December 27, 2008
After nearly 12,000 rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip into Israeli civilian areas over eight years, Israel responds with Operation Cast Lead.
Hamas seized power in Gaza in 2007, and although rocket fire predated Hamas’ government, the quantity of rockets fired increased dramatically under Hamas control. In 2008 alone, approximately 3,000 rockets and mortar bombs were launched from Gaza at Israel’s southern cities.
The area of Israel that was hardest hit by the Hamas rocket attacks was the southern city of Sderot. One of Israel’s poorest cities, Sderot was founded in 1951 as a ma’abara (transit camp) for immigrants, mostly from Iran. When a warning siren rings out the approach of a rocket, Israeli civilians have only 15 seconds to find shelter. The strain from the rocket attacks caused widespread flight from the city in 2007 and 2008, and many people simply abandoned their homes.
Hamas ended a six-month Egyptian-brokered cease-fire, forcing Israel to initiate Operation Cast Lead. The 22-day operation has three goals: to stop Hamas rocket attacks against Israeli civilians; to stop Hamas terrorist attacks against Israel; and to stop the smuggling of weapons into Gaza.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak says, “Our purpose is to hit Hamas in such a way that it will force it to halt any firing and other hostile activities against Israel.”
Although the operation decreases rocket attacks for more than a year, Hamas eventually resumes its attacks, leading to a smaller–scale military action by Israel in fall 2012 and a much larger one in July 2014.
The international community is highly critical of Israel’s actions in Gaza, as highlighted in the September 2009 U.N.-sponsored “Report on the Fact-Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict” by South African Judge Richard Goldstone. Despite the conclusions of the report, Hamas continues its indiscriminate attacks on Israeli civilians, culminating in the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack on southern Israel, in which 1,200 Israelis and others are killed and more than 250 people and bodies are taken hostage.
