first1=Yoav |date=7 July 2014 |title=IDF: We uncovered Gaza terror tunnel leading to Israel |publisher=Yedioth |agency=Ynet |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4539146,00.html}}</ref> or an accidental explosion of their own munitions (per the IDF), Hamas assumed responsibility for rockets fired into Israel, and subsequently launched 40 more rockets towards Israel.<ref name="Bryant">Christa Case Bryant, [http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2014/0707/Ending-detente-Hamas-takes-responsibility-for-today-s-spike-in-rocket-fire-video 'Ending détente, Hamas takes responsibility for today's spike in rocket fire (+video)'], ''[[The Christian Science Monitor]]'', 7 July 2014: "After days of steadily increasing strikes, Hamas militants in Gaza launched at least 40 rockets tonight alone in what appears to be a decision to escalate the conflict. The dramatic spike in rocket attacks is likely to put significant pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to heed calls for an all-out offensive against the Islamist movement, which Israel and the US consider a terrorist organization. While there has been intermittent rocket fire from Gaza since the cease-fire that ended the November 2012 Pillar of Defense conflict, Israel has credited Hamas with largely doing its best to keep the various militant factions in line. Today, however, Hamas took direct responsibility for the fire for the first time, sending a barrage of dozens of rockets into Israel in the worst day of such violence in two years."</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Gaza-Israel conflict: Is the fighting over? |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-28252155 |access-date=28 August 2014 |work=BBC |date=26 August 2014 }}</ref> The Israeli aerial operation officially began the following day, and on 17 July, it was expanded to include a full-scale ground invasion of the Gaza Strip with the stated aim of destroying [[Palestinian tunnel warfare in the Gaza Strip|Gaza's tunnel system]];<ref>{{cite news |title=Gaza conflict: Israel and Palestinians agree long-term truce |work=BBC News |date=27 August 2014 |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-28939350 }}</ref> the Israeli ground invasion ended on 5 August.<ref name=withdrawal2 /> On 26 August, an open-ended ceasefire was announced.<ref name="26aug-guardian-cf">{{cite news |last1=Sherwood |first1=Harriet |last2=Balousha |first2=Hazem |title=Gaza ceasefire: Israel and Palestinians agree to halt weeks of fighting |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/26/gaza-ceasefire-israel-palestinians-halt-fighting |access-date=29 August 2014 |work=The Guardian UK |date=27 August 2014}}</ref> By this time, the IDF reported that Hamas, PIJ, and other Palestinian militant groups had fired 4,564 rockets and [[Mortar (weapon)|mortars]] into Israel, with over 735 projectiles having been intercepted mid-flight and shot down by Israel's [[Iron Dome]]. Most Gazan mortar and rocket fire was inaccurate, and consequently hit open land; more than 280 projectiles had landed within the Gaza Strip,<ref name="IMRA">{{Cite web |title=IMRA - Wednesday, July 30, 2014 IDF: Over the past 24 hours 36% of rockets fired at Israel fell short |url=http://www.imra.org.il/story.php?id=64534 |access-date=2022-04-29 |website=www.imra.org.il}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Up to 25 Percent of Hamas Rockets Fall Short and Kill Gazan Civilians |url=http://www.algemeiner.com/2014/07/30/algemeiner-editor-dovid-efune-up-to-25-percent-of-hamas-rockets-fall-short-and-kill-gazan-civilians-video/# |access-date=22 March 2016}}</ref><ref name="failing_rockets" /> and 224 had struck residential areas.<ref name=ynetnumbers>{{Cite news |last=Ynetnews |date=2014-08-27 |title=Operation Protective Edge in numbers |language=en |work=Ynetnews |url=https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4564678,00.html |access-date=2022-04-29}} </ref><ref name="timesofisrael.com">{{cite news |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/day-50-hamas-confirms-talk-of-new-truce-rockets-from-lebanon-fired-at-galilee-idf-hits-back/#ixzz3BVpRZLr5 |title=Egypt says Gaza truce to begin at 7; Israeli killed in mortar strike |first1=Ricky |last1=Ben-David |first2=Haviv |last2=Rettig Gur |first3=Yifa |last3=Yaakov |date=26 August 2014 |newspaper=Times of Israel}}</ref> Palestinian rocketry also killed 13 Palestinian civilians in Gaza, 11 of them children.<ref>[https://www.amnesty.org/en/articles/news/2015/03/palestinian-armed-groups-killed-civilians-on-both-sides-in-2014-gaza-conflict/ 'Palestinian armed groups killed civilians on both sides in attacks amounting to war crimes,'] [[Amnesty International]] 26 March 2015</ref><ref name="AMINT">[https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/MDE2111782015ENGLISH.PDF 'Unlawful and deadly Rocket and mortar attacks by Palestinian armed groups during the 2014 Gaza/Israel conflict,'] [[Amnesty International]], 26 March 2015.</ref> The IDF attacked 5,263 targets in the Gaza Strip; at least 34 known tunnels were destroyed<ref name=ynetnumbers /> and two-thirds of Hamas's 10,000-rocket arsenal was either used up or destroyed.<ref>{{cite web |title=Rockets, airstrikes after Gaza war truce collapses |url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/aug/9/rockets-airstrikes-after-gaza-war-truce-collapses/?page=all |website=The Washington Times}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=AP ANALYSIS: Hamas enters talks with Israel on Gaza from a point of military weakness |url=http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/08/06/ap-analysis-hamas-enters-talks-with-israel-on-gaza-from-point-military-weakness |website=Fox News |date=6 August 2014}}</ref>

Between 2,125<ref name="MFA-report-fatalities" /> and 2,310<ref name="Ma'an2015Jan" /> Gazans were killed during the conflict while between 10,626<ref name="Ma'an2015Jan" /> and 10,895<ref name="PCHR">{{cite web|url=http://www.pchrgaza.org/portal/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=10491:statistics-victims-of-the-israeli-offensive-on-gaza-since-08-july-2014&catid=145:in-focus|title=Statistics: Victims of the Israeli Offensive on Gaza since 8 July 2014|publisher=Pchrgaza.org|access-date=27 August 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150626164255/http://www.pchrgaza.org/portal/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=10491:statistics-victims-of-the-israeli-offensive-on-gaza-since-08-july-2014&catid=145:in-focus|archive-date=26 June 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> were wounded (including 3,374 children, of whom over 1,000 were left permanently disabled).<ref>[http://www.dci-palestine.org/sites/default/files/operationprotectiveedge.awarwagedonchildren.160415.pdf ''Operation Protective Edge: A war waged on Gaza's children,''] [[Defense for Children International|Defence for Children International-Palestine]], Ramallah, 16 April 2015.</ref> Gazan civilian casualty estimates range between 70 percent by the [[Ministry of Health, Palestine|Gaza Health Ministry]],<ref name="OCHA">{{cite web|url=http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_sitrep_04_09_2014.pdf|title=Occupied Palestinian Territory: Gaza Emergency|date=4 September 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140913014525/http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_sitrep_04_09_2014.pdf|archive-date=13 September 2014|access-date=4 September 2014}}</ref><ref name="jihad121" /><ref name=PCHR /> 65 percent by the [[United Nations]]' (UN) Protection Cluster by [[United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs|OCHA]] (based in part on Gaza Health Ministry reports),<ref name=HRC_REPORT /> and 36 percent by Israeli officials.<ref name="partten">{{cite web|url=http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/Data/articles/Art_20774/E_020_15_614553775.pdf|title=Examination of the names of Palestinians killed in Operation Protective Edge – Part Ten*|date=19 February 2015|publisher=Israeli Intelligence & Heritage Commemoration Center|access-date=19 February 2015}}</ref><ref name="MFA-report-fatalities" /> The UN estimated that more than 7,000 homes for 10,000 families were razed, together with an additional 89,000 homes damaged, of which roughly 10,000 were severely affected by the bombing.<ref name="ynetnews.com">[http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4605408,00.html 'UN doubles estimate of destroyed Gaza homes,'] [[Ynet]] 19 December 2015.</ref> Rebuilding costs were calculated to run from {{Currency|4–6 billion|USD|passthrough=yes}} over the course of 20 years.<ref name="haaretz.com">[http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.613194 'Housing group: 20 years to rebuild Gaza after fighting with Israel'] [[Haaretz]] 30 August 2014.</ref> 67 Israeli soldiers, 5 Israeli civilians (including one child)<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-28904028 Israeli child 'killed by rocket fired from Gaza'], BBC</ref> and one [[Israel–Thailand relations|Thai]] civilian were killed<ref name="OCHA" /> while 469 Israeli soldiers and 261 Israeli civilians were injured.<ref name="OPE-Israeli-wounded" /> On the Israeli side, the economic impact of the operation is estimated to have had an impact of {{Currency|8.5 billion|ILS|passthrough=yes}} (approximately {{Currency|2.5 billion|USD|passthrough=yes|linked=no}}) and [[Economy of Israel|a GDP loss of 0.4 percent]].<ref name="IsraelLoss" />

== Background ==
{{Main|Gaza–Israel conflict|}}
[[File:Histogram of Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel per day, 2014.png|thumb|Histogram of Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel per day and start of the military operation (in red), 2014]]
<section begin=BlockadeFull />In February 2005 [[Israel]], the [[Palestinian National Authority]], [[Hamas]] and [[Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine|Islamic Jihad]] committed to a ceasefire, which according to some marked the end of the [[Second Intifada]]. Some place the end-date earlier in October 2004<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3558676,00.html |title=2nd Intifada Forgotten |author=Sever Plocker |work=[[Ynetnews]] |date=22 June 2008 |access-date=28 September 2014}}</ref> Others signal the death of Yasser Arafat in November 2004 and the subsequent rise of Hamas as heralding the end of the major period conflict that was the second intifada.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Ruth Tenne |url=http://www.isj.org.uk/index.php4?id=384&issue=116 |journal=[[International Socialism (magazine)|International Socialism]] |title=Rising of the oppressed: the second Intifada |date=Autumn 2007 |issue=116 |access-date=13 November 2011}} Review of {{cite book |author=Ramzy Baroud |author2=Kathleen Christison |author3=Bill Christison |author4=Jennifer Loewenstein |title=The Second Palestinian Intifada: A Chronicle of a People's Struggle |publisher=[[Pluto Press]] |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-7453-2547-7}}</ref> However [[List of Palestinian suicide attacks#2005 (9 bombings)|Palestinian suicide bombings against Israelis]] continued following the February ceasefire. Schachter, addressing the range of end-date options, pointed to the progressive decrease in suicide bombings starting in 2004 and culminating in an indeterminate end period in 2005.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Schachter |first=Jonathan |year=2010 |title=The End of the Second Intifada? |journal=Strategic Assessment |volume=13 |issue=3 |pages=63–69 |url=http://www.inss.org.il/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/systemfiles/(FILE)1289897140.pdf |access-date=10 August 2017}}</ref> On 17 March 2005 the 13 main Palestinian factions, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad agreed to be bound by the February agreement, conditional on cessation of Israeli military operations.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/2005/03/17/palestinian-militants-agree-to-cease-fire.html |title=Palestinian Militants Agree to Cease-Fire|agency=Associated Press|publisher=Fox News|year=2006| access-date=29 June 2018}}</ref>

Concurrent to the Second Intifada (2000–2005), Israeli prime minister [[Ariel Sharon]] proposed the [[Israeli disengagement from Gaza]] in 2003, which was approved by the Israeli government in June 2004, and the [[Knesset]] in February 2005. The unilateral withdrawal plan was executed in August 2005 and completed in September 2005.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jul/25/guardian-view-causes-fighting-gaza 'The Guardian view on the causes of the fighting in Gaza'], ''[[The Guardian]]'', 25 July 2014.</ref> Nonetheless, the [[ICRC]],<ref>{{cite web |last1=Maurer |first1=Peter |title=Challenges to international humanitarian law: Israel's occupation policy |url=http://www.icrc.org/eng/assets/files/review/2013/irrc-888-maurer.pdf |website=ICRC |access-date=2 September 2014}}</ref> the [[UN]]<ref>{{cite web |last1=Neuer |first1=Hillel |title=Hamas says Gaza 'not occupied'; UN disagrees |url=http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Op-Ed-Contributors/Hamas-says-Gaza-not-occupied-UN-disagrees |website=The Jerusalem Post |date=4 January 2012 |access-date=2 September 2014}}</ref> and various human rights organizations<ref>{{cite web |title=Amnesty International Public Statement |url=http://www.europarl.europa.eu/meetdocs/2009_2014/documents/droi/dv/201/201102/20110207_510inquiry_en.pdf |access-date=2 September 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Israel: 'Disengagement' Will Not End Gaza Occupation |url=https://www.hrw.org/en/news/2004/10/28/israel-disengagement-will-not-end-gaza-occupation |website=Human Rights Watch |date=28 October 2004 |access-date=2 September 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The scope of Israeli control in the Gaza Strip |url=http://www.btselem.org/gaza_strip/gaza_status |website=B'Tselem |access-date=2 September 2014}}</ref> consider Israel still to be the ''de facto'' occupying power due to its control of Gaza's borders, air space and territorial waters.<ref>{{cite news |title=Is Gaza 'occupied' territory? |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/01/06/israel.gaza.occupation.question/index.html |publisher=CNN |access-date=2 September 2014 |date=6 January 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Goldstone |first1=Richard |last2=Jilani |first2=Hina |last3=Travers |first3=Desmond |last4=Chinkin |first4=Christine |title=Report of the United Nations Fact-Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict |url=http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/docs/12session/A-HRC-12-48.pdf |publisher=UNHRC |access-date=2 September 2014}} page 16</ref>

The following year (2006) Hamas won [[2006 Palestinian legislative election|a majority of seats in the Palestinian legislative elections]]. This outcome surprised Israel and the United States who had anticipated the return of the Fatah opposition to power and, together with the [[Quartet on the Middle East|Quartet]], they demanded Hamas accept all previous agreements, recognize Israel's right to exist, and renounce violence.<ref name="RoseVF" /> When Hamas refused,{{cn|date=October 2023}} they [[2006–07 economic sanctions against the Palestinian National Authority|cut off aid to the Palestinian Authority]]. In mid-2006 [[2006 Gaza cross-border raid|an Israeli soldier was captured by Hamas in a cross-border raid]]. The United States and Israel, in response to [[Fatah]] moves in October 2006 to form a unity government with Hamas, tried to undo the elections by arming and training Fatah to overthrow Hamas in Gaza.<ref>Nathan Thrall,[http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2010/oct/14/our-man-palestine/ 'Our Man in Palestine,'] [[The New York Review of Books]], 14 October 2010: 'Dayton, meanwhile, was overseeing the recruitment, training, and equipping of Abbas's rapidly expanding security forces. Khaled Meshaal, chief of Hamas's politburo, delivered a fiery speech denouncing "the security coup" as a "conspiracy" supported by "the Zionists and the Americans"—charges Fatah denied. In February 2007, on the brink of civil war, Fatah and Hamas leaders traveled to Mecca, where they agreed to form a national unity government, a deal the US opposed because it preferred that Fatah continue to isolate Hamas. Fayyad became finance minister in the new government, despite, he says, American pressure not to join. The Peruvian diplomat Alvaro de Soto, former UN envoy to the Quartet, wrote in a confidential "End of Mission Report" that the violence between Hamas and Fatah could have been avoided had the US not strongly opposed Palestinian reconciliation. "The US", he wrote, "clearly pushed for a confrontation between Fateh and Hamas."'</ref> In June 2007 Hamas [[Battle of Gaza (2007)|took complete power of Gaza by force]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Shlaim |first1=Avi |title=The Iron Wall: Israel and the Arab World |date=2014 |publisher=W. W. Norton |isbn=978-0-393-34686-2 |page=798 |edition=2nd|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_2r8CQAAQBAJ}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Spencer C. Tucker |editor=Priscilla Mary Roberts |others=Anthony C. Zinni |title=The Encyclopedia of Middle East Wars : The United States in the Persian Gulf, Afghanistan, and Iraq conflicts |url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediamidd00tuck_298 |url-access=limited |date=2010 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |location=Santa Barbara, Calif. |isbn=978-1-85109-947-4 |page=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediamidd00tuck_298/page/n40 3]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Chomsky |first1=Noam |title=Ceasefires in Which Violations Never Cease |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/noam-chomsky/ceasefires-in-which-violations-never-cease_b_5790166.html |website=Huffington Post |access-date=26 October 2014 |date=9 September 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Ismael |first1=Tareq |last2=Ismael |first2=Jacqueline |last3=Ismael |first3=Shereen |title=Government and Politics of the Contemporary Middle East : Continuity and Change |date=2011 |publisher=Routledge |location=London |isbn=978-0-415-49144-0 |page=327 |edition=1st published}}</ref><ref name="RoseVF">{{cite news |last1=Rose |first1=David |title=The Gaza Bombshell |url=http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2008/04/gaza200804 |magazine=[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]] |date=April 2008}}</ref>

Israel then defined Gaza as a "hostile territory" forming no part of a sovereign state and [[Blockade of the Gaza Strip|put Gaza under a comprehensive economic and political blockade]],<ref>Elizabeth Spelman, [http://webjcli.org/article/view/207/277 'The Legality of the Israeli Naval Blockade of the Gaza Strip'], ''Web Journal of Current Legal Issues'', Vol 19, No 1, 2013</ref> which also denied access to a third of its arable land and 85% of its fishing areas. It has led to considerable economic damage and humanitarian problems in Gaza.<ref>{{cite news |title=Gaza closure: not another year! |url=http://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/update/palestine-update-140610.htm |publisher=International Committee of the Red Cross |date=14 June 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Roy |first1=Sara |title=Deprivation in the Gaza Strip |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2014/07/19/deprivation-gaza-strip/6HybezDQv6N0lGzsVWoB4N/story.html |work=The Boston Globe |date=19 July 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Deprived and Endangered: Humanitarian Crisis in the Gaza Strip |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2009/01/12/deprived-and-endangered-humanitarian-crisis-gaza-strip |website=Human Rights Watch |date=13 January 2009 |access-date=3 September 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Five Years of Blockade: The Humanitarian Situation in Gaza |url=http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_gaza_blockade_factsheet_june_2012_english.pdf |website=United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs |access-date=3 September 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141124003755/http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_gaza_blockade_factsheet_june_2012_english.pdf |archive-date=24 November 2014  }}</ref> The overwhelming consensus of international institutions is that the blockade is a form of collective punishment and illegal.<ref name=RFALK>{{cite news |url=http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/09/2011978161147706.html |title=Deep flaws in the UN's Mavi Marmara report (Al Jazeera, 9 September 2011) |publisher=English.aljazeera.net |access-date=10 August 2014}}</ref><ref name="Reuters-blockade">* "[http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/un-independent-panel-rules-israel-blockade-of-gaza-illegal-1.384267 UN independent panel rules Israel blockade of Gaza illegal]", ''[[Haaretz]]'' (story by [[Reuters]]), 13 September 2011.
* {{cite news |url=http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUSL2849170120080528 |work=Reuters |title=U.N. envoy Tutu calls Gaza blockade illegal |date=28 May 2008}}
* {{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSLDE65404020100605 |work=Reuters |title=Gaza blockade illegal, must be lifted – UN's Pillay |first=Aaron |last=Gray-Block |date=5 June 2010}}
* {{cite news |title=U.N. experts say Israel's blockade of Gaza illegal |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-un-gaza-rights-idUSTRE78C59R20110913 |access-date=10 August 2014 |work=Reuters |date=13 September 2011 |first=Stephanie |last=Nebehay}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=206381 |title=Maan News Agency: UN rights chief urges Israel to end 'illegal' Gaza blockade |publisher=Maannews.net |date=18 November 2008 |access-date=27 March 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110812131257/http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=206381 |archive-date=12 August 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="BBC-ICRC-blockade">{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10306193 |work=BBC News |title=ICRC says Israel's Gaza blockade breaks law |date=14 June 2010}}</ref><ref name="Palmer Report">{{cite web |last=Palmer |first=Geoffrey |title=Report of the Secretary-General's Panel of Inquiry on the 31 May 2010 Flotilla Incident |url=https://www.un.org/News/dh/infocus/middle_east/Gaza_Flotilla_Panel_Report.pdf |publisher=UN |access-date=12 October 2011|display-authors=etal}}</ref> Israel maintains that the blockade is legal and necessary to limit [[Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel|Palestinian rocket attacks]] from the Gaza Strip on its cities and to prevent Hamas from obtaining other weapons.<ref>{{cite web |title=Israel tightens its blockade of Gaza for 'security reasons' |url=https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/blogs/lifestyle/7813-israel-tightens-its-blockade-of-gaza-for-security-reasons |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131014153810/http://www.middleeastmonitor.com/blogs/lifestyle/7813-israel-tightens-its-blockade-of-gaza-for-security-reasons |url-status=dead |archive-date=14 October 2013 |work=Middle East Monitor |date=14 October 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Gaza's Tunnel Economy |url=http://www.borgenmagazine.com/gazas-tunnel-economy/ |work=Borgen Magazine |date=4 August 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Inquiry urged into Israel convoy raid |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/10202756 |work=BBC |date=1 June 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.jpost.com/LandedPages/PrintArticle.aspx?id=288686 |title=Court extends remand of Israelis aboard Gaza ship |newspaper=The Jerusalem Post |access-date=4 November 2012}}</ref><ref>[http://www.mag.idf.il/163-4314-en/patzar.aspx "Position paper on the naval blockade on Gaza."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120116231842/http://www.mag.idf.il/163-4314-en/patzar.aspx |date=16 January 2012 }} 8 September 2010.</ref><section end=BlockadeFull /><!--  Please add stuff about blockade before this comment.--> Israel carried out [[Operation Cast Lead]] in December 2008 with the stated aim of stopping rocket attacks from Hamas militants.<ref>{{cite news |title=Gaza 'looks like earthquake zone' |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7838618.stm |newspaper=BBC News |date=20 January 2009 |access-date=3 December 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090125181742/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7838618.stm |archive-date=25 January 2009 |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict|UN Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict]] concluded that the operation was "a deliberately disproportionate attack designed to punish, humiliate and terrorize a civilian population, radically diminish its local economic capacity both to work and to provide for itself, and to force upon it an ever increasing sense of dependency and vulnerability".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Goldstone |first1=Richard |last2=Jilani |first2=Hina |last3=Travers |first3=Desmond |last4=Chinkin |first4=Christine |title=Report of the United Nations Fact-Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict |url=http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/docs/12session/A-HRC-12-48.pdf |publisher=UNHRC |access-date=2 September 2014}} page 408</ref> The Israeli government's analysis concludes that the report perverts international law to serve a political agenda and sends a "legally unfounded message to states everywhere confronting terrorism that international law has no effective response to offer them".<ref>[http://www.mfa.gov.il/NR/rdonlyres/FC985702-61C4-41C9-8B72-E3876FEF0ACA/0/GoldstoneReportInitialResponse240909.pdf Initial Response to Report of the Fact Finding Mission on Gaza] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131001094449/http://www.mfa.gov.il/NR/rdonlyres/FC985702-61C4-41C9-8B72-E3876FEF0ACA/0/GoldstoneReportInitialResponse240909.pdf |date=1 October 2013 }}, [[Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs]]; accessed 22 November 2014.</ref>

=== First Hamas–Fatah reconciliation (2011) ===
Influenced in the [[Arab Spring]] and by demonstrations in [[Ramallah]] and Gaza, the gap between Hamas and Fatah was [[Fatah-Hamas conflict#April 2011 Cairo agreement|bridged]] in 2011. After the Palestinian president [[Mahmoud Abbas]] declared his willingness to travel to Gaza and sign an agreement, the IDF killed two Hamas activists in Gaza; the IDF stated the killings were in response to the launching of a single Qassam rocket, which hit no one, but ''[[Yedioth Ahronoth]]'''s Alex Fishman argued they were a "premeditated escalation" by Israel.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Landau |first1=Idan |title=The unfolding lie of Operation Protective Edge |date=15 July 2014 |url=http://972mag.com/the-unfolding-lie-of-operation-protective-edge/93605 |publisher=+972 |access-date=30 July 2014}}</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=+972 is a blog site|date=August 2014}} In an interview with [[CNN]], Israeli prime minister [[Benjamin Netanyahu]] declared that the reconciliation talks were calls for Israel's destruction, and strongly opposed the idea of a unity government.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ravid |first1=Barak |last2=Issacharof |first2=Avi |title=PM: Palestinian unity government would kill off the peace process |url=http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/pm-palestinian-unity-government-would-kill-off-the-peace-process-1.349890 |journal=TheMarker |access-date=22 November 2014}}</ref>

=== November 2012 ceasefire and its violations ===
On 14 November 2012, Israel launched [[Operation Pillar of Defence]] in the Gaza Strip. The operation was preceded by a period with a number of mutual Israeli–Palestinian responsive attacks.<ref name=Haaretz_blame_mullet>[http://www.haaretz.com/news/features/why-the-mullet-not-the-israel-navy-are-to-blame-for-the-death-of-a-gaza-fisherman.premium-1.472845 ''Why the mullet, not the Israel Navy, are to blame for the death of a Gaza fisherman'']. Amira Hass, Haaretz, 29 October 2012 (premium article)</ref> According to the Israeli government, the operation began in response to the launch of over 100 rockets at Israel during a 24-hour period,<ref>{{cite news |title=Gaza groups pound Israel with over 100 rockets |url=http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Gaza-groups-pound-Israel-with-over-100-rockets |newspaper=The Jerusalem Post |date=11 December 2012}}</ref> an attack by Gaza militants on an Israeli military patrol jeep within Israeli borders,{{citation needed|date=November 2019}} and an explosion caused by [[Improvised explosive device|IEDs]], which occurred near Israeli soldiers, on the Israeli side of a tunnel passing under the [[Israeli West Bank barrier]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/israel-tunnel-explodes-gaza-border-17686902#.UKnxEIefvuE |archive-url=http://web.archive.bibalex.org/web/20121124190447/https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/israel-tunnel-explodes-gaza-border-17686902#.UKnxEIefvuE |url-status=dead |archive-date=24 November 2012 |title=Israel: Tunnel Explodes on Gaza Border |work=ABC News |date=10 November 2012 |access-date=20 November 2012  }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/pressroom/2012/pages/operation_pillar_of_defense-statements.aspx |title=Operation Pillar of Defense – Selected statements |publisher=Ministry of Foreign Affairs, israel |date=20 November 2012 |access-date=20 November 2012}}</ref> The Israeli government stated that the aims of the military operation were to halt rocket attacks against civilian targets originating from the Gaza Strip<ref>{{cite news |last=Al-Mughrabi |first=Nidal |url=http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-11-24/news/sns-rt-us-palestinians-israel-hamasbre8ad0wp-20121114_1_gaza-curbs-gaza-fishermen-hamas-leader |title=Jerusalem and Tel Aviv under rocket fire, Netanyahu warns Gaza |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |date=16 November 2012}}</ref> and to disrupt the capabilities of militant organizations.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jpost.com/Defense/IAF-strike-kills-Hamas-military-chief-Jabari |title=Israeli air strike kills top Hamas commander Jabari |work=The Jerusalem Post |date=14 November 2012 |access-date=14 November 2012}}</ref> The Palestinians blamed the Israeli government for the upsurge in violence, accusing the IDF of attacks on Gazan civilians in the days leading up to the operation.<ref name=AFP11>{{cite news |title=Israel warns Hamas of 'heavy price' for Gaza rockets |url=https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jRUtS7PreKQztfBnueg5yNep0ROg?docId=CNG.eceda380b55ad442c0c0b524c5263e34.61 |access-date=21 November 2012 |date=11 November 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140301205413/https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jRUtS7PreKQztfBnueg5yNep0ROg?docId=CNG.eceda380b55ad442c0c0b524c5263e34.61 |archive-date=1 March 2014}}</ref> They cited the [[blockade of the Gaza Strip]] and the occupation of [[West Bank]], including [[East Jerusalem]], as the reason for rocket attacks.<ref name=bbcQandA>{{cite news |title=Q&A: Israel-Gaza violence |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-20388298 |work=BBC News |date=20 November 2012}}</ref> A week later, on 21 November, Egypt brokered a ceasefire to the conflict which contained the following agreements:<ref name="BBC 2012">{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-20388298 |title=Q&A: Israel-Gaza violence |work=BBC News |date=22 November 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://live.reuters.com/Event/Conflict_on_the_Gaza_Strip/57460762 |title=TEXT: Ceasefire agreement between Israel and Gaza's Palestinians |author=Matthew Keys |date=21 November 2012 |access-date=1 September 2014 |work=Reuters}}</ref>
# Israel should stop all hostilities in the Gaza Strip land, sea and air, including incursions and targeting of individuals.
# All Palestinian factions shall stop all hostilities from the Gaza Strip against Israel, including rocket attacks and all attacks along the border.
# The crossings should be opened, facilitating the movement of people and goods; Israel<!-- and Palestine?--> should refrain from restricting residents' movements and from targeting residents in border areas; procedures of implementation should be dealt with 24 hours after the start of the ceasefire.
[[File:Gaza Strip Access Restrictions.pdf|thumbnail|[[Gaza Strip]]: access and closure]]
[[File:PikiWiki Israel 29526 Israel Defense Forces.JPG|thumbnail|A sculpture in [[List of Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel, 2013#March|Sderot]] made from rocket debris]]

==== Violations ====
Both Israel and Hamas argue that the other violated the [[2012 ceasefire]] agreement, resulting in 1 Israeli and 8 Gazan deaths and 5 Israeli and 66 Gazan injuries. According to the Israeli Security Agency ([[Shin Bet|Shabak]]) there was a sharp decrease in attacks from Gaza in 2013.<ref name=Shabak2013>{{cite web |url=http://www.shabak.gov.il/English/EnTerrorData/Reports/Pages/2013AnnualSummary.aspx |title=2013 Annual Summary |publisher=Israeli Security Agency |access-date=22 August 2014 |archive-date=9 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170209151954/http://www.shabak.gov.il/English/EnTerrorData/Reports/Pages/2013AnnualSummary.aspx |url-status=dead }}</ref> Nevertheless, 63 rockets (average 5 per month) were launched in 36 rocket attacks in addition to various mortar attacks, all prohibited by the November 2012 ceasefire. The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR)<ref name=PCHR2013>{{cite web |url=http://www.pchrgaza.org/files/2014/annual%20English%202013.pdf |title=Annual Report 2013 |publisher=Palestinian Centre for Human Rights |year=2013}}</ref> reported monthly Israeli attacks involving drones, missiles, small arms fire and airstrikes. Six of the deaths in Gaza occurred in the border area's Access Restricted Areas (ARAs, non-demarcated zones within Gazan territory unilaterally defined by Israel as being of restricted access), despite the ceasefire's prohibition on Israeli attacks on these areas.<ref name="nathanthrall" /><ref name=PCHR2013 /> OCHAO, more broadly sourced data, reported 11 deaths in Gaza and 81 injuries for 2013.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_protection_of_civilians_weekly_report_2013_12_31_english.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140113225039/http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_protection_of_civilians_weekly_report_2013_12_31_english.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=13 January 2014 |title=Weekly 24–30 December 2013 |year=2006 |publisher=OCHAO }}</ref>

In the first three months after the IDF [[Operation Pillar of Defense]], according to Ben White, two mortar shells struck Israeli territory, while four Gazans were shot dead and 91 were wounded by Israeli forces who fired inside Gazan territory on 63 occasions, made 13 incursions into the Strip, and attacked the Gazan fishing fleet 30 times.<ref>Ben White, [http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2013/02/2013220152044327694.html "What a 'period of calm' looks like in the Occupied Territories"], ''[[Al Jazeera Media Network|Al-Jazeera]]'', 22 February 2013.</ref> Israeli attacks on Gaza steadily increased during the second half of 2013, notwithstanding the decrease in attacks from Gaza.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/7/16/gaza-ceasefire-accountability.html |title=Citing past failures, Hamas demands an enforceable cease-fire |author=Ehab Zahriyeh |publisher=Aljazeera America |date=16 July 2014}}</ref>{{Failed verification|date=August 2014}}

