After escalating conflicts over the past two weeks between Israel and Palestinians, Israel announced late Thursday night that it was initiating a ground invasion of the Gaza strip. The Israeli Defence Forces' actions came after 10 days of exchanging missile fire that has resulted in the deaths of 237 Palestinians and one Israeli.
BREAKING NEWS: A large IDF force has just launched a ground operation in the Gaza Strip. A new phase of Operation Protective Edge has begun.
— IDF (@IDFSpokesperson) July 17, 2014 According to The Telegraph, "Israel accuses Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and other Gaza militant groups of using religious sites to conceal weapons and establish underground tunnel networks, deliberately endangering its own civilians." Earlier in the week, the United Nations discovered 20 rockets hidden in an empty school in Gaza, a violation of international law.
IDF spokesman, Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, told reporters in a conference call that the mission in Gaza was not to topple Hamas, but rather to “make sure that the Hamas terrorists will be pursued, paralyzed and threatened” by the military response. “We will be striking the infrastructure, we will be striking the operatives, in order to safeguard the citizens of Israel. The IDF is not bound by a time frame. We are operating to implement our goals.”
An anonymous Redditor, going by the username Eylo and identifying as an IDF soldier near Gaza, took to the social media site to answer questions from around the world. Although it could result in jail time for the soldier if his identity is discovered, he stated that he wanted to answer questions because he thought "that having an intelligent conversation does us more good." He stated that he believed the ground operations were necessary because Hamas "form[s] bases under schools and hospitals. They put launchers in families homes. This is way Israel can’t complete the operation with air strikes alone, and says it need to physicly march in to Gaza."
As of Monday, nearly 75 percent of the Palestinians killed in strikes from Israel were civilians, including at least 41 children, according to the United Nations; 7,500 Palestinians were displaced. Israel sent out evacuation warnings multiple times, prompting an outcry on social media that Palestinians have nowhere to evacuate to—Gaza is barricaded on three sides by Israel, including a sea blockade, and Egypt tightened border security as the conflict escalated.
Israel had agreed to a five-hour humanitarian ceasefire brokered by the United Nations in order to distribute supplies and aid; Hamas also agreed to the ceasefire, although rival organization Islamic Jihad did not. Prime Minister Netanyahu blamed Hamas for a brief flurry of rockets fired from Gaza in the middle of the ceasefire, but it was unclear who fired the rockets. Just before the ceasefire began, 13 Hamas fighters tried to infiltrate into Israel in order to conduct an attack on Sufa, an Israeli kibbutz in the southern part of the country. The incursion was the first through a tunnel during the current fighting. This footage from the Israel Defense Forces shows the tunnel before it is destroyed by an airstrike:
Palestinians and human rights groups are increasingly angry over the mounting civilian casualties, as well as over Israel's mindset of collective punishment for Palestinians in the Gaza strip. Israel blamed the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers on Hamas operatives, and despite Hamas denying all involvement, it drove many Israeli citizens and politicians into a nationalistic frenzy. Prime Minister Netanyahu took to Twitter to express his anger: “Vengeance for the blood of a small child ...They were abducted & murdered in cold blood by human animals.” A Facebook paged called “The people of Israel demand revenge” gathered 35,000 likes before it was removed by Facebook; it was replaced by another Facebook page called “Until the boys are back, every hour we shoot a terrorist", which has so far gathered over 20,000 likes. A Palestinian-American boy was horribly beaten; another Palestinian boy was kidnapped from near his home in Jerusalem and murdered. When news broke of the boy's death, Israelis took to Facebook to post things like, "I hope there will be more," "Kill them all, this is just the beginning," and "I wish every day would have such good news. I don't care if its a boy or a pregnant woman."
In the meantime, Gaza is among the most densely populated areas in the world: 146 square miles that would fit inside London's M25, yet is home to 1.6 million people. The ongoing blockade of the area has created a humanitarian crisis and left Gaza economically devastated and sometimes even unable to access clean water and electricity.
