Operation Protective Edge

Since the beginning of Operation Protective Edge (Tzuk Eitan in Hebrew) on Tuesday 8 July 2014, more than 600 rockets were fired from Gaza into Israel. The Iron Dome missile defence system intercepted more than 140 of these rockets. It can only be described as a miracle that only one Israeli died since the beginning of the conflict.

For the first time Hamas started to fire much more sophisticated and longer range rockets. However, the Iron Dome Defence system seems to be the game changer. The indiscriminate firing of rockets and the ongoing red alert sirens blaring is traumatic, especially for the children and the elderly who have to run for bomb shelters. Sometimes it happens many times in the day and through the night.

It is most unfortunate that innocent people got killed in Gaza, but it is also proven that Hamas use people as human shields, which can be constituted as a war crime. It is a well known fact that Hamas have rocket launch pads close to schools and mosques and even use these facilities as weapons storage facilities.

Sadly, as in previous conflicts with Hamas, we again see the utterly biased reporting in some media outlets in the world. Some adopted the Hamas narrative that Israel started the conflict by firing first. In fact Israel showed maximum restraint by sending a message to Hamas that calm would be met with calm. Only after they rejected the conciliatory stance of Israel and increasing the volley of rockets, the Israeli government decided to start the defensive operation to stop the firing of rockets from Gaza.

On Saturday rockets were fired from Lebanon and the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) responded with artillery fire. Also on Saturday, two rockets were fired from the Sinai. This is a new development clearly designed to support the efforts of Hamas and other radical groups in Gaza.  Another new development is the use of drones by Hamas. One such drone was shot down over Ashdod by a Patriot missile on Sunday.

According to IDF statistics, 70 trucks carrying food and general supplies crossed into Gaza on Sunday. 120 tons of gas and 376,000 liters of fuel also entered Gaza at the border crossing with Israel despite ongoing hostilities and continued rocket fire into Israel.

At this stage it seems that Hamas wants to escalate the conflict and it might be inevitable for Israel to decide on a ground incursion to find and destroy the terror infrastructure. Nobody knows how this conflict will end, but it certainly poses a very dangerous situation which could affect the whole region.

Watch Video: Civilians in the line of fire