From December 2012 to late June/early July 2014, Hamas did not fire rockets into Israel, and tried to police other groups doing so.<ref name="Goldberg1" /> These efforts were largely successful; Netanyahu stated in March 2014 that the rocket fire in the past year was the "lowest in a decade."<ref name="nathanthrall" /><ref name="Goldberg1">{{cite web |last=Goldberg |first=J.J. |title=How Politics and Lies Triggered an Unintended War in Gaza |url=http://forward.com/articles/201764/how-politics-and-lies-triggered-an-unintended-war |newspaper=[[The Jewish Daily Forward|The Forward]] |date=10 July 2014 |access-date=14 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140724041900/http://forward.com/articles/201764/how-politics-and-lies-triggered-an-unintended-war/?p=all |archive-date=24 July 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Hendrickson |first1=David C. |title=The Thrasybulus Syndrome: Israel's War on Gaza |url=http://nationalinterest.org/feature/the-thrasybulus-syndrome-israel%E2%80%99s-war-gaza-10968?page=show |work=[[The National Interest]] |access-date=2 August 2014}}</ref> According to [[Shin Bet|Shabak]], in the first half of 2014 there were 181 rocket attacks<ref name=shabak_rockets>{{cite web |url=http://www.shabak.gov.il/English/EnTerrorData/Reports/Pages/Report0114.aspx |title=Monthly summary – January 2014 |access-date=9 February 2016 |archive-date=27 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141027105011/http://www.shabak.gov.il/English/EnTerrorData/Reports/Pages/Report0114.aspx |url-status=dead }}</ref> compared to 55 rocket attacks in whole 2013.<ref name=Shabak2013 />

As occasional rocket fire continued, the blockade of Gaza continued in direct violation of the ceasefire agreement.<ref name="economist-two-big">{{cite news |url=https://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21607895-hamas-wants-two-big-concessions-it-may-not-get-them-why-hamas-fires-those-rockets |title=Conditions for a ceasefire: Why Hamas fires those rockets |newspaper=The Economist |access-date=22 July 2014 |date=19 July 2014}}</ref> "Crossings were repeatedly shut and buffer zones were reinstated. Imports declined, exports were blocked, and fewer Gazans were given exit permits to Israel and the West Bank."<ref name="nathanthrall" />

Israel halted construction material going to Gaza after it stated that it had discovered a tunnel leading into Israel, some 300&nbsp;m from a [[kibbutz]]. The IDF said it was the third tunnel discovered that year and that the previous two were packed with explosives.<ref>{{cite web |last=Borschel |first=Amanda |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/hamas-terror-tunnel-found-running-from-gaza-to-israel |title=IDF blames Hamas for 'terror tunnel' from Gaza to Israel |work=The Times of Israel |date=13 October 2013 |access-date=12 August 2014}}</ref>
[[File:Weapons Found in Khan Yunis, Gaza (14736403021).jpg|thumb|Some of the weapons captured in Khan Yunis.]]
According to the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, there were 85 rocket attacks in the first five months of 2014.<ref>{{cite web |title=Rocket fire from Gaza and Palestinian ceasefire violations after Operation Cast Lead (January 2009) |url=http://mfa.gov.il/mfa/foreignpolicy/terrorism/pages/palestinian_ceasefire_violations_since_end_operation_cast_lead.aspx |publisher=Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs |access-date=2 August 2014}}</ref> Most of the 85 rockets were fired in March, after the IDF killed 3 members of Islamic Jihad. The members of the PIJ say they were firing rockets in response to an incursion by Israeli tanks and bulldozers into Gazan territory east of the Khan Yunis area.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Sterman |first1=Adiv |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/gazans-pelt-southern-israel-with-massive-rocket-barrage/ |title=Gaza terrorists bombard southern Israel in massive rocket attack |work=The Times of Israel |date=11 March 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Fiske |first1=Gavriel |author2-link=Agence France-Presse |last2=AFP |title=Three Islamic Jihad operatives killed by IDF fire in Gaza |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/three-islamic-jihad-operatives-killed-by-idf-fire-in-gaza/ |newspaper=The Times of Israel |date=11 March 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mezan.org/en/details.php?id=18497&ddname=IOF&id_dept=9&p=center |title=Al Mezan Condemns the Israeli Escalation on Gaza and Calls on the International Community to Intervene |publisher=Al Mezan Center for Human Rights |date=12 March 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140826114623/http://www.mezan.org/en/details.php?id=18497&ddname=IOF&id_dept=9&p=center |archive-date=26 August 2014}}</ref> The IDF said they were conducting routine military patrols near the Gaza border when they came under fire, and thus responded with airstrikes.<ref>[http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4497657,00.html IAF strike kills 3 Gaza terrorists in response to mortar shells fire], Yoav Zitun, Elior Levy, 11 March 2014, ynetnews</ref><ref>Tzvi Ben-Gedalyahu, [http://www.jewishpress.com/news/idf-kills-three-terrorists-immediately-after-mortar-shell-attack/2014/03/11 "IDF Kills Three Terrorists Immediately after Mortar Shell Attack"], 11 March 2014.</ref>

=== Second Hamas–Fatah reconciliation ===
{{See also|Palestinian Government of 2014}}
Leading up to the collapse of the [[2013–14 Israeli–Palestinian peace talks]], in the face of Netanyahu's perceived reluctance to make desired concessions, [[Mahmoud Abbas]] decided to forge a deal with Hamas.<ref name="Sharon">Assaf Sharon, [http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2014/sep/25/failure-gaza "Failure in Gaza"], ''[[New York Review of Books]]'', 25 September 2014, pp. 20–24.</ref> With its alliance with Syria and Iran weakened, the [[2013 Egyptian coup d'état|loss of power by the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt after a coup d'ètat in Egypt]], and the economic impact of the closure of its Rafah tunnels by [[Abdel Fattah el-Sisi]],<ref name="Sharon" /> on 23 April 2014, ending seven divisive years, Hamas agreed to reconciliation under a unity government with the other main Palestinian faction, [[Fatah]].<ref name="Rabbani">[[Mouin Rabbani]], [http://www.lrb.co.uk/v36/n15/mouin-rabbani/israel-mows-the-lawn 'Israel mows the lawn'], ''[[London Review of Books]]'', Vol. 36 No 15, 31 July 2014, p. 8.</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Profile: Hamas Palestinian movement |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-13331522 |work=BBC News |access-date=14 July 2014}}</ref> The government accepted by Hamas was to be run exclusively by PNA technocrats.<ref name="Sharon" />

This [[Palestinian government of 2014|Palestinian unity government]] was sworn in by 2 June 2014<ref>{{cite web |last=Beaumont |first=Peter |title=Palestinian unity government of Fatah and Hamas sworn in |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/02/palestinian-unity-government-sworn-in-fatah-hamas |website=The Guardian |date=2 June 2014 |access-date=13 July 2014}}</ref><ref name=Deal>{{cite news |last=Lyfield |first=Ben |title=Middle East peace: Deal between Palestinian political groups Fatah and Hamas casts doubt on faltering talks with Israel |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/middle-east-peace-deal-between-palestinian-political-groups-fatah-and-hamas-casts-doubt-on-faltering-talks-with-israel-9278684.html?origin=internalSearch |website=The Independent |access-date=13 July 2014 |location=London |date=23 April 2014}}</ref> and Israel announced it would not negotiate any peace deal with the new government and would push punitive measures.<ref>{{cite web |last=Dalia |first=Hatuqa |title=Palestinians form consensus government |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/06/palestinians-set-swear-unity-government-20146281348223961.html |website=Aljazeera |access-date=13 July 2014}}</ref> Netanyahu took Palestinian unity as a threat rather than an opportunity.<ref name="Sharon" /><ref name="Heyer">Julia Amalia Heyer, [http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/interview-with-former-israeli-security-chief-yuval-diskin-a-982094.html 'Ex-Israeli Security Chief Diskin: All the Conditions Are There for an Explosion'], ''[[Der Spiegel]]'', 24 July 2014: 'It was a mistake by Netanyahu to attack the unity government between Hamas and Fatah under the leadership of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Israel should have been more sophisticated in the way it reacted.'</ref> On the eve of the agreement he stated that the proposed reconciliation would "strengthen terrorism", and called on the international community to avoid embracing it.<ref>{{cite news |last=Daniel |first=Estrin |title=If you recognise new Palestinian government you support terrorism, Benjamin Netanyahu tells world leaders |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/if-you-recognise-palestinian-government-you-support-terrorism-benjamin-netanyahu-tells-world-leaders-9468161.html?origin=internalSearch |website=The Independent |access-date=13 July 2014 |location=London |date=1 June 2014}}</ref> Most of the outside world, including the European Union, Russia, China, India, Turkey, France and the United Kingdom, proved cautiously optimistic, and subsequently expressed their support for new arrangement. The United States, more skeptical, announced it would continue to work with the PNA-directed unity government.<ref>Mitchell Plitnick,[http://www.ipsnews.net/2014/06/palestinian-unity-causing-political-ripples-in-washington "Palestinian Unity Causing Political Ripples in Washington"], [[Inter Press Service]] 2 June 2014.</ref> Israel itself suspended negotiations with the PNA<ref>[http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/04/palestine-hamas-fatah-mahmoud-abbas.html "Abbas goes big with Hamas deal; the Temple Mount fault line"], ''[[Al-Monitor]]'', 26 April 2014</ref> and, just after<ref>[https://www.reuters.com/article/us-palestinian-israelstrike-idUSBREA3M17520140423 "Israeli air strike in Gaza wounds 12: medical officials"], [[Reuters]], 23 April 2014.</ref> the announcement, launched an airstrike, which missed its target and wounded a family of three bystanders.<ref name=Deal /><ref name=Barzak>{{cite news |last=Barzak |first=Ibrahim |agency=Associated Press |url=http://www.thedalleschronicle.com/news/2014/apr/23/gaza-official-israeli-airstrike-wounds-3 |title=Gaza official: Israeli airstrike wounds 3 |website=The Dalles Chronicle |access-date=16 July 2014 |archive-date=5 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140805040701/http://www.thedalleschronicle.com/news/2014/apr/23/gaza-official-israeli-airstrike-wounds-3/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> Netanyahu had warned before the deal that it would be incompatible with Israeli–Palestinian peace and that Abbas had to choose between peace with Hamas and peace with Israel. When a reconciliation deal was signed, opening the way to the appointment of the new government, Netanyahu chaired a security cabinet which voted to authorise Netanyahu to impose unspecified sanctions against the Palestinian Authority.<ref name=Deal />

On 4 June, the day before [[Naksa Day]], the Israeli Housing and Construction Ministry published tenders for 1,500 settlement units in the West Bank and East Jerusalem in a move Minister [[Uri Ariel]] said was an "appropriate Zionist response to the Palestinian terror government."<ref>{{cite news |title=Israel okays 1,500 West Bank homes in response to Palestinian unity |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-okays-1500-west-bank-homes-in-response-to-palestinian-unity/ |access-date=14 August 2014 |work=TimesofIsrael.com |date=5 June 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Israel to build 1,500 more homes in settlements |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/05/israel-build-more-homes-settlements |access-date=14 August 2014 |work=The Guardian |date=5 June 2014}}</ref> [[Marwan Bishara]], senior political analyst at ''[[Al Jazeera Media Network|Al Jazeera]]'', alleged that Israel had hoped to disrupt the [[Palestinian government of 2014|Palestinian national unity government]] between Fatah and Hamas by its operation.<ref name=conundrum>{{cite web |last=Bishara |first=Marwan |title=The Gaza conundrum: To invade or not to invade |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2014/07/gaza-conundrum-invade-not-invade-20147118252237390.html |website=AlJazeera.com |access-date=13 July 2014}}</ref>

=== Immediate events ===
[[File:Street in Ramallah after IDF raid during Operation Brother’s Keeper June 2014 2.jpg|thumb|Street in [[Ramallah]] after an IDF raid during Operation Brother's Keeper, June 2014{{citation needed|date=August 2014}}]]
[[File:SderotBurningFactory1.JPG|thumbnail|Factory bursts in flames after rocket attack in [[Sderot]], Israel, 28 June 2014<ref>{{cite news |url=http://mfa.gov.il/MFA/ForeignPolicy/Terrorism/Pages/Sderot-factory-destroyed-by-rocket-fire-29-Jun-2014.aspx |title=Sderot factory destroyed by rocket fire |date=29 June 2014 |access-date=10 August 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808054839/http://mfa.gov.il/MFA/ForeignPolicy/Terrorism/Pages/Sderot-factory-destroyed-by-rocket-fire-29-Jun-2014.aspx |archive-date=8 August 2014  }}</ref>]]
On 12 June 2014, [[2014 kidnapping and murder of Israeli teenagers|three Israeli teenagers were abducted in the West Bank]]: Naftali Fraenkel, Gilad Shaer, and Eyal Yifrah. Israel blamed [[Hamas]], with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying that he had "unequivocal proof" that Hamas was involved and that the abduction was linked to Palestinian reconciliation,<ref name="Sharon" /> and the IDF stated that the two men Israel suspected of having kidnapped the teenagers were known members of Hamas.<ref name=CBS2014Jun26>{{cite news |url=http://www.cbsnews.com/news/israel-ids-2-main-suspects-in-teens-disappearance |title=Israel IDs 2 main suspects in teens disappearance |work=[[CBS News]] |date=26 June 2014}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |title=Operation Protective Edge: In extended version of kidnapped teens call to police, murderers heard singing in celebration |url=http://www.jpost.com/Operation-Brothers-Keeper/In-extended-version-of-kidnapped-teens-call-to-police-murderers-heard-singing-in-celebration-361270 |newspaper=[[The Jerusalem Post]]|date=2 July 2014 }}</ref> No evidence of Hamas involvement was offered by Israeli authorities at the time.<ref name="nathanthrall" /><ref name="Sharon" /><ref name=Islamist_group_blame>Robert Tait. [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/10901225/Hamas-kidnapping-Islamist-group-to-blame-for-youths-kidnapping-Benjamin-Netanyahu-says.html "Hamas kidnapping: Islamist group to blame for youths' 'kidnapping', Benjamin Netanyahu says"], ''The Telegraph'', 15 June 2014.</ref> High-ranking members of Hamas denied the group had any involvement in the incident,<ref name=20140615TOI>{{cite news |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-rounds-up-senior-hamas-men-in-the-west-bank |title=Israel rounds up senior Hamas men in West Bank sweep |date=15 June 2014 |work=The Times of Israel |access-date=15 June 2014}}</ref> and ex-[[Shin Bet]] chief [[Yuval Diskin]] doubted Hamas had any involvement.<ref name="Heyer" /> The Palestinian Authority in the West Bank attributed the abductions to the [[Qawasameh tribe|Qawasameh clan]], notorious for acting against Hamas's policies and any attempts to reach an [[:wikt:entente|entente]] with Israel.<ref name=rogue>Shlomi Eldar [https://web.archive.org/web/20140630191535/http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/06/qawasmeh-clan-hebron-hamas-leadership-mahmoud-abbas.html "Accused kidnappers are actually rogue Hamas branch"], ''[[Al-Monitor]]'', 29 June 2014.</ref> Hamas political chief Khaled Meshal said he could neither confirm nor deny the kidnapping of the three Israelis, but congratulated the abductors.<ref name=Haaretz>{{cite news |url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.600759#! |title=Hamas chief lauds abductors of Israeli teens, says has no new information |work=Haaretz |access-date=23 June 2014}}</ref> The kidnappings were condemned by human rights organizations.<ref>{{cite web |title=Abducted Israeli teens must be released, Israel must cease collective punishment of Palestinians |url=http://www.amnesty.ie/news/public-statementabducted-israeli-teens-must-be-released-israel-must-cease-collective-punishment |website=[[Amnesty International]] |access-date=4 October 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141004001043/http://amnesty.ie/news/public-statementabducted-israeli-teens-must-be-released-israel-must-cease-collective-punishment |archive-date=4 October 2014 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Those holding the three yeshiva students must release them at once; Israeli security forces must uphold human rights and avoid collective punishment |url=http://www.btselem.org/press_releases/20140615_the_three_yeshiva_students_must_be_released_at_once |website=[[B'tselem]] |access-date=4 October 2014}}</ref> Documents released by Israel suggest that Hamas member Hussam Qawasmeh organized the kidnappings with $60,000 provided by his brother Mahmoud through a Hamas association in Gaza, after requesting support for a "military operation".<ref>{{cite news |last=Kershner |first=Isabel |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/05/world/middleeast/killing-of-3-israeli-teenagers-loosely-tied-to-hamas-court-documents-show.html?_r=0 |title=New Light on Hamas Role in Killings of Teenagers That Fueled Gaza War |newspaper=The New York Times |date=4 September 2014 |access-date=18 October 2014}}</ref> On 20 August, Saleh al-Arouri, an exiled Hamas leader based in Turkey, claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of the three Israeli teens: "Our goal was to ignite an [[:wikt:intifada|intifada]] in the West Bank and Jerusalem, as well as within the 1948 borders... Your brothers in the [[Al-Qassam Brigades]] carried out this operation to support their imprisoned brothers, who were on a hunger strike... The [[mujahideen]] captured these settlers in order to have a swap deal."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/4437.htm |title=MEMRI: Hamas Leadership Acknowledges Responsibility for Kidnapping Three Israeli Teens |publisher=Memritv.org |access-date=22 August 2014}}</ref> Palestinian security forces said the kidnappings were organized by Saleh al-Arouri.<ref>{{cite news |last=Issacharoff |first=Avi |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-arrests-suspected-ringleader-of-cell-that-nabbed-teens/ |title=Israel arrests suspected ringleader of cell that killed teens |newspaper=The Times of Israel |date=5 August 2014 |access-date=17 October 2014}}</ref> Khalid Meshaal, head in exile of Hamas's political wing since 2004, acknowledged that Hamas members were responsible, but stated that its political leaders had no prior knowledge of the abduction, were not involved in military details and learnt of it through the ensuing Israeli investigations. He also said that while Hamas was opposed to targeting civilians, he understood that Palestinians "frustrated with oppression" were exercising a "legitimate [[right to resist|right of resistance]]" against the occupation by undertaking such operations.<ref>[http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.612039 'Hamas: We wouldn't target civilians if we had better weapons,'] [[Haaretz]] 23 August 2014.</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Isikoff |first=Michael |url=https://news.yahoo.com/in-personal-plea--top-hamas-leader-calls-on-obama-to-stop--holocaust--in-gaza-180315615.html |title=In personal plea, top Hamas leader calls on Obama to stop 'holocaust' in Gaza |work=Yahoo! News |date=25 August 2014 |access-date=2 September 2014}} "justified the killings as a legitimate action against Israelis on "occupied" lands."</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Hamas leader: Don't compare us to ISIL |url=https://news.yahoo.com/hamas-leader--don-t-compare-us-to-isil-193125056.html |website=Yahoo News |date=22 August 2014 |access-date=19 October 2014}}</ref> Israel states that the IDF and the Shin Bet have foiled between 54<ref>{{cite news |first=Asmaa |last=al-Ghoul |url=https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2014/06/19/could-kidnapping-of-israeli-boys-lead-to-intifada |title=Could Kidnapping of Israeli Boys Lead to Intifada? |newspaper=[[U.S. News & World Report]] |date=19 June 2014}}</ref> and 64 kidnapping plots since 2013. The PA said it had foiled 43 of them.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/abbas-calls-on-netanyahu-to-condemn-palestinian-deaths |title=Abbas calls on Netanyahu to condemn Palestinian deaths |newspaper=[[The Times of Israel]] |date=22 June 2014}}</ref>

Withholding evidence in its possession suggesting that the teens had been killed immediately until 1 July,<ref name="Sharon" /><ref name="Goldberg1"/><ref name="Israel won">{{cite journal |last=Ceren |first=Omri |title=Yes, Israel Won in Gaza |journal=[[Commentary (magazine)|Commentary]] |volume=138 |number=3 |date=October 2014 |pages=13–17}}</ref> Israel launched [[Operation Brother's Keeper]], a large-scale crackdown of what it called Hamas's terrorist infrastructure and personnel in the West Bank,<ref name=20140617Algemeiner>{{cite news |url=http://www.algemeiner.com/2014/06/17/idf-seizes-hundreds-of-weapons-in-nablus-as-operation-brother%E2%80%99s-keeper-enters-5th-day-video |title=IDF Seizes Hundreds of Weapons in Nablus, as Operation 'Brother's Keeper' Enters 5th Day |date=17 June 2014 |work=[[Algemeiner Journal]] |access-date=7 July 2014}}</ref> ostensibly aimed at securing the release of the kidnapped teenagers. During the operation, 11 Palestinians were killed and 51 wounded in 369 Israeli incursions into the West Bank through to 2 July,<ref name="Leas">James Marc Leas, [http://www.councilforthenationalinterest.org/new/attack-first-kill-first-and-claim-self-defense/#.VN9NFE05Dcs 'Attack First, Kill First and Claim Self-Defense: Palestine Subcommittee Submission to UN Independent Commission of Inquiry on the 2014 Gaza Conflict,'] [[Council for the National Interest]] 21 January 2015.</ref><ref name=Maannews1 /><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/26/hunt-missing-israeli-boys-recriminations |title=Hunt for missing Israeli boys stirs up familiar recriminations |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date=26 June 2014}}</ref><ref name="independent140620">{{cite news |url=http://www.independent.ie/world-news/teenager-killed-in-students-hunt-30370736.html |title=Teenager killed in students hunt |agency=Associated Press |date=20 June 2014 |publisher=independent.ie |access-date=20 October 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.dailynewsegypt.com/2014/07/03/murder-palestinian-teen-abu-khudeir-condemned |title=Murder of Palestinian teen, Abu Khudeir, condemned |work=[[Daily News Egypt]] |date=3 July 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714190919/http://www.dailynewsegypt.com/2014/07/03/murder-palestinian-teen-abu-khudeir-condemned/ |archive-date=14 July 2014}}</ref> and between 350 and 600 Palestinians,<ref name=20140615TOI /><ref name=Maannews1>{{cite news |work=Maan News |url=http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=714820 |title=100 Palestinians killed in Israeli assault on Sunday alone |date=21 July 2014 |access-date=16 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140730054343/http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=714820 |archive-date=30 July 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Raphael |last=Ahren |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/is-israels-operation-to-find-kidnapped-teens-a-war-crime |title=Is Israel's operation to find kidnapped teens a war crime? |newspaper=[[The Times of Israel]] |date=23 June 2014 |access-date=16 August 2014}}</ref><ref name=Zitun>{{cite news |first=Yoav |last=Zitun |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4531266,00.html |title=Operation Bring Back Our Brothers: IDF arrests 200, shift focus to Nablus |work=[[Ynetnews]] |date=17 June 2014}}</ref> including nearly all of Hamas's West Bank leaders,<ref name="JPostJun2014">{{cite news |date=16 June 2014 |title=Watch: West Bank Hamas leadership in Israeli custody |url=http://www.jpost.com/Pillar-of-Defense/Entire-Hamas-leadership-in-West-Bank-in-Israeli-custody-some-may-be-deported-359462 |work=The Jerusalem Post}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/105345/World/Region/Israel-commited-serious-violations-in-West-Bank-op.aspx |title=Israel committed serious violations in West Bank operations: HRW |work=[[Al-Ahram]] |date=3 July 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/1-wounded-as-israel-arrests-10-palestinians-in-west-bank-114062600717_1.html |title=1 wounded as Israel arrests 10 Palestinians in West Bank |work=[[Business Standard]] |date=26 June 2014}}</ref> were arrested.<ref>{{cite news |title=Middle East & Africa: Murder of three kidnapped Israeli youths has set dangerous new spate |url=https://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21606288-murder-three-kidnapped-israeli-youths-has-set-dangerous-new-spate |newspaper=The Economist |date=5 July 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Yoav |last=Zitun |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4532764,00.html |title=Rescue units rushed to Hebron, searching wells and caves |publisher=Ynetnews.com |date=21 June 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |first=John B. |last=Judis |url=https://newrepublic.com/article/118630/israel-palestine-murders-cause-criss-will-john-kerry-step |title=John Kerry's First Peace Effort in Israel and Palestine Failed, But Now He Needs to Try Again |newspaper=[[The New Republic]] |date=9 July 2014 |access-date=28 July 2014}}</ref> Among those arrested were many people who had only recently been freed under the terms of the [[Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Crowcroft |first1=Orlando |title=Palestinians freed in 2011 Gilad Shalit prisoner-swap back in custody |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/18/palestinians-freed-2001-gilad-shalit-custody |work=The Guardian |date=18 June 2014}}</ref> Israeli military spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner defended the arrests, stating that Hamas members had carried out 60 abduction attempts on Israelis in the West Bank "in the last year and a half", and that "Hamas does not need to give a direct order."<ref>{{cite web |last=Cheslow |first=Daniella |url=http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2014/07/05/232436/for-family-of-suspect-in-killings.html |title=For family of suspect in killings of 3 teens, opposition to Israel is nothing new |publisher=McClatchy |date=5 June 2014 |access-date=7 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808062029/http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2014/07/05/232436/for-family-of-suspect-in-killings.html |archive-date=8 August 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The arrests yielded no information about the abduction.<ref name="Sharon" /> [[Amnesty International]] and [[Human Rights Watch]] stated that certain aspects of the operation amounted to collective punishment,<ref>{{cite web |title=Israel: Serious Violations in West Bank Operations |date=3 July 2014 |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2014/07/03/israel-serious-violations-west-bank-operations |access-date=23 January 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Abducted Israeli teens must be released, Israel must cease collective punishment of Palestinians |url=http://www.amnesty.ie/news/public-statementabducted-israeli-teens-must-be-released-israel-must-cease-collective-punishment |website=[[Amnesty International]] |access-date=2 October 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141004001043/http://amnesty.ie/news/public-statementabducted-israeli-teens-must-be-released-israel-must-cease-collective-punishment |archive-date=4 October 2014 }}</ref> and B'tselem said in a press release that the actions have caused "disproportionate harm to the basic rights of Palestinians".<ref>{{cite web |title=Human Rights Organizations: "Refrain from Collectively Punishing Palestinians." |url=http://www.btselem.org/press_releases/20140622_joint_release |website=[[B'tselem]] |access-date=2 October 2014}}</ref> During the course of the operation, Israel said it had uncovered a Hamas plot to launch a massive wave of violence throughout the West Bank, with the goal of overthrowing the Palestinian Authority. The purported coup plotters were arrested and their weapons stockpiles were seized<ref>{{cite news |last=Ginsburg |first=Mitch |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/abbas-orders-investigation-into-hamas-coup-plot-revealed-by-israel |title=Abbas orders probe into Hamas coup plot revealed by Israel |newspaper=The Times of Israel |date=19 August 2014 |access-date=17 October 2014}}</ref><ref>cf. {{cite web |last=Weymouth |first=Lally |url=http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/foreigners/2014/10/israeli_defense_minister_moshe_yaalon_on_hamas_isis_syria_and_iran.html |title=In the End, We Should Be Able to Defend Ourselves by Ourselves |publisher=Slate.com |date=24 October 2014 |access-date=25 October 2014}}</ref>

On 30 June, search teams found the bodies of the three missing teenagers near Hebron.<ref name=JPOST_Dead>{{cite news |title=Bodies of three kidnapped Israeli teens found in West Bank |url=http://www.jpost.com/Operation-Brothers-Keeper/Large-number-of-IDF-forces-gather-north-of-Hebron-in-search-for-kidnapped-teens-361048 |work=The Jerusalem Post |date=30 June 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4536378,00.html |title=Security forces find missing teens' bodies in West Bank |work=[[Ynetnews]] |access-date=30 June 2014}}</ref><ref name=bo3ktf>{{cite news |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/bodies-of-three-kidnapped-teens-found |title=Bodies of three kidnapped teens found |newspaper=[[The Times of Israel]] |date=30 June 2014}}</ref> After their burial, an anti-Arab riot broke out, and a [[Kidnapping and murder of Mohammed Abu Khdeir|Palestinian teenager was murdered in revenge]]. His killing sparked Arab rioting.<ref name="The Guardian 7-14">{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/14/three-jewish-israelis-charged-kidnapping-killing-palestinian-boy |title=Three Jewish Israelis admit kidnapping and killing Palestinian boy |date=14 July 2014 |newspaper=The Guardian}}</ref><ref name="Ma'an3">{{cite news |url=http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=710424 |title=Jewish extremists held over Palestinian teen's murder |publisher=[[Ma'an News Agency]] |date=6 July 2014 |access-date=7 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140708203709/http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=710424 |archive-date=8 July 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Israel police arrested six suspects belonging to the [[Beitar Jerusalem F.C.]] supporters' group [[La Familia (Beitar supporters' group)|La Familia]]<ref name="PRI">{{cite web |url=http://www.pri.org/stories/2014-07-07/israel-arrests-right-wing-soccer-fans-revenge-murder-palestinian-boy |title=Israel arrests right-wing soccer fans for the revenge murder of a Palestinian boy |publisher=Public Radio International: The World |date=7 July 2014 |access-date=14 November 2014 |author=Bell, Mathew}}</ref><ref name="IsabelKershner">{{cite news |author=Isabel Kershner |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/03/world/middleeast/israel.html |title=Arab boy's Death Escalates Clash Over Abductions |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=2 July 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140703150926/http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/03/world/middleeast/israel.html |archive-date=3 July 2014 |access-date=6 July 2014}}</ref> and charged three of them with murder.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/name-abu-khdeir-suspect-released/ |title=Adult suspect in Abu Khdeir murder named |author=Aron Dónzis |newspaper=The Times of Israel |date=20 July 2014 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/15/world/middleeast/israeli-youths-murder-called-blueprint-for-revenge.html |title=A Focused Hunt for a Victim to Avenge Israelis' Deaths |author=Isabel Kershner |newspaper=The New York Times |date=14 July 2014}}</ref>

As part of its crackdown and concurrent to rocket fire from Gaza, Israel conducted air strikes against Hamas facilities in the Gaza Strip. Hamas apparently refrained from retaliating, though it did not impede other factions from firing rockets towards Israel.<ref name="Sharon" /> From 1 May to 11 June, six rockets and three mortar shells were launched from Gaza towards Israel. From 12 to 30 June 44 rockets and 3 mortar shells were launched from Gaza. On 29 June, an Israeli airstrike on a rocket crew killed a Hamas operative, while at least 18 rockets were launched from Gaza through the next day by Hamas according to both [[J.J. Goldberg]] and Assaf Sharon,<ref name="Sharon" /> with Goldberg stating that it was the first time Hamas directly launched rockets since the conflict in 2012.<ref name="Goldberg1"/> Overnight, on 30 June – 1 July, Israeli airstrikes struck 34 Gaza targets in what officials stated was a response to the Sunday rocketry,<ref>Nick Logan, [http://globalnews.ca/news/1426608/mourning-military-strikes-after-israeli-teens-found-dead/ 'Mourning, military strikes after Israeli teens found dead'], ''[[Global News]]'', 1 July 2014.</ref> while Stuart Greer reported the strikes were revenge for the deaths of the three youths.<ref>Stuart Greer, [https://news.yahoo.com/video/tensions-rise-israel-following-murder-225301495.html Tensions arise in Israel following murder of teens] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140906223031/http://news.yahoo.com/video/tensions-rise-israel-following-murder-225301495.html |date=6 September 2014 }}, ''[[Yahoo News]]'', 1 July 2014: 'Prime Minister Binjamin Netanyahu vowed Hamas will pay a heavy price. [...] Their bodies were discovered on Monday, after the biggest Israeli ground operation nearly in a decade. Israel's revenge came swiftly with fighters pounding dozens of Hamas targets overnight in Gaza and the West Bank.'</ref> From the day of the abductions on 12 June through 5 July 117 rockets were launched from Gaza and there were approximately 80 Israeli airstrikes on Gaza.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Tzuri |first1=Matan |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4532020,00.html |title=IAF hit Gaza targets after rockets slam into southern Israel |newspaper=Ynetnews |publisher=Ynet |date=19 June 2014 |access-date=3 August 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-israel-palestinians-idUKKBN0F40F220140629 |title=Israel bombs Gaza after rocket attacks, Hamas gunman killed |work=Reuters |date=29 June 2014 |access-date=3 August 2014 |first=Nidal |last=al-Mughrabi}}</ref>