This blog post shows how big #Gaza is compared to #London - easily fits within M25 http://t.co/FW7zaU38ml pic.twitter.com/zg5az41BOW
— Tom Trewinnard (@Tom_El_Rumi) July 17, 2014 "So far, the entire Israeli approach to Hamas in Gaza has been based on a combination of isolation, sanctions and military deterrence. But these policies have not led to a stable situation, and they have not provided security to the citizens of Israel while proving extremely costly for the Gaza Strip and its civilian population," writes Benedetta Berti for Al Jazeera America. The approach of confining Palestinians to an "open air prison", as Gaza is sometimes referred to, has created a situation where children grow up surrounded by violence and despair, with few options left to them but radicalization. Even if they do not turn to violence, it is likely they will be attacked by an extremist Israeli citizen or settler, and suffer under collective punishment. After the collapse of the U.S.-sponsored peace talks earlier this year, and watching the situation become more intractable with each new rocket fired, it is easy to understand the poetic despair that Mohammed Suliman has become so famous for over the past week.
I've lost my words. Bombs rein down on my area. Behind the dining table, Leila and I sit close to each other. Death is what we are tweeting.
— Mohammed Suliman (@imPalestine) July 13, 2014 Some Israelis wish me death. I might die. But I wish no death unto you. I want us both to live. Live together as equals in this country.
— Mohammed Suliman (@imPalestine) July 13, 2014 The "ceasefire" didn't promise to stop Israel's "incremental genocide" of the Palestinians. Hence, our rejection of it.
— Mohammed Suliman (@imPalestine) July 15, 2014 Yesterday missiles killed children on the beach. Children avoid the beach. They play on the rooftop. Again, missiles hit. Three are dead.
— Mohammed Suliman (@imPalestine) July 17, 2014 EXTRA: Be careful of believing everything you hear and see on social media about the conflict over the next few days. As #BBCTrending reports, some of the photos used on Twitter, particularly under #GazaUnderAttack, date as far back as 2009, and some are from the conflicts in Syria and Iraq.
Title photo: AP. Palestinian mourners carry the body of three-year-old Mohammed Mnassrah, who was killed along with his parents and one-year-old brother during an Israeli air strike on July 9th.
a global affairs media network
Israel Defense Forces Begin Ground Offensive in Gaza, as Peace Grows More Distant
July 17, 2014
After escalating conflicts over the past two weeks between Israel and Palestinians, Israel announced late Thursday night that it was initiating a ground invasion of the Gaza strip. The Israeli Defence Forces' actions came after 10 days of exchanging missile fire that has resulted in the deaths of 237 Palestinians and one Israeli.
BREAKING NEWS: A large IDF force has just launched a ground operation in the Gaza Strip. A new phase of Operation Protective Edge has begun.
— IDF (@IDFSpokesperson) July 17, 2014 According to The Telegraph, "Israel accuses Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and other Gaza militant groups of using religious sites to conceal weapons and establish underground tunnel networks, deliberately endangering its own civilians." Earlier in the week, the United Nations discovered 20 rockets hidden in an empty school in Gaza, a violation of international law.
IDF spokesman, Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, told reporters in a conference call that the mission in Gaza was not to topple Hamas, but rather to “make sure that the Hamas terrorists will be pursued, paralyzed and threatened” by the military response. “We will be striking the infrastructure, we will be striking the operatives, in order to safeguard the citizens of Israel. The IDF is not bound by a time frame. We are operating to implement our goals.”
An anonymous Redditor, going by the username Eylo and identifying as an IDF soldier near Gaza, took to the social media site to answer questions from around the world. Although it could result in jail time for the soldier if his identity is discovered, he stated that he wanted to answer questions because he thought "that having an intelligent conversation does us more good." He stated that he believed the ground operations were necessary because Hamas "form[s] bases under schools and hospitals. They put launchers in families homes. This is way Israel can’t complete the operation with air strikes alone, and says it need to physicly march in to Gaza."
As of Monday, nearly 75 percent of the Palestinians killed in strikes from Israel were civilians, including at least 41 children, according to the United Nations; 7,500 Palestinians were displaced. Israel sent out evacuation warnings multiple times, prompting an outcry on social media that Palestinians have nowhere to evacuate to—Gaza is barricaded on three sides by Israel, including a sea blockade, and Egypt tightened border security as the conflict escalated.
