Gaza Operations, 2006 to 2021

The 2006 Lebanon War (12 July to 14 August 2006)

On 12 July 2006, Hezbollah fighters attacked an Israeli army patrol on the Lebanese border and took two soldiers into Lebanon. Israel later appointed an inquiry, the Winograd Commission. It dates the war from that abduction and describes its own task as examining "34 days of fighting." It issued an interim report in April 2007. That report covered the years from Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000 to the decisions of 12 to 17 July 2006 that took Israel to war [1]. The UN Human Rights Council's Commission of Inquiry on Lebanon dates the hostilities from 12 July to 14 August 2006 [2]. Israel carried out air strikes across Lebanon and a ground campaign in the south. Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel throughout. The Security Council adopted Resolution 1701 on 11 August 2006. It called for a full cessation of hostilities, based on an immediate end to all Hezbollah attacks and to all Israeli offensive military operations. It called for an area between the Blue Line and the Litani River free of armed personnel other than the Lebanese army and UN forces. It also authorised the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) to grow to a maximum of 15,000 troops [3]. The Commission of Inquiry reported on 23 November 2006. It cited Lebanese authorities' figures of 1,191 people killed and 4,409 injured, and stated that more than 900,000 people fled their homes [2]. The figure is a single total for all deaths in Lebanon. The Human Rights Council's mandate covered Israeli conduct only, and the report states that the mandate did not allow it to investigate Hezbollah [2]. Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs lists 44 Israeli civilians and 119 soldiers killed. The civilian total includes four people who died of heart attacks during rocket attacks [4]. The Winograd Commission submitted its final report on 30 January 2008. It found that the way the decision to go to war was made was a serious failure. It also found that Israel went to war before choosing among its options and "without an exit strategy." It placed responsibility for these failures on both the political and the military leadership [1]. The war was fought against an armed group inside a state with its own government and army. It ended through a resolution that expanded a standing UN force [3].

Hamas Rule, the 2007 Restrictions and Operation Cast Lead (June 2007 to January 2009)

Hamas took full control of the Gaza Strip in June 2007 after armed clashes with Fatah, the party of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. On 19 September 2007, Israel's Security Cabinet decided unanimously that Hamas had taken control of the Strip and "turned it into hostile territory." The decision cited continued rocket fire at Sderot and other communities near Gaza. It approved sanctions to restrict the passage of goods, reduce the supply of fuel and electricity, and restrict the movement of people into and out of Gaza [5]. Rocket and mortar fire from Gaza continued through 2008. Israel launched Operation Cast Lead on 27 December 2008. The operation began with air strikes, later added a ground offensive, and ended on 18 January 2009 [6]. On 8 January 2009, the Security Council adopted Resolution 1860. It called for an immediate, durable and fully respected ceasefire leading to the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza [7]. Unlike Resolution 1701, it created no international force. The UN Fact-Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict, chaired by the South African judge Richard Goldstone, reported in September 2009 that counts of Palestinian dead differed by source. Non-governmental organisations, working from field research, placed the number of people killed at 1,387 to 1,417. The Gaza authorities reported 1,444 deaths. The Government of Israel gave a figure of 1,166 [6]. According to the Government of Israel, rocket and mortar fire killed four people in southern Israel: three civilians and one soldier. Nine soldiers were killed inside Gaza, four of them by friendly fire [6]. The mission found that several Israeli attacks it examined were intentional attacks against the civilian population. It also found that rocket and mortar attacks by Palestinian armed groups on southern Israel violated international humanitarian law [6]. The Government of Israel rejected the report.