Israel sought a ceasefire but refused to accept Hamas's condition that Palestinians arrested in the West Bank crackdown be released.<ref name="Sharon" /> In a meeting held on 2 July to discuss the crisis, Hamas reportedly tried but failed to persuade armed factions in Gaza to uphold the truce with Israel.<ref>Allison Beth Hodgkins, [http://politicalviolenceataglance.org/2014/07/15/why-hamas-escalated-when-before-they-didnt/ "Why Hamas Escalated, When Before They Didn't,"] Political Violence @ a Glance 15 July 2014: 'there was a meeting in Gaza around 2 July in which Hamas apparently tried to convince the various armed factions to uphold the truce. They failed. The other factions in the meeting saw no reason to uphold a truce, especially since the newly formed government of national consensus decided not to pay the salaries of Gazan civil servants as supposedly promised in the unity deal. The street wanted escalation and so they would have it, calls for moderation be damned.</ref> Following escalating rocket fire from Gaza, Israel issued a warning on 4 July that it "would only be able to sustain militant rocket fire for another 24, or maximum 48, hours before undertaking a major military offensive."<ref>{{cite news |last=Weiss |first=Mark |url=http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/middle-east/israel-issues-warning-as-rocket-fire-maintained-1.1854537 |title=Israel issues warning as rocket fire maintained |newspaper=The Irish Times |date=4 July 2014 |access-date=31 August 2014}}</ref> Hamas declared it was prepared to halt the rocket fire in exchange for an agreement by Israel to stop airstrikes. Netanyahu said Israel would only act against further rocket attacks.<ref>[https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-28156268 'Hamas, ready for Gaza ceasefire' if Israeli raids stop'], [[BBC News]], 4 July 2014.</ref> On 5 July, Hamas official Osama Hamdan said rocket fire would continue until Israel lifted its import restrictions on Gaza and the Palestinian Authority transferred money to pay Hamas civil servants.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Sharon |first1=Itmar |title=Gaza terrorists launch rockets at Beersheba |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/more-rockets-hit-israel-clouding-egyptian-mediated-ceasefire-efforts/ |website=Times of Israel |access-date=20 October 2014}}</ref> Between 4 and 6 July, a total of 62 rockets were fired from Gaza and the IAF attacked several targets in Gaza.<ref name="ynetnews14">[http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4538037,00.html Code red sirens blare in Sderot marking 25th rocket on Friday], Ynet News 4 July 2014</ref><ref name="ynetnews16">[http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4538120,00.html "After a night of silence, IAF attacks three Gaza targets"], Ynet News, 5 July 2014.</ref><ref name="ynetnews17">[http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4538739,00.html "Gaza rockets continue to hit southern Israel"], Ynet News; 6 July 2014.</ref> The following day, Hamas assumed formal responsibility for launching rocket attacks on Israel.<ref name="nathanthrall" /> Hamas increased rocket attacks on Israel,<ref name="economist-two-big" /> and by 7 July had fired 100 rockets from Gaza at Israeli territory; at the same time, the [[Israeli Air Force]] had bombed several sites in Gaza.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/7/7/israel-launched-deadlyairstrikesingaza.html |title=Israel launches military offensive in Gaza |publisher=[[Al Jazeera Media Network|Al-Jazeera]] |date=7 July 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Noam |last=Sheizaf |url=http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/7/8/israeli-palestinianclashesupsettingisraelifaithinstatusquo.html |title=Israeli-Palestinian clashes upsetting Israeli faith in status quo |publisher=[[Al Jazeera Media Network|Al-Jazeera]] |date=7 July 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.603472 |type=live updates |date=7 July 2014 |title=Rockets bombard south, Hamas claims responsibility |work=[[Haaretz]] |access-date=11 July 2014}}</ref> Early on 8 July, the IAF bombed 50 targets in the Gaza Strip.<ref name="pounds-dozens">{{Citation |first1=Spencer |last1=Ho |first2=Yifa |last2=Yaakov |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-pounds-dozens-of-gaza-targets-in-major-counteroffensive |title=Israel hits Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) leaders after rockets land north of Tel Aviv |type=blog |newspaper=[[The Times of Israel]] |date=8 July 2014}}</ref> Israel's military also stopped a militant infiltration from the sea.<ref name="pounds-dozens" /> Brigadier General [[Moti Almoz]], the chief spokesman of the Israeli military, said: "We have been instructed by the political echelon to hit Hamas hard."<ref name="Goldberg1" /> Hamas insisted that Israel end all attacks on Gaza, release those re-arrested during the crackdown in the West Bank, lift the blockade on Gaza and return to the cease-fire conditions of 2012 as conditions for a ceasefire.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=711104 |title=Hamas armed wing sets conditions for ceasefire |publisher=Maannews.net |access-date=22 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140724215525/http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=711104 |archive-date=24 July 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

== Operation timeline ==
{{Main|Timeline of the 2014 Gaza War}}
{{transcluded section|Timeline of the 2014 Gaza War}}
{{#section::Timeline of the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict|Overview}}

== Impact ==

=== On Gaza residents ===
[[File:Israeli Strikes on North Gaza.jpg|thumb|A map showing the location of damage in Gaza<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.unitar.org/unosat/node/44/2041 |title=Damage Assessment in Gaza City, Gaza Strip – Occupied Palestinian Territory |work=UN UNOSAT |date=31 July 2014 |access-date=1 August 2014}}</ref>]]
[[File:20140805 beit hanun8.jpg|thumb|Ruins of buildings in [[Beit Hanoun]], August 2014]]
[[File:Shaymaa al-Masri, five years old, at a-Shifaa Hospital, Gaza. Shaymaa was injured when her uncle’s house was bombed in the early afternoon of 9 July 2014.jpg|thumb|Five-year-old Shaymaa al-Masri was injured on 9 July 2014.<ref>{{cite web |title=Eyes Wide Open: Photo Blog; Gaza Strip, July 2014: A constant state of emergency |url=http://www.btselem.org/photoblog/201407_gaza_strip |website=B'Tselem |access-date=9 August 2014}}</ref>]]
{{As of|2014|7|20}}, hospitals in Gaza were ill-equipped and faced severe shortages of various kinds of medicine, medical supplies, and fuel.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2014/07/10/gaza-hospitals-ill-equipped-for-israeli-onslaught |title=Gaza Hospitals Ill-equipped for Israeli Onslaught |work=U.S. News & World Report |date=10 July 2014 |access-date=11 July 2014}}</ref> In response, Israel set up an [[IDF field hospital for Gazans]] at the Erez Crossing and Egypt temporarily reopened the Rafah crossing with Gaza to allow medical supplies to enter and injured Palestinians to receive treatment in Egypt.<ref name="ForGazans">{{cite news |title=Israel says field hospital at Erez open for Gazans |url=http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=714665 |access-date=27 January 2019 |publisher=[[Ma'an News Agency]] |date=20 July 2014 |archive-date=28 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190128082901/http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=714665 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name=aljaz>{{cite web |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/07/death-toll-climbs-as-israel-bombards-gaza-201471092828483396.html |title=Toll mounts as Israel steps up Gaza air raids |publisher=Al Jazeera English |date=11 July 2014 |access-date=11 July 2014}}</ref> Due to the operation, prices of food, including fish and produce, rose dramatically.<ref name=Ramadan>{{cite news |last=Beaumont |first=Peter |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/11/ramadan-gaza-life-under-missile-fire |title=Ramadan in Gaza: life under missile-fire |work=The Guardian |access-date=12 July 2014}}</ref> A 21 July news report stated that over 83,000 Palestinians had taken shelter in UN facilities.<ref name="CNN-crisis">{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/2014/07/21/world/meast/mideast-crisis |title=Deaths mount in Gaza and Israel as U.S. pushes cease-fire |publisher=CNN.com |date=21 July 2014 |access-date=22 July 2014}}</ref> Fatah officials accused Hamas of mishandling humanitarian aid meant for civilians. According to them, Hamas took the aid, which included clothing, mattresses, medicine, water, and food, and distributed it among Hamas members or sold it on the black market for profit.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Fatah-blasts-Hamas-over-crimes-during-Gaza-operation-372831 |title=Fatah blasts Hamas for stealing humanitarian aid during Gaza operation |date=30 August 2014 |access-date=30 September 2014}}</ref><ref name="hamas-fatah-tensions" />

According to the [[United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs]] (OCHA), over 273,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip had been displaced as of 31 July 2014, of whom 236,375 (over eleven percent of the Gazan population) were taking shelter in 88 UNRWA schools. UNRWA exhausted its capacity to absorb displaced persons, and overcrowding in shelters risked the outbreak of epidemics. 1.8&nbsp;million people were affected by a halt or reduction of the water supply, 138 schools and 26 health facilities<ref name=OCHA1 /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/07/gaza-toll-passes-100-as-israel-raids-continue-2014711104221774156.html |title=Gaza toll passes 105 as Israel raids continue |publisher=Aljazeera.com |date=11 July 2014 |access-date=17 July 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/gaza-conflict-israel-hamas-both-committing-war-crimes-un-official-says-1.2723446 |title=Gaza conflict: Israel, Hamas both committing war crimes, UN official says |publisher=Cbc.ca |access-date=2 August 2014 |date=31 July 2014}}</ref> were damaged, 872 homes were totally destroyed or severely damaged, and the homes of 5,005 families were damaged but still inhabitable. Throughout the Gaza Strip, people received only 2 hours of electricity per day. Power outage had an immediate effect on the public health situation and reduced water and sanitation services, with hospitals becoming dependent on generators. On 2 September, UNRWA reported that 58,217 people were sheltering in 31 of their school buildings, a fifth of their buildings.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.unrwa.org/newsroom/emergency-reports/gaza-situation-report-56 |title=Gaza Situation Report 56 |work=UNRWA |access-date=30 September 2014}}</ref>

OCHA estimated that at least 373,000 children required [[psychosocial support]].<ref name="OCHA" /> "Intense overcrowding, compounded by the limited access of humanitarian staff to certain areas, is increasingly undermining the living conditions at many shelters and raising protection concerns. Water supply has been particularly challenging..."<ref>{{cite web |title=Occupied Palestinian Territory: Gaza emergency: Humanitarian Snapshot (as of 22 July 2014) |url=http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/humanitarian_Snapshot_23July2014_oPt_V1.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140727103308/http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/humanitarian_Snapshot_23July2014_oPt_V1.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=27 July 2014 |publisher=UN OCHA |date=22 July 2014 }}</ref> More than 485,000 [[internally displaced person]]s were in need of emergency food assistance.<ref name="OCHA1" />

Gaza City, home to 500,000, suffered damage to 20–25% of its housing. [[Beit Hanoun]], with 70% of its housing stock damaged, is considered uninhabitable, with 30,000 residents there in need of accommodation. The only power station in the Strip was damaged on 29 July, and the infrastructure of power transmission lines and sewage pumps was severely damaged, with a major sewage pipe catering to 500,000 badly damaged. Among the infrastructure targeted and destroyed by Israel's bombing campaign were 220 factories in various industrial zones, including a major carpentry enterprise, construction companies, a major biscuit factory, dairy farms and livestock, a candy manufacturer, the orange groves of Beit Hanoun, Gaza's largest mosques, and several TV stations. Farms, as a consequence of damage or the presence of unexploded ordnance dropped during the conflict, are often inaccessible, and the damage to agriculture was estimated at over $200&nbsp;million. 10 out of 26 hospitals closed.<ref>Martin Lejeune, [http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=721265 'Touring the devastated industrial zones of Gaza'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141020152836/http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=721265 |date=20 October 2014 }}, [[Ma'an News Agency]], 18 August 2014.</ref><ref name="theguardian.com">Jason Burke, [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/11/damage-gaza-homes-israel-hamas-conflict 'Gaza homes 'uninhabitable' as tens of thousands come back to rubble'], ''The Guardian'', 11 August 2014.</ref><ref name="make-us-dependent">{{cite news |last1=Tait |first1=Robert |title='They want to make us dependent on aid' – Gaza's economy ruined by Israeli shelling |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/gaza/11007914/They-want-to-make-us-dependent-on-aid-Gazas-economy-ruined-by-Israeli-shelling.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/gaza/11007914/They-want-to-make-us-dependent-on-aid-Gazas-economy-ruined-by-Israeli-shelling.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |location=UK |date=2 August 2014 |access-date=19 August 2014}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

According to the Palestinian Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs, 203 mosques were damaged during the war, with 73 being destroyed completely.<ref name="Heritage destroyed">{{cite web |last=Nafi |first=Ahmad |url=https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/articles/middle-east/14041-the-ancient-mosques-of-gaza-in-ruins-how-israels-war-endangered-palestines-cultural-heritage |title=The ancient mosques of Gaza in ruins: How Israel's war endangered Palestine's cultural heritage |publisher=Middle East Monitor |date=10 September 2014 |access-date=17 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141025113040/https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/articles/middle-east/14041-the-ancient-mosques-of-gaza-in-ruins-how-israels-war-endangered-palestines-cultural-heritage |archive-date=25 October 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Two of Gaza's three Christian churches were also damaged, with the third suffering some damage to peripheral buildings owned by the parish.<ref name="Heritage destroyed" /> In the light of the damage to mosques, Manuel Musallam informed Muslims they could call their prayers from Christian churches.<ref>[http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/gazas-christians-and-muslims-grow-closer-defiance-israeli-attacks-372261379 'Gaza's Christians and Muslims grow closer in defiance of Israeli attacks,'] [[Middle East Eye]] 30 July 2014:"When they destroy your mosques, call your prayers from our churches".'</ref> Some of the mosques were described as "historic"; one was 700 years old and another was 500 years old.<ref>{{cite news|title=Gaza's Casualties Of War Include Its Historic Mosques|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2014/08/12/339828441/gazas-casualties-of-war-include-its-historic-mosques|publisher=NPR}}</ref> In contrast to Operation Pillar of Defensive, which did not damage a single mosque{{clarify|note=there is independent evidence that many mosques were damaged|date=October 2023}}, Israel maintained that Hamas had a routine military use of mosques and that made them legitimate military targets. According to the IDF, 160 rockets were launched from mosques during the war.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/israel-gaza-conflict-2014/1.610540 |title=IDF, Hamas duel over massive damage to Gaza mosques |newspaper=[[Haaretz]] |date=14 August 2014 |access-date=17 October 2014}}</ref><ref name="Church rockets" /> It also stated that mosques were used for weapon storage, tunnel entrances, training and gathering of militants.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.idfblog.com/blog/2014/08/01/hamas-holy-places-in-gaza-as-terrorist-facilities |title=Hamas Uses Holy Places in Gaza as Terrorist Facilities |access-date=20 October 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141026132213/http://www.idfblog.com/blog/2014/08/01/hamas-holy-places-in-gaza-as-terrorist-facilities/ |archive-date=26 October 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.612455 |title=Mosques used for military operations, say Hamas POWs |date=26 August 2014 |work=Haaretz.com |access-date=20 October 2014}}</ref> In one Associated Press report, residents denied that mosques damaged by Israeli forces had been used for military purposes.<ref name="fox news">{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->s |title=Israeli shelling of Gaza mosques targets Hamas' capabilities, but also hurts social fabric |url=http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/08/12/israeli-shelling-gaza-mosques-targets-hamas-capabilities-but-also-hurts-social/ |agency=[[Fox News]] |date=12 August 2014}}</ref>

The UN calculated that more than 7,000 homes for 10,000 families were razed, together with an additional 89,000 homes damaged, of which roughly 10,000 were severely affected by the bombing.<ref name="ynetnews.com" /> Rebuilding costs were calculated to run from 4–6&nbsp;billion dollars, over 20 years.<ref name="haaretz.com" />

=== On Israeli residents ===
[[File:Operation Protective Edge (14665449614).jpg|thumb|upright|A kindergarten in central Israel during a rocket attack.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/idfonline/14665449614/ |title=IDF Flickr account |work=Flickr |date=16 July 2014 |access-date=30 September 2014}}</ref>]]
[[File:Shelter sign in Ben Gurion Airport during Operation Protective Edge.jpg|thumb|upright|One of the shelter signs that were placed in the [[Ben Gurion Airport]] because of the rocket attacks on Israel.<ref name=ynetnumbers />]]
Hamas and other Islamist groups in Gaza fired rockets and mortars at Israeli towns and villages. Despite Israel's use of the Iron Dome missile defense systems, six civilians were killed, including an Arab Israeli and a [[Thailand|Thai]] civilian worker.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-28439404|title=Gaza crisis: Toll of operations in Gaza|work=BBC News|date=September 2014|access-date=5 November 2019}}</ref> An Israeli teen was seriously injured in a rocket strike in the city of Ashkelon.<ref>[http://www.jewishexponent.com/headlines/2014/07/rocket-seriously-injures-israeli-teen-in-ashkelon-dual-citizens-leave-gaza "Rocket seriously injures Israeli teen in Ashkelon"], JewishExponent.com, July 2014; accessed 23 November 2014.</ref> Medical health professionals have noted that Israeli teens prone to mental health problems suffer increasingly during both short-term and long-term conflicts. Experts have identified a number of mental health symptoms which rise during conflict, including anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, interpersonal sensitivity, phobias, and paranoia. There is some doubt whether these issues will dissipate after the conflict is resolved.<ref>"[http://www.timesofisrael.com/long-conflict-wears-on-teen-psyche-14-year-study Israeli teens' mental health worsens when Arab-Israeli conflict does]." ''The Times of Israel'', 4 August 2014.</ref>

Rocket attacks from Gaza caused damage to Israeli civilian infrastructure, including factories, gas stations, and homes.<ref>[http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.604437 "Rocket caused massive damage to the gas station, and a fire has broken out"], ''Haaretz'', 12 July 2014.</ref>

At the onset of the operation, the Israeli government cancelled all programs within {{convert|40|km|mi|abbr=on}} of Gaza, and requested all people stay at home or near shelter. All summer camps were closed and universities cancelled their final exams.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/as-israel-grapples-with-homegrown-killers-violence-continues |title=Israel launches 'Protective Edge' counteroffensive on Gaza, Jewish suspects reenact teen's murder |work=Timesofisrael.com |access-date=8 July 2014}}</ref> Additionally, all gatherings of 300 or more people were banned.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/09/world/middleeast/israel-steps-up-offensive-against-hamas-in-gaza.html |title=Israel Steps Up Offensive Against Hamas in Gaza |work=The New York Times |access-date=8 July 2014 |first1=Steven |last1=Erlanger |first2=Isabel |last2=Kershner |date=8 July 2014}}</ref> Due to the trajectory of rocket fire from Gaza, many flights in and out of [[Ben-Gurion Airport]] were delayed or rerouted.<ref>{{cite web |author=Lori Lowenthal Marcus |url=http://www.jewishpress.com/news/breaking-news/rocket-sirens-in-tel-aviv-and-ben-gurion-airport/2014/07/13 |title=Rocket Sirens in Tel Aviv and Ben Gurion Airport |publisher=The Jewish Press |date=13 July 2014 |access-date=17 July 2014}}</ref> and flights to Ben-Gurion airport [[2014 Ben Gurion Airport flight bans|were interrupted for some days]] after a Hamas rocket struck an area in its vicinity. Hamas called the FAA flight ban a "great victory".<ref>{{cite web|access-date=2020-01-12|title=World suspension of Israel flights a 'great victory': Hamas|url=http://news.yahoo.com/world-suspension-israel-flights-great-victory-hamas-161508458.html|website=news.yahoo.com}}</ref> [[Michael Ross (Mossad officer)|Michael Ross]] wrote that the decision was driven by anxiety and caused considerably more damage than the potential danger it prevented.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.blogsofwar.com/u-s-and-european-airlines-halt-flights-to-tel-aviv |title=U.S. and European Airlines Halt Flights to Tel Aviv. Disrupting Civil Aviation Just Got Much Easier |author=Blogs of War |date=22 July 2014 |access-date=8 November 2014}}</ref>

About 4,600 claims for direct damage and 28,000 for indirect damage such as missed work days were submitted to Israel's Tax Authority, which paid ₪133&nbsp;million for direct damage and ₪1.51&nbsp;billion for indirect damage.<ref name=ynetnumbers /><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.globes.co.il/en/article-nis-2b-invested-in-israeli-region-bordering-gaza-1001076583 |title=NIS 2b invested in Israeli region bordering Gaza |date=28 October 2015 |access-date=23 April 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.inn.co.il/News/News.aspx/308667 |title=נזקי 'צוק איתן': 1.64 מיליארד שח |date=27 October 2015 |access-date=23 April 2017}}</ref>

The Bedouin communities in the Negev, living in many habitations built illegally and unrecognised by the Israeli government, were classified as "open areas" and so their 200,000 residents did not have warning sirens or anti-rocket protection.<ref>{{cite news |author1=Jack Khoury |author2=Shirly Seidler |author3=Gili Cohen |title=Bedouin in south unprotected from rocket fire |newspaper=Haaretz |date=16 July 2014 |url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.605416 |access-date=22 November 2014}}</ref>

In Israel, an estimated 5,000<ref name="mughrabinidal" /> to 8,000<ref name="israelsouthhomes">{{cite news |last1=Heller |first1=Aron |title=Southern Israelis cautiously prepare to head home |url=http://bigstory.ap.org/article/southern-israelis-cautiously-prepare-head-home |access-date=31 August 2014 |agency=Associated Press |date=6 August 2014 |archive-date=3 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140903103256/http://bigstory.ap.org/article/southern-israelis-cautiously-prepare-head-home |url-status=dead }}</ref> citizens temporarily fled their homes due to the threat of rocketry from Gaza.<ref name="mughrabinidal">Nidal al-Mughrabi and Allyn Fisher-Ilan.[http://www.mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN0G907R20140810?irpc=932 "Israel, Palestinians launch new three-day truce"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150626172944/http://www.mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN0G907R20140810?irpc=932 |date=26 June 2015 }}, Reuters; 10 August 2014.</ref> The economic cost of the operation is estimated at NIS 8.5&nbsp;billion (approximately US$2.5&nbsp;billion) and GDP loss of 0.4%.<ref name="IsraelLoss" /> At the conclusion of hostilities 3,000–3,700 claims for damages had been submitted by Israelis, and $41&nbsp;million paid out for property damage and missed work days.<ref name=ynetnumbers /> Reconstruction costs were estimated at $11&nbsp;million.<ref>[https://money.cnn.com/2014/08/29/news/economy/gaza-rebuilding-cost/ 'The economic cost of the war in Gaza], [[CNN News]] 29 August 2014</ref>

=== Casualties and losses ===

==== Palestinian ====
{{further|List of Israeli strikes and Palestinian casualties in the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict}}
Reports of casualties in the conflict have been made available by a variety of sources. Most media accounts have used figures provided by the government in Gaza or non-governmental organizations.<ref>{{cite news |last=Farhi |first=Paul |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/reporters-grapple-with-politics-erratic-sources-in-reporting-israeligaza-death-toll/2014/08/04/c02ab282-1c10-11e4-ae54-0cfe1f974f8a_story.html |title=Reporters grapple with politics, erratic sources in reporting Israeli/Gaza death toll |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=4 August 2014 |access-date=12 August 2014}}</ref>

Current reports of the proportion of those killed who were civilians/militants are incomplete, and real-time errors, intentional data manipulation, and diverse methodologies produce notable variations in various sides' figures.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/Data/articles/Art_20695/E_134f_14_1598950107.pdf |title=Examination of the names of Palestinians killed in Operation Protective Edge – Part Two |date=5 August 2014 |publisher=Israeli Intelligence & Heritage Commemoration Center |access-date=11 August 2014}}</ref><ref name=nytimes_methodology>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/06/world/middleeast/civilian-or-not-new-fight-in-tallying-the-dead-from-the-gaza-conflict.html?_r=0 |title=Civilian or Not? New Fight in Tallying the Dead From the Gaza Conflict |date=5 August 2014 |work=The New York Times |access-date=11 August 2014 |first=Jodi |last=Rudoren}}</ref><ref name=BBCdisputeCasualties>{{cite news |last=Reuben |first=Anthony |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-28688179 |title=Caution needed with Gaza casualty figures |work=BBC News |date=11 August 2014 |access-date=12 August 2014}}</ref> For example, the Hamas-run Interior Ministry has issued instructions for activists to always refer to casualties as "innocent civilians" or "innocent citizens" in internet posts.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-28292908 |title=Hamas and Israel step up cyber battle for hearts and minds |work=BBC News |access-date=23 October 2014 |date=15 July 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/8076.htm#_ednref1 |title=Hamas Interior Ministry To Social Media Activists: Always Call The Dead 'Innocent Civilians'; Don't Post Photos of Rockets Being Fired From Civilian Population Centers |work=MEMRI – The Middle East Media Research Institute |access-date=23 October 2014}}</ref> However, [[B'Tselem]] has stated that after the various groups finish their investigations, their figures are likely to end up about the same.<ref name="yahooDisputeCasulaties">{{cite news |last1=Laub |first1=Karin |last2=AlHou |first2=Yousur |title=In Gaza, dispute over civilian vs combatant deaths |url=https://news.yahoo.com/gaza-dispute-over-civilian-vs-combatant-deaths-181755421.html |access-date=29 August 2014 |work=Yahoo News |agency=Associated Press |date=8 August 2014}}</ref> UNICEF and the Gaza Health Ministry reported that from 8 July to 2 August 296–315 Palestinian children died due to Israeli action, and 30% of civilian casualties were children;<ref name="ynet296">{{cite news |title=UNICEF: At least 296 children, teenagers killed in Gaza op |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4553654,00.html |work=Ydeiot Ahronot |date=2 August 2014}}</ref><ref name="haaretz296-315">{{cite web |title=LIVE UPDATES: Israel will no longer negotiate for cease-fire, cabinet decides |url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.608426 |work=Haaretz |date=2 August 2014}}</ref> by 27 August, the total number of children killed had risen to 495<ref name="OCHA" />–578,<ref name="ministry">{{cite web|url=http://www.imemc.org/article/68969|title=Ministry of Health: "2145 Palestinians, Including 578, Killed In Israel's Aggression"|date=27 August 2014 |access-date=30 September 2014}}</ref> according to [[OCHA]] and the Gaza Health Ministry. In March 2015, OCHA reported that 2,220 Palestinians had been killed, of whom 1,492 were civilians (551 children and 299 women), 605 militants and 123 of unknown status.<ref name="OCHA2015">[http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/annual_humanitarian_overview_2014_english_final.pdf ''Fragmented Lives: Humanitarian Overview, 2014''] [[OCHA]] March 2015.</ref> According to Israeli-based research group [[Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center|Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Centre (ITIC)]], which has ties to the Israeli military, 48.7% of the identified casualties were militants<ref name="partten" /> and in some cases children and women participated in military operations.<ref name="parteight">{{cite web |url=http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/Data/articles/Art_20753/E_200_14_172393803.pdf |title=Examination of the names of Palestinians killed in Operation Protective Edge – Part Eight* |date=29 December 2014 |publisher=Israeli Intelligence & Heritage Commemoration Center |access-date=29 December 2014}}</ref> In December 2014, the ITIC published a list of 50 Gazan militants killed in the war whose names did not appear on the casualty lists released by Hamas. In 2015, it released a list of another 50 militants, including 43 from Hamas, who had been killed in the war and were not listed by Hamas. The ITIC estimated the number of Hamas-affiliated militants killed in the war at 600–650, and claimed that Hamas unofficially reported that it lost 400 fighters, although it estimated that this was lower than the actual figure and excluded those affiliated with Hamas' security apparatus and civilian infrastructure that supported its military activity.<ref name=amit>{{cite report|url=https://www.terrorism-info.org.il/Data/articles/Art_20841/E_105_15_1379706052.pdf |title=Estimate of the number of Hamas operatives killed in Operation Protective Edge (Part Eleven) |publisher=Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center |date=20 July 2015 |access-date=24 May 2019}}</ref>{{Verify source|date=May 2019}} The [[Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine]] was reported as claiming that 121 or 123 of its fighters were killed in the war. The ITIC estimated that the true figure was several dozen higher, up to 150 or 170.<ref name=iitc2>{{cite web|url=https://www.terrorism-info.org.il/en/20711/|title=War of the Casualties: The PIJ reported that 123 of its operatives were killed in Operation Protective Edge, including several senior commanders.|date=14 September 2014|access-date=6 January 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/islamic-jihad-121-of-our-fighters-killed-in-gaza/|title=Islamic Jihad: 121 of our fighters killed in Gaza|newspaper=The Times of Israel}}</ref> In a September 2014 meeting with foreign journalists, a senior Israeli intelligence officer said that to date, the IDF had determined that 616 of the dead were militants, including 341 from Hamas, 182 from Islamic Jihad, and 93 from smaller Palestinian factions.<ref>{{cite news|last=Booth |first=William |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2014/09/03/heres-what-really-happened-in-the-gaza-war-according-to-the-israelis/ |title=Here's what really happened in the Gaza war (according to the Israelis)  |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=3 September 2014 |access-date=24 May 2019}}</ref> Israel later updated its estimate to 936 of the dead being confirmed militants and 428 others whose status as civilians or militants could not be ascertained.<ref name="MFA-report-fatalities" /> Of the 936 identified as militants, 631 were from Hamas, 201 from Islamic Jihad, and 104 from smaller factions such as [[Fatah]] networks and organizations affiliated with global jihad.<ref name=iitc2/>

The IDF captured the bodies of 19 Hamas fighters killed during the war. Israel continues to hold the bodies pending a prisoner exchange deal.<ref>{{cite news|last=Booth |first=William |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/palestinians-and-israelis-are-now-fighting-over-corpses/2016/11/25/89641d30-7a8f-11e6-8064-c1ddc8a724bb_story.html |title=Palestinians and Israelis are now fighting over corpses  |date=25 November 2016 |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=24 May 2019}}</ref>

According to the main estimates between 2,125<ref name="MFA-report-fatalities" /> and 2,310<ref name="Ma'an2015Jan" /> Gazans were killed and between 10,626<ref name="Ma'an2015Jan" /> and 10,895<ref name="PCHR" /> were wounded (including 3,374 children, of whom over 1,000 were left permanently disabled<ref>[http://www.dci-palestine.org/sites/default/files/operationprotectiveedge.awarwagedonchildren.160415.pdf ''Operation Protective Edge: A war waged on Gaza's children,'']
 [[Defense for Children International|Defence for Children International-Palestine]], Ramallah, 16 April 2015.</ref>{{Better source needed|neutral source required =|date=May 2016}}). The Gaza Health Ministry, UN and some human rights groups reported that 69–75% of the Palestinian casualties were civilians;<ref name="OCHA" /><ref name="jihad121" /><ref name=PCHR /> Israeli officials estimated that around 50% of those killed were civilians.<ref name="yahooDisputeCasulaties" /><ref name="partten" /> On 5 August, [[OCHA]] stated that 520,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip (approximately 30% of its population) might have been displaced, of whom 485,000 needed emergency food assistance<ref name="OCHA1">{{cite web |title=Gaza Emergency Situation Report |date=3 August 2014 |access-date=4 August 2014 |publisher=[[United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs]]: Occupied Palestinian Territory |url=http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_sitrep_04_08_2014.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140806095656/http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_sitrep_04_08_2014.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=6 August 2014 }}</ref> and 273,000 were taking shelter in 90 UN-run schools.<ref name="OCHA2">{{cite web |url=http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_sitrep_05_08_2014.pdf |title=Occupied Palestinian Territory: Gaza Emergency |date=5 August 2014 |access-date=12 August 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808051540/http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_sitrep_05_08_2014.pdf |archive-date=8 August 2014  }}</ref>

Human rights groups and the UN use the Gaza Health Ministry's number of Palestinians killed in Gaza as preliminary and add to or subtract from it after conducting their own investigations. For example, human rights groups say that the casualty count provided by the Health Ministry most likely includes victims of [[#Killing of suspected collaborators|Hamas executions]], domestic violence, and natural deaths,<ref name=nytimes_methodology /> but they (the human rights groups) remove the accused collaborators (who were shot as close range) from their own counts.<ref name=executions /> Israel contends that the Health Ministry's casualty count also includes deaths caused by [[#Killing and shooting of Gazan civilians|rocket or mortar malfunctions]].<ref name=nytimes_methodology />