Israel had agreed to a five-hour humanitarian ceasefire brokered by the United Nations in order to distribute supplies and aid; Hamas also agreed to the ceasefire, although rival organization Islamic Jihad did not. Prime Minister Netanyahu blamed Hamas for a brief flurry of rockets fired from Gaza in the middle of the ceasefire, but it was unclear who fired the rockets. Just before the ceasefire began, 13 Hamas fighters tried to infiltrate into Israel in order to conduct an attack on Sufa, an Israeli kibbutz in the southern part of the country. The incursion was the first through a tunnel during the current fighting. This footage from the Israel Defense Forces shows the tunnel before it is destroyed by an airstrike:
Palestinians and human rights groups are increasingly angry over the mounting civilian casualties, as well as over Israel's mindset of collective punishment for Palestinians in the Gaza strip. Israel blamed the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers on Hamas operatives, and despite Hamas denying all involvement, it drove many Israeli citizens and politicians into a nationalistic frenzy. Prime Minister Netanyahu took to Twitter to express his anger: “Vengeance for the blood of a small child ...They were abducted & murdered in cold blood by human animals.” A Facebook paged called “The people of Israel demand revenge” gathered 35,000 likes before it was removed by Facebook; it was replaced by another Facebook page called “Until the boys are back, every hour we shoot a terrorist", which has so far gathered over 20,000 likes. A Palestinian-American boy was horribly beaten; another Palestinian boy was kidnapped from near his home in Jerusalem and murdered. When news broke of the boy's death, Israelis took to Facebook to post things like, "I hope there will be more," "Kill them all, this is just the beginning," and "I wish every day would have such good news. I don't care if its a boy or a pregnant woman."
In the meantime, Gaza is among the most densely populated areas in the world: 146 square miles that would fit inside London's M25, yet is home to 1.6 million people. The ongoing blockade of the area has created a humanitarian crisis and left Gaza economically devastated and sometimes even unable to access clean water and electricity.
This blog post shows how big #Gaza is compared to #London - easily fits within M25 http://t.co/FW7zaU38ml pic.twitter.com/zg5az41BOW
— Tom Trewinnard (@Tom_El_Rumi) July 17, 2014 "So far, the entire Israeli approach to Hamas in Gaza has been based on a combination of isolation, sanctions and military deterrence. But these policies have not led to a stable situation, and they have not provided security to the citizens of Israel while proving extremely costly for the Gaza Strip and its civilian population," writes Benedetta Berti for Al Jazeera America. The approach of confining Palestinians to an "open air prison", as Gaza is sometimes referred to, has created a situation where children grow up surrounded by violence and despair, with few options left to them but radicalization. Even if they do not turn to violence, it is likely they will be attacked by an extremist Israeli citizen or settler, and suffer under collective punishment. After the collapse of the U.S.-sponsored peace talks earlier this year, and watching the situation become more intractable with each new rocket fired, it is easy to understand the poetic despair that Mohammed Suliman has become so famous for over the past week.
I've lost my words. Bombs rein down on my area. Behind the dining table, Leila and I sit close to each other. Death is what we are tweeting.
— Mohammed Suliman (@imPalestine) July 13, 2014 Some Israelis wish me death. I might die. But I wish no death unto you. I want us both to live. Live together as equals in this country.
— Mohammed Suliman (@imPalestine) July 13, 2014 The "ceasefire" didn't promise to stop Israel's "incremental genocide" of the Palestinians. Hence, our rejection of it.
— Mohammed Suliman (@imPalestine) July 15, 2014 Yesterday missiles killed children on the beach. Children avoid the beach. They play on the rooftop. Again, missiles hit. Three are dead.
— Mohammed Suliman (@imPalestine) July 17, 2014 EXTRA: Be careful of believing everything you hear and see on social media about the conflict over the next few days. As #BBCTrending reports, some of the photos used on Twitter, particularly under #GazaUnderAttack, date as far back as 2009, and some are from the conflicts in Syria and Iraq.
Title photo: AP. Palestinian mourners carry the body of three-year-old Mohammed Mnassrah, who was killed along with his parents and one-year-old brother during an Israeli air strike on July 9th.
