In today’s world, society seems unfazed, almost accustomed to worldly conflicts. All the students in this building have lived through times of war. I remember when we began Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003. I was in kindergarten, and blind patriotism ran through my nearly-six year old body. I was too young to understand the logistics of the war against Saddam. Ba’athism? I was more concerned with bath time. As time went on, I finally began to understand the war, and how it was a true atrocity. I was in eighth grade by the time the war ended. My fellow juniors and I have lived through the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars, the latter of which can effectively be called our generation’s Vietnam. Speaking for myself, though, I can’t say I was deeply affected by the wars. My cousin and uncle both served in Afghanistan (Kandahar and Herat Provinces, respectively), but they both came home safely. Our generation, while surrounded by conflict on the television screen, has been relatively safe. None of us have had rockets shot at our schools, nor have we had our homes demolished by bulldozers. This brings me to my next point of discussion: Israel and Palestine, and the war which happened in Gaza this summer.

There’s no argument that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is one filled with the utmost hatred and bloodshed. Both sides have a long history of violence towards one another, and it’s impossible to see the disdain between the Israelis and Palestinians settle anytime soon. Without getting too invested in the history of the conflict (The Lemon Tree: An Arab, A Jew, and the Heart of the Middle East by Sandy Tolan provides a personal look into the strife), it helps to start with the details behind Operation Protective Edge.

Around 10:00 PM on the 12th of June, three Israeli teenagers were kidnapped near Gush Etzion, a Jewish settlement in the West Bank. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) began Operation Brother’s Keeper in search for the missing teens. On the 15th, Israeli Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu placed the kidnapping on Hamas. Hamas, an Islamist organization based primarily in Gaza, is the defacto leader of the Gaza Strip and holds the majority of seats in the Palestinian Parliament (it’s important to note that Fatah, Yasser Arafat’s group, holds control of the West Bank. Fatah makes up the majority of the Palestinian Authority, or the government of Palestine. They are a secular organization that supports a two-state solution and has renounced terrorism since 1988). The group, an offshoot of the Egypt-based Muslim Brotherhood, has been designated a terrorist group by the US since 1997. Their primary goal is to destroy the State of Israel, and build an Islamist Palestinian state in its place.

On June 30th, the bodies of the teens were found in a field north of Hebron, a city in the southern West Bank. Hamas claimed that they did not commit the abductions and murders, but Netanyahu vowed revenge against Hamas for the killings. In retaliation, Mohammad Abu Khedair, a 17 year old Palestinian from East Jerusalem, was abducted and killed by Israeli settlers. He had been burnt to death. Protesters clashed in Jerusalem and the West Bank, each side adding to the continual cycle of violence. It was only days before the assault against Hamas would begin.

On July 8th, 2014, the IDF launched Operation Protective Edge. The goals of the operation were to neutralize rocket fire from Gaza. Since 2001, over 25,000 Qassam rockets have been fired from Gaza into Israel. Many of these rockets target southern cities such as Sderot and Ashkelon, while more advanced rockets have struck Tel Aviv, Israel’s largest city. While the IDF has many anti-air defense systems in place, like the Iron Dome, rockets have still lead to the deaths of over 20 Israelis in the past 13 years. While the operation was officially declared on the 8th, an Israeli airstrike killed seven militants in Khan Yunis on the 7th. For the first ten days of the operation, the conflict was kept to airstrikes, many of which killed Palestinian civilians. Israel claims that the civilians were warned and given adequate time to evacuate their homes, but the IDF’s own YouTube page published a video demonstrating “roof-knocking”. The controversial technique is used as a warning shot. Apache gunships would fire at roofs of suspected Hamas members’ homes, hoping that it would force families to flee. In its wake, the roof-knockings killed numerous civilians, and injured many more. Civilians were only given thirty seconds to escape, and many could not in the time allocated.
On the 17th, Israel began a ground invasion, with the aim being to destroy Hamas’ expansive tunnel systems. The tunnels funneled supplies, such as weapons and rockets, from Egypt to Gaza. Heavy fighting between IDF forces and Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants took place over several days. Numerous ceasefires put in place by the UN were violated, with each side accusing the other of breaking the temporary truce. On the 1st of August, Israel and Hamas agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire. Prior to the beginning of the ceasefire, IDF troops demolished 19 buildings. In retaliation, Hamas fighters staged a suicide attack, killing two Israeli soldiers. On August 3rd, Israel began to pull out the majority of its ground troops. The IDF had destroyed 32 tunnels built by Hamas and other militants in 16 days. Airstrikes continued to resume against rocket launcher sites.

On August 26th, Operation Protective Edge was officially over. 50 days of fighting had produced a stalemate. According to Israel, Hamas was severely weakened and its numerous tunnels were destroyed. Hamas said that they had won, as they had repelled Israeli forces from Gaza. Either way, the war didn’t come without a cost: 66 Israeli soldiers had been killed, and over 460 had been wounded. 6 civilians (including a Thai national) were killed by rocket and mortar fire, and over 250 had been wounded. The numbers, while conflicted between various organizations, were drastically higher on the Palestinian side. The exact number of militants killed is unknown, but the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs places the number at approximately 300 militants. The IDF did not give an exact body count for the militants, but claims of that 45% of the Palestinians killed in Operation Protective Edge were Hamas or Islamic Jihad members.

Civilians casualties on the Palestinian side were heavy. Gaza’s Ministry of Health claims 2,143 of Gazan fatalities were civilian, or a bit over 80% of the total number of fatalities. 11,000 were wounded according to the Ministry. This is an inaccurate claim, as the Gaza Ministry of Health is run by Hamas, who’d want to make their fighters look like civilians to garner sympathy. The Palestinian Center for Human Rights provides a more accurate number (1,658 civilian fatalities, 10,000 wounded), but this still is a questionable amount. Israeli sources place the civilian fatalities at around 1,000. The UN’s OCHA places the civilian number of deaths at 1,473, but did not publish a number for civilians wounded.

Reactions to Protective Edge varied worldwide. The US and Canada supported Israel, and the US provided armament support. The European Union condemned the action of war between both sides. Many South American and Arab countries were critical of Israel. Iran provided weapons and supplies to Hamas. Protests in Palestinian and Israeli solidarity were common in Europe and the US.

There are many alleged violations of international law from both sides throughout the conflict. Because many deaths were civilian, the Human Rights Watch concluded that Israel had committed war crimes in regards to three strikes on UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency) schools in Gaza, killing 46 civilians and 10 UN aid workers. While Israel found Qassam rockets stored in the schools (as well as mosques and medical centers), the UN claims that these attacks are human rights violations because the IDF knew civilians were in these buildings. Additionally, Hamas has been accused of using human shields. Hamas has stored rockets in civilian homes, forcing women and children to defend the weaponry.

It’s a sad picture of a sad situation. In Weedsport, we are fortunate enough to not be threatened  by rockets nearly every day or be digging our family out from under the rubble. Unfortunately, this is almost an everyday basis for both the Israeli and Palestinian children. Even I, a 16 year old from Upstate New York, was touched throughout all of this. A mutual friend’s family of 11 was killed in airstrikes at the Bureij refugee camp in Rafah, southern Gaza. She was the only survivor. The Abu Shamalla family had no connection to Hamas; in fact, they opposed the group. It’s a tragic occurrence that civilians have to be killed. I asked Mr. Nicklaw his thoughts on the conflict. “I’m definitely not surprised,” he said. “It’s a cycle, this Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Sure, there might be peace for a while, but the fighting will continue. It’s always been that way.”

We can only hope the cycle of war breaks soon, and that peace, not anguish, prevails in the Levant.