The Israeli offensive into Gaza ended this past weekend as Israel, under severe international pressure, declared a unilateral ceasefire and ordered the withdrawal of its troops from the Palestinian territory.
In the wake of this evacuation, Israeli forces left the tiny territory in wreckage, according to detailed data provided by the Gaza-based Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR). Human casualties numbered over 5,5000, more than 2,400 houses were destroyed, hundreds of public and private buildings razed by military strikes from air, sea and land.
Israelis struck, beginning on Dec. 27, with overwhelming force against a mainly civilian population in an area just about twice the size of Washington, DC, and seemed to do so with little discrimination between civilian and military targets.
According to the PCHR, a total of 1,285 people were killed during the offensive. About 70 percent of those deaths were civilians, including 391 women and children. More than 4,300 people were wounded, including 1,868 women and children. Most of the civilian casualties were concentrated in Northern Gaza and in Gaza City, but Rafah and Khan Yunis in the southern portion of the territory suffered heavily as well.
Israeli forces attacked and destroyed thousands of buildings, most of which were not military targets by any stretch of the imagination. Israeli forces destroyed government buildings that housed offices of local officials and civilian police. In addition, Israeli forces targeted and destroyed civilian cafeterias, wedding halls, tourist sites, hotels, mosques, charitable societies, workshops and factories, health care facilities, media stations, and thousands of acres of agricultural land and agricultural equipment, according to the detailed report from PCHR.
In addition to these non-military targets, Israeli forces attacked United Nations facilities, including one which housed a school.
A report released by Amnesty International this month added that during the Israeli strikes on Gaza it found “indisputable evidence of widespread use of white phosphorus in densely populated residential areas in Gaza City and in the north.” The use of white phosphorus against civilian targets is banned under a 1980 international treaty to which Israel is a signatory.
According to the Washington Post, the damage to property has been estimated at $2 billion.
The ceasefire is certainly a welcome step on both sides of the conflict. Commentators and political insiders in Israel have indicated that the ceasefire came just prior to the inauguration of President Barack Obama because of his signals to become more involved in the peace process than his predecessor.
On his first day in office, Obama reached out to Middle East leaders in Palestine, Israel, and Egypt assuring all sides that he intended to work for a lasting settlement.
Palestinian leaders reportedly stated they could return to talks with Israel once Israel agrees to end the expansion of settlements in Palestinian territories and to agree in principle on returning to its pre-1967 borders. In addition, various United Nations and international peace initiatives have stated that a just and permanent settlement should be based on a political process that arrives at a negotiated resolution of the refugee and Jerusalem questions.
