operation cast lead

Israeli tanks standing on the Israel-Gaza border while smoke billows from Gaza during Operation Cast Lead, January 14, 2009. (Yossi Zamir/Flash90)

10 years since ‘Cast Lead’: How Israel first declared total war on Gaza

The firepower, scale of destruction, and numbers of Palestinians killed during Operation Cast Lead were unprecedented in the brutal history of the conflict. Since then, the tactics used have become part of the IDF’s arsenal in its wars on Gaza. By Avihai Stollar Ten years have passed since the Israeli army changed the way it wages war,…

By +972 Magazine February 5, 2019

Israeli naval forces seize control of one of the ships trying to break the siege on Gaza in September 2010. (IDF Spokesperson)

Why I’ll be on the Gaza flotilla this Jewish New Year

In the days before Rosh Hashana, days of introspection and forgiveness, I am reminded that by virtue of my identity as an Israeli citizen I am responsible for the disaster and tragedy befalling the people of Gaza. Introspection begins with opening one’s eyes and recognizing one’s sins, and only then trying to repair them. There is…

By Orly Noy September 25, 2016

A mother with her newborn daughter in a displaced persons' camp in Khuza'a, Gaza Strip, November 7, 2014. (Anne Paq/Activestills)

Mortality rate increases among Gaza infants for first time in 50 years

With Gaza’s infant mortality rate up for the first time in 50 years, health officials worry that a continued blockade, and lack of sufficient neonatal care, may cause the upward trend to continue. For the first time in 50 years, Gaza’s refugee population has seen an increase in the number of infant deaths, according to…

By Natasha Roth-Rowland August 9, 2015

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Avi Benayahu. (photo: IDF Spokesperson Unit)

‘For the first time in history, Jews can take part in war from home’

Avi Benayahu, who served as IDF Spokesperson during both Operation Cast Lead and the Mavi Marmara incident, explains his worldview and tactics in a lecture obtained by +972 Magazine, including how he sent army officers pretending to be civilians onto foreign television news. Until Brigadier-General (ret.) Avi Benayahu was appointed to be the IDF Spokesperson…

By Noam Sheizaf July 21, 2015

An Israeli soldier holds a drone. Israeli corporations have benefited as the government has poured money into developing security and defense systems. (IDF CC BY-NC 2.0)

How the IDF’s hi-tech revolution cheapens Palestinian lives

The IDF is developing new technology that will eventually cut down on the need for soldiers to go to the front lines. What does this mean for the Palestinians whose lives will hang on the decision of a machine? The Israeli army is optimistic that there will be no need for soldiers to be stationed…

By Natasha Roth-Rowland June 3, 2015

File photo of an Israeli air strike on the Gaza Strip (Photo by ChameleonsEye / Shutterstock.com)

Losing my faith in humanity: Six years since ‘Operation Cast Lead’

Somewhere between that Saturday, when the gates of hell had opened on Gaza, until the ceasefire 22 days later, everything I had known about human beings, about my society, even about myself had been blown to pieces. By Lilach Ben David It happened exactly six years ago. Three weeks of murder, blood and unfathomable cruelty…

By +972 Magazine January 17, 2015

A Palestinian child with a kite stands in front of the destroyed Al Nada towers in Beit Hanoun, northern Gaza Strip. The towers had 90 flats.

War on Gaza: A promise Israeli politicians can keep

As they head into elections, Netanyahu, Livni, Herzog, Lapid and Yishai can agree on one thing: even after nine military operations in 14 years, the only solution to the conflict with Gaza is another war with Hamas. By Yonatan Mendel Election season is upon us, which means that the country’s best copywriters and campaigners are likely…

By +972 Magazine January 9, 2015

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas addresses released Palestinian prisoners at his headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah on December 31, 2013. (Activestills.org)

Palestine’s ICC bid is only as threatening as Israel makes it

Instead of reviling Palestinian accession to the International Criminal Court as an effort to delegitimize and isolate it, Israel would be better off focusing inward. By Emily Schaeffer Omer-Man One of the more ironic aspects of Israeli opposition to Palestinian accession to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) is its deep involvement in…

By +972 Magazine January 2, 2015

'Haaretz' journalist Gideon Levy (Photo by Yossi Gurvitz)

Dissent in Israel: On the margins, yes, in the mainstream, no

Regarding the controversy over Mairav Zonszein’s ‘New York Times’ op-ed: An ongoing climate of fear and suspicion is not conducive to ‘vibrant democracy.’ It is unfriendly to left-wing protest over security matters. Since my colleague Mairav Zonszein published her ballbuster op-ed “How Israel Silences Dissent” in the New York Times several days ago, there’s…

By Larry Derfner October 2, 2014

The Al-Susi Mosque lies in ruins in Shati' Refugee Camp following Israeli attacks, Gaza City, August 2, 2014. (Anne Paq/Activestills.org)

‘Ending the siege is not a Hamas demand – it is a Palestinian one’

How is this Gaza war different from all the others? Former New York Times correspondent to Gaza, Taghreed El-Khodary, speaks about her time covering the siege of the Strip, and why the international media is slowly coming around to the Palestinian story. By Moriel Rothman-Zecher “I don’t mind being interviewed. Let’s plan the timing,” wrote…

By +972 Magazine August 17, 2014

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry shakes hands with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah, West Bank, on July 23, 2014, before the two sat down for a discussion about a cease-fire in fighting between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip (photo: U.S. State Department)

The time is ripe for a UN resolution on Gaza

With a ceasefire now in effect between Israel and Hamas, diplomacy can begin to take root. By Lolita Brayman A 72-hour humanitarian ceasefire between Israel and Hamas seems to be shakily holding, with a lull in rocket attacks and the deployment of the Israeli military to positions outside of Gaza. The IDF spokesperson officially announced…

By +972 Magazine August 6, 2014

A Palestinian man watches on as a child breathes through a medical ventilator. (photo: Activestills.org)

Dispatch from Gaza: In Al Shifa, doctors can’t keep up with the wounded

In Cast Lead, some 5,300 Palestinians were injured. This time around, the number is almost twice that – with no end in sight. Hebron-born oncologist Haitham Al Amleh had never seen Gaza. Like most Palestinians from the West Bank, he had been barred from traveling here by an Israeli-imposed permit system that has made…

By Samer Badawi August 4, 2014

Three-year-old Firas Farhat lives with his brother, father and mother in a makeshift tent on a sidewalk outside Shifa Hospital. Their home in Gaza's Shejaiya neighborhood was destroyed by Israeli shelling. (photo: Samer Badawi)

Dispatch from Gaza: Palestinians flock to hospital to wait out assault

Hundreds of Palestinian families have sought cover in Gaza’s Al Shifa hospital, one of the last remaining shelters that has been spared Israeli bombardment. GAZA CITY – In the early morning of July 19th, Rafeeq Ibrahim and his wife grabbed their four daughters and made a run for it. Their neighborhood in Shejaiya, along Gaza’s eastern…

By Samer Badawi August 3, 2014