Operation Pillar of Defence (14 to 21 November 2012)

The operation began on 14 November 2012 with an Israeli air strike on a car in Gaza City. The strike killed Ahmed Jabari, head of the military wing of Hamas, and Israel described it as the start of a broader operation [8]. The campaign that followed used air and naval fire. Israel did not send ground forces into Gaza. Egypt mediated a ceasefire that took effect on the evening of 21 November. The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) reported that 174 Palestinians were killed between 14 and 21 November. At least 168 were killed by Israeli military action, and 101 of those are believed to have been civilians, including 33 children and 13 women [9]. OHCHR drew these numbers from a Protection Cluster casualty database to which both Palestinian and Israeli organisations supplied data [9]. The same report records two other counts. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF), as reported in the media, estimated 177 Palestinians killed, including 120 combatants. Gaza's Ministry of Health counted 189 killed and gave no civilian breakdown [9]. On the Israeli side, OHCHR reported that Palestinian armed groups fired more than 1,500 rockets at Israel, reportedly killing three soldiers and four civilians. According to the Government of Israel, 239 other people were injured, 219 of them civilians [9]. OHCHR stated that on numerous occasions both parties had failed to respect the laws of war, including the principles of distinction, proportionality and precautions [9]. Pillar of Defence lasted eight days. It was the shortest of the four Gaza operations and the first of them fought without a ground phase.

Operation Protective Edge (7 July to 26 August 2014)

Israel published its official account of the war in May 2015. That account places the operation within events that included the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers in the West Bank in June 2014. It states that the government ordered an air campaign after armed groups fired more than 60 rockets at Israel from Gaza on 7 July [10]. On 17 July, Hamas fighters entered Israel through a cross-border tunnel, and the government then ordered a limited ground operation. Ground forces withdrew on 5 August after destroying 32 cross-border tunnels, 14 of which reached into Israeli territory. Air strikes continued until a ceasefire on 26 August [10]. The UN Independent Commission of Inquiry published its findings in June 2015, and OCHA summarised them. According to that summary, 2,251 Palestinians were killed, including 1,462 civilians, of whom 551 were children and 299 were women. A further 11,231 Palestinians were injured [11]. The Government of Israel counts approximately 2,125 Palestinians killed. It states that an IDF analysis, as of April 2015, positively identified at least 44 % of them as members of Hamas or other armed groups [10]. Both sources record six civilians killed in Israel, five Israeli citizens and one Thai national, and 67 Israeli soldiers killed [10][11]. OCHA records more than 6,000 Israeli air strikes between 7 July and 26 August. It records 18,000 housing units destroyed or damaged, 142 families that lost three or more members in a single incident, and a peak of 500,000 displaced people, or 28 % of Gaza's population [11]. On the other side, OCHA reports up to 1,600 people injured in Israel, including 270 children [11]. Israel's report estimates that about 10,000 Israeli civilians left their homes. It cites a Bank of Israel estimate of about 3.5 billion shekels in lost output [10]. The two sources also differ on fire from Gaza. Israel's report states that armed groups launched more than 4,500 rockets and mortars, about 4,000 of them aimed at civilian areas [10]. OCHA's summary gives 4,881 rockets and 1,753 mortars fired towards Israel [11]. Israel's report also states that the 26 August terms matched an Egyptian ceasefire proposal of 15 July, which Israel had accepted and Hamas had rejected [10].

Operation Guardian of the Walls (10 to 21 May 2021)

OCHA records that the fighting followed weeks of rising tension in East Jerusalem. The tension concerned restrictions on Palestinian access to holy sites during Ramadan and the threatened eviction of Palestinian families in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood. Hostilities ran from 10 to 21 May 2021 [12]. Israel did not send ground forces into Gaza. According to IDF data reported by the Times of Israel, armed groups fired more than 4,360 rockets and mortar shells at Israel. About 3,400 crossed into Israeli territory, 680 fell short inside Gaza, and 280 landed in the sea [13]. The Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv also cited IDF data. It put the rate at almost 400 launches a day, nearly four times the daily average of 2014 or of the 2006 Lebanon war. It reported that about 120 rockets were fired towards central Israel, including Tel Aviv. It gave the Iron Dome interception rate as 90 % for rockets headed towards populated areas [14]. OCHA, citing OHCHR, reports 261 Palestinians killed in Gaza, including 67 children and 41 women. OHCHR assessed 130 of them as civilians and 64 as members of armed groups. The status of the remaining 67 had not been determined. More than 2,200 Palestinians were injured. In Israel, 13 people, including two children, were killed and 710 were injured [12]. At the peak of the fighting, 113,000 people in Gaza were displaced, and 8,250 remained displaced months later [12]. An IDF statement reported on 18 May, while fighting continued, said the IDF had killed more than 150 operatives, most of them from Hamas [15]. An OCHA report covering deaths up to 27 May stated that about 245 of the 256 Palestinians then counted appeared to have been killed by Israeli forces [16].

