Operation Protective Edge Timeline & A few thoughts
I will use two articles as my sources:
https://www.rte.ie/news/special-reports/2014/0729/633788-israel-gaza-timeline
The first article begins by stating ’Operation Protective Edge is Israel’s most deadly offensive since 2009’ and that ’one-tenth of Gaza’s population...sought refuge at UN-run sites.’
The timeline presented by the first article:
July 8—Israel launches Operation Protective Edge in response to the Palestinian militants who fired rockets.
July 11—over 100 palestinians are dead.
July 13—Mahmoud Abbas asks the UN to protect them.
July 13—Israel accepts Egypt’s ceasefire proposal while Hamas rejects it.
July 16—Israel kills 25 more palestinians.
July 20—Israel kills over 140 palestinians.
July 21—Israel kills 55 palestinians, including 16 children. The article mentions over 500 dead palestinians so far.
July 22— Ban Ki-moon and John Kerry ask both Israel and Hamas to ’stop fighting, start talking.’ The article mentions a rocket fired from Gaza that crashed ner Ben Gurion airport.
July 24—Israel hit a school and 15 palestinians die.
July 25—Israel and Hamas agree to stop fighting for 12 hours.
July 27—The articles mentions so far over 1000 palestinians are dead. The fighting resumes.
July 28—10 Israeli soldiers are killed. Ismail Haniya, the top Hamas leader is killed.
July 30—120 palestinians are killed.
31 July—The article quotes Netanyahu saying ’he wants the army to finish this mission.’
1 August—Israel breaks the ceasefire truce.
3 August—Israel kills 10 palestinians as hit a school.
5 August—Israel withdraw from Gaza.
The 2nd article adds several key events:
It adds a few things about the context of the Operation Protective Edge:
June 12—3 Israeli teens are kidnapped by Hamas.
June 13—Operation Brother’s Keeper begins and as a consequence on June 15 Hamas fires 78 rockets into Israel by the end of June.
June 30—the murdered Israeli teens are found.
July 2—a Palestinian teen is murdered. The tension is very high.
The article highlights more how IDF shoots down the rockets from Gaza before they reach cities like Jerusalem, Haifa or Tel-Aviv— some of the rockets are made in Iran.
The article make no mention about the number of people killed in the Operation. It presents IDF more like defending Israel.
The article also mentions the events from 8 to 26 of August when the palestinians breached the ceasefire in August 13.
In my view, the second article presents a more objective perspective. The first article is obviously directed against Israel.
To study the two articles was very interesting. I can see why reading the first artcile can produce anti-Semitic/anti-Zionist protests in Europe and around the world.
Many criticize Israel’s Protective Edge Operation. How else would Israel respond to a terrorist organization with the purpose of annihilating Israel and the Jewish people and who launched 250 rockets? I mean, Israel has the right to self-determination and the duty to protect her citizens. Israel did what a normal country should do and what any other country would do.