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Source  !! Total killed !! Civilians !! Militants !! Unidentified !! Percent civilians  !! Last updated !! Notes
|-
| [[Hamas]] [[Health Minister of the Gaza Strip|GHM]] || 2,310<ref name="Ma'an2015Jan" /> ||  ≈1,617<!--WP:CALC--> ||  ≈693<!--WP:CALC--> || — || 70%<ref name="jihad121" /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/2014/12/14/Hamas-flies-drone-over-Gaza-during-anniversary-parade-.html |title=Hamas flexes muscles with Gaza drone flight |work=alarabiya.net|date=14 December 2014 }}</ref>  || 3 January 2015<ref name="Ma'an2015Jan" /> ||  Defines as a civilian anyone who is not claimed by an armed group as a member.
|-
| [[United Nations Human Rights Committee|UN HRC]] || 2,251<ref name=HRC_REPORT>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/CoIGaza/A_HRC_CRP_4.doc|title=Report of the detailed findings of the Commission of Inquiry on the 2014 Gaza Conflict}}</ref> || 1,462 || 789<!--WP:CALC--> || — || 65% <!--WP:CALC--> || 22 June 2015 ||  Total killed referenced information from Hamas GHM.<ref>P. 149: Palestinian Ministry of Health, quoted in A/HRC/28/80/Add.1, para. 24.</ref> Cross-referenced information from GHM with other sources for civilian percentage<ref name=HRC_REPORT /><!-- point 16 in the report -->
|-
| [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Israel)|Israel MFA]] || 2,125<ref name="MFA-report-fatalities">[http://mfa.gov.il/ProtectiveEdge/Documents/PalestinianFatalities.pdf Annex: Palestinian Fatality Figures in the 2014 Gaza Conflict] from report [http://mfa.gov.il/ProtectiveEdge/Documents/2014GazaConflictFullReport.pdf The 2014 Gaza Conflict: Factual and Legal Aspects], [[Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs]], 14 June 2015</ref> || 761<ref name="MFA-report-fatalities" /> || 936<ref name="MFA-report-fatalities" /> || 428<ref name="MFA-report-fatalities" /> ||  36% of the total<br />44% combatant <br /> 20% unidentified<ref name="MFA-report-fatalities" /> || 14 June 2015<ref name="MFA-report-fatalities" /> || Uses its own intelligence reports as well as Palestinian sources and media reports to determine combatant deaths.<ref name="MFA-report-fatalities" /><ref name="yahooDisputeCasulaties" />
|}

According to the OCHA 2015 overview, of the 2,220 Palestinians killed in the conflict, 742 fatalities came from 142 families, who suffered the loss of 3 or more family members in individual bombing incidents on residential buildings.<ref name="OCHA2015" />
According to data provided by the Palestinian International Middle East Media Center, 79.7% of the Palestinians killed in Gaza were male, with the majority between 16 and 35. In contrast, a New York Times analysis states that males of ages that are most likely to be militants form 9% of the population but 34% of the casualties, while women and children under 15, who are least likely to be legitimate targets, form 71% of the general population and 33% of the casualties.<ref name=nytimes_methodology /><ref>{{cite news |author1=Davidovich, Joshua |author2=[[Haviv Rettig]] Gur |author3=Marissa Newman |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/day-20-idf-toll-rises-to-42-hamas-breaches-truce-resumes-rocket-fire-kerry-heads-home/#liveblog-entry-1036480 |title=Majority of Gaza dead are fighting-age men |work=[[The Times of Israel]] |date=27 July 2014 |access-date=27 July 2014}}</ref> Israel has pointed to the relatively small numbers of fatalities among women, children and men over 60, and to instances of Hamas fighters being counted as civilians (perhaps due to the broad definition of "civilian" used by the Gaza Health Ministry), to support its view that the number of the dead who were militants is 40–50%.<ref name="yahooDisputeCasulaties" /> The [[Israel Defense Forces|IDF]] calculates that 5% of Gaza's military forces were killed in the war.<ref name="heres-what-really-happened" /> Jana Krause, from the war studies department at [[King's College London]], stated that "a potential explanation other than combatant roles" for the tendency of the dead to be young men "could be that families expect them to be the first ones to leave shelters in order to care for hurt relatives, gather information, look after abandoned family homes or arrange food and water."<ref name="BBCdisputeCasualties" /> ITIC reported instances in which children and teenagers served as militants, as well as cases where the ages of casualties reported by GHM were allegedly falsified, with child militants listed as adults and adults listed as children.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/Data/articles/Art_20713/E_161_14_1392241240.pdf |title=The War of Casualties: During Operation Protective Edge children and teenagers were exploited by terrorists as auxiliaries and operatives. The extent of the phenomenon is still unclear |access-date=30 September 2014}}</ref>

Abbas said that "more than 120 youths were killed for violating the curfew and house arrest orders issued against them" by Hamas, referring to reports that Hamas targeted Fatah activists in Gaza during the conflict. Abbas said that Hamas also [[#Killing of suspected collaborators|executed more than 30 suspected collaborators]] without trial.{{citation needed|date=June 2019}} He said that "over 850 Hamas members and their families" were killed by Israel during the operation.<ref>[http://www.jewishpress.com/news/breaking-news/fatah-hamas-preparing-groundwork-to-dissolve-palestinian-authority-unity-govt/2014/09/07 Fatah, Hamas Preparing Groundwork to Dissolve Palestinian Authority Unity Govt], Hana Levi Julian, 7 September 2014, Jewish Press</ref><ref>[http://www.i24news.tv/en/news/international/middle-east/42879-140907-abbas-threatens-to-break-up-unity-government Abbas threatens to break up unity government] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140907170824/http://www.i24news.tv/en/news/international/middle-east/42879-140907-abbas-threatens-to-break-up-unity-government |date=7 September 2014 }}, 7 September 2014, i24news</ref><ref name="JPost Hamas curfew">Khaled Abu Toameh, [http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Fatah-members-killed-in-Gaza-during-war-Abbas-reveals-374661 Fatah members killed in Gaza during war, Abbas reveals], jpost.com, 7 September 2014; accessed 22 November 2014.</ref> During the fighting between Israel and Gaza, solidarity protests occurred in the West Bank, during which several Palestinians died; see [[2014 Israel–Gaza conflict#Reactions|Reactions]].

==== Israeli ====
{{further|List of Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel, 2014}}
A total of 67 IDF soldiers were killed, including one who died of his injuries after two and a half years in a coma, two soldiers – Staff Sergeant [[Death and ransoming of Oron Shaul|Oron Shaul]] and Second Lieutenant Hadar Goldin – whose bodies are believed to be held in Gaza, and an off-duty soldier who was killed in a rocket attack near his hometown while on leave from service in the war.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/soldier-injured-in-rocket-attack-dies-in-hospital/|title=Soldier killed in rocket attack laid to rest|first=Adiv|last=Sterman|website=www.timesofisrael.com}}</ref><ref name=benari>{{cite web |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/two-years-later-idf-officer-succumbs-to-wounds-from-gaza-war/ |title=Two years later, IDF officer succumbs to wounds from Gaza war |website=[[The Times of Israel]] }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4814444,00.html|title=Status of Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul to be redefined|date=6 October 2016|website=Ynetnews|access-date=6 January 2019}}</ref> Another 469 soldiers were injured.<ref name=OPE-Israeli-wounded /> The IDF said that 5 soldiers were killed and 23 were wounded by [[friendly fire]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.haaretz.com/during-gaza-op-5-soldiers-killed-by-friendly-fire-1.5259729|title=During Gaza Op: Five Israeli Soldiers Killed in 15 Cases of Friendly Fire|date=17 August 2014|newspaper=Haaretz}}</ref> 

Eleven soldiers were killed, and scores were wounded, in three separate [[Palestinian tunnel warfare in the Gaza Strip|Hamas tunnel attacks]] on IDF units inside Israel. No Israeli civilian casualties were reported in these attacks.

Nine IDF soldiers and six civilians were killed in Israel by Palestinian rocket and mortar fire.<ref name= MFA-kill >{{cite news | url= https://mfa.gov.il/MFA/ForeignPolicy/Terrorism/Pages/IDF-soldiers-killed-in-Operation-Protective-Edge.aspx | title = IDF soldiers killed in Operation Protective Edge | publisher = Israel MFA | author=  | date= 3 January 2017 | accessdate= 26 January 2022}}</ref><ref name= MFA-edge >{{cite news | url= https://mfa.gov.il/mfa/foreignpolicy/terrorism/pages/rise-in-rocket-fire-from-gaza-3-jul-2014.aspx | title = Operation Protective Edge: Israel under fire, IDF responds | publisher = Israel MFA | author=  | date= 26 Aug 2014 | accessdate= 26 January 2022}}</ref>  That means that 64 percent of the victims of Hamas rocket and mortar attacks were IDF soldiers.

According to [[Magen David Adom]], 837 civilians were treated for shock (581) or injuries (256): 36 were injured by shrapnel, 33 by debris from shattered glass and building debris, 18 in traffic accidents which occurred when warning sirens sounded, 159 from falling or trauma while on the way to shelters, and 9 in violence<!--reprisal attacks--> in Jerusalem and [[Maale Adumim]].<ref name=MDA1>[http://www.mdais.com/316/7004.htm Cease fire in Operation "Protective Edge" is holding MDA sums up 50 days of saving lives] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150626112327/http://www.mdais.com/316/7004.htm |date=26 June 2015 }}, Magen David Adom, 29 August 2014</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.inn.co.il/News/News.aspx/282756 |title=מד"א: 5 הרוגים ו-837 פצועים ב"צוק איתן" |date=26 August 2014 }}</ref> 

The first Israeli civilian death occurred at the [[Erez]] Checkpoint, where a [[Chabad]] rabbi was killed by mortar fire. He had come from the West Bank settlement of [[Bet Arye]] to deliver food and drinks to IDF soldiers on the front line.<ref>{{cite news | url= https://www.btselem.org/statistics/fatalities/after-cast-lead/by-date-of-death/israel/israeli-civilians-killed-by-palestinians | title = Israeli civilians killed by Palestinians in Israel, since Operation Cast Lead | publisher = B'tselem | author=  | date=  | accessdate= 26 January 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Tait |first=Robert |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/10969563/Israel-to-escalate-Gaza-military-offensive-after-first-citizen-killed.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/10969563/Israel-to-escalate-Gaza-military-offensive-after-first-citizen-killed.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Israel to escalate Gaza military offensive after first citizen killed |work=Telegraph |access-date=17 July 2014 |location=London |date=15 July 2014}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref name=jpost1>{{cite web |last=Lappin |first=Yaakov |url=http://www.jpost.com/Operation-Protective-Edge/Barrage-of-rockets-fired-from-Gaza-despite-Israels-acceptance-of-ceasefire-362839 |title=First Israeli death of Gaza operation as mortar shell kills man at Erez Crossing |work=The Jerusalem Post |date=15 July 2014 |access-date=17 July 2014}}</ref>

The second Israeli civilian to be killed was Awda Lafi al-Waj, a 32-year-old Israeli [[Bedouin]], who was hit by a rocket in the Bedouin village of [[Qasr al-Sir]], near [[Dimona]]. In spite of having been recognized as a regular settlement in 1999, the village was still not hooked up to the national electricity grid. The rocket alarm system therefore was not operative in the village. The village had still not an approved master plan, which meant that all construction was illegal. There were no shelters, safe rooms or protective walls in the village. The area where the village was located was considered "open area" by military authorities and was therefore not defended by the [[Iron Dome]] air defense system.<ref name=AI-N.Oz>Amnesty International (2015), [https://www.amnesty.org/en/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/MDE2111782015ENGLISH.pdf UNLAWFUL AND DEADLY - ROCKET AND MORTAR ATTACKS BY PALESTINIAN ARMED GROUPS DURING THE 2014 GAZA-ISRAEL CONFLICT], pp. 31-33</ref><ref>[http://www.timesofisrael.com/negev-bedouin-defenseless-as-man-killed-4-injured-by-gaza-rocket "Bedouin 'defenseless' as man killed, 4 injured by Gaza rocket"], ''The Times of Israel''; accessed 22 July 2014.</ref>

A Thai migrant worker was also killed by mortar fire while working at a greenhouse in [[moshav]] [[Netiv HaAsara]], located a few hundred meters from the Gaza border. The IDF had previously converted the car park in the southern part of the village into an army base and placed tanks there.<ref name="Israelis on the frontline with Gaza">{{cite news |last=Berg |first=Raffi |title= Israelis on the frontline with Gaza |work=[[BBC]] |access-date=April 18, 2019 |date=November 18, 2005 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4446576.stm}}</ref>
The moshav provided no protection for the migrant workers working in the fields or greenhouses, located too far from the shelters.<ref name=AI-Netiv> Amnesty International (2015), [https://www.amnesty.org/en/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/MDE2111782015ENGLISH.pdf UNLAWFUL AND DEADLY - ROCKET AND MORTAR ATTACKS BY PALESTINIAN ARMED GROUPS DURING THE 2014 GAZA-ISRAEL CONFLICT], pp. 29-31 </ref>

On 22 August, a 4-year-old Israeli child was killed by a mortar that fell on kibbutz [[Nahal Oz]].<ref name="AI-N.Oz" /><ref name=afp-220814>{{cite web |url=https://news.yahoo.com/gaza-mortar-fire-kills-child-southern-israel-army-155659460.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140824232042/https://news.yahoo.com/gaza-mortar-fire-kills-child-southern-israel-army-155659460.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=24 August 2014 |title=Netanyahu warns Hamas of 'heavy price' after child killed |publisher=AFP News |date=22 August 2014}}</ref> 

Two Israeli civilians in kibbutz [[Nirim]] were killed in a barrage of mortar fire, an hour before a ceasefire went into effect. The two were the settlement's chief and deputy military security co-ordinators.<ref name=AI-Nirim> Amnesty International (2015), [https://www.amnesty.org/en/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/MDE2111782015ENGLISH.pdf UNLAWFUL AND DEADLY - ROCKET AND MORTAR ATTACKS BY PALESTINIAN ARMED GROUPS DURING THE 2014 GAZA-ISRAEL CONFLICT], pp. 33-37 </ref>
Both Nahal Oz and Nirim (as well as two other nearby settllements) were used as staging areas for IDF tanks operating inside Gaza. The settlements were used for envelopment, surveillance and military supply. [[Eyal Weizman]] commented that "Israel claims that Hamas is endangering its civilian population by locating its installations in inhabited areas... Israel does the same, though it has enough space to choose not to."<ref >{{cite book|title= Forensic Architecture, VIOLENCE AT THE THRESHOLD OF DETECTABILITY |year= 2017 |url=  |author=  Weizman, Eyal  |isbn= 978-1-935408-86-4 |publisher= ZONE BOOKS |location= NEW YORK }}, page 190.</ref>

=== Economic impact ===
Palestinian officials estimated on 4 September that, with 17,000 homes destroyed by Israeli bombing, the reconstruction would cost $7.8&nbsp;billion, which is about 3 times Gaza's GDP for 2011.<ref>[http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Scale-of-Gaza-destruction-unprecedented-rehabilitation-will-cost-78-billion-PA-says-374460 Scale of Gaza destruction unprecedented, rehabilitation will cost $7.8 billion, PA says], jpost.com; retrieved 4 September 2014.</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Culzac |first1=Natasha |title=Israel-Gaza Crisis: Reconstruction of flattened Gaza will cost £5billion, Palestinian officials say |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/israelgaza-crisis-reconstruction-of-flattened-gaza-will-cost-5billion-palestinian-officials-say-9713905.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220501/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/israelgaza-crisis-reconstruction-of-flattened-gaza-will-cost-5billion-palestinian-officials-say-9713905.html |archive-date=1 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date=6 September 2014 |work=The Independent UK |date=5 September 2014 |location=London}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Gaza City suffered damage to 20–25% of its housing and [[Beit Hanoun]] with 70% of its housing uninhabitable.<ref name="theguardian.com" /> ''[[The New York Times]]'' noted that damage in this third war was more severe than in the two preceding wars, where in the aftermath of the earlier [[Operation Cast Lead]] the damage inflicted was $4&nbsp;billion, 3 times the then GDP of Gaza's economy.<ref name="NYTGazaEconomy" /> Strikes on Gaza's few industries will take years to repair. Gaza's main power plant on Salaheddin Road was damaged. Two sewage pumping stations in Zeitoun were damaged. The biggest private company in Gaza, the Alawda biscuit and ice cream factory, employing 400, was destroyed by a shelling barrage on 31 July, a few days after undertaking to supply its Choco Sandwich biscuits to 250,000 refugees in response to a request from the [[World Food Programme]]; other strikes targeted a plastics factory, a sponge-making plant, the offices of Gaza's main fruit distribution network, the El Majd Industrial and Trading Corporation's factory for cardboard box, carton and plastic bag production, Gaza's biggest dairy product importer and distributor, Roward International. Trond Husby, chief of the UN's Gaza development programme in Gaza, commented that the level of destruction now is worse than in [[Somalia]], [[Sierra Leone]], [[South Sudan]] and [[Uganda]].<ref name="make-us-dependent" />

A number of tunnels leading into both Israel and Egypt were destroyed throughout the operation. There were reports that the tunnels between Gaza and Egypt were bringing an estimated $700&nbsp;million into Gaza's economy through goods or services. Several Palestinians argued that the tunnels had been critical to supporting the residents of Gaza, either through the employment they provided or through the goods that they allowed in—goods which were otherwise not available unless shipped through Egypt.<ref>{{cite news |date=23 July 2014 |title=Gaza's underground: A vast tunnel network that empowers Hamas |publisher=Al-Jazeera |first=Ben |access-date=27 July 2014 |last=Piven |url=http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/7/23/gaza-undergroundhamastunnels.html}}</ref> However, tunnels along the Israeli border serve a purely military purpose.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Goldberg |first1=J.J. |title=Gaza Tunnels: How They Work, What Israel Knew |url=http://blogs.forward.com/jj-goldberg/202874/gaza-tunnels-how-they-work-what-israel-knew/? |access-date=29 July 2014 |work=The Forward |date=26 July 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140729094923/http://blogs.forward.com/jj-goldberg/202874/gaza-tunnels-how-they-work-what-israel-knew/ |archive-date=29 July 2014}}</ref>

During the ground invasion, Israeli forces destroyed livestock in Gaza. In [[Beit Hanoun]], 370 cows were killed by tank shelling and airstrikes. In [[Beit Lahiya]], 20 camels were shot by ground forces.<ref>{{cite news |title=Gaza counts cost of war as more than 360 factories destroyed or damaged |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/22/gaza-economic-cost-war-factories-destroyed |newspaper=The Guardian |date=22 August 2014}}</ref> Israel's Minister of Finance estimated that the operation would cost Israel NIS 8.5&nbsp;billion (approximately US$2.5&nbsp;billion), which is similar to [[Operation Cast Lead]] in 2009 and higher than [[Operation Pillar of Defense]] in 2012. The forecast included military and non-military costs, including military expenditure and property damage. The calculation indicated that if the operation lasted 20 days, the loss in GDP would be 0.4%.<ref name="IsraelLoss">{{cite web |url=http://www.globes.co.il/en/article-Operation-Protective-Edge-to-cost-NIS-85b-1000953306 |title=Operation Protective Edge to cost NIS 8.5b |access-date=11 July 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140713032413/http://www.globes.co.il/en/article-operation-protective-edge-to-cost-nis-85b-1000953306 |archive-date=13 July 2014 }}</ref>

== Reactions ==
{{Main|Reactions to the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict}}

=== International ===
[[File:Al-Quds 2014 Berlin 20140725 173841.jpg|thumb|[[Reactions to the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict#2014 Quds Day|Quds Day 2014]] pro-Palestinian protest in Berlin, 25 July 2014]]
[[File:Tzuk-Eytan-Helsinki-protest-1.jpg|thumb|right|[[Reactions to the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict#Pro-Israel|Pro-Israel demonstration]] in [[Helsinki, Finland]]]]
International reactions to the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict came from many [[Country|countries]] and [[international organization]]s around the world.

Canada was supportive of Israel<ref>[http://www.algemeiner.com/2014/07/13/canadian-prime-minister-harper-praised-for-statement-in-support-of-israels-gaza-campaign "Canadian Prime Minister Harper Praised for Statement in Support of Israel's Gaza Campaign"], Algemeiner.com; retrieved 25 August 2014.</ref> and critical of Hamas. The [[BRICS]] countries called for restraint on both sides and a return to peace talks based on the [[Arab Peace Initiative]]. The [[European Union]] condemned the violations of the laws of war by both sides, while stressing the "unsustainable nature of the status quo", and calling for a settlement based on the [[two-state solution]]. The [[Non-Aligned Movement]], the [[Arab League]], and most Latin American countries were critical of Israel, with some countries in the latter group withdrawing their ambassadors from Israel in protest. South Africa called for restraint by both sides and an end to "collective punishment of Palestinians". {{citation needed|date=November 2014}}

There were many pro-Israel and pro-Palestine demonstrations worldwide, including inside Israel and the Palestinian territories.<noinclude> According to OCHA, 23 Palestinians were killed and 2,218 were wounded by the IDF (38% of the latter by live fire) during these demonstrations.<ref name="Ma'an News">{{cite news |title=Israeli forces kill Palestinian during protest near Ramallah |url=http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=719146 |agency=Ma'an |publisher=Ma'an News |date=8 August 2014 |access-date=13 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140816150710/http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=719146 |archive-date=16 August 2014 |url-status=dead }} (outdated figures)</ref><ref name="The IDFs real face">[[Gideon Levy]], [http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.613212 'The IDF's real face'], ''[[Haaretz]]'', 30 August 2014</ref><ref name="OCHA-West-Bank">[http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_protection_of_civilians_weekly_report_2014_7_04_english.pdf Protection of Civilians: OCHA Weekly Report 24-30 June 2014, West Bank] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141126183051/http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_protection_of_civilians_weekly_report_2014_7_04_english.pdf |date=26 November 2014 }}: as of 30 June (prior to Operation Protective Edge), 17 Palestinians had been killed by Israeli forces in 2014; [http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_protection_of_civilians_weekly_report_2014_9_13_english.pdf Protection of Civilians: OCHA Weekly Report 2-8 September 2014, West Bank] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006130427/http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_protection_of_civilians_weekly_report_2014_9_13_english.pdf |date=6 October 2014 }}: as of 8 September (after Operation Protective Edge), the number had risen to 40</ref><!--This is the OCHA report cited by the preceding secondary sources; one does not even need to use WP:CALC to arrive at the numbers (23, etc), because the secondary sources have already done that work; the OCHA report is merely cited, per discussion on the talk page, to confirm that the secondary sources are correct.--></noinclude>

Concerns were raised regarding rising [[anti-Semitism]] and related violence {{Where|date=November 2014}} deemed related to the conflict.{{citation needed|date=December 2020}}

=== United States ===
[[President of the United States|U.S. President]] [[Barack Obama]] acknowledged Israel's right to defend itself, but urged restraint by both sides. Meanwhile, the [[United States Congress]] expressed vigorous support for Israel. It passed legislation providing Israel with an additional $225&nbsp;million in military aid for missile defense with a bipartisan 395–8 vote in the [[United States House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] and by unanimous consent in the [[United States Senate|Senate]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Galbraith |first=James K. |url=http://www.politico.com/story/2014/08/senate-approves-israel-aid-109642.html |title=Congress backs aid to Israel – Burgess Everett |publisher=Politico.Com |date=3 August 2014 |access-date=21 March 2015}}</ref> This was in addition to strong measures supporting Israel's position passed with overwhelming support in both houses.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.aipac.org/learn/legislative-agenda/agenda-display?agendaid=%7B570C7179-9618-4DAC-A0C6-E5E35E1FA5CB%7D|title=Support Israel's Right to Self-Defense}}</ref> Israel received strong statements of bipartisan support from the leadership and members of both houses of Congress for its actions during the conflict. A poll conducted in July found that 57% of Americans believed the operation was justified.<ref>{{cite news |title=CNN Poll: Majority of Americans side with Israel in Gaza fighting |url=https://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2014/07/21/cnn-poll-americans-clearly-side-with-israel-in-gaza-fighting/ |work=CNN |date=July 21, 2014 |access-date=20 June 2022 |archive-date=29 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220329165805/https://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2014/07/21/cnn-poll-americans-clearly-side-with-israel-in-gaza-fighting/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

During the [[2016 Democratic Party presidential primaries|U.S. presidential primary race of 2016]], Democratic candidate [[Bernie Sanders]] criticized Israel for its treatment of Gaza, and in particular criticized Netanyahu for "overreacting" and causing unnecessary civilian deaths.<ref>[http://www.timesofisrael.com/bernie-sanders-accuses-netanyahu-of-overreacting-in-gaza-war/ Bernie Sanders accuses Netanyahu of overreacting in Gaza war] The Times of Israel, 19 November 2015</ref> In April 2016, the [[Anti-Defamation League]] called on Sanders to withdraw remarks he made to the ''[[Daily News (New York)|Daily News]]'', which the ADL said exaggerated the death toll of the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict. Sanders said "over 10,000 innocent people were killed", a number far in excess of Palestinian or Israel sources' estimates.<ref>[http://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/US-Jewish-group-slams-Bernie-Sanders-for-misstatements-on-2014-Gaza-war-450507 US Jewish group slams Bernie Sanders for misstatements on 2014 Gaza war] ''The Jerusalem Post'', 6 April 2016</ref> In response, Sanders said that he accepted a corrected number of the death toll as 2,300 during the course of the interview, which was taped, and that he would make every effort to set the record straight. The written transcript of the interview failed to note that Sanders said "Okay" to the corrected number presented by the interviewer during the course of the interview.<ref>[http://www.timesofisrael.com/sanders-tells-adl-he-knows-he-got-his-gaza-death-toll-number-wrong/ Sanders tells ADL he knows he got his Gaza death toll number wrong] Times of Israel, 8 April 2016</ref>

=== Gaza ===

On 6 August 2014, thousands of Palestinians rallied in Gaza in support of [[Hamas]], demanding an end to the blockade of Gaza.<ref name=albawaba>{{cite news |title=Palestinians rally in support of Hamas |url=http://www.albawaba.com/news/hamas-palestinians-595217 |access-date=12 August 2014 |work=albawaba |date=7 August 2014 |ref=albawaba}}</ref> After the 26 August ceasefire, the [[Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research]] conducted a poll in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip: 79% of respondents said that Hamas had won the war and 61% said that they would pick Hamas leader [[Ismail Haniyeh]] as the Palestinian president, up from 41% before the war.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pcpsr.org/en/special-gaza-war-poll |title=Special Gaza War Poll |date=2 September 2014 |publisher=Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research |access-date=3 September 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140905071227/http://www.pcpsr.org/en/special-gaza-war-poll |archive-date=5 September 2014}}</ref>

According to ''[[The Washington Post]]'', a percentage of Gazans held Hamas accountable for the humanitarian crisis and wanted the militants to stop firing rockets from their neighborhoods to avoid Israeli reaction.<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/as-war-with-israel-shatters-lives-more-gazans-question-hamas-decisions/2014/08/12/71e3381e-e0a1-4243-ad49-09aef0656d2c_story.html "As war with Israel shatters lives, more Gazans question Hamas decisions"], ''The Washington Post'', 12 August 2014.</ref> Some of the Gazans have attempted to protest against Hamas, which routinely accuses protesters of being Israeli spies and has killed more than 50 such protesters.<ref>{{cite news |title=Hamas suppressing wartime dissent, shooting to kill Palestinian protesters |url=http://www.worldtribune.com/2014/07/31/sources-hamas-quickly-puts-dissent-gaza-kills-palestinian-protesters |work=World Tribune |access-date=31 July 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140802181856/http://www.worldtribune.com/2014/07/31/sources-hamas-quickly-puts-dissent-gaza-kills-palestinian-protesters/ |archive-date=2 August 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Kipnees |first=Shira |title=Hamas Executions Against Palestinians Protesting War in Gaza |url=http://www.jspacenews.com/hamas-executions-palestinians-gaza/ |publisher=Jspacenews |date=29 July 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006124558/http://www.jspacenews.com/hamas-executions-palestinians-gaza/ |archive-date=6 October 2014}}</ref>{{unreliable source?|date=August 2014|reason=The sources lack evidence, referring to some "sources".}} Around 6 August, Palestinian protesters reportedly attacked and beat up Hamas spokesperson Sami Abu Zuhri because they blamed Hamas for inciting Operation Protective Edge.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4555631,00.html |title=Report: Hamas spokesperson attacked by Gaza civilians |newspaper=Ynetnews |date=6 August 2014 |publisher=Ynetnews.com |access-date=7 August 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/183741#.VHG0HvmUcRp |title=Angry Palestinians Attack Hamas Official Over Gaza Destruction |work=Arutz Sheva|date=5 August 2014 }}</ref>

An unknown number of Palestinians, estimated in the hundreds or thousands, tried to flee to Europe due to the conflict. The Palestinian rights group Adamir collected the names of 400 missing persons. In what was described by [[International Organization for Migration]] as the "worst shipwreck in years", a boat carrying refugees was rammed by smugglers and capsized off the coast of [[Malta]], resulting in the deaths of about 400 people. According to interviews with survivors, they paid smugglers between $2,000–$5,000 or used legal travel permits, to get to Egypt. One refugee who died had considered the boat to be rickety but told his father "I have no life in Gaza anyway".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Khoury |first1=Jack |title=Thousands of Gazans fleeing to Europe via tunnels, traffickers and boats |url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/.premium-1.616162 |access-date=18 September 2014 |work=Ha'aretz |date=17 September 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Heyer |first1=Julia Amalia |last2=Wilkens |first2=Chrissi |last3=Popp |first3=Maximilian |last4=Mayr |first4=Walter |title='Left To Die': The Survivors of the Malta Refugee Shipwreck |url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/survivors-recall-crime-of-malta-refugee-shipwreck-a-993031.html |work=Der Spiegel |date=23 September 2014}}</ref>

=== Israel and the West Bank ===
[[File:MyIsraelFacebook--ProTzukEytan001.jpg|thumb|A pro-Israeli demonstration supporting Israel and the [[Israel Defense Forces]] in Tzuk Eytan]]
[[File:Kindergarten in Kiryat Ono in August 2014.jpg|thumb|Banner on a kindergarten in [[Kiryat Ono]] saying "Dear soldiers! Take care of yourselves! You are our heroes!"]]
[[File:Peace demonstration in Tel Aviv.jpg|thumb|left|Demonstration against Operation Protective Edge in [[Tel Aviv]], Israel.]]
A majority of the Israeli public supported Operation Protective Edge. A poll conducted after a temporary ceasefire came into effect during the war in July found that 86.5% of Israelis polled opposed the ceasefire.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newsweek.com/majority-israelis-are-unhappy-ceasefire-poll-argues-261555|title=86.5% of Israelis Disagree with Ceasefire, Poll Finds|date=28 July 2014|website=Newsweek|access-date=6 January 2019}}</ref> Another poll in July found 91% support for the operation among the Jewish public, with 85% opposed to stopping the war and 51% in support of continuing the war until Hamas was removed from power in Gaza, while 4% believed the war to be a mistake.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/poll-85-of-israeli-jews-want-to-keep-fighting/|title=Poll: 85% of Israeli Jews want to keep fighting|last=Andrew Tobin|website=timesofisrael.com|access-date=6 January 2019}}</ref> Two other polls found 90% and 95% support for the war among the Jewish public.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vox.com/2014/7/31/5955077/israeli-support-for-the-gaza-war-is-basically-unanimous|title=95 percent of Jewish Israelis support the Gaza war|first=Zack|last=Beauchamp|date=31 July 2014|website=Vox|access-date=6 January 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/over-90-of-jewish-israelis-say-gaza-op-justified |title=Over 90% of Jewish Israelis say Gaza op justified |website=[[The Times of Israel]] |access-date=30 July 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jpost.com/Operation-Protective-Edge/Poll-865-percent-of-Israelis-oppose-cease-fire-369064 |title=Poll: 86.5% of Israelis oppose cease-fire |date=28 July 2014 |access-date=30 July 2014}}</ref> Towards the end of the war, after Israel announced the withdrawal of ground forces from Gaza, a poll found 92% support for the war among the Jewish public, and that 48% believed that the IDF had used the appropriate amount of firepower in the operation, while 45% believed it had used too little and 6% believed it had used too much. The poll also found that 62% of [[Arab citizens of Israel|Israeli-Arabs]] believed the operation was unjustified while 24% believed it was justified, and that 62% believed too much firepower was used, 10% believed too little firepower was used, and 3% thought the appropriate amount of firepower was used.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://en.idi.org.il/press-releases/12789|title=August 2014 Peace Index|website=en.idi.org.il|access-date=6 January 2019}}</ref> 