The Common Structure of the Gaza Operations (2008 to 2021)

The four Gaza operations share five features in the documentary record. The first is a common setting. All four took place after the 2007 Security Cabinet decision that restricted goods, fuel, electricity and movement into and out of Gaza [5]. Rocket or mortar fire from Gaza preceded each one. The second is a specific opening event. Cast Lead followed rocket and mortar fire through 2008. Pillar of Defence opened with the killing of Ahmed Jabari [8]. Israel's report names the rocket fire of 7 July 2014 as the reason for the air campaign in Protective Edge [10]. OCHA links the 2021 outbreak to events in East Jerusalem [12]. The third is air power first. All four operations opened with air strikes. Ground forces entered Gaza only in 2009 and 2014. In 2014, Israel's report describes the ground task as locating and destroying cross-border tunnels [10]. The fourth is an end by ceasefire rather than settlement. Resolution 1860 called for a durable ceasefire and Israeli withdrawal but created no force [7]. Egypt mediated the 2012 and 2014 ceasefires. In 2014, Israel's report states that the final terms matched a proposal made six weeks earlier [10]. No operation produced a political agreement between Israel and Hamas. The fifth is rising fire from Gaza and disputed counts afterwards. Reported launches rose over the period:

• In 2012: more than 1,500 rockets in eight days [9].
• In 2014: more than 4,500 rockets and mortars by Israel's count [10], or 4,881 rockets and 1,753 mortars by the UN commission's count [11], over 51 days.
• In 2021: more than 4,360 in eleven days [13].

After each operation, UN bodies and Israeli sources published different totals and different shares of civilians and fighters:

• Cast Lead: 1,166 by the Government of Israel, against 1,387 to 1,417 by non-governmental organisations and 1,444 by the Gaza authorities [6].
• Pillar of Defence: 177, including 120 combatants, by the IDF, against 174 by OHCHR, which assessed 101 of the 168 killed by Israeli action as civilians [9].
• Protective Edge: about 2,125, at least 44 % identified as militants, by Israel, against 2,251, including 1,462 civilians, by the UN [10][11].
• Guardian of the Walls: 64 armed-group members identified by OHCHR, against more than 150 operatives claimed by the IDF in an interim statement [12][15].

In One Paragraph

Israel fought Hezbollah in Lebanon from 12 July to 14 August 2006. The war ended under Security Council Resolution 1701, which expanded the UN force in southern Lebanon. Lebanese authorities counted 1,191 people killed, and Israel counted 44 civilians and 119 soldiers killed. In Gaza, after Hamas took control in 2007 and Israel restricted goods and movement, four operations followed: Cast Lead (27 December 2008 to 18 January 2009), Pillar of Defence (14 to 21 November 2012), Protective Edge (7 July to 26 August 2014) and Guardian of the Walls (10 to 21 May 2021). Each followed rocket fire and opened with air strikes. Ground forces entered only in 2009 and 2014. Each ended in a ceasefire without a political agreement. In each case, UN and Israeli counts of the Palestinian dead differed. For 2014, the UN counted 2,251 and Israel about 2,125.

