Israel at War with Hamas: Commentary on Operation Protective Edge

Operation Protective Edge began on 8 July 2014 in response to a barrage of rockets being fired from Gaza into Israel, threatening the lives of two-thirds of Israel’s civilian population, following the kidnap and murder of three Israeli teenagers by militants in the West Bank. The operation has uncovered Hamas’ extensive terrorist and military structure and capabilities, from a massive tunnel system used to infiltrate Israel, to well-trained militants penetrating Israel by sea, and an expansive supply of sophisticated weaponry from which close to 3,000 rockets have been fired during this conflict.

It has also revealed Hamas’s plans for future terrorist attacks including continued attempts to kidnap soldiers, a massacre of southern Israeli neighbourhoods and a professionally-trained paragliding attack. Equally disturbingly, it has exposed Hamas’ illegal guerrilla warfare tactics and cruel control of Gazans: firing from hospitals and schools; preventing citizens from evacuating areas designated as military targets; and threatening, beating and killing civilians and journalists alike in order to prevent them from speaking out.

Despite calls by the international community, Hamas has rejected and broken numerous international and humanitarian ceasefires endorsed by the United States, United Nations, Israel, Palestinian Authority, Egypt and the Arab League. Despite hostile media coverage, support for Israel’s self-defence by world leaders and the international community has been unprecedented, with continued calls for the disarmament of Hamas, but their backing is waning. And on the streets of Europe and much of the rest of the world, violent, anti-Israel and anti-Semitic riots have erupted against the Jewish State.

Since the onset of Operation Protective Edge, The Henry Jackson Society has been out front-and-centre presenting the facts, the issues at-hand and the greater context of the ongoing conflict with Hamas in the media and to decision-makers. Below is a compilation of HJS’s coverage of Operation Protective Edge to date, which we present in order to broaden your understanding of activity on the frontline.