The war saw strained relations between Israeli Jews and Israeli Arabs. Many Arab businesses closed as part of a one-day general strike in solidarity with Gaza, leading to Israeli Foreign Minister [[Avigdor Lieberman]] to call for the boycott of Arab businesses that participated in the strike. Thousands demonstrated against the war, including some who threw stones and blocked streets. About 1,500 Arabs were arrested over involvement in protests against the war. Numerous Arabs were fired or disciplined by their employers over comments against Israel and the war on social media. The most notable case was that of a psychological counselor who worked for the [[Lod]] municipality, who was terminated on the orders of the Mayor of Lod after writing a Facebook post expressing joy over the deaths of 13 Israeli soldiers in the [[Battle of Shuja'iyya]]. Arabs reported an increase in racism and violence from right-wing Jews. However, some Israeli Jews against the war joined in anti-war protests, and a handful were also arrested.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-arabs-caught-in-the-middle-of-gaza-war/|title=Israeli Arabs caught in the middle of Gaza war|first=Aron|last=Heller|website=timesofisrael.com|access-date=6 January 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Carlstrom |first1=Gregg |title=Businesses strike in Israel over Gaza |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/07/businesses-strike-israel-over-gaza-2014721191110588315.html |access-date=27 July 2014 |publisher=Al Jazeera |date=21 July 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/lod-psychologist-fired-for-joyful-post-on-soldier-deaths/|title=Lod psychologist fired for joyful post on soldier deaths|website=timesofisrael.com|access-date=6 January 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/after-gaza-arab-israelis-fear-rising-discrimination/|title=After Gaza, Arab Israelis fear rising discrimination|first=Ben|last=Sales|website=timesofisrael.com|access-date=6 January 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.haaretz.com/4-israeli-arabs-disciplined-over-anti-war-facebook-posts-1.5256408|title=Workplaces Discipline Israeli Arabs for Facebook Posts Against Gaza Incursion|first1=Or|last1=Kashti|first2=Eli|last2=Ashkenazi|first3=Nir|last3=Hasson|date=23 July 2014|access-date=6 January 2019|newspaper=Haaretz}}</ref>

There were continuous protests and clashes in the West Bank. The [[Mohammed Abu Khdeir#Family reactions, riots and funeral|funeral]] of [[Mohammed Abu Khdeir]] on 4 July was joined by thousands of mourners, and was accompanied by clashes across east Jerusalem throughout the weekend.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=710185 |title=New Gaza fire as Palestinian citizens of Israel join protests |publisher=Maannews.net |date=4 July 2014 |access-date=12 August 2014 |archive-date=8 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808122711/http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=710185 |url-status=dead }}</ref>{{update inline|date=September 2014|reason=protests overall need to be summarized}} According to OCHA, 23 Palestinians were killed and 2,218 were wounded by the IDF, 38% of the latter by live fire.<ref name="Ma'an News" /><ref name="The IDFs real face" /><ref name="OCHA-West-Bank" /><!--This is the OCHA report cited by the preceding secondary sources; one does not even need to use WP:CALC to arrive at the numbers (23, etc), because the secondary sources have already done that work; the OCHA report is merely cited, per discussion on the talk page, to confirm that the secondary sources are correct.--> According to the PLO, 32 Palestinians were killed in the West Bank in the period 13 June – 26 August, nearly 1400 were wounded by Israeli fire and 1,700 were detained in the largest offensive in the West Bank since the [[Second Intifada]]. The PLO also stated that 1,472 settlement homes had been approved over the summer.<ref>{{cite news |title=PLO: 32 Palestinians killed in West Bank since June |url=http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=724086 |access-date=15 September 2014 |work=Ma'an News |agency=Ma'an News |date=29 August 2014 |archive-date=15 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140915120554/http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=724086 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

During the war there were over 360 attacks on Jews from the West Bank, a spate that was thought by ''[[The Jerusalem Post]]'' to have "peaked" on 4 August with a [[2014 Jerusalem tractor attack|tractor attack in Jerusalem]] and the shooting of a uniformed soldier in the [[French Hill (neighborhood)|French Hill]] neighborhood, leading to an increase in security in the city.<ref>{{cite news |last1=PolicePrepared |title=Police Prepared for Increased Attacks in East Jerusalem |url=http://www.jpost.com/National-News/Police-prepared-for-increased-attacks-in-east-Jerusalem-370809 |access-date=6 September 2014 |newspaper=The Jerusalem Post |date=11 August 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Chandler |first1=Adam |title=Jerusalem on High Alert After Dual Terrorist Attacks |url=http://www.thewire.com/global/2014/08/two-dead-after-attack-in-jerusalem/375521/ |access-date=7 September 2014 |publisher=The Wire |date=4 August 2014 |archive-date=22 July 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160722124201/http://www.thewire.com/global/2014/08/two-dead-after-attack-in-jerusalem/375521/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

On 1 September, Israel announced a plan to expropriate 1,000 acres of land in the West Bank, reportedly as a "reaction to the deplorable murder in June of three Israeli teenagers", which Amnesty International denounced as the "largest land grab in the Occupied Palestinian Territories since the 1980s".<ref>{{cite news |title=Amnesty International condemns Israel's 'illegal land grab' in West Bank |url=http://www.jpost.com/Breaking-News/Amnesty-International-condemns-Israels-illegal-land-grab-in-West-Bank-373104 |access-date=15 September 2014 |work=The Jerusalem Post |date=1 September 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Israel must scrap illegal land grab in the West Bank |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/news/israel-must-scrap-illegal-land-grab-west-bank-2014-09-01 |access-date=15 September 2014 |work=Amnesty International |date=1 September 2014 |archive-date=9 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140909230356/http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/israel-must-scrap-illegal-land-grab-west-bank-2014-09-01 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The EU complained about the land expropriation and warned of renewed violence in Gaza; the US called it "counterproductive".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Levinson |first1=Chaim |title=U.S.: Israel's West Bank land grab 'counterproductive' to two-state solution |url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.613424 |access-date=15 September 2014 |work=Ha'aretz |agency=Reuters |date=1 September 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Eichner |first1=Itamar |title=Top EU envoy slams land grab, warns of renewed Gaza violence |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4569655,00.html |access-date=15 September 2014 |work=Ynet |date=10 September 2014}}</ref>

== Alleged violations of international humanitarian law ==
{{further|International law and the Arab–Israeli conflict}}
A number of legal and moral issues concerning the conflict arose during course of the fighting.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Levin |first1=Jamie |title=Is Israel Fighting A Just War in Gaza? |url=http://forward.com/articles/203082/is-israel-fighting-a-just-war-in-gaza-and-what-a/?p=all |access-date=18 December 2014 |work=The Forward |date=30 July 2014}}</ref>
Various human rights groups have argued that both Palestinian rocket attacks and Israeli targeted [[House demolition in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict|destruction of homes]] of Hamas and other militia members violated international humanitarian law and might constitute war crimes, violations of [[international humanitarian law]].<ref name=btselem1>[http://www.btselem.org/gaza_strip/20140713_palestinians_killed_in_illegal_attacks_on_houses "52 Palestinians killed in bombings of homes in Gaza Strip, which are unlawful"], [[B'tselem]], 13 July 2014; accessed 22 July 2014.</ref><ref name=indiscriminate>{{cite web |title=Palestine/Israel: Indiscriminate Palestinian Rocket Attacks |location=Jerusalem |date=9 July 2014 |access-date=22 July 2014 |publisher=[[Human Rights Watch]] |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2014/07/09/palestineisrael-indiscriminate-palestinian-rocket-attacks}}</ref><ref name=washingtonpost1>{{cite news |last=Taylor |first=Adam |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2014/07/09/roof-knocking-the-israeli-mjilitarys-tactic-of-phoning-palestinians-it-is-about-to-bomb |title='Roof knocking': The Israeli military's tactic of phoning Palestinians it is about to bomb |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=9 July 2014 |access-date=17 July 2014}}</ref>
[[Navi Pillay]], the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, accused Hamas militants of violating international humanitarian law by "locating rockets within schools and hospitals, or even launching these rockets from densely populated areas."<ref name=AP-warcrimes /> She also criticized Israel's military operation, stating that there was "a strong possibility that international law has been violated, in a manner that could amount to war crimes", and specifically criticizing Israel's actions in Gaza as disproportionate.<ref name="navi-pillay-warns">{{cite web |title=UN's Navi Pillay warns of Israel Gaza 'war crimes' |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-28437626 |publisher=BBC |date=23 July 2014 |access-date=28 July 2014}}</ref>

Amnesty International found evidence that "[d]uring the current hostilities, Hamas spokespeople reportedly urged residents in some areas of the Gaza Strip not to leave their homes after the Israeli military dropped leaflets and made phone calls warning people in the area to evacuate", and that international humanitarian law was clear in that "even if officials or fighters from Hamas or Palestinian armed groups associated with other factions did in fact direct civilians to remain in a specific location in order to shield military objectives from attacks, all of Israel's obligations to protect these civilians would still apply."<ref name="amnesty1">{{cite web |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde15/017/2014/en/ |title=Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories: Israel/Gaza conflict, July 2014 – Questions & Answers |publisher=[[Amnesty International]] |date=25 July 2014 |access-date=30 July 2014 }}</ref> [[B'tselem]] found that Hamas had breached provisions of [[International Humanitarian Law]] (IHL), both firing from civilian areas and firing at Israeli civilian areas. It also stated that the Israeli policy of bombing homes, formulated by government officials and the senior military command, though claimed to be in conformity with IHL, was 'unlawful', and designed to 'block, a priori, any allegations that Israel breached IHL provisions', in that it relies on an interpretation that leaves 'no restrictions whatsoever on Israeli action' so that 'whatever method it chooses to respond to Hamas operations is legitimate, no matter how horrifying the consequences.'<ref name="B'tselemJan2015">[http://www.btselem.org/download/201501_black_flag_eng.pdf 'Black Flag:The legal and moral implications of the policy of attacking residential buildings in the Gaza Strip, summer 2014,'] [[B'tselem]] 28 January 2015, pp.48–49.</ref><ref>Gili Cohen, [http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.639462 'IDF broke international law in dozens of Gaza war strikes, Israeli rights group says,'] [[Haaretz]] 28 January 2015.'The Israel Defense Forces broke international law at least in some of the dozens of strikes it made against homes during the fighting in Gaza last summer,  . . More than 70 percent of the people killed in 70 incidents examined by B'Tselem were non-combatants, according to the report . .In these 70 strikes, 606 Palestinians were killed, B'Tselem says, including 93 children under age 5, 129 children ages 5 to 14, and 42 teens, ages 14 to 18. This figure also included 135 women ages 18 to 60, and 37 men over 60 years old.'</ref>

Hamas leader [[Ismail Haniyeh]] urged the Palestinian Authority to sign the Rome Statute of the [[International Criminal Court]] (ICC);<ref>[http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=727024 'Haniyeh urges Abbas to stop 'stalling' on ICC'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140912213035/http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=727024 |date=12 September 2014 }}, [[Ma'an News Agency]], 12 September 2014.</ref> the fact that the PA has not done so yet has prevented the ICC from launching a formal investigation. {{clarify|date=September 2014}}<!--investigation into what?--> ICC prosecutor Geoffrey Nice said that a "decision to do nothing clearly emerges from the meeting" with the PA foreign minister Riad Malki.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/09/pa-leadership-speaking-with-two-voices-2014911101131329372.html |title=Is the PA stalling Gaza war crimes probe? |publisher=Al Jazeera |access-date=30 September 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Report-Palestinian-Authority-preventing-ICC-from-investigating-Israel-Hamas-for-war-crimes-375166 |title=Leaked letter suggests PA stalling ICC membership, possible war crimes probe |date=12 September 2014 |access-date=30 September 2014}}</ref> The UNHRC commissioned the [[United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict]], led by [[William Schabas]] to investigate war crimes allegations by both sides. Israel criticized Schabas as biased because he repeatedly made statements against Israel and in support of Hamas, and has announced its own investigations of both military and civilian leadership and the conduct during the war. Schabas denied any bias,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Winer |first1=Stuart |title=UN Gaza probe head says he's not anti-Israel, will be impartial William Schabas, who called for Netanyahu to stand trial at ICC, says past comments won't bias investigation |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/un-gaza-probe-head-says-hes-not-anti-israel-will-be-impartial/ |newspaper=The Times of Israel |date=12 August 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/watchdog-demands-schabas-quit-un-gaza-inquiry-over-anti-israel-bias |publisher=Ynetnews |date=3 February 2015 |title=Watchdog demands Schabas quit UN Gaza inquiry over anti-Israel bias |work=The Times of Israel |access-date=30 September 2014}}</ref> but on 2 February 2015 resigned from the position.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4622206,00.html|title=Head of UN inquiry into Gaza conflict to quit|newspaper=Ynetnews |date=2 February 2015|via=www.ynetnews.com}}</ref> According to ''The New York Times'', "Of 44 cases initially referred to army fact-finding teams for preliminary examination, seven have been closed, including one involving the death of eight members of a family when their home was struck on 8 July, the first day of the Israeli air campaign, and others are pending."<ref name=NYTIsraelInvestigation>{{cite news |last1=Kershner |first1=Isabel |title=Israel, Facing Criticism, to Investigate Possible Military Misconduct in Gaza |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/11/world/middleeast/gaza-strip-israel-criminal-investigation.html?ref=todayspaper&_r=0 |access-date=14 September 2014 |work=The New York Times |date=10 September 2014}}</ref> Human rights organizations have expressed little confidence in Israel's measures, citing past experience.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Tait |first1=Robert |title=Israeli attacks on Gaza families must be investigated as war crimes, say human rights groups |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/gaza/11039636/Israeli-attacks-on-Gaza-families-must-be-investigated-as-war-crimes-say-human-rights-groups.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/gaza/11039636/Israeli-attacks-on-Gaza-families-must-be-investigated-as-war-crimes-say-human-rights-groups.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |publisher=The Daily Telegraph (UK) |date=17 August 2014 |location=London}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Moreover, several human rights organizations were denied access to Gaza by Israel, rendering it impossible for them to carry out on-site investigations.<ref>{{cite web |title=Gaza: Israel 'playing games' as human rights organisations denied access |url=https://www.amnesty.org.uk/press-releases/gaza-israel-playing-games-human-rights-organisations-denied-access |website=Amnesty International |access-date=10 November 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Israel/Egypt: Provide Rights Groups Access to Gaza |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2014/08/20/israelegypt-provide-rights-groups-access-gaza |website=Human Rights Watch |date=20 August 2014 |access-date=10 November 2014}}</ref> [[B'Tselem]] has refused to participate in the army investigation.<ref name=NYTIsraelInvestigation />

=== Alleged violations by Hamas ===

==== Killing and shooting of Gazan civilians ====
{{anchor|Hamas rockets failing}}
Twenty civilians from [[Shuja'iyya]] were killed while protesting against Hamas.<ref name=solomon>{{cite news |url=http://www.jpost.com/Operation-Protective-Edge/Report-Hamas-executes-alleged-spies-shoots-protesters-in-Gaza-369331 |title=Report: Hamas executes alleged spies, shoots protesters in Gaza |first=Ariel Ben |last=Solomon |work=The Jerusalem Post |date=29 July 2014 |access-date=30 July 2014}}</ref> A few days later, Hamas reportedly killed two Gazans and wounded ten after a scuffle broke out over food handouts.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.algemeiner.com/2014/07/29/hamas-police-shoot-kill-starving-gazans-a-day-after-executing-protesters |title=Hamas Police Shoot, Kill Starving Gazans a Day After Executing Protesters |publisher=Algemeiner.com |date=29 July 2014 |access-date=12 August 2014}}</ref>

The IDF stated on 31 July that more than 280 Hamas rockets<ref name="failing_rockets">{{cite web |url=http://www.idfblog.com/blog/2014/07/31/hamas-launches-rockets-civilians-gaza |title=Hamas Launches Rockets on Civilians in Gaza |publisher=Idfblog.com |date=31 July 2014 |access-date=22 August 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140822025714/http://www.idfblog.com/blog/2014/07/31/hamas-launches-rockets-civilians-gaza/ |archive-date=22 August 2014}}</ref> malfunctioned and fell inside the Gaza strip, hitting sites including Al-Shifa Hospital and the Al-Shati refugee camp, killing at least 11 and wounding dozens.<ref name="Shifa-10">{{cite news |last1=Mohyeldin |first1=Ayman |last2=Nassar |first2=Paul Ziad |last3=Smith |first3=Alexander |title=Strikes Near Gaza's Shifa Hospital, Refugee Camp Kill at Least 10 |url=http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/middle-east-unrest/strikes-near-gazas-shifa-hospital-refugee-camp-kill-least-10-n166571 |work=NBC News |date=28 July 2014}}</ref> Hamas denied that any of its rockets hit the Gaza Strip.,<ref name="failing_rockets" /><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.worldtribune.com/2014/07/30/israel-says-10-percent-hamas-rockets-misfire-fall-gaza-strip |title=Israel: 10 percent of Hamas rockets misfired, landed in Gaza Strip |work=World Tribune |date=30 July 2014 |access-date=3 August 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140801101226/http://www.worldtribune.com/2014/07/30/israel-says-10-percent-hamas-rockets-misfire-fall-gaza-strip/ |archive-date=1 August 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.jpost.com/Operation-Protective-Edge/10-Palestinians-killed-in-failed-Gazan-rocket-attack-IDF-says-369180 |title=10 Palestinians killed in failed Gazan rocket attack on Israel, IDF says |publisher=JPost |date=28 July 2014 |access-date=22 August 2014}}</ref> but Palestinian sources said numerous rocket launches ended up falling in Gaza communities and that scores of people have been killed or injured. Israeli Military sources said the failed Hamas launches increased amid heavy Israeli air and artillery strikes throughout the Gaza Strip. They said the failed launches reflected poorly-assembled rockets as well as the rush to load and fire projectiles before they are spotted by Israeli aircraft.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.worldtribune.com/2014/07/30/israel-says-10-percent-hamas-rockets-misfire-fall-gaza-strip/ |title=Israel: 10 percent of Hamas rockets misfired, landed in Gaza Strip |work=World Tribune |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808071549/http://www.worldtribune.com/2014/07/30/israel-says-10-percent-hamas-rockets-misfire-fall-gaza-strip/ |archive-date=8 August 2014}}</ref> While the Al-Shifa Hospital incident is disputed, early news reports have suggested that the strike was from an Israeli drone missile.<ref name="Shifa-10" /><ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Makarechi |first1=Kia |title=Who's Responsible for Bombing Near Gaza's Al-Shifa Hospital? |url=http://www.vanityfair.com/online/daily/2014/07/gaza-shifa-hospital-bombing |access-date=26 August 2014 |magazine=Vanity Fair |date=28 July 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Westcott |first1=Lucy |title=Who Fired on Gaza's Shifa Hospital? |url=http://www.newsweek.com/mysterious-case-gazas-al-shifa-hospital-262086 |access-date=26 August 2014 |work=Newsweek |date=30 July 2014}}</ref> Amnesty International concluded that the explosion at the Shati refugee camp on 28 July in which 13 civilians were killed was caused by a Palestinian rocket, despite Palestinian claims it was an Israeli missile.<ref>Isabel Kershner, [https://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/26/world/middleeast/amnesty-international-sees-evidence-of-palestinian-war-crimes-in-14-gaza-conflict.html?mabReward=R3&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&region=CColumn&module=Recommendation&src=rechp&WT.nav=RecEngine Amnesty International Sees Evidence of Palestinian War Crimes in '14 Gaza Conflict], ''The New York Times'' (25 March 2015)</ref>

==== Killing of suspected collaborators ====
{{anchor|Hamas killing of collaborators}}
During the conflict, Hamas executed Gazan civilians it accused of having collaborated with Israel, thirty on 30 July.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.i24news.tv/en/news/international/middle-east/38508-140728-hamas-executes-30-suspected-collaborators-report |title=Hamas executes 30 suspected collaborators: report |publisher=I24news.tv |date=29 July 2014 |access-date=12 August 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140811202832/http://www.i24news.tv/en/news/international/middle-east/38508-140728-hamas-executes-30-suspected-collaborators-report |archive-date=11 August 2014}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=May 2019}} The United Nations Investigatory Commission concluded that at least 21 persons{{refn|group=note|25 according to [[Human Rights Watch]], 23 according to [[Amnesty International]]}} were killed in Gaza City in [[summary execution]]s for collaboration between 5 and 22 August 2014 in Gaza City, most on the last date. 11 of those shot by firing squads on 22 August, a day after 3 al-Qassam brigade commanders had been killed in an Israeli strike at Rafah, had been taken from Al-Katiba prison. 7 were shot the same evening in "Operation Strangling Necks" directed against alleged collaborators.<ref>[https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/CoIGaza/A_HRC_CRP_4.doc ''Report of the detailed findings of the independent commission of inquiry established pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution S-21/1,''] [[United Nations Human Rights Council]] 23 June 2015 pp.&nbsp;130–131 paras 490–497</ref> [[Norman Finkelstein]] compared the dilemma facing Hamas regarding collaboration within the ranks as similar to that expressed by Jewish leaders in the aftermath of the [[Warsaw Ghetto Uprising]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Norman Finkelstein|author-link=Norman Finkelstein|title=Gaza: An Inquest into Its Martyrdom|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qo84DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA322|year=2018|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-29571-1|pages=322–323}}</ref>  

Abbas' Secretary-General, Al-Tayyib Abd al-Rahim, condemned the "random executions of those who Hamas called collaborators", adding that some of those killed had been detained for more than three years.<ref>[http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=722656 PA slams Hamas executions of alleged collaborators] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140824050000/http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=722656 |date=24 August 2014 }}, Maan News Agency</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/middle-east/hamas-condemned-over-killing-of-21-suspected-informants-1.1905478 |title=Hamas condemned over killing of 21 suspected informants |work=Irish Times |access-date=30 September 2014}}</ref> Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and Palestinian human rights groups condemned the executions.<ref>{{cite news |title=Alleged Collaborators With Israel Killed in Gaza |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/hamas-kills-18-alleged-collaborators-140871529 |access-date=31 August 2014 |work=The Wall Street Journal |date=22 August 2014}}{{dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Gaza: Halt Executions |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2014/08/25/gaza-halt-executions |access-date=31 August 2014 |work=Human Rights Watch |date=25 August 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Gaza: Hamas must end summary executions as 'informers' face firing squad |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/news/hamas-must-end-summary-executions-informers-face-firing-squad-2014-08-22 |access-date=31 August 2014 |work=Amnesty International |date=22 August 2014 |archive-date=24 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140824201635/http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/hamas-must-end-summary-executions-informers-face-firing-squad-2014-08-22 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Bodies of the victims were brought to hospitals to be added to the number of civilian casualties of Israeli operation.<ref name=executions>{{cite web |url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.612122 |title=Hamas' executions meant to deter, but reflect panic |date=24 August 2014 |work=Haaretz.com |access-date=30 September 2014}}</ref> According to a Shin Bet official, "not even one" of the alleged collaborators executed by Hamas provided any intelligence to Israel, while the Shin Bet officially "confirmed that those executed during Operation Protective Edge had all been held in prison in Gaza in the course of the hostilities."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Klein |first1=Aaron J. |last2=Ginsburg |first2=Mitch |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/none-of-alleged-gaza-collaborators-were-israeli-assets-intel-official-says |title=None of alleged Gaza collaborators were Israeli assets, intel official says |newspaper=The Times of Israel |date=3 September 2014 |access-date=23 September 2014}}</ref>

Senior Hamas official Moussa Abu Marzouk confirmed that some victims were kept under arrest before the conflict began and were executed to satisfy the public without due legal procedure.<ref name=fox_executions>{{cite news |url=http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/09/07/israeli-group-wants-hamas-leader-to-face-war-crimes-charges-for-gaza-executions/ |title=Israeli group wants Hamas leader to face war crimes charges for Gaza executions |author=Paul Alster |work=Fox News |access-date=21 October 2014 |date=7 September 2014}}</ref>

[[Shurat HaDin]] filed a suit with the [[International Criminal Court|ICC]] charging [[Khaled Mashaal]] with war crimes for the executions of 38 civilians.<ref name=fox_executions /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/NGO-asks-ICC-to-indict-Hamas-leader-Khaled-Mashaal-on-war-crimes-charges-374302 |title=NGO asks ICC to indict Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal on war crimes charges |date=3 September 2014 |access-date=23 October 2014}}</ref> Hamas co-founder [[Ayman Taha]] was found dead; ''[[Al-Quds Al-Arabi]]'' reported he had been shot by Hamas for maintaining contact with the intelligence services of several Arab countries; Hamas stated he was targeted by an Israeli airstrike.{{cn|date=May 2022}}

On 26 May 2015, Amnesty International released a report saying that Hamas carried out extrajudicial killings, abductions and arrests of Palestinians and used the [[Al-Shifa Hospital]] to detain, interrogate and torture suspects. It details the executions of at least 23 Palestinians accused of collaborating with Israel and torture of dozens of others, many victims of torture were members of the rival Palestinian movement, Fatah.<ref>{{cite web |title=Palestine (State of): 'Strangling Necks' Abductions, torture and summary killings of Palestinians by Hamas forces during the 2014 Gaza/Israel conflict |url=https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/mde2116432015eng.pdf |website=amnesty.org |publisher=[[Amnesty International]] |access-date=27 May 2015 |location=United Kingdom |date=26 May 2015}}{{dead link|date=March 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Gaza Palestinians tortured, summarily killed by Hamas forces during 2014 conflict |url=https://www.amnesty.org/press-releases/2015/05/gaza-palestinians-tortured-summarily-killed-by-hamas-forces-during-2014-conflict/|archive-url=https://archive.today/20150527024539/https://www.amnesty.org/press-releases/2015/05/gaza-palestinians-tortured-summarily-killed-by-hamas-forces-during-2014-conflict/|url-status=dead|archive-date=27 May 2015 |access-date=27 May 2015 |work=[[Amnesty International]] |date=27 May 2015}}</ref>

==== Endangerment of Civilians ====
===== Human shields =====
{{Main|Usage of human shields by Hamas}}

The [[European Union]] condemned Hamas, and in particular condemned "calls on the civilian population of Gaza to provide themselves as human shields."<ref name="ejpress.org">{{cite web|url=http://ejpress.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=49892|title=EU strongly condemns indiscriminate Hamas rockets on Israel and use of Palestinian population as human shields, 'terrorist groups in Gaza must disarm', calls for 'immediate ceasefire'|date=22 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141231235450/http://ejpress.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=49892|archive-date=31 December 2014|website=[[European Jewish Press]]}}</ref><ref name="European Union 2014">[http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.606703 European Union: Hamas, other Gaza terror groups must disarm], [[Haaretz]], 22 July 2014.</ref> Confirmation of this practice was produced by correspondents from [[France24]], ''[[The Financial Times]]'', and [[RT (TV network)|RT]], who respectively filmed a rocket launch pad which was placed in a civilian area next to a hotel where international journalists were staying,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.france24.com/en/20140805-exclusive-video-hamas-rocket-launching-pad-near-gaza-homes-un-building/ |title=Exclusive: Hamas rocket launch pad lies near Gaza homes |date=7 August 2014 |publisher=France24 |access-date=12 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140811163355/http://www.france24.com/en/20140805-exclusive-video-hamas-rocket-launching-pad-near-gaza-homes-un-building/ |archive-date=11 August 2014 |url-status=dead  }}</ref> reported on rockets being fired from near Al-Shifa Hospital, and reported on Hamas firing rockets near a hotel.<ref name=Timesintimidation>"[http://www.timesofisrael.com/hamas-threatening-journalists-in-gaza-who-expose-abuse-of-civilians/ Hamas threatening journalists in Gaza who expose abuse of civilians]." ''The Times of Israel''. 28 July 2014.</ref> In September 2014, a Hamas official acknowledged to an [[Associated Press]] reporter that the group had fired rockets from civilian areas.<ref name=aphaaretz>{{cite news |url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.615478 |title=Hamas acknowledges its forces fired rockets from civilian areas |date=12 September 2014 |newspaper=Haaretz}}</ref>

While the Israeli government repeatedly stated that many civilian casualties were the result of Hamas using the Gazan population as [[human shield]]s<ref>[http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/en/article/20669 "Hamas again uses Gazan civilians as human shields to prevent the Israeli Air Force from attacking operatives' houses"] The Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center; retrieved 13 July 2014.</ref> several British media organizations (including ''[[The Guardian]]'', and ''[[The Independent]]'') dismissed such claims as "myths"<ref>{{cite report |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/israelgaza-conflict-the-myth-of-hamass-human-shield-9619810.html |title=Israel-Gaza conflict: The myth of Hamas's human shields |date=21 July 2014|work=The Independent|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140725012047/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/israelgaza-conflict-the-myth-of-hamass-human-shield-9619810.html |archive-date=25 July 2014 }}</ref><ref>{{cite report |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/24/gaza-hamas-fighters-military-bases-guerrilla-war-civilians-israel-idf |title=In Gaza, Hamas fighters are among civilians. There is nowhere else for them to go |work=The Guardian|author=Harriet Sherwood |date=24 July 2014}}</ref> and the [[BBC]]'s Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen likewise said he "saw no evidence of Hamas using Palestinians as human shields."<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.newstatesman.com/world-affairs/2014/07/jeremy-bowens-gaza-notebook-i-saw-no-evidence-hamas-using-palestinians-human |title=Jeremy Bowen's Gaza notebook: I saw no evidence of Hamas using Palestinians as human shields |date=22 July 2014 |magazine=[[New Statesman]]}}</ref> Additionally the London-based NGO, [[Amnesty International]], dismissed such claims, stated it was unable to verify them and emphasized that even if they were true the IDF would still have a responsibility to protect civilians.<ref name="AMINT" /><ref name="MDE 15/017/2014">{{cite web |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde15/017/2014/en/ |title=Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories: Israel/Gaza conflict, July 2014 |date=July 25, 2014 |website=www.amnesty.org |publisher=[[Amnesty International]]}}</ref>

The statements fall into two categories: using civilian structures like homes, mosques and hospitals to store munitions in or launch rockets from,<ref name="Harkov-human-shields">{{cite news |work=The Jerusalem Post |url=http://www.jpost.com/Operation-Protective-Edge/Gaza-reporters-tweets-Hamas-using-human-shields-368689 |first=Lahav |last=Harkov |title=Gaza reporters' tweets: Hamas using human shields |access-date=30 July 2014 |date=24 July 2014}}</ref> and urging or forcing civilian population to stay in their homes, to shield militants.{{cn|date=May 2022}} Israeli soldiers have also said Hamas operatives directly employed women and children as involuntary human shields to evade pursuit,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.idfblog.com/blog/2014/08/25/soldiers-account-gaza-hamas-used-human-shields/ |title=A Soldier's Account from Gaza: How Hamas Used Human Shields |publisher=IDF Blog |date=25 August 2014 |access-date=17 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101030959/https://www.idfblog.com/blog/2014/08/25/soldiers-account-gaza-hamas-used-human-shields/ |archive-date=1 January 2016 |url-status=dead  }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.idfblog.com/blog/2014/09/21/an-idf-soldiers-experiences-in-gaza/ |title=An IDF Soldier's Experiences in Gaza |publisher=IDF Blog |date=21 September 2014 |access-date=17 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160708180147/https://www.idfblog.com/blog/2014/09/21/an-idf-soldiers-experiences-in-gaza/ |archive-date=8 July 2016 |url-status=dead  }}</ref> while Hamas and others have said such accusations are false.<ref name="guardianHamasShield" /> [[Asa Kasher]], who helped to write the Israel Defense Forces's Code of Conduct, argued that "Israel cannot forfeit its ability to protect its citizens against attacks simply because terrorists hide behind non-combatants. If it did so, it would be giving up any right to self-defense."<ref name=Kasher />

===== Use of civilian structures for military purposes =====
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR) [[Navi Pillay]] accused Hamas militants of violating international humanitarian law by "locating rockets within schools and hospitals, or even launching these rockets from densely populated areas." But she added that this did not absolve Israel from disregarding the same law.<ref name=AP-warcrimes>{{cite web |last1=DEITCH |first1=IAN and IBRAHIM BARZAK |title=Israel vows to destroy Hamas tunnels, deaths spike |url=https://news.yahoo.com/israel-vows-destroy-hamas-tunnels-deaths-spike-214755183.html |access-date=8 August 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140812195149/http://news.yahoo.com/israel-vows-destroy-hamas-tunnels-deaths-spike-214755183.html |archive-date=12 August 2014}}</ref> The UNHCHR report recognised that "the obligation to avoid locating military objectives within densely populated areas is not absolute. The small size of Gaza and its population density make it difficult for armed groups to always comply with this requirement."<ref name=UNHCHR-short-report>{{cite web |author=UN Human Rights Council|title=Report of the independent commission of inquiry established pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution S-21/1|url=http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/CoIGaza/A-HRC-29-52_en.doc|access-date=1 June 2018}}</ref>

In a 2015 report,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/MDE2111782015ENGLISH.PDF |title=Unlawful and deadly: Rocket and mortar attacks by Palestinian armed groups during the 2014 Gaza/Israel conflict |date=24 March 2014}}</ref> Amnesty International states that "There are credible reports that, in certain cases, Palestinian armed groups launched rockets or mortars from within civilian facilities or compounds, including schools, at least one hospital and a Greek Orthodox church in Gaza City. In at least two cases, accounts indicate that attacks were launched in spite of the fact that displaced Gazan civilians were sheltering in the compounds or in neighbouring buildings.".

