BICOM

Key points

• Israel’s goal was to stop rockets on Israeli civilians as quickly as possible, not to seek a long campaign.
• Israel targeted Hamas and other armed groups and tried to avoid harm to civilians.
• Israel launched ground operations after Hamas rejected an Egyptian ceasefire a week into the campaign.
• Israel kept to multiple truces during ceasefire talks, resuming attacks when they were broken by Hamas.

What were Israel’s aims?

• Israel initiated Operation Protective Edge on 7 July to stop the firing of rockets onto Israeli population centres and restore quiet. Rockets and mortars were forcing millions of Israelis into bomb shelters.
• Israel did not seek an extended campaign. PM Netanyahu stated before the escalation of hostilities, “One possibility is that the fire will stop and the quiet continues… The other is that the fire continues and then the increased forces that are in the south will act forcefully.”

How did Israel seek minimise harm to civilians?

• The IDF dropped millions of leaflets, warning civilians to distance themselves from military targets, including buildings containing weapons, ammunitions or tunnels, or areas of terrorist activity. Other leaflets directed residents to leave a particular location and move to a safe zone by a certain route and within a defined time period. Hamas instructed civilians to ignore these instructions.
• The IDF made phone calls and sent text messages to civilians residing in buildings designated for attack. The Israeli Air Force also utilised a tactic known as “roof knocking,” wherein buildings were targeted with a loud but non-lethal bomb which warns civilians that they are in the vicinity of a target. Air surveillance was used to check residents had left before the site was targeted. No other armed force in the world employs all these methods.
• The proportion of civilians among the approximately 2000 Palestinian fatalities is disputed. An investigation by the Terrorism Information Centre indicates that close to 50% of those killed were affiliated with terrorist organisations.

How did Israel seek to shorten the conflict?

• Israel began with air operations designed to degrade the capabilities of Hamas and other armed groups.
• Only after Hamas rejected an Egyptian ceasefire proposal backed by the Arab League on 15 July, did Israel begin ground operations on 17 July. Destroying tunnels dug by Hamas under the Gaza-Israel border rose to the top of Israel’s priorities after IDF forces intercepted Hamas fighters emerging from tunnels originating in the Gaza Strip. 66 Israeli soldiers were killed and more than 450 were wounded during the fighting.
• After IDF ground troops pulled out in early August, Israel kept a series of truces during ceasefire talks, only returning to significant air operations in response to the breach of the truce by Hamas on 19 August.

What threats did Israel target?

• Israel targeted Hamas military infrastructure including rocket launchers, stockpiles of rockets, command and control centres and Hamas militants carrying out attacks against Israel. Rockets from Gaza hit every major city in Israel in the course of the conflict, and temporarily forced the closure of Israel’s only major international airport.
• Israel’s intent in its ground operation was to destroy cross-border tunnels. This network of underground tunnels, dug from within homes and other civilian buildings, was filled with ammunition, weaponry, IDF uniforms to be used as disguises, tranquilizers and motorbikes. Hamas launched several attacks through these tunnels, and Israel suspected plans for large scale killing and abduction raids.

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