Sources

1. Winograd Commission. “Summary Final Report of the Commission to Investigate the Lebanon Campaign in 2006.” Statement read by Judge Eliyahu Winograd, Jerusalem, January 30, 2008, introductory note and paras. 2 and 14. Jewish Virtual Library.https://jewishvirtuallibrary.org/winograd-commission-final-report-january-2008.
2. United Nations Human Rights Council. Report of the Commission of Inquiry on Lebanon Pursuant to Human Rights Council Resolution S-2/1. A/HRC/3/2. November 23, 2006, paras. 7, 11, and 12.https://undocs.org/A/HRC/3/2.
3. United Nations Security Council. Resolution 1701 (2006), S/RES/1701 (2006), August 11, 2006, operative paras. 1, 8, and 11.https://undocs.org/S/RES/1701(2006).
4. Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “Israel-Hezbollah Conflict: Victims of Rocket Attacks and IDF Casualties, July to August 2006.”https://www.gov.il/en/pages/israel-hezbollah-conflict-victims-of-rocket-attacks-and-idf-casualties-jul-aug-2006.
5. Israel Prime Minister's Media Adviser. “Security Cabinet Declares Gaza Hostile Territory.” Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, September 19, 2007.https://www.un.org/unispal/document/auto-insert-195603/.
6. United Nations Human Rights Council. Human Rights in Palestine and Other Occupied Arab Territories: Report of the United Nations Fact-Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict. A/HRC/12/48. September 25, 2009, Executive Summary, paras. 30 and 31.https://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/docs/12session/A-HRC-12-48.pdf.
7. United Nations Security Council. Resolution 1860 (2009), S/RES/1860 (2009), January 8, 2009, operative para. 1.https://undocs.org/S/RES/1860(2009).
8. PBS NewsHour. “Israel Launches Airstrikes on Gaza City, Killing Hamas Military Chief.” November 14, 2012.https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/israel-launches-airstrikes-on-gaza-city-killing-hamas-military-chief.
9. United Nations Human Rights Council. Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the Implementation of Human Rights Council Resolutions S-9/1 and S-12/1. A/HRC/22/35. 2013, para. 3 and nn. 2 and 3.https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/757939/files/A_HRC_22_35-EN.pdf.
10. State of Israel. The 2014 Gaza Conflict (7 July to 26 August 2014): Factual and Legal Aspects, Executive Summary. May 2015, paras. 14, 16, 19, 21, 22, 23, 25, 35, and 36.https://www.gov.il/BlobFolder/generalpage/the-2014-gaza-conflict-factual-and-legal-aspects-full-report-15-may-2015/en/English_SiteTransfer_DOCUMENTS_2014GazaConflictSummary.pdf.
11. United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Occupied Palestinian Territory. “Key Figures on the 2014 Hostilities.” June 23, 2015.https://www.ochaopt.org/content/key-figures-2014-hostilities.
12. United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Occupied Palestinian Territory. “Overview: November 2021.” November 3, 2021.https://www.ochaopt.org/content/overview-november-2021.
13. Times of Israel. “‘Guardian of the Walls’ Wasn’t the Resounding Victory the IDF Had Hoped For.” May 23, 2021.https://www.timesofisrael.com/guardian-of-the-walls-wasnt-the-resounding-victory-the-idf-had-hoped-for/.
14. Institute for National Security Studies. “Operation Guardian of the Walls: Lessons for the Civilian Front.” Tel Aviv. Accessed September 25, 2026.https://www.inss.org.il/publication/guardian-of-the-walls-israeli-public/.
15. Times of Israel. “IDF Says Over 150 Terrorists Killed in Gaza Fighting, Most from Hamas.” Live blog entry, May 18, 2021.https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/idf-says-over-150-terrorists-killed-in-gaza-fighting-most-from-hamas/.
16. United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Occupied Palestinian Territory. “Response to the Escalation in the oPt: Situation Report No. 1 (21 to 27 May 2021).”https://www.ochaopt.org/content/response-escalation-opt-situation-report-no-1-21-27-may-2021.