Israel has stated that many mosques, schools and hospitals were used to store weapons. The IDF spokesman said that mortar shells were fired from a boys' school that served as a shelter for refugees.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4563980,00.html|title=IAF destroys 2 Gaza high-rises, strikes school used for mortar fire|first1=Roi|last1=Kais|first2=Yoav|last2=Zitun|newspaper=Ynetnews |date=26 August 2014|via=www.ynetnews.com}}</ref> There were reports of the use of mosques to store weapons,<ref>{{cite news |title=Israel concentrates incursion along Gaza borders as Netanyahu warns of 'expansion' |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/israel-launches-ground-invasion-of-gaza/2014/07/18/8c751f72-0e41-11e4-8c9a-923ecc0c7d23_story.html |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=14 July 2014 |first=Sudarsan |last=Raghavan}}</ref> and having launch sites very close to civilian structures.<ref name="Harkov-human-shields" /> Gaza's Greek Orthodox archbishop has said that Hamas used the church compound, which sheltered 2000 Muslim civilians, to launch rockets into Israel.<ref name="Church rockets">{{cite web |author=GeorgeThomas |url=http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/insideisrael/2014/August/Gaza-Bishop-Hamas-Used-Church-to-Fire-Rockets- |title=Gaza Bishop: Hamas Used Church to Fire Rockets |publisher=CBN.com |date=8 August 2014 |access-date=12 August 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Ben |first=Ricky |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/gaza-archbishop-says-rockets-fired-from-church |title=Gaza archbishop says rockets were fired from church |newspaper=The Times of Israel |date=7 August 2014 |access-date=12 August 2014}}</ref> [[France 24]] correspondent Gallagher Fenwick reported that a Hamas rocket-launching pad was placed in densely populated neighborhood of Gaza City, about 50 meters from the hotel where the majority of international media were staying and 100 meters from a UN building. Fenwick said that "children can be seen playing on and near the rocket launcher".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.france24.com/en/20140805-exclusive-video-hamas-rocket-launching-pad-near-gaza-homes-un-building |title=Exclusive: Hamas rocket launch pad lies near Gaza homes |publisher=France 24 |date=7 August 2014 |access-date=12 August 2014}}</ref>

Israel released footage of Palestinian militants launching rockets from a school and a cemetery.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jpost.com/Operation-Protective-Edge/Watch-Gazans-fire-rockets-from-school-and-cemetery-369063 |title=Watch: Gazans fire rockets from school and cemetery |date=27 July 2014 |access-date=30 September 2014}}</ref> In at least one case a cemetery was targeted by an Israeli airstrike.<ref name="CemeteryBombed">{{cite news |title=4 Gazans die in Israeli bombing while burying deceased family members |url=http://www.middleeastnews.net/index.php/sid/224972707 |date=21 August 2014 |access-date=22 August 2014 |publisher=Middle East News.Net}}</ref>

According to [[Shin Bet|Shabak]], the Israeli internal security service, some militants, when interrogated, admitted using civilian buildings for military purposes. The admissions included more than ten mosques that were used for gatherings, training, storage of weapons, tunnel activities and military observations. During interrogations, one militant said that he was instructed in case of successful abduction using a tunnel to take the victim to a kindergarten located near its opening.<ref name=ITIC_2_sep /><ref name=Haaretz_interrogation>{{cite web |url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.612455 |title=Mosques used for military operations, say Hamas POWs |date=26 August 2014 |work=Haaretz.com |access-date=30 September 2014}}</ref>
[[File:Weapons Found in a Child's Room in Gaza (14568987517).jpg|thumb|Explosives were allegedly two steps away from a baby's bed in Gaza during the war.]]
On 24 August, Israel released part of what it says is a Hamas training manual on urban warfare, which states "the process of hiding ammunition inside buildings is intended for ambushes in residential areas and to move the campaign from open areas into built up and closed areas" and "residents of the area should be used to bring in the equipment...take advantage of this to avoid [Israeli] spy planes and attack drones." The manual also explains how fighting from within civilian population makes IDF operations difficult and what the benefits of civilian deaths are.<ref>[https://nypost.com/2014/08/05/hamas-manual-details-civilian-death-plan-israel/ Hamas' disturbing 'human shields' manual], Bob Fredericks, NY Post, 5 August 2014</ref> Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri dismissed the document as a "forgery...aimed at justifying the mass killings of Palestinian civilians."<ref name="Training Manual" />

On 12 September, Ghazi Hamad, a senior Hamas official, acknowledged for the first time that Hamas did fire rockets from civilian areas and said "some mistakes were made".<ref>[http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.615478 Hamas acknowledges its forces fired rockets from civilian areas], Haaretz (AP story), 12 September 2014; (same AP story:) [http://www.timesofisrael.com/hamas-admits-to-rocket-fire-from-residential-areas/ Hamas admits to rocket fire from residential areas], ''Times of Israel'' (AP story), 12 September 2014.</ref>

====== In Israel ======
{{see also|Allegations of war crimes against Israel}}
Israeli and Jewish critics of the war, including [[Uri Avnery]] and [[Gideon Levy]] wrote that in their own [[1948 Palestine war|war of independence]] in 1948 (and earlier), Jews hid weapons in synagogues, kindergartens and schools as well.<ref>[[Uri Avnery]], [http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/10/17/the-meaning-of-the-british-vote-on-palestine/ The Meaning of the British Vote on Palestine] [[CounterPunch|Counterpunch]] 17–19 October 2014: 'Another assertion is that these buildings were used by Hamas to hide their arms. A person of my age reminded us this week in Haaretz that we did exactly the same during our fight against the British government of Palestine and Arab attackers: our arms were hidden in kindergartens, schools, hospitals and synagogues. In many places there are now proud memorial plaques as a reminder.'</ref><ref>[[Gideon Levy]], [http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.620260 Weapons of mass distraction], [[Haaretz]], 12 October 2014: 'There was no Jewish settlement in the country that did not have a "slik" – as these storage sites were known – all in the heart of "civilian population concentrations", of course. At Ein Ganim there was a slik in a synagogue (permitted to bombard); at Nahalal, it was under the cow-urine removal pump (bombard it); the Aldema slik was in the courtyard of a home in the Borochov neighborhood of Givatayim (bomb it); the slik at Café Piltz was in the drinks storage room (demolish it). The Etzel pre-state underground had its own slik under the Torah Ark in the Hurva Synagogue in Jerusalem's Old City. Weapons in a synagogue? That was the cynicism of these organizations. Schools served as training installations, even as weapons production workshops.</ref> Other critics have noted that the headquarters of the IDF and Shin Bet, as well as an Israeli military training facility, are also located near civilian centers.<ref name="guardianHamasShield" /><ref>{{cite news |last=Hass |first=Amira |url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.604844 |title=Israel showed restraint in Gaza before attacking? You must be kidding – Diplomacy and Defense Israel News |work=Haaretz |date=14 July 2014 |access-date=3 August 2014}}</ref> Commentators brought up the current high population density of Gaza in conjunction with Palestinian military activities and installations being in or near civilian structures.<ref name="guardianHamasShield" /><ref name=channel1>[http://blogs.channel4.com/factcheck/factcheck-hamas-civilians-human-shields/18534 "FactCheck: Does Hamas use civilians as human shields?"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140725001908/http://blogs.channel4.com/factcheck/factcheck-hamas-civilians-human-shields/18534 |date=25 July 2014 }}, channel4.com/factcheck; accessed 28 July 2014.</ref>

====== Legality ======
Using civilian structures to store munitions and launch attacks from is unlawful, and the [[Fourth Geneva Convention]] states that "The presence of a protected person may not be used to render certain points or areas immune from military operations."<ref>The Fourth Geneva Convention, part III: Status and Treatment of Protected Persons, [http://www.icrc.org/applic/ihl/ihl.nsf/Article.xsp?action=openDocument&documentId=732D7EA50DF1A5ECC12563CD0051BBF0 Art 28].</ref> On the other hand, another convention says that "Any violation of these prohibitions shall not release the parties to the conflict from their legal obligations with respect to the civilian population and civilians, including the obligation to take the precautionary measures."<ref>The Fourth Geneva Convention, [https://www.icrc.org/ihl/WebART/470-750065 Article 51]</ref>

According to Harriet Sherwood, writer for the Guardian, even if Hamas were violating the law on this matter, it would not legally justify Israel's bombing of areas where civilians are known to be.<ref name="guardianHamasShield" /> Amnesty International stated that "Indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks (where the likely number of civilian casualties or damage to civilian property outweighs the anticipated military advantage to be gained) are ... prohibited."<ref name="amnesty1" /> It said that "Israel's relentless air assault on Gaza has seen its forces flagrantly disregard civilian life and property".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/news/israelgaza-prevent-further-war-crimes-after-israeli-ground-assault-2014-07-18 |title=Israel/Gaza: Prevent further war crimes after Israeli ground assault |publisher=Amnesty.org |date=18 July 2014 |access-date=3 August 2014 |archive-date=26 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140726193659/http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/israelgaza-prevent-further-war-crimes-after-israeli-ground-assault-2014-07-18 |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[Human Rights Watch]] has said that in many cases "the Israeli military has presented no information to show that it was attacking lawful military objectives or acted to minimize civilian casualties."<ref name="hrwUnlawfulAistrikes">{{cite news |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2014/07/15/israelpalestine-unlawful-israeli-airstrikes-kill-civilians |title=Israel/Palestine: Unlawful Israeli Airstrikes Kill Civilians |publisher=Hrw.org |date=16 July 2014 |access-date=3 August 2014}}</ref> An investigation by Human Rights Watch found that "in most of the sites we investigated so far (in this conflict) we found no valid military targets".<ref name=usatoday.com>{{cite news |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2014/07/24/israel-gaza-human-rights-human-shields/13112057 |title=Analysis: Human rights or human shields in Gaza war? |work=[[USA Today]] |date=24 July 2014 |access-date=26 July 2014 |first=Oren |last=Dorell}}</ref> A high-level group of former diplomats and military experts concluded that "the IDF acted within the bounds of international law during the war."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Ex-generals-diplomats-absolve-Israel-of-Gaza-war-crimes-405888 |title=Ex-generals, diplomats absolve Israel of Gaza war crimes |work=[[The Jerusalem Post]] |date=13 June 2015 |access-date=15 June 2015 |first=Tovah |last=Lazaroff}}</ref> The Israeli government issued a report saying that its military actions were "lawful and legitimate" and that "Israel made substantial efforts to avoid civilian deaths."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-33128955 |title=Israeli 2014 Gaza war actions lawful, report says |work=[[BBC]] |date=14 June 2015 |access-date=15 June 2015}}</ref> The High Level Military Group, composed of military experts from Australia, Colombia, France, Germany, India, Italy, Britain, the United States, and Spain, released an assessment on Operation Protective Edge acknowledging Israel made "unprecedented efforts" to avoid civilian casualties exceeding international standards.<ref>{{cite report|url=http://www.high-level-military-group.org/pdf/hlmg-assessment-2014-gaza-conflict.pdf |title=An Assessment of the 2014 Gaza Conflict |publisher=Friends of Israel Initiative |date=October 2015 |agency=High Level Military Group |access-date=24 May 2019}}</ref>

===== Medical facilities and personnel =====

[[File:Destroyed ambulance in the CIty of Shijaiyah in the Gaza Strip.jpg|thumb|Photo taken during the 72-hour ceasefire between Hamas and Israel on 6 August 2014. A destroyed ambulance in Shuja'iyya in the Gaza Strip.]]
Medical units including hospitals and medical personnel have special protections under [[international humanitarian law]]. They lose their protection only if they commit, outside their humanitarian function, "acts harmful to the enemy."<ref name=hrwHospitals>{{cite web |title=Q&A: 2014 Hostilities between Israel and Hamas |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2014/08/03/qa-2014-hostilities-between-israel-and-hamas |website=Human Rights Watch |date=8 August 2014}}</ref> More than 25 medical facilities were damaged in the conflict; one attack on Al-Aqsa hospital killed 5 people.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Dekke |first1=Stephanie |title=Deaths as Israeli tanks shell Gaza hospital |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/07/deaths-as-israeli-tanks-shell-gaza-hospital-2014721124111171397.html |publisher=Al Jazeera English |date=21 July 2014}}</ref> In many cases, ambulances and other medical personnel were hit.<ref>{{cite news |title=Israel bombs Gaza ambulance as Friday death toll surpasses 100 |url=http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=717447 |publisher=Ma'an News |date=1 August 2014 |access-date=12 August 2014 |archive-date=12 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140812212653/http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=717447 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Amnesty International has condemned the attacks and said that there is "mounting evidence" that Israel deliberately targeted hospitals and medical personnel; Israel said it had not.<ref>{{cite news |title=Mounting evidence of deliberate attacks on Gaza health workers by Israeli army |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/news/mounting-evidence-deliberate-attacks-gaza-health-workers-israeli-army-2014-08-07 |publisher=Amnesty International |date=7 August 2014 |access-date=4 December 2016 |archive-date=22 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150222092816/http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/mounting-evidence-deliberate-attacks-gaza-health-workers-israeli-army-2014-08-07 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

A [[Finnish people|Finnish]] reporter from ''[[Helsingin Sanomat]]'' reported seeing rockets fired from near the Gaza Al-Shifa hospital.<ref name="ynetnews1">[http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4553643,00.html VIDEO: Finnish reporter sees rockets fired from Gaza hospital], [[ynet]], 2 August 2014.</ref> The IDF said that in several cases Hamas used Wafa hospital as a military base and used ambulances to transport its fighters.<ref>[http://www.idfblog.com/blog/2014/07/28/hamas-uses-hospitals-ambulances-military-purposes "Hamas Uses Hospitals and Ambulances for Military Purposes"], IDF blog, 28 July 2014. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140811193044/http://www.idfblog.com/blog/2014/07/28/hamas-uses-hospitals-ambulances-military-purposes |date=11 August 2014 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-targets-hospital-hamas-used-as-firing-position |title=WATCH: IDF targets hospital used as Hamas command center |work=The Times of Israel |access-date=30 September 2014}}</ref> According to the Israeli [[Shin Bet|Shabak]], many of the militants it interrogated said that "everyone knew" that Hamas leaders were using hospitals for hiding. Hamas security reportedly wore police uniforms and blocked access to certain parts of the hospitals. One of the interrogated militants reportedly said that civilians seeking medical attention usually were thrown out by the security.<ref name=ITIC_2_sep /><ref name=Haaretz_interrogation /> The Washington Post described Al-Shifa hospital as a "de facto headquarters for Hamas leaders, who can be seen in the hallways and offices."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/while-israel-held-its-fire-the-militant-group-hamas-did-not/2014/07/15/116fd3d7-3c0f-4413-94a9-2ab16af1445d_story.html |title=While Israel held its fire, the militant group Hamas did not |first=William |last=Booth |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=15 July 2014}}</ref> Amnesty International reported that: "Hamas forces used the abandoned areas of al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, including the outpatients' clinic area, to detain, interrogate, torture and otherwise ill-treat suspects, even as other parts of the hospital continued to function as a medical centre".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/palestinianauthority/11631865/Amnesty-International-report-details-spine-chilling-Hamas-killings-and-torture.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/palestinianauthority/11631865/Amnesty-International-report-details-spine-chilling-Hamas-killings-and-torture.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Hamas 'tortured Palestinian collaborators' in Gaza hospital |date=27 May 2015 |work=Telegraph.co.uk |location=London |first=Inna |last=Lazareva}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

French-Palestinian journalist Radjaa Abu Dagga<ref>[//www.jpost.com/Operation-Protective-Edge/Journalists-threatened-by-Hamas-for-reporting-use-of-human-shields-369619 Journalists threatened by Hamas for reporting use of human shields]</ref> reported that Hamas militants interrogated him in Gaza's main hospital (Al-Shifa); his report was later removed from his paper's website at his request.<ref name="Timesintimidation" />

Mohammed Al Falahi, Secretary General of [[Red Crescent Society of the United Arab Emirates|Red Crescent, UAE]] said that Hamas militants fired on Israeli planes from Red Crescent's field hospital in order to provoke retaliation, attacked Red Crescent team on their way back and planted land mines on their path.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/230953 |title=What hurts is that the betrayal came from our own people |date=13 June 2017 |first=Tal |last=Polon}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4975170,00.html |title=Red Crescent: Hamas tried to stop humanitarian aid distribution in Gaza |date=13 June 2017 |first=Roi |last=Kais}}</ref>

===== Urging or forcing civilians to stay in their homes =====
The IDF has released photographs which it says show civilians on rooftops, and a video of Hamas spokesperson [[Sami Abu Zuhri]] saying "the fact that people are willing to sacrifice themselves against Israeli warplanes in order to protect their homes [...] is proving itself".<ref name=channel1 /><ref name=usatoday.com /><ref>[http://www.cnn.com/2014/07/23/world/meast/human-shields-mideast-controversy "Is Hamas using human shields in Gaza?"], CNN.com, 23 July 2014; accessed 28 July 2014.</ref><ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/24/world/middleeast/israel-says-hamas-is-using-civilians-as-shields-in-gaza.html "Is Hamas using human shields in Gaza?"], 24 July 2014; accessed 28 July 2014.</ref> The EU has strongly condemned "calls on the civilian population of Gaza to provide themselves as human shields"<ref>{{cite web |title=Press Release |url=http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/EN/foraff/144098.pdf |website=Council of the European Union |access-date=6 August 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=EU calls on Hamas to disarm, condemns use of civilians as shields |url=http://www.jpost.com/Operation-Protective-Edge/EU-calls-on-Hamas-to-disarm-condemns-use-of-civilians-as-shields-368509 |website=The Jerusalem Post |date=22 July 2014 |access-date=6 August 2014}}</ref> and US Congress-members introduced bills condemning Hamas for using human shields.<ref>"[http://www.jta.org/2014/07/29/news-opinion/politics/bills-condemning-hamas-on-human-shields-introduced-in-congress Bills condemning Hamas on 'human shields' introduced in Congress]." Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 29 July 2014.</ref><ref>"[http://www.politico.com/story/2014/07/hamas-israel-ted-cruz-kirsten-gillibrand-109457.html Ted Cruz, Kirsten Gillibrand team up on Hamas]." ''Politico''. 29 July 2014.</ref>{{undue weight inline|reason=Why is US congress statement worth including? Perhaps belongs in "Reactions" section|date=July 2014}} Civilians and activists in Gaza used themselves as '[[human shields]]' in attempts to prevent Israeli attacks.<ref name="newsweek-human-shields">{{cite web |title=Video Shows Gaza Residents Acting as Human Shields |url=http://www.newsweek.com/video-shows-gaza-residents-acting-human-shields-israeli-forces-258223 |website=Newsweek |date=10 July 2014 |access-date=18 August 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Israel raids Gaza missile site as rockets, rhetoric fly in Israeli-Hamas face-off |url=http://www.cnn.com/2014/07/12/world/meast/mideast-tensions/ |website=CNN |access-date=18 August 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Israeli military's 'knock on roof' warnings criticized by rights groups |url=http://www.cnn.com/2014/07/15/world/meast/mideast-israel-strike-warnings/ |publisher=CNN |access-date=18 August 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=International activists staying at Gaza hospital the IDF plans to bomb |url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.604567 |journal=TheMarker |access-date=18 August 2014}}</ref>

Hamas officials said human shields were not used.{{cn|date=May 2022}} One Gazan stated that "nobody is safe and nobody can flee anywhere because everywhere is targeted."<ref name=CNN-crisis /> Many reporters, including from the BBC,<ref>[http://www.newstatesman.com/world-affairs/2014/07/jeremy-bowens-gaza-notebook-i-saw-no-evidence-hamas-using-palestinians-human "Jeremy Bowen's Gaza notebook: I saw no evidence of Hamas using Palestinians as human shields"], ''New Statesman''; accessed 28 July 2014.</ref> the Independent<ref>{{cite news |work=The Independent |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/israelgaza-conflict-the-myth-of-hamass-human-shield-9619810.html |first=Kim |last=Sengupta |title=Israel-Gaza conflict: The myth of Hamas's human shields |access-date=31 July 2014 |date=21 July 2014 |location=London |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140725012047/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/israelgaza-conflict-the-myth-of-hamass-human-shield-9619810.html |archive-date=25 July 2014 }}</ref> and the Guardian<ref name=guardianHamasShield>{{cite news |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/24/gaza-hamas-fighters-military-bases-guerrilla-war-civilians-israel-idf |first=Harriet |last=Sherwood |title=In Gaza, Hamas fighters are among civilians. There is nowhere else for them to go |access-date=31 July 2014 |date=24 July 2014}}</ref> said that they found no evidence of Hamas forcing Palestinians to stay and become unwilling human shields.

Fatah officials said that Hamas placed over 250 Fatah members under house arrest or in jail, putting them under threat of being killed by Israeli strikes and shooting them in the legs or breaking their limbs if they tried to leave.<ref name="hamas-fatah-tensions">[http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/.premium-1.614333 Tensions between Hamas and Fatah overshadow work of reconciliation government], Amira Hass</ref><ref name="abusing-Fatah">{{cite news |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4566940,00.html |title=Hamas accused of abusing Fatah members during Gaza war |work=ynet |date=2 September 2014 |access-date=30 September 2014}}</ref><ref name="shot-in-legs">{{cite web |url=http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Palestinian-Authority-says-Hamas-shot-Fatah-men-in-legs-during-Gaza-fighting-371568 |title=Palestinian Authority says Hamas shot Fatah men in legs during Gaza fighting |date=20 August 2014 |access-date=30 September 2014}}</ref> According to Abbas, more than 300 Fatah members were placed under house arrest and 120 were executed for fleeing.<ref name="JPost Hamas curfew" />

[[Amnesty International]] reported that it did "not have evidence at this point" that Palestinian civilians were intentionally used by Hamas or Palestinian armed groups during the current hostilities to "shield" specific locations or military personnel or equipment from Israeli attacks". It additionally said that "public statements referring to entire areas are not the same as directing specific civilians to remain in their homes as "human shields" for fighters, munitions, or military equipment" and that "even if officials or fighters from Hamas or Palestinian armed groups ... did in fact direct civilians to remain in a specific location in order to shield military objectives ..., all of Israel's obligations to protect these civilians would still apply."<ref name="amnesty1" /> Human Rights Watch said many of the attacks on targets appeared to be "disproportionate" and "indiscriminate".<ref name="hrwUnlawfulAistrikes" />

[[Human Rights Watch]] attributed many civilian deaths to the lack of safe places to flee to, and accused Israel of firing at fleeing civilians. It stated that there are many reasons that prevent civilians from abiding by warnings, and that the failure to abide by warnings does not make civilians lawful targets.{{citation needed|date=December 2020}}

==== Rocket attacks on Israeli civilians ====
[[File:House in Israel Destroyed by Hamas Rocket (14713208821).jpg|thumb|House destroyed by a rocket in [[Yehud, Israel]].]]
Human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, pointed to Hamas's rocket attacks on Israeli cities as violations of international law and war crimes.<ref name=indiscriminate /> Palestinian ambassador to the UN Human Rights Council, Ibrahim Khraishi stated in a 9 July interview on PA TV that the "[[Qassam rocket|missiles]] that are now being launched against Israel – each and every missile constitutes a crime against humanity, whether it hits or misses, because it is directed at civilian targets".<ref name=a7-Khreisheh>{{cite web |last1=Soffer |first1=Ari |title=PA Official Admits: Israel Follows International Law, We Don't |url=http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/182837 |website=israelnationalnews.com/News/ |date=13 July 2014 |publisher=Arutz Sheva |access-date=13 July 2014}}</ref>

Hamas political figure [[Khaled Mashaal]] has defended the firing of rockets into Israel, saying that "our victims are civilians and theirs are soldiers".<ref>[http://www.timesofisrael.com/in-defiant-speech-mashaal-denies-ceasefire-close "In defiant speech, Mashaal denies ceasefire close"], ''The Times of Israel''; accessed 28 July 2014.</ref> According to one report, "nearly all the 2,500–3,000 rockets and mortars Hamas has fired at Israel since the start of the war seem to have been aimed at towns", including an attack on "a kibbutz collective farm close to the Gaza border", in which an Israeli child was killed.<ref name="Training Manual">{{cite news |last=Baker |first=Luke |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-gaza-hamas-document-idUSKBN0GO0D120140824 |title=Israel says it found Hamas training manual in Gaza |work=Reuters |date=24 August 2014 |access-date=25 August 2014}}</ref> Former Israeli Lt. Col. Jonathan D. Halevi stated that "Hamas has expressed pride in aiming long-range rockets at strategic targets in Israel including the nuclear reactor in Dimona, the chemical plants in Haifa, and Ben-Gurion Airport", which "could have caused thousands" of Israeli casualties "if successful".<ref>{{cite web |last=Halevi |first=Jonathan D. |url=http://jcpa.org/hamas-threat-no-different-from-isis/ |title=The Hamas Threat to the West Is No Different from ISIS |publisher=Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs |date=4 August 2014 |access-date=25 August 2014}}</ref>

According to Israel, Hamas continued to fire rockets at the Erez border crossing while sick and wounded Gazans tried to enter Israel for treatment. The Erez border crossing is the only legal border crossing between Gaza and Israel. Other people affected by this included journalists, UN workers, and volunteers.<ref>[http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0%2c7340%2cL-4564025%2c00.html Hamas 'fires at sick Gazans trying to leave for medical treatment'], Ynet News, Assaf Kamar, 1 September 2014</ref><ref>[http://www.timesofisrael.com/waiting-to-transport-sick-drivers-at-gaza-crossing-come-under-attack/ Waiting to transport sick, drivers at Gaza crossing come under attack], The Times of Israel, Lazar Berman and Marissa Newman, 24 August 2014</ref>

==== Military use of UN facilities ====
The [[United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East]] (UNRWA) has a number of institutions and schools in the Gaza region, and, as of 24 July 23 had been closed.  Hamas took advantage of the closures to employ some of these vacant UNRWA buildings as weapon storage sites.<ref name=FP>Colum Lynch, [http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2014/07/24/un_relief_agency_under_attack_in_gaza_conflict "The U.N. Takes Fire in Gaza"], [[Foreign Policy]], 24 July 2014.</ref> UNRWA officials, on discovering that three<ref>[http://www.worldtribune.com/2014/07/23/un-acknowledges-facilities-gaza-used-store-hamas-rockets "UN admits its schools in Gaza were used to store Hamas rockets"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140726004755/http://www.worldtribune.com/2014/07/23/un-acknowledges-facilities-gaza-used-store-hamas-rockets |date=26 July 2014 }}, ''The World Tribune'', 23 July 2014.</ref><ref>Chandler, Adam. [http://www.thewire.com/global/2014/07/hamas-rockets-found-in-second-united-nations-school/374874 "Hamas Rockets Found in Second United Nations School"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140729235207/http://www.thewire.com/global/2014/07/hamas-rockets-found-in-second-united-nations-school/374874/ |date=29 July 2014 }}, ''The Wire'', 22 July 2014.</ref> such vacated schools had been employed for storing rockets, condemned Hamas's actions, calling it a "flagrant violation of the neutrality of our premises."<ref>France-Presse, Agence. "[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/17/unrwa-investigating-20-rockets-empty-gaza-school-palestinian UNRWA investigating discovery of 20 rockets found in empty Gaza school]." ''The Guardian''. Friday, 18 July 2014.</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.unrwa.org/newsroom/press-releases/unrwa-condemns-placement-rockets-second-time-one-its-schools |title=UNRWA condemns placement of rockets, for a second time, in one of its schools |publisher=[[UNWRA]] |date=22 July 2014 |access-date=30 July 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Issacharoff |first=Avi |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/rockets-found-in-unrwa-school-for-third-time/ |title=Rockets found in UNRWA school, for third time |work=The Times of Israel |date=30 July 2014 |access-date=4 August 2014}}</ref>

On 16 July,<ref name="UNRWA">{{cite press release |url=http://www.unrwa.org/newsroom/press-releases/unrwa-strongly-condemns-placement-rockets-school |title=Strongly Condemns Placement of Rockets in School |publisher=UNRWA |date=17 July 2014 |accessdate=1 August 2014}}</ref> 22 July,<ref name="unrwa.org">{{cite web |url=http://www.unrwa.org/newsroom/press-releases/unrwa-condemns-placement-rockets-second-time-one-its-schools |title=Condemns Placement of Rockets, for a Second Time, in One of Its Schools |publisher=UNRWA |date=22 July 2014 |accessdate=2 August 2014}}</ref> and on 29 July, UNRWA announced that rockets had been found in their schools.<ref name="gaza-idUSKBN0FV04A20140730">{{cite news |author1=Nidal al-Mughrabi |author2=Maayan Lubell |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-gaza-idUSKBN0FV04A20140730 |title=Carnage at U.N. school as Israel pounds Gaza Strip |work=Reuters |date=29 July 2014 |access-date=2 August 2014}}</ref> Israel's foreign minister [[Avigdor Lieberman]] stated that UNRWA had turned over some discovered rockets to Hamas.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Keinon |first1=Herb |last2=Cashman |first2=Greer Fay |title=Liberman to Ban: Israel outraged over UNRWA turning over rockets to Hamas |url=http://www.jpost.com/Operation-Protective-Edge/Liberman-to-Ban-Israel-outraged-over-UNRWA-turning-over-rockets-to-Hamas-368578 |access-date=30 July 2014 |newspaper=The Jerusalem Post |date=23 July 2014}}</ref> [[Israel Democracy Institute]] Vice President, Mordechai Kremnitzer, accused the UNRWA of [[war crimes]] for handing over the rockets, while Hebrew University Professor Robbie Sabel stated that the UNRWA "had no legal obligation to hand the rockets over to Israel" and had little other choice in the matter.<ref>[http://www.jpost.com/Operation-Protective-Edge/Did-UNRWA-commit-a-war-crime-by-handing-rockets-over-to-Hamas-368348 "Did UNRWA Commit a War Crime by Handing Rockets Over To Hamas"], ''Jerusalem Post'', 22 July 2014.</ref> UNRWA states the armouries had been transferred to local police authorities under the Ramallah national unity government's authority, in accordance with "longstanding UN practice in UN humanitarian operations worldwide".<ref name=FP /><ref name=jpostunrwa>{{cite news |url=http://www.jpost.com/Operation-Protective-Edge/UNRWA-denies-giving-rockets-found-on-its-premises-to-Hamas-368358 |title=UNRWA denies giving rockets found on its premises to Hamas |newspaper=The Jerusalem Post |date=21 July 2014 |access-date=23 July 2014}}</ref><ref>[http://www.timesofisrael.com/un-agency-handed-rockets-back-to-hamas-israel-says "UN agency handed rockets back to Hamas, Israel says"], timesofisrael.com; accessed 28 July 2014.</ref> UN Secretary [[Ban Ki-moon]] ordered an investigation.<ref>[http://www.jta.org/2014/07/24/default/ban-orders-review-following-allegations-unrwa-gave-rockets-back-to-hamas Ban Orders Review Following Allegations That UNRWA Gave Rockets Back To Hamas,']. ''Jewish Telegraphic Agency'', 24 July 2014.</ref>

