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The 2014 Gaza Conflict: Factual and Legal Aspects

(Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs) Hamas and other terrorist organizations launched more than 4,000 rockets and mortars during the 2014 Gaza conflict which were deliberately directed at Israel's civilian population. The intent to target Israel's civilians was clearly shown both by the sheer volume of projectiles aimed at civilian areas, as well as by official Hamas statements such as, "our missiles accurately target the homes of the Israelis and the Zionists." Some 550 rockets and mortars were identified as being launched from within or near "sensitive sites" such as schools, UN facilities, hospitals, and places of worship. The range of these rockets covered more than 70% of Israel's civilian population, bringing the hostilities to the entire country. By deliberately targeting Israeli cities and the civilian population, as part of a widespread and systematic policy, Hamas and other terrorist organizations violated the Law of Armed Conflict and committed war crimes and crimes against humanity. On four different occasions, armed Hamas militants, in some cases disguised as IDF soldiers, emerged from cross-border assault tunnels into Israeli territory, leaving nearby residents in constant fear of sudden attack. The militants of Hamas and other terrorist organizations frequently disguised themselves as civilians when carrying out attacks, a tactic that often directly violated international law. Furthermore, this tactic also made it possible for Hamas to depict militant fatalities as civilian. The extent of civilian casualties has been substantially overstated in certain reports about the 2014 Gaza conflict. Many of the purported civilian casualties claimed were not, in fact, civilians. Palestinian civilians and property in Gaza were directly harmed by the hundreds of rockets and mortars that fell short after being launched by Hamas and other terrorist organizations towards Israeli civilians. Likewise, what may appear to have been damage to ostensibly civilian structures in Gaza was in fact often the result of the detonation of booby-trapped structures or improvised explosive devices placed by Palestinian militants within civilian areas. Of the Palestinians killed in the course of the 2014 Gaza conflict, 936 have been identified as militants and 761 as uninvolved civilians. Of the additional unidentified 428 males between the ages of 16-50, it is highly probable that some of these individuals were involved in combat against Israel.
2015-06-15 00:00:00
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