On 30 July, the IDF said that they had discovered the entrance to a [[Palestinian tunnel warfare in the Gaza Strip|tunnel]] concealed inside a UNRWA medical clinic in [[Khan Yunis]]. The clinic was rigged with explosives, which then exploded and killed three Israeli soldiers.<ref name="UNWRAbomb" /> This report was later corrected by the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, the military unit that implements government policies in the Palestinian areas, who later that day stated that despite its UNRWA sign, the site was not registered as belonging to UNRWA.<ref name="UNWRAbomb">{{cite web |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/3-idf-soldiers-killed-in-booby-trapped-unrwa-clinic/ |title=Militants 'blow up UNRWA clinic,' killing 3 soldiers |work=The Times of Israel |date=30 July 2014 |access-date=30 July 2014}}</ref>

==== Intimidation of journalists ====
Israeli officials said Hamas intimidates journalists in Gaza. A French reporter said that he was "detained and interrogated by members of Hamas's al-Qassam Brigade" in Gaza's Al-Shifa hospital, and forced to leave Gaza; he later asked the newspaper to remove his article from their site.<ref name=Timesintimidation /><ref>"[http://www.liberation.fr/monde/2014/07/24/tu-dois-quitter-gaza-au-plus-vite-et-arreter-de-travailler_1069701 Tu dois quitter Gaza au plus vite et arrêter de travailler]." ''Liberation''. 24 July 2014.</ref><ref>Debinski, Gabrielle, Or Avi-Guy and Tzvi Fleischer. "[http://www.theaustralian.com.au/opinion/trapped-in-gaza-how-hamas-punishes-reporters-for-the-truth/story-e6frg6zo-1227007768903 Trapped in Gaza: How Hamas punishes reporters for the truth]." ''The Australian''. 31 July 2014.</ref> Some journalists reported threats on social media against those who tweet about rocket launch sites. John Reed of ''[[The Financial Times]]'' was threatened after he tweeted about rockets being fired from near Al-Shifa Hospital, and [[RT (TV network)|RT]] correspondent Harry Fear was told to leave Gaza after he tweeted that Hamas fired rockets from near his hotel.<ref name="Timesintimidation" /> [[Isra al-Modallal]], head of foreign relations for the Hamas Information Ministry, said Hamas did deport foreign journalists who filmed Hamas rocket launches, stating that by filming the launch sites the journalists were collaborating with Israel.<ref>[http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/1.610801 "Hamas deported journalists, spokesperson reportedly admits"], Haaretz.com; accessed 22 November 2014.</ref><ref>[http://www.algemeiner.com/2014/08/15/hamas-spox-we-deported-foreign-journalists-for-filming-missile-launches/ Hamas Spox: We Deported Foreign Journalists for Filming Missile Launches], Algemeiner.com</ref> The Foreign Press Association (FPA) in Israel and the Palestinian territories protested what it called "blatant, incessant, forceful and unorthodox methods employed by the Hamas authorities ... against visiting international journalists in Gaza", saying several had been harassed or questioned over information they reported. It also said that Hamas was trying to "put in place a 'vetting' procedure" that would allow the blacklisting of specific journalists.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4557775,00.html |title=Foreign reporters condemn Hamas' censorship policy in Gaza |newspaper=Ynetnews |publisher=Ynetnews.com |date=20 June 1995 |access-date=21 August 2014|last1=Benhorin |first1=Yitzhak }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Foreign journalists protest Hamas threats |url=http://www.globes.co.il/en/article-foreign-journalists-protest-hamas-threats-1000963063 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140814010258/http://www.globes.co.il/en/article-foreign-journalists-protest-hamas-threats-1000963063 |archive-date=14 August 2014 }}</ref> ''[[The Jerusalem Post]]'' said UNRWA workers were threatened by Hamas at gun-point during the war, but [[Christopher Gunness]], UNRWA spokesman, said "I have checked and double checked with sources in Gaza and there is no evidence of death threats made to UNRWA personnel."<ref>{{cite web |title=Exclusive: Hamas threatened UNRWA personnel at gun-point during Gaza war |date=11 September 2014 |url=http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Exclusive-Hamas-threatened-UNRWA-personnel-at-gun-point-during-Gaza-war-375051 |access-date=22 November 2014}}</ref>

Some FPA members disputed the FPA's comments, including ''[[The New York Times|New York Times]]'' Jerusalem bureau chief Jodi Rudoren, who wrote "every reporter I've met who was in Gaza during [the] war says this Israeli/now FPA narrative of Hamas harassment is nonsense."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.haaretz.com/blogs/outside-edge/.premium-1.610241 |title=Foreign press divided over Hamas harassment: Protest issued by Foreign Press Association in Israel and the Palestinian Territories against Hamas intimidation in Gaza is hotly disputed by some members |date=13 August 2014 |work=Haaretz.com |access-date=30 September 2014}}</ref> ''[[Haaretz]]'' interviewed many foreign journalists and found "all but a few of the journalists deny any such pressure". They said Hamas's intimidation was no worse than what they got from the IDF, and said no armed forces would permit reporters to broadcast militarily sensitive information; and that, furthermore, most reporters seldom saw Hamas fighters, because they fought from concealed locations and in places that were too dangerous to approach.<ref>Anshel Pfeffer, [http://www.haaretz.com/news/features/.premium-1.609589 "Foreign press: Hamas didn't censor us in Gaza, they were nowhere to be found"], ''[[Haaretz]]'', 8 August 2014.</ref>

=== Alleged violations by Israel ===
Israel received some 500 complaints concerning 360 alleged violations. 80 were closed without criminal charges, 6 cases were opened on incidents allegedly involving criminal conduct, and in one case regarding 3 IDF soldiers in the aftermath of the [[Battle of Shuja'iyya]], a charge of looting was laid. Most cases were closed for what the military magistrates considered to be lack of evidence to sustain a charge of misconduct. No mention was made of incidents during the "Black Friday" events at Rafah.<ref>[http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=772843 Israeli army exonerates itself in scores of investigations into 2014 Gaza war crimes], [[Ma'an News Agency]] 25 August 2016.</ref><ref>Gili Cohen, [http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.738447'IDF Closes Probes of Alleged Crimes, Some Involving Civilian Deaths, in 2014 Gaza War,']{{dead link|date=January 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} [[Haaretz]]24 August 2016.</ref>

According to [[Assaf Sharon]] of Tel Aviv University, the IDF was pressured by politicians to unleash unnecessary violence whose basic purpose was 'to satisfy a need for vengeance,' which the politicians themselves tried to whip up in Israel's population.<ref name="Sharon" /> [[Asa Kasher]] wrote that the IDF was pulled into fighting "that is both strategically and morally asymmetric" and that like any other army it made mistakes, but the charges it faces are "grossly unfair".<ref name=Kasher>{{cite web |url=http://jewishreviewofbooks.com/articles/1104/the-ethics-of-protective-edge |title=The Ethics of Protective Edge |date=16 September 2014 |access-date=27 October 2014}}</ref> The Israeli NGO [[Breaking the Silence (non-governmental organization)|Breaking the Silence]], reporting on its analysis of 111 testimonies concerning the war by some 70 IDF soldiers and officers,<ref name="GordonLRB">[[Neve Gordon]], [http://www.lrb.co.uk/2015/05/04/neve-gordon/the-day-after 'The Day After,'] [[London Review of Books]] 4 May 2015.</ref><ref name="BreakingSilence2014">{{cite web |url=http://www.breakingthesilence.org.il/inside/breaking-the-silence-response-to-the-un-report-on-operation-protective-edge/ |title=This is How We Fought in Gaza – Soldiers ׳ testimonies and photographs from Operation Protective Edge |publisher=Breaking the Silence |year=2014 |access-date=17 June 2017}}</ref> cited one veteran's remark that "Anyone found in an IDF area, which the IDF had occupied, was not a civilian," to argue that this was the basic rule of engagement. Soldiers were briefed to regard everything inside the Strip as a threat. The report cites several examples of civilians, including women, being shot dead and defined as "terrorists" in later reports.<ref>Peter Beaumont, [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/may/04/israeli-soldiers-cast-doubt-on-legality-of-gaza-military-operation 'Israeli soldiers cast doubt on legality of Gaza military tactics'] The Guardian 4 May 23015.</ref><ref>Gili Cohen, [http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.654823 'Report: Army veterans slam IDF policy in Gaza war,'] [[Haaretz]] 4 May 2015.</ref> Since leaflets were dropped telling civilians to leave areas to be bombed, soldiers could assume any movement in a bombed area entitled them to shoot.<ref name="GordonLRB" /> In one case that came under investigation, Lt Col Neria Yeshurun ordered a Palestinian medical centre to be shelled to avenge the killing of one of his officers by a sniper.<ref>Peter Beaumont, [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/13/video-raises-doubts-over-account-of-israeli-officer-who-killed-palestinian-teenager 'Video contradicts account of Israeli officer who killed Palestinian teenager'] ''[[The Guardian]]'' 13 July 2015.</ref>

==== Civilian deaths ====
Many of those killed were civilians, prompting concern from many humanitarian organisations. An investigation by [[Human Rights Watch]] concluded that Israel had probably committed war crimes on three specific incidents involving strikes on UNWRA schools.<ref>[http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=726796 "HRW: Israel likely to have committed Gaza war crimes"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140911235748/http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=726796 |date=11 September 2014 }}, [[Ma'an News Agency]] 10 September 2014.</ref> Amnesty International stated that: "Israeli forces have carried out attacks that have killed hundreds of civilians, including through the use of precision weaponry such as drone-fired missiles, and attacks using munitions such as artillery, which cannot be precisely targeted, on very densely populated residential areas, such as Shuja'iyya. They have also directly attacked civilian objects."<ref name="amnesty1" /> [[B'tselem]] has compiled an infogram listing families killed at home in 72 incidents of bombing or shelling, comprising 547 people killed, of whom 125 were women under 60, 250 were minors, and 29 were over 60.<ref name="btselem-families" /> On 24 August, Palestinian health officials said that 89 families had been killed.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.612255 |title=89 families killed in Gaza since hostilities began, Palestinians say |date=24 August 2014 |work=Haaretz.com |access-date=30 September 2014}}</ref>

Nine people were killed while watching the [[2014 FIFA World Cup|World Cup]] in a cafe,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2014/Jul-11/263444-world-cup-fans-killed-as-israel-hits-gaza.ashx#axzz37A99efdC |title=World Cup fans killed as Israel hits Gaza |work=The Daily Star |date=11 July 2014 |access-date=17 July 2014}}</ref> and 8 members of a family died that Israel has said were inadvertently killed.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/07/10/israeli-army-family-members-killed-error_n_5574298.html |title=Israeli Army Says Killing of 8 Palestinian Family Members Was Not Intentional |work=Huffington Post |date=10 July 2014 |access-date=17 July 2014}}</ref> A [[Golani Brigade|Golani]] soldier interviewed about his operations inside Gaza said they often could not distinguish between civilians and Hamas fighters because some Hamas operatives dressed in plainclothes and the night vision goggles made everything look green. An IDF spokesperson said that Hamas "[[#Use of civilian structures for military purposes|deploys in residential areas, creating rocket launch sites, command and control centers, and other positions deep in the heart of urban areas]]. By doing so, Hamas chooses the battleground where the IDF is forced to operate."<ref>Simone Wilson,[http://www.jewishjournal.com/articles/item/the_fury_and_boredom_of_war_battlefield_stories_of_courage_fear_and_frustra 'The fury (and boredom) of war: Battlefield stories of courage, fear and frustration from IDF soldiers in Gaza'], ''[[The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles|The Jewish Journal]]'', 20 August 2014.</ref> The highest-ranking U.S. military officer, Army General [[Martin Dempsey]], the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that "Israel went to extraordinary lengths to limit collateral damage and civilian casualties". Later in his speech he said, "the Pentagon three months ago sent a 'lessons-learned team' of senior officers and non-commissioned officers to work with the IDF to see what could be learned from the Gaza operation, to include the measures they took to prevent civilian casualties and what they did with tunneling."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-usa-gaza-idUSKBN0IQ2LH20141106 |title=Israel tried to limit civilian casualties in Gaza: U.S. military chief |date=6 November 2014 |work=Reuters}}</ref> Col. [[Richard Kemp]] told ''[[observer.com|The Observer]]'', "IDF has taken greater steps than any other army in the history of warfare to minimise harm to civilians in a combat zone"<ref>{{cite news |url=http://observer.com/2015/03/how-the-ap-botched-its-investigation-of-civilian-deaths-in-the-israel-hamas-war/ |title=How the AP Botched Its Investigation of Civilian Deaths in the Israel-Hamas War |date=10 March 2015 |newspaper=The Observer}}</ref>

===== Warnings prior to attacks =====
In many cases the IDF warned civilians prior to targeting militants in highly populated areas in order to comply with international law.<ref name=washingtonpost1 /><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2014/07/22/self-defense-or-atrocties-in-gaza/israels-response-is-proportionate-to-hamass-threat |title=Israel's Response Is Proportionate to Hamas's Threat |work=The New York Times |date=23 July 2014}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jpost.com/opinion/op-ed-contributors/the-current-conflict-between-israel-and-hamas-shatters-myths-362327|title=The current conflict between Israel and Hamas shatters myths|website=The Jerusalem Post &#124; JPost.com|date=10 July 2014 }}</ref><ref name=BakerAlan>{{cite web |url=http://www.jcpa.org/article/hamas-israel-confrontation-legal-points |title=The Latest Hamas-Israel Confrontation – Some Pertinent Legal Points |work=Jerusalem Center For Public Affairs}}</ref> Human rights organizations including [[Amnesty International]],<ref name=amnestyQandA>{{cite web |title=Israel/Gaza conflict: Questions and Answers |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/news/israelgaza-conflict-questions-and-answers-2014-07-25 |website=Amnesty International |date=25 July 2014 |access-date=22 November 2014 |archive-date=18 November 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141118000200/http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/israelgaza-conflict-questions-and-answers-2014-07-25 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name=independentRoofKnocking>{{cite news |last1=Withnall |first1=Adam |title=Israel-Gaza conflict: Israeli 'knock on roof' missile warning revealed in remarkable video |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/israelgaza-conflict-israeli-knock-on-roof-missile-warning-technique-revealed-in-stunning-video-9603179.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220501/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/israelgaza-conflict-israeli-knock-on-roof-missile-warning-technique-revealed-in-stunning-video-9603179.html |archive-date=1 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date=28 July 2014 |work=The Independent |date=13 July 2014 |location=London}}{{cbignore}}</ref> confirmed that in many cases, Palestinians received warnings prior to evacuation, including flyers, phone calls and [[roof knocking]]. A report by [[Jaffa]] based NGO [[Physicians for Human Rights-Israel|Physicians for Human Rights]], released in January 2015, said that Israel's alert system had failed, and that the roof-knock system was ineffective.<ref>Elior Levy, [http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4618203,00.html 'One family, three dead, three maimed: 'Black Friday' in Gaza,'] [[Ynet]] 24 January 2015.</ref> The IDF was criticized for not giving civilians enough time to evacuate.<ref>{{cite news |author=Sophia Jones |title=Palestinians In Gaza Denounce Israel For Saying It Warns Civilians Before Strikes |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/23/israel-airstrike-warning_n_5614085.html |work=Huffington Post |date=23 July 2014}}</ref> In one case, the warning came less than one minute before the bombing.<ref>{{cite web |title=Rights organisation: Israel's targeting of civilians 'war crime' |url=https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/europe/12799-rights-organisation-israels-targeting-of-civilians-war-crime |publisher=Middle East Monitor |date=15 July 2014 |access-date=25 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140826114112/https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/europe/12799-rights-organisation-israels-targeting-of-civilians-war-crime |archive-date=26 August 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Hamas has told civilians to return to their homes or stay put following Israeli warnings to leave.<ref>{{cite news |title=Thousands of Gaza civilians flee, ignoring Hamas advice to stay |url=http://www.smh.com.au/world/thousands-of-gaza-civilians-flee-ignoring-hamas-advice-to-stay-20140714-zt6cs.html |website=Sydney Morning Herald |access-date=1 August 2014}}</ref> In many cases, Palestinians evacuated; in others, they have stayed in their homes. Israel condemned Hamas's encouragement of Palestinians to remain in their homes despite warnings in advance of airstrikes.<ref name=CNN-crisis /> Hamas stated that the warnings were a form of psychological warfare and that people would be equally or more unsafe in the rest of Gaza.<ref name="CNN-crisis" /><ref name="northern" />

Amnesty International said that "although the Israeli authorities claim to be warning civilians in Gaza, a consistent pattern has emerged that their actions do not constitute an "effective warning" under international humanitarian law."<ref name="amnesty1" /> Human Rights Watch concurred.<ref name="hrwUnlawfulAistrikes" /> Many Gazans, when asked, told journalists that they remained in their houses simply because they had nowhere else to go.<ref name=northern>{{cite news |url=http://www.northernstar.com.au/news/hamas-using-human-shields-gazans-deny-claims/2325717/ |title=Hamas using human shields? Gazans deny claims |work=[[The Northern Star]] |date=22 July 2014 |access-date=26 July 2014}}</ref> OCHA's spokesman has said "there is literally no safe place for civilians" in Gaza.<ref name="no-safe-place">[https://www.reuters.com/article/us-palestinians-israel-un-aid-idUSKBN0FR14820140722 'No safe place for civilians' in Gaza, U.N. says], Reuters.com; accessed 28 July 2014.</ref> Roof knocking has been condemned as unlawful by Amnesty International<ref name="independentRoofKnocking" /> and Human Rights Watch<ref name="washingtonpost1" /> as well as the [[United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict|United Nations Fact Finding Mission]] in the [[Gaza War (2008–09)|2008 war]].

==== Destruction of homes ====
[[File:20140805 beit hanun7.jpg|thumb|Ruins of a residential area in [[Beit Hanoun]].]]
{{See also|#Use of civilian structures for military purposes|House demolition in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict}}
Israel targeted many homes in this conflict. UNWRA official Robert Turner estimated that 7,000 homes were demolished and 89,000 were damaged, some 10,000 of them severely.<ref>[http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=748278 'Warning on funds, UN doubles estimate of destroyed Gaza homes,'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141219030433/http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=748278 |date=19 December 2014 }} [[Ma'an News Agency]] 28 December 2014.</ref> This has led to many members of the same family being killed. B'Tselem documented 59 incidents of bombing and shelling, in which 458 people were killed.<ref name="btselem-families">{{cite news |title=Families bombed at home, Gaza, July–August 2014 (initial figures) |url=http://www.btselem.org/gaza_strip/201407_families |publisher=B'Tselem |date=11 August 2014}}</ref> In some cases, Israel has stated that these homes were of suspected militants and were [[#Use of civilian structures for military purposes|used for military purposes]]. ''The New York Times'' noted that the damage in this operation was higher than in the previous two wars and stated that 60,000 people had been left homeless as a result.<ref name=NYTGazaEconomy>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/08/03/world/middleeast/assessing-the-damage-and-destruction-in-gaza.html |title=Assessing the Damage and Destruction in Gaza |work=The New York Times |first1=Jeremy |last1=Ashkenas |first2=Archie |last2=Tse |date=3 August 2014}}</ref> The destruction of homes has been condemned by B'Tselem,<ref name="btselem1" /> [[Human Rights Watch]]<ref name=indiscriminate /><ref name=usatoday.com /> and Amnesty International<ref name="amnestyQandA" /> as unlawful, amounting to collective punishment and [[war crime]]s.

Israel destroyed the homes of two suspects in the case of the abduction and killing of the three teenagers. The house demolition has been condemned by B'Tselem as unlawful.<ref>{{cite news |title=Demolishing homes of suspects in abduction and killing of the three yeshiva students harms innocents. House demolition policy fundamentally unacceptable and unproven to be effective |url=http://www.btselem.org/press_releases/20140818_house_demolitions |publisher=B'Tselem |date=18 August 2014}}</ref>{{primary source inline|date=November 2019}}

Palestinians returning to their homes during the ceasefire reported that IDF soldiers had trashed their homes, destroyed home electronics such as TV sets, spread feces in their homes, and carved slogans such as "Burn Gaza down" and "Good Arab = dead Arab" in walls and furniture. The IDF did not respond to a request by ''[[The Guardian]]'' for comment.<ref>{{cite news |author=Harriet Sherwood |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/07/palestinians-return-home-israeli-troops-faeces-graffiti |title=Palestinians returning home find Israeli troops left faeces and venomous graffiti |newspaper=The Guardian |date=7 August 2014 |access-date=12 August 2014}}</ref>

On 5 November 2014, Amnesty International published a report examining eight cases where the IDF targeted homes, resulting in the deaths of 111 people, of whom 104 were civilians. Barred from access to Gaza by Israel since 2012, it conducted its research remotely, supported by two contracted Gaza-based fieldworkers who conducted multiple visits of each site to interview survivors, and consulted with military experts to evaluate photographic and video material. It concludes, in every case, that  "there was a failure to take necessary precautions to avoid excessive harm to civilians and civilian property, as required by international humanitarian law" and "no prior warning was given to the civilian residents to allow them to escape." As Israel did not disclose any information regarding the incidents, the report said it was not possible for Amnesty International to be certain of what Israel was targeting; it also said that if there were no valid military objectives, international humanitarian law may have been violated, as attacks directed at civilians and civilian objects, or attacks which are otherwise disproportionate relative to the anticipated military advantage of carrying them out, constitute war crimes.<ref>{{cite web |title=Families under the Rubble: Israeli Attacks on Inhabited Homes |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde15/032/2014/en/ |website=Amnesty International |date=5 November 2014 |access-date=10 November 2014 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Rudoren |first1=Jodi |title=Amnesty International Says Israel Showed 'Callous Indifference' in Gaza |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/05/world/middleeast/amnesty-international-says-israel-showed-callous-indifference-to-gaza-civilians.html?_r=0 |website=The New York Times |access-date=14 November 2014 |date=4 November 2014}}</ref>

The report was dismissed by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs as "narrow", "decontextualized", and disattentive of alleged war crimes perpetrated by Hamas. Amnesty, it asserted, was serving as "a propaganda tool for Hamas and other terror groups."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Smith |first1=Amelia |last2=Mosendz |first2=Polly |date=5 November 2014 |title=Amnesty Accuses Israel of War Crimes in Damning Report on Gaza Conflict |url=http://www.newsweek.com/amnesty-accuses-israel-war-crimes-damning-report-gaza-conflict-282475 |newspaper=Newsweek |access-date=17 December 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Response to Amnesty Report on Gaza Conflict |url=http://mfa.gov.il/MFA/PressRoom/2014/Pages/Response-to-Amnesty-report-on-Gaza-conflict-5-Nov-2014.aspx |website=Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs |access-date=13 November 2014}}</ref> Anne Herzberg, legal adviser for NGO Monitor, questioned the accuracy of the [[UN]] numbers used in the report, saying that they "essentially come from Hamas."<ref>{{cite web |title=Amnesty slams Israel for 'callous indifference' to civilian casualties in Gaza |url=http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Amnesty-slams-Israel-for-callous-indifference-to-civilian-casualties-in-Gaza-380797 |website=The Jerusalem Post |date=5 November 2014 |access-date=13 November 2014}}</ref>

==== Shelling of UNRWA schools ====
{{excerpt|2014 Israeli shelling of UNRWA Gaza shelters}}

==== Infrastructure ====
On 23 July, twelve human rights organizations in Israel released a letter to Israeli government warning that "Gaza Strip's civilian infrastructure is collapsing".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Ward |first1=Olivia |title=Ban Ki-moon condemns shelling of UN-run school in Gaza |url=https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2014/07/24/ban_kimoon_condemns_shelling_of_unrun_school_in_gaza.html |newspaper=Toronto Star |date=24 July 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Gisha |title=Severe Electricity and Water Shortages in the Gaza Strip |url=http://gisha.org/UserFiles/File/publications/letters/letter-en-23-7-14.pdf |access-date=31 July 2014}}</ref> They wrote that "due to Israel's ongoing control over significant aspects of life in Gaza, Israel has a legal obligation to ensure that the humanitarian needs of the people of Gaza are met and that they have access to adequate supplies of water and electricity." They note that many water and electricity systems were damaged during the conflict, which has led to a "pending humanitarian and environmental catastrophe". The Sydney Morning Herald reported that "almost every piece of critical infrastructure, from electricity to water to sewage, has been seriously compromised by either direct hits from Israeli air strikes and shelling or collateral damage."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Pollard |first1=Ruth |title=Gaza ceasefire gives pause to assess destruction |url=http://www.smh.com.au/world/gaza-ceasefire-gives-pause-to-assess-destruction-20140806-100ubq.html#ixzz39lGgu1Ch |access-date=8 August 2014 |work=Sydney Morning Herald |date=6 August 2014}}</ref>

Between five and eight of the 10 power lines that bring electricity from Israel were disabled, at least three by Hamas rocket fire.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jewishpress.com/news/breaking-news/electricity-knocked-out-in-gaza-thanks-to-hamas/2014/07/13 |title=Electricity Knocked Out in Gaza (Thanks to Hamas) |author=Shalom Bear |work=The Jewish Press|date=13 July 2014 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jpost.com/Operation-Protective-Edge/For-second-in-time-in-days-Gazan-rocket-hits-electricity-line-to-Gaza-362925 |title=For second in time in days, Gazan rocket hits electricity line to Gaza |work=The Jerusalem Post – JPost.com|date=15 July 2014 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Flash.aspx/298519#.VZ4ZuxOqoqY |title=Another Power Line in Gaza Damaged – Latest News Briefs – Arutz Sheva |work=Arutz Sheva|date=15 July 2014 }}</ref> On 29 July, Israel was reported to bomb Gaza's only power plant,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Greenblatt |first1=Alan |title=Bombing Ruins Gaza's Only Power Plant |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2014/07/29/336386340/israeli-bombing-destroys-gazas-only-power-plant |access-date=8 July 2015 |work=National Public Radio |date=29 July 2014}}</ref> which was estimated to take a year to repair. Amnesty International said the crippling of the power station amounted to "collective punishment of Palestinians".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Sherwood |first1=Harriet |title=Gaza's only power plant destroyed in Israel's most intense air strike yet |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/29/gaza-power-plant-destroyed-israeli-airstrike-100-palestinians-dead |newspaper=The Guardian |date=30 July 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Black |first1=Ian |title=Israel is finding it harder to deny targeting Gaza infrastructure |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/29/israel-gaza-infrastructure-blackouts-idf-civilian |access-date=31 July 2014 |work=The Guardian |date=29 July 2014}}</ref> Human Rights Watch has stated that "[d]amaging or destroying a power plant, even if it also served a military purpose, would be an unlawful disproportionate attack under the laws of war".<ref>{{cite news |title=Gaza: Widespread Impact of Power Plant Attack |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2014/08/10/gaza-widespread-impact-power-plant-attack |publisher=Human Rights Watch |date=10 August 2014}}</ref> Israel immediately denied damaging the power plant, stating there was "no indication that [IDF] were involved in the strike ... The area surrounding the plant was also not struck in recent days."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Vause |first1=John |last2=Sanchez |first2=Ray |url=http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/01/world/meast/gaza-life/ |title=Life in Gaza: Misery heightened by war |publisher=CNN |date=4 August 2014 |access-date=18 October 2014}}</ref> Contradicting initial reports that it would take a year to repair, the power plant resumed operation on 27 October.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.trust.org/item/20141027140556-cp35b |title=Gaza power plant resumes operations, director says  |access-date=22 November 2014 |archive-date=29 November 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129072212/http://www.trust.org/item/20141027140556-cp35b |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/14127-gazas-only-power-plant-ready-to-work-pending-fuel-supply |title=Gaza's only power plant ready to work pending fuel supply |work=Middle East Monitor |access-date=20 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141026154649/https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/14127-gazas-only-power-plant-ready-to-work-pending-fuel-supply |archive-date=26 October 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==== Attacks on journalists ====
17 journalists were killed in the conflict,<ref>{{cite web |title=17 Journalists Killed in Gaza Since Beginning of Israeli Aggression |date=26 August 2014 |url=http://www.imemc.org/article/68964 |publisher=[[IMEMC]]}}</ref><ref name="JPostFeb2015" /> of which five were off-duty and two (from [[Associated Press]]) were covering a bomb disposal team's efforts to defuse an unexploded Israeli artillery shell when it exploded.<ref>{{cite news |title=AP journalist, others killed in Gaza by leftover ordinance |url=http://www.cbsnews.com/news/ap-journalist-others-killed-in-gaza-by-leftover-ordinance/ |work=CBS News |date=13 August 2014}}</ref><ref name=alJazeeraJournalists>{{cite news |last1=Omer |first1=Mohammed |last2=Hatuqa |first2=Dalia |title=Palestinians decry Gaza journalist killings |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/08/palestinians-gaza-journalist-killings-israel-20148510714681202.html |publisher=Al Jazeera |date=5 August 2014}}</ref> In several cases, the journalists were killed while having markings distinguishing them as press on their vehicles or clothing.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Fung |first1=Katherine |title=Journalist Rami Rayan Killed in Gaza Attack (GRAPHIC) |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/30/rami-rayan-killed-dead-gaza-attack_n_5634548.html |work=The Huffington Post |date=30 July 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Israel bombs Gaza radio station, injuring journalists |url=http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=713640 |publisher=Ma'an News |date=30 July 2014 |access-date=24 August 2014 |archive-date=3 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140803003137/http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=713640 |url-status=dead }}</ref> IDF stated that in one case it had precise information that a vehicle marked "TV" that was hit killing one alleged journalist was in military use.<ref name=IDFMAG>{{cite web |url=http://www.idfblog.com/blog/2014/09/12/idf-conducts-fact-finding-assessment-following-operation-protective-edge |title=IDF Conducts Fact-Finding Assessment following Operation Protective Edge |access-date=30 September 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006115205/http://www.idfblog.com/blog/2014/09/12/idf-conducts-fact-finding-assessment-following-operation-protective-edge/ |archive-date=6 October 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.yourjewishnews.com/2014/09/14-n34387.html |title=Hamas caught using TV vehicles to transport missiles and shooting them at Israeli civilians |access-date=30 September 2014}}</ref> Several media outlets, including the offices of ''Al-Jazeera'', were hit. The [[International Federation of Journalists]] has condemned the attacks as "appalling murders and attacks".<ref>{{cite news |title=Israeli Forces Must Be Held accountable for Attacks on Journalists in Gaza, says IFJ |url=http://www.ifj.org/nc/news-single-view/backpid/1/article/israeli-forces-must-be-held-accountable-for-attacks-on-journalists-in-gaza-says-ifj |publisher=International Federation of Journalists |date=25 July 2014}}</ref> Journalists are considered civilians and should not be targeted under international humanitarian law.<ref name=alHaqJournalist>{{cite news |title=Briefing Note IV: Unlawful Targeting of Journalists and Media Buildings |url=http://www.alhaq.org/advocacy/topics/gaza/841-briefing-note-iv-unlawful-targeting-of-journalists-and-media-buildings |publisher=Al-Haq |date=9 August 2014}}</ref>
The Israeli army said it does not target journalists, and that it contacts news media "in order to advise them which areas to avoid during the conflict".<ref name="alJazeeraJournalists" /> Israel has made foreign journalists sign a waiver stating that it is not responsible for their safety in Gaza, which [[Reporters Without Borders]] calls contrary to international law.<ref>{{cite news |title=Israel warns foreign journalists covering Gaza fighting |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-journalists-idUSKBN0FO0YG20140719 |work=Reuters |date=19 July 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Journalists' lives on the line in Gaza conflict |url=http://en.rsf.org/palestine-journalists-lives-on-the-line-in-22-07-2014,46677.html |publisher=Reporters Without Borders |date=22 July 2014 |access-date=1 August 2014 |archive-date=29 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140729203930/http://en.rsf.org/palestine-journalists-lives-on-the-line-in-22-07-2014,46677.html |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/node/23028 |title=Journalists 'should challenge' Gaza waiver |magazine=Press Gazette |date=24 July 2014 |access-date=3 August 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140812134114/http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/node/23028 |archive-date=12 August 2014 }}</ref> The Director-General of [[UNESCO]], [[Irina Bokova]], who in August 2014 condemned the killing of [[Al Aqsa TV]] journalist Abdullah Murtaja, withdrew her comments after it was revealed that Murtaja was also a combatant in Hamas's Al Qassam Brigade, and said she "deplore[d] attempts to instrumentalize the profession of journalists by combatants"<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.unesco.org/new/en/media-services/single-view/news/unesco_director_general_statement_regarding_abdullah_murtaja/#.VGi97DTF_zk |title=UNESCO Director-General Statement regarding Abdullah Murtaja |publisher=United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization |access-date=23 November 2014}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.camera.org/article/unesco-corrects-hamas-man-not-a-journalist/|title=UNESCO Corrects: Hamas Man Not a Journalist}}</ref>

[[Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center|ITIC]] published a report analyzing a list of 17 names published by Wafa News Agency based on information originating from Hamas-controlled Gaza office of the ministry of information that supposedly belong to journalists killed in the operation. The report says that 8 of the names belong to Hamas or Islamic Jihad operatives, or employees of the Hamas media.<ref name="JPostFeb2015">{{cite news |title=Half of names of Gaza journalist casualties are terror operatives, or members of Hamas media |url=http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Half-of-names-of-Gaza-journalist-casualties-are-terror-operatives-or-members-of-Hamas-media-390871 |publisher=JPost |date=14 February 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/Data/articles/Art_20771/E_013_15_299752333.pdf |title=Examination of the Names of 17 Journalists and Media Personnel Whom the Palestinians Claim Were Killed in Operation Protective Edge |work=terrorism-info.org.il}}</ref>

Israel bombed Hamas's Al-Aqsa radio and TV stations because of their "propaganda dissemination capabilities used to broadcast the messages of (Hamas's) military wing."<ref>{{cite news |title=Israeli airstrikes target Palestinian TV station in Gaza |url=http://www.maannews.net/eng/viewdetails.aspx?id=716837 |publisher=Maan News |date=30 July 2014 |access-date=1 August 2014 |archive-date=3 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140803153552/http://www.maannews.net/eng/viewdetails.aspx?id=716837 |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[Reporters Without Borders]] and [[Al-Haq]] condemned the attacks, saying "an expert committee formed by the International Criminal Court's prosecutor for the former Yugoslavia, to assess the NATO bombing campaign of 1999, specified that a journalist or media organization is not a legitimate target merely because it broadcasts or disseminates propaganda."<ref name="alHaqJournalist" /><ref>{{cite web |title=Palestinian journalists under fire |url=http://en.rsf.org/palestine-palestinian-journalists-under-fire-29-07-2014,46716.html |publisher=Reporters Without Borders |access-date=1 August 2014 |archive-date=4 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140804025551/http://en.rsf.org/palestine-palestinian-journalists-under-fire-29-07-2014,46716.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> The U.S. government classifies Al-Aqsa TV as being controlled by Hamas, a "Specially Designated Global Terrorist," and states that it "will not distinguish between a business financed and controlled by a terrorist group, such as Al-Aqsa Television, and the terrorist group itself."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/tg594.aspx |title=Treasury Designates Gaza-Based Business, Television Station for Hamas Ties |access-date=30 September 2014}}</ref><ref>[http://edition.cnn.com/2010/US/03/19/treasury.hamas/ Gaza bank, TV station see U.S. sanctions], cnn.com, 19 March 2010.</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=US sanctions Hamas bank, TV station in Gaza |date=18 March 2010|url=http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2010/03/18/103433.html}}</ref>{{Original research inline|date=August 2014|reason=See [[Talk:2014 Israel–Gaza conflict#Classification of Al-Aqsa]]}}

==== Human shields ====
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights [[Navi Pillay]] accused Israel of having "defied international law by attacking civilian areas of Gaza such as schools, hospitals, homes and U.N. facilities. "None of this appears to me to be accidental," Pillay said. "They appear to be defying – deliberate defiance of – obligations that international law imposes on Israel.""<ref name=AP-warcrimes /> The [[Jaffa]] based NGO [[Physicians for Human Rights-Israel|Physicians for Human Rights]] stated in a report in January 2015 that the IDF had used human shields during the war. IDF criticized the report's conclusions and methodology which "cast a heavy shadow over its content and credibility".<ref>Gili Cohen, [http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.638179 'NGO accuses IDF of gross abuses during Gaza war,'] [[Haaretz]] 21 January 2015.</ref> [[Defense for Children International]]-Palestine reported that 17-year-old Ahmad Abu Raida was kidnapped by Israeli soldiers who, after beating him up, used him as a [[human shield]] for five days, forcing him to walk in front of them with police dogs at gunpoint, search houses and dig in places soldiers suspected there might be tunnels.<ref>[http://972mag.com/palestinian-teen-i-was-used-as-a-human-shield-in-gaza/95800 Palestinian teen: I was used as a human shield in Gaza], 972mag.com; retrieved 22 August 2014.</ref><ref>[http://www.dci-palestine.org/documents/israeli-forces-use-palestinian-child-human-shield-gaza Israeli forces use Palestinian child as human shield in Gaza], Defence for Children International Palestine. Retrieved 22 August 2014.</ref> Several of the key claims could not be verified because his Hamas-employed father said he forgot to take photographs of the alleged abuse marks and discarded all the clothing IDF soldiers supposedly provided Abu Raida when he was freed.<ref name=NYT_Raida>Fares Akram & Judi Rudoren,[https://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/25/world/middleeast/gaza-strip-palestinian-teenager-cites-ordeal-as-captive-of-israelis-soldiers.html "Teenager Cites Ordeal as Captive of Israelis"], nytimes.com; 24 August 2014.</ref>

The IDF confirmed that the troops suspected Ahmad of being a militant based on the affiliation of his father (a senior official in Gaza's Tourism Ministry) with Hamas and so detained him during the ground operation. The IDF and Israeli authorities challenged the credibility of DCI-P noting their "scant regard for truth".<ref name=NYT_Raida /> The IDF Military Advocate General opened criminal investigation into the event.<ref name=IDFMAG />

== Military operations, weaponry and techniques ==

=== Gaza ===
[[File:Rockets from gaza (en).png|thumb|Range of rockets launched from Gaza Strip]]
[[File:Palestinian militants 2009.jpg|thumb|Palestinian militants with rockets]]

==== Rockets ====
The Gazan militants used different kinds of rockets, including the Syrian-made (Chinese-designed) M-302<ref>"[http://www.jpost.com/Operation-Protective-Edge/Syrian-made-M302-rocket-fired-by-Hamas-at-Hadera-362008 Syrian made M302]." ''The Jerusalem Post''. Accessed 12 August 2014.</ref> and the locally-made M-75, which had the range to hit Tel-Aviv.<ref>"[http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/middle-east-unrest/hamas-firing-china-designed-syria-made-m-302-rockets-israel-n152461 Hamas firing chia designed rockets]." ''NBC News''. Accessed 12 August 2014.</ref><ref>"[http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=714851 M75 strikes Tel Aviv] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006074351/http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=714851 |date=6 October 2014 }}." ''Maan News'' Accessed 12 August 2014.</ref><ref>"[https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2014/aug/13/hamas-rockets-cease-fire-israel-video Hamas produces rockets as fighting winds down]." ''The Guardian''. 13 August 2014.</ref> Other rockets include the Soviet [[Katyusha rocket launcher|Katyushas]] and [[Qassam rocket|Qassams]].<ref>"[http://www.businessinsider.com.au/hamas-rocket-arsenal-2014-7 Hamas Rocket Arsenal]." ''Business Insider''. July 2014.</ref> The Israeli Defense Force reported that at the beginning of the 2014 conflict, Hamas had close to 6,000 rockets in its possession. This included 1,000 self-produced short range rockets (15–20&nbsp;km range), 2,500 smuggled short range rockets, 200 self-made Grad rockets, and 200 smuggled Grad rockets. In addition, to these short range rockets, Hamas held an assortment of mid and long range rockets, both self-made and smuggled, that totaled over several thousand.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.idfblog.com/blog/2014/07/10/6-million-lives-in-danger-the-deadly-rocket-arsenal-of-hamas/ |title=Special Report: The Deadly Rocket Arsenal of Hamas |date=July 10, 2014 |website=Israel Defense Forces Blog |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140713000452/https://www.idfblog.com/blog/2014/07/10/6-million-lives-in-danger-the-deadly-rocket-arsenal-of-hamas/ |archive-date=13 July 2014}}</ref>

According to the [[Fars News Agency]], [[Fajr-5]] (long range Iranian) rockets had a warhead of 150–200&nbsp;kg.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/nov/21/iran-supplied-hamas-missile-technology Iran supplied Hamas with Fajr-5 missile technology], Saeed Kamali Dehghan, The Guardian, 21 November 2012</ref> According to [[Theodore Postol]], the vast majority of Gazan artillery rocket warheads contained 10- to 20-pound explosive loads. Postol stated that this fact made bomb shelters more effective for protection.<ref name="Postol-explanation" /> [[Mark Perry (author)|Mark Perry]] stated that the "vast majority of the rockets are unsophisticated Qassams, with a 10–20 kg warhead and no guidance system" and that "Hamas' arsenal is considerably weaker today than it was in 2012". Regarding the Fajr-5, he stated that Iran had not transferred full-fledged rockets to Hamas, it has only transferred technology to manufacture them. He also stated that "its guidance system was crude, at best, and its warhead nearly non-existent."<ref name=markbottle>{{cite magazine |author1=Mark Perry |title=Gaza's Bottle Rockets |url=http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/141698/mark-perry/gazas-bottle-rockets |magazine=[[Foreign Affairs]] |date=3 August 2014}}</ref>

The UNHRC, quoting Amnesty International, stated that armed groups in Gaza have used BM-21 Grad rockets with ranges varying from 20&nbsp;km to 48&nbsp;km, in addition to locally produced rockets reaching as far as 80&nbsp;km, such as the M-75 and J-80. The majority of the rockets had no guidance system. Mortars having a range of up to 8&nbsp;km, have been actively used along the Green Line. Other weapons included rocket-propelled grenades, home-made drones, SA 7 Grail anti-aircraft missiles, Kornet 9M133 anti-tank guided missiles, and a wide array of small arms, rifles, machine guns and hand grenades.<ref>{{cite web |title=The United Nations Independent Commission of Inquiry on the 2014 Gaza Conflict |url=http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/CoIGaza/A_HRC_CRP_4.doc |publisher=United Nations |access-date=24 June 2015}}</ref>

According to the IDF, of all the 4,564 projectiles fired at Israel, 224 hit built-up areas, 735 were intercepted by the [[Iron Dome]], 875 [[2014 Israel–Gaza conflict#Hamas rockets failing|fell inside Gaza]]<ref name="heres-what-really-happened">William Booth, [https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2014/09/03/heres-what-really-happened-in-the-gaza-war-according-to-the-israelis Here's what really happened in the Gaza war (according to the Israelis)] ''[[The Washington Post]]'' 3 September 2014</ref> and the rest fell in open territory or failed to launch.<ref name="OPE-Israeli-wounded">{{cite news |last=Hartman |first=Ben |title=50 days of Israel's Gaza operation, Protective Edge – by the numbers |url=http://www.jpost.com/Operation-Protective-Edge/50-days-of-Israels-Gaza-operation-Protective-Edge-by-the-numbers-372574 |date=28 August 2014 |work=The Jerusalem Post}}</ref>

According to OCHA, Palestinian militants fired 4,844 rockets and 1,734 mortar shells towards Israel.<ref name="OCHA30Sept">[http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_the_humanitarian_monitor_2014_10_03_english.pdf ''Humanitarian Bulletin Monthly Report, June–August 2014,''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141021035311/http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_the_humanitarian_monitor_2014_10_03_english.pdf |date=21 October 2014 }} OCHA 30 September 2014.</ref> 25% of Gazan rockets had sufficient effectiveness to threaten to reach populated areas.<ref>Alon Ben David,[http://aviationweek.com/defense/iron-dome-blunts-90-enemy-rocket 'Iron Dome Blunts 90% Of Enemy Rockets,']{{dead link|date=March 2016}}[[Aviation Week]] 1 September 2014. {{cbignore|bot=medic}}{{dead link|date=March 2016}}</ref>

==== Gazan tunnels ====
{{See also|Gaza Strip smuggling tunnels|Tunnel warfare}}
{{excerpt|Palestinian tunnel warfare in the Gaza Strip}}

==== Other weaponry ====
Hamas has also used a "crude, tactical" drone, reported to be Iranian-made and named "Ababil-1".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Smith |first1=Alexander |title=Hamas' Drone Program Will Not Worry Israel, Experts Say |url=http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/middle-east-unrest/hamas-drone-program-will-not-worry-israel-experts-say-n155341 |work=NBC News |date=15 July 2014}}</ref>

Palestinian militant groups have also used anti-tank rockets against armoured vehicles, as well as against groups of Israeli soldiers. Some armored personnel carriers were hit by missiles,<ref name=markPerryWeapons>{{cite news |last1=Perry |first1=Mark |title=Why Israel's bombardment of Gaza neighborhood left US officers 'stunned' |url=http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/8/26/israel-bombing-stunsusofficers.html |access-date=28 August 2014 |work=Al Jazeera |date=27 August 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=IDF releases details on Shejaiya battle in which 7 soldiers died |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-releases-details-on-shejaiya-battle-in-which-7-soldiers-died/ |work=The Times of Israel |date=20 July 2014}}</ref> and the Israeli [[Trophy (countermeasure)|Trophy]] system reportedly intercepted at least 15 anti-tank missiles shot at [[Merkava Mk. IV|Merkava IV]] tanks.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.walla.co.il/?w=/2689/2770561 |title=מבצע "צוק איתן" – כיפת הברזל של הטנקים פועלת בעזה: "התקפית" |work=וואלה! חדשות |date=30 July 2014 |access-date=25 September 2014}}</ref> Anti-tank mines had also been used against armored vehicles.

=== Israel ===
[[File:Artillery Corps in Gaza (14550733300)a.jpg|thumb|IDF Artillery Corps fires a 155&nbsp;mm [[M109 howitzer]], 24 July 2014]]
Israel used air, land and naval weaponry. The artillery includes Soltam M71 guns and US-manufactured Paladin M109s (155-mm howitzers).<ref name=markPerryWeapons /> The aerial weaponry includes drones and [[F-16]] fighter jets. Drones are used to constantly monitor the Gaza strip.<ref>[https://abcnews.go.com/International/video/israeli-drones-buzz-ghost-towns-gaza-24628058 Israeli Drones Buzz Over Ghost Towns of Gaza], Alex Marquardt, ABC News, 18 July 2014</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20140722050206/http://news.nationalgeographic.com//news//2014//07//140721-gaza-strip-tunnels-israel-hamas-palestinians// Gaza's Tunnels, Now Used to Attack Israel, Began as Economic Lifelines], James Verini, National Geographic, 21 July 2014</ref> The IDF fired 14,500 tank shells and 35,000 other artillery shells during the conflict.<ref name="B'tselemJan2015" />

The IDF stated that it attacked 5,263 targets in Gaza, including:<ref name=ynetnumbers /><ref name=ITIC_2_sep>{{cite web |url=http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/Data/articles/Art_20709/E_154_14_403606512.pdf |title=News of Terrorism and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict |publisher=[[Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center|ITIC]]}}</ref>

* 1,814 rocket and mortar launch or otherwise related sites
* 191 weapon factories and warehouses
* 1,914 command and control centers
* 237 government institutions supporting the militant activity
* hundreds of military outposts inside buildings

According to OCHA figures, Israel fired 5,830 missiles in 4,028 [[Israeli Air Force|IAF]] air raids, the [[Israel Defense Forces|IDF]]'s ground forces shot off 16,507 artillery and tank projectiles, and the [[Israeli Navy|Israeli navy]]'s off-shore fleet fired 3,494 naval shells, into the Gaza Strip.<ref name="OCHA30Sept" />

Overall, Israel fired 34,000 unguided shells into Gaza. Of these 19,000 were high-explosive artillery shells, marking a 533% rise in the launching of artillery ordnance compared to Operation Cast Lead. Shelling of civilian areas with [[155mm|{{convert|155|mm|abbr=on|adj=on}}]] shells using Doher howitzers, with a kill radius of {{convert|150|yd}}, also increased.<ref>Charlie Hoyle, [http://www.maannews.com/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=760268 'Israel shelling in Gaza war unprecedented despite inaccuracy,'] [[Ma'an News Agency]] 4 April 2015.</ref><ref>Robert Perkins, [https://aoav.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/AOAV-Under-Fire-Israels-artillery-policies-scrutinised.pdf 'Under Fire:Israel's artillery policies scrutinised,'] Action on Armed Violence December 2014.pp.10–14.</ref>

According to Palestinian authorities, 8,000 bombs and 70,000 artillery shells, or 20,000 tons of explosives (the equivalent of two low-yield tactical nuclear weapons), had been dropped on Gaza.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?ID=722484|title=Police: Israel dropped|website=Maan News Agency|access-date=6 January 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=The National Early Recovery and Reconstruction Plan for Gaza |url=http://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/national-early-recovery-and-reconstruction-plan-gaza |access-date=3 August 2015 |work=Government of State of Palestine |date=1 October 2014}}</ref><ref name=millerBombTons>{{cite news |last1=Miller |first1=Jonathan |title=Gaza: wife and infant son of Hamas commander killed |url=http://blogs.channel4.com/miller-on-foreign-affairs/gaza-wife-infant-son-hamas-commander-killed-strikes/1221 |access-date=28 August 2014 |work=Channel 4 News |date=20 August 2014}}</ref><ref name=gazaMOINumbers>{{cite news |title=Gaza bombed with 20,000 tons of explosives |url=http://www.moi.gov.ps/en/Details.aspx?nid=68571 |access-date=28 August 2014 |work=Ministry of Interior, Palestinian National Authority |date=22 August 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140903032637/http://www.moi.gov.ps/en/Details.aspx?nid=68571 |archive-date=3 September 2014  }}</ref> The Sydney Morning Herald quoted an anonymous expert who estimated that 10,000 tonnes of explosives were dropped from the air alone, which does not include tank and artillery shells.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Pollard |first1=Ruth |title=Gaza team defuses live bombs and shells without protective suits |url=http://www.smh.com.au/world/gaza-team-defuses-live-bombs-and-shells-without-protective-suits-20140808-101qme.html |access-date=1 September 2014 |work=Sydney Morning Herald |date=8 August 2014}}</ref>

Between 32 and 34<ref name=ynetnumbers /> known tunnels were destroyed or neutralized, 13 of them destroyed completely.<ref name=ITIC_2_sep />

The performance of the Iron Dome defense system was considered effective, achieving an almost 90% success rate.<ref>[http://aviationweek.com/defense/iron-dome-blunts-90-enemy-rockets Iron Dome Blunts 90% Of Enemy Rockets] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140903144421/http://aviationweek.com/defense/iron-dome-blunts-90-enemy-rockets |date=3 September 2014 }} – Aviationweek.com, 1 September 2014</ref> Israel's early warning sirens and extensive [[Air-raid shelter|shelters]] have been an effective defense against Gazan rocketry.<ref name="Postol-explanation">[[Theodore Postol]], [http://www.technologyreview.com/view/528991/an-explanation-of-the-evidence-of-weaknesses-in-the-iron-dome-defense-system/ Explanation of the Evidence of Weaknesses in the Iron Dome Defense System], MIT Technology Review, 15 July 2014</ref> They are less effective against short-range mortars because the residents have less time to react.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.timesunion.com/news/article/Attacks-on-Gaza-spurs-exodus-5711962.php |title=Gaza attacks trigger Israeli exodus at border |work=Times Union|date=26 August 2014 }}</ref>

== Media coverage ==
{{Main|Media coverage of the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict}}
Portrayals of the conflict in different media outlets varied. U.S. news sources were often more sympathetic to Israel while British news sources featured more criticism of Israel.<ref name=Zion>{{cite news |title=Gaza war seen rather differently in US, UK newspapers |newspaper=The Times of Israel |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/gaza-war-seen-rather-differently-in-us-uk-newspapers |date=11 July 2014 |access-date=13 July 2014 |last=Zion |first=Ilan Ben}}</ref> Commentators on both sides claimed that the media was biased either for or against Israel.<ref>{{cite news |title=US media coverage of Gaza is deeply flawed, both sides in conflict say |newspaper=[[The Christian Science Monitor]] |last=Goodale |first=Gloria |date=15 July 2014 |access-date=15 July 2014 |url=http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2014/0715/US-media-coverage-of-Gaza-is-deeply-flawed-both-sides-in-conflict-say}}</ref> According to an article by Subrata Ghoshroy published in the [[Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists]], most United States media focused on Hamas rockets, of which only 3% actually strike populated areas (causing little damage), with less attention paid to Palestinian casualties, or to why Gazans back Hamas's rocket campaign.<ref>Subrata Ghoshroy, [http://thebulletin.org/israel's-iron-dome-misplaced-debate7349 'Israel's Iron Dome: a misplaced debate']{{dead link|date=June 2018 |bot=Triggerhippie4 |fix-attempted=yes }}, ''[[Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists]]'', 29 July 2014.</ref> As the conflict progressed and Palestinian deaths increased, British media became somewhat more critical of Israel.<ref>{{cite news |title=As Gaza deaths mount, press grows critical of Israel |newspaper=The Times of Israel |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/as-gaza-death-tolls-climbs-press-increasingly-critical-of-israel |date=13 July 2014 |access-date=13 July 2014 |last=Ahren |first=Raphael}}</ref> Within Israel, the newspaper ''[[Haaretz]]'' issued an editorial stating that the "soft Gaza sand... could turn into quicksand" for the Israeli military and also warned about the "wholesale killing" of Palestinian civilians; the article declared: "There can be no victory here".<ref>{{cite news |date=21 July 2014 |title=Israeli Mood Turns Dark With Mounting Casualties |url=https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/israeli-mood-turns-dark-mounting-casualties-24652707 |access-date=22 July 2014 |work=ABC News}}</ref> The ''[[Sydney Morning Herald]]'' apologised for running an allegedly antisemitic cartoon after Australian Attorney-General [[George Brandis]] denounced it as "deplorable."{{citation needed|date=November 2019}} Israel was accused of waging a propaganda war,<ref>{{cite news |date=18 July 2014 |title=Israeli propaganda war hits social media |url=http://www.smh.com.au/it-pro/government-it/israeli-propaganda-war-hits-social-media-20140717-ztvky.html |work=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]]}}</ref> and on both sides, sympathetic authors [[2014 Israel–Gaza conflict in video games|released video games relating to the conflict]].<ref name=bbc>{{cite news |title=Gaza-Israel video games cause controversy |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-28657324 |access-date=9 August 2014 |work=BBC News |date=5 August 2014}}</ref> In Israel, according to [[Naomi Chazan]], the Gaza war sparked "an equally momentous conflagration at the heart of Israeli society": attempts to question government policy were met with severe verbal and physical harassment, incidents of Arab-bashing occurred daily, and 90% of internet posts on the war were found to be racist or to constitute incitement.<ref>[[Naomi Chazan]], [http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/israels-other-war-moral-attrition-2/#ixzz3BPndDAar 'Israel's other war: Moral attrition'], ''[[The Times of Israel]]'', 25 August 2014.</ref>

== Diplomatic efforts ==
[[File:John Kerry and Benjamin Netanyahu July 2014.jpg|thumb|U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Benjamin Netanyahu, Tel Aviv, 23 July 2014]]
A number of diplomatic efforts were made to resolve the conflict. These attempts included efforts by [[United States Secretary of State]] [[John Kerry]] to broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, like the meeting in Paris with [[G4 (EU)|European G4]] foreign ministers and his counterparts of [[Qatar]] and [[Turkey]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/paris-meetings-press-long-term-gaza-truce-313308926 |title=FMs in Paris call for extending 12-hour Gaza truce |publisher=Middle East Eye |date=26 July 2014 |access-date=12 August 2014}}</ref><ref>''The New York Times''. 5 August 2014.</ref> Egypt brokered a number of ceasefires between Hamas and Israel.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://ottawacitizen.com/news/Israeli+airstrike+kills+militant+leader+Gaza+Strip+ground+campaign/10088097/story.html |title=Israeli airstrike kills militant leader Gaza Strip ground campaign |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140806010808/http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Israeli%2Bairstrike%2Bkills%2Bmilitant%2Bleader%2BGaza%2BStrip%2Bground%2Bcampaign/10088097/story.html |archive-date=6 August 2014 |date=3 August 2014 |newspaper=Ottawa Citizen}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/04/israel-palestinians-ceasefire_n_5648917.html |title=Israel Palestinians Accept Ceasefire |work=Huffington Post |date=4 August 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/07/14/331411652/reports-israel-may-accept-ceasefire-proposal-from-egypt |title=Reports Israel May Accept Ceasefire Proposal From Egypt |publisher=NPR |date=14 July 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.dubaieye1038.com/uae-backs-egypt-brokered-ceasefire-on-gaza-conflict/ |title=UAE backs Egypt brokered ceasefire on Gaza conflict |newspaper=Dubai Eye |date=24 July 2014 |access-date=5 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808052549/http://www.dubaieye1038.com/uae-backs-egypt-brokered-ceasefire-on-gaza-conflict/ |archive-date=8 August 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

== Efforts to reconstruct Gaza ==
An international conference took place on 12 October 2014 in Cairo, where donors pledged US$5.4&nbsp;billion to the Palestinians with half of that sum being "dedicated" to the reconstruction of Gaza, which was more than the US$4&nbsp;billion Abbas first sought.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/10/12/pledge-gaza-israel.html |title=$5.4 billion pledged to rebuild Gaza |publisher=[[Al Jazeera America]] |date=12 October 2014}}</ref> Japan pledged US$100&nbsp;million in January 2015.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/48-asia/16481-japan-pledges-100m-to-rebuild-gaza |title=Japan pledges $100m to rebuild Gaza |publisher=Middle East Monitor |date=21 January 2015 |access-date=16 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150217024119/https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/48-asia/16481-japan-pledges-100m-to-rebuild-gaza |archive-date=17 February 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The [[European Union|EU]] pledged €450&nbsp;million to rebuilding Gaza.<ref name=jpost-gericke>{{cite web |url=http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/German-MEP-EU-aid-could-fund-Hamas-terror-tunnels-381546 |title=German MEP: EU aid could fund Hamas terror tunnels |work=The Jerusalem Post – JPost.com|date=12 November 2014 }}</ref>

As of 1 February 2015, only US$125&nbsp;million of the $2.7&nbsp;billion for reconstruction had been paid out, while tens of thousands of Gazans were still homeless. In February 2015, 30 international aid organizations including [[UNRWA]], the [[World Health Organization]] as well as NGOs such as Oxfam, ActionAid and Save the Children International released a statement saying that: "we are alarmed by the limited progress in rebuilding the lives of those affected and tackling the root causes of the conflict." They stated that "Israel, as the occupying power, is the main duty bearer and must comply with its obligations under international law. In particular, it must fully lift the [[Blockade of the Gaza Strip|blockade]] within the framework of [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 1860]] (2009)".<ref name="aidAgenciesMar2015">{{Cite news |url=http://www.ipsnews.net/2015/03/gaza-reconstruction-hampered-by-israeli-blockade-may-take-100-years-say-aid-agencies/ |title=Gaza Reconstruction, Hampered by Israeli Blockade, May Take 100 Years, Say Aid Agencies |last=Deen |first=Thalif |date=3 March 2015 |work=Inter Press Service News Agency |access-date=11 December 2017}}</ref> Catherine Weibel, UNICEF's Communication Chief in Jerusalem said: "Four infants died from complications caused by the bitter cold in Gaza in January... All were from families whose houses were destroyed during the last conflict and were living in extremely dire conditions."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2015/02/babies-die-gaza-due-resource-siege-150223075856017.html |title=Babies die in Gaza due to the resource siege |work=[[Al Jazeera Media Network|Al Jazeera]] |date=24 February 2015}}</ref>

Only one percent of the needed building material had been delivered. The mechanism agreed between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority, meant to allow delivery of such material, have not worked.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hd.se/kultur/2015/02/01/bortglomda-av-varlden/ |title=Pengarna som försvann |work=[[Helsingborgs Dagblad]] |date=1 February 2015 |language=sv}}</ref>

Hamas spokesman blamed Israel for causing an electricity crisis. Israel provided 50,000 liters of fuel for generators running during blackouts and repaired three power lines damaged during storms within a week.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/13/world/middleeast/bitter-cold-claims-more-lives-in-gaza.html |title=Bitter Cold Claims More Lives in Gaza |date=13 January 2015 |work=The New York Times}}</ref>

On 15 September 2014, a Fatah spokesperson accused Hamas of misappropriating US$700&nbsp;million of funds intended to rebuild Gaza.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/fatah-official-accuses-hamas-of-stealing-700m-from-gazans/ |title=Fatah official accuses Hamas of stealing $700m from Gazans |work=The Times of Israel}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.veooz.com/news/LHX3epa.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20150220080819/https://www.veooz.com/news/LHX3epa.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=20 February 2015 |title=[News] Fatah official accuses Hamas of stealing … – Veooz 360 |work=Veooz}}</ref> On 6 January Hamas spokesperson said that Palestinian national consensus government ministers admitted redirecting rebuilding funds to [[Palestinian National Authority|PNA]] budget.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.maannews.com/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?id=752045 |title=Hamas: PA misusing Gaza reconstruction funds |work=Maan News Agency}}</ref> Israel's military estimated that 20% of cement and steel allowed by Israel to be delivered to Gaza for the reconstruction efforts were taken by Hamas.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.worldtribune.com/2014/12/22/hamas-said-using-cement-steel-un-aid-repair-attack-tunnels/ |title=Hamas said using cement, steel from UN aid to repair attack tunnels |work=World Tribune |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150217224727/http://www.worldtribune.com/2014/12/22/hamas-said-using-cement-steel-un-aid-repair-attack-tunnels/ |archive-date=17 February 2015}}</ref> Arne Gericke, a member of the [[European Parliament]] said "It would sicken most [European] taxpayers to know that the EU itself could be directly contributing to the tragic cycle of violence".<ref name=jpost-gericke />

== See also ==
{{Portal|Israel|Modern history|Palestine|War}}
{{div col|colwidth=25em}}
* [[Gaza War (2008–2009)]] 
* [[October 2023 Gaza−Israel conflict|2023 Gaza War]] 
* [[2014 in Israel]]
* [[2014 in the State of Palestine]]
* [[2014 Jerusalem unrest]]
* [[Asymmetric warfare]]
* [[List of Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel in 2014]]
* [[List of the Israel Defense Forces operations]]
* [[List of wars: 2003–present]]
* [[List of wars involving Israel]]
* [[List of wars involving the State of Palestine]]
* [[Military operations of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict]]
* [[Timeline of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, 2014]]
{{div col end}}

== Notes ==
{{reflist|group=note}}

== References ==
{{reflist|refs=

<ref name=necessary>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/hamas-says-missing-israeli-soldier-in-gaza-hadar-goldin-is-likely-dead/2014/08/02/92562694-56cd-48c0-921b-b851fb2eca09_story.html|title=Netanyahu says Israeli military 'will take as much time as necessary' in Gaza|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=2 August 2014|author1=Griff Witte|author2=Sudarsan Raghavan}}</ref>

}}

==External links==
<!-- Please do consider WP:EXT before adding links here or discuss at the talk page. The below links have enough coverage on the conflict. -->
{{Commons category|2014 Israel–Gaza conflict}}
* [https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-28252155 Gaza-Israel conflict: Is the fighting over?]. [[BBC News Online]]
* [https://www.idfblog.com/operationgaza2014/ Operation Protective Edge] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170312053850/https://www.idfblog.com/operationgaza2014/ |date=12 March 2017 }}. [[Israel Defense Forces]]
* [https://www.ochaopt.org/content/gaza-two-years-2014-hostilities-august-2016 Gaza: Two Years since the 2014 hostilities]. [[United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs]]
* [http://mfa.gov.il/MFA/ForeignPolicy/IsraelGaza2014/Pages/2014-Gaza-Conflict-Factual-and-Legal-Aspects.aspx The 2014 Gaza Conflict: Factual and Legal Aspects]. [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Israel)|Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs]]
* [http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/insidestory/2014/08/gaza-truce-there-winner-201482714583180993.html Gaza truce: Is there a winner?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200907165204/https://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/insidestory/2014/08/gaza-truce-there-winner-201482714583180993.html |date=7 September 2020 }} [[Al Jazeera English]]
* [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1AqLhz84lMCcvopizH52MPKb8gsbLEuBF7U2rk51tFXw Protective Edge Stats]. [[Google Docs, Sheets and Slides]]

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{{Israeli–Palestinian conflict}}
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{{Authority control}}

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