Gaza War (2008–2009)

The **Gaza War** was a three-week armed conflict that took place in the Gaza Strip during the winter of 2008–2009. It was codenamed **Operation Cast Lead** ( _Mivtza Oferet Yetzuka_) by the Israeli government.

The Gaza War is said to have begun when Israel started an air strike against the Gaza Strip on Dec. 27. This was after a six-month truce between Israel and Hamas had run out and Hamas had resumed rocket attacks against Israel. Israel's said its aim was to stop Hamas' rocket attacks on Israel from and arms import into the territory. Israeli forces attacked military targets, police stations and government buildings. Hamas intensified its rocket and mortar attacks against Southern Israel, reaching the major cities of Beersheba and Ashdod for the first time. An Israeli ground invasion began on January 3, 2009. The war ended on January 18, when Israel first declared a unilateral(one-sided) ceasefire, followed by Hamas' announcing a one-week ceasefire twelve hours later. Israel completed its withdrawal on January 21. The conflict resulted in between 1,166 and 1,417 Palestinian and 13 Israeli deaths.

## Other websites

- Aljazeera coverage
- Gaza crisis: key maps and timeline, BBC News.
- CNN coverage.
- Gabi Siboni, "From the Second Intifada through the Second Lebanon War to Operation Cast Lead: Puzzle Pieces of a Single Campaign"1272779230.pdf) , _Military and Strategic Affairs_, Volume 1, No. 1, April 2009.
- Gabi Siboni, "Operations Cast Lead, Pillar of Defense, and Protective Edge: A Comparative Review" , a chapter inside _The Lessons of Operation Protective Edge_, eds. Anat Kurz and Shlomo Brom, INSS, 2014.

## Infobox (military conflict)

- **conflict**: Gaza War
- **partof**: the Gaza–Israel conflict
- **image**: Cast lead map.png
- **image size**: 300px
- **caption**: Israeli advances in Gaza during 2009
- **date**: 27 December 2008 – 18 January 2009
()
- **place**: Gaza Strip and Southern District (Israel), Southern Israel
- **result**: Israeli military victory
* IDF declared unilateral ceasefire, 12 hours later Hamas announced a Tahdiya, one-week ceasefire.
* Effects of the Gaza War#Gaza humanitarian crisis, Humanitarian crisis and deterioration of infrastructure and basic services in Gaza.
* Number of List of Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel, 2009, rockets being fired from Gaza reduced.
* Gaza War (2008–09)#Aftermath, See results
- **combatant1**: Israel
* Israel Defense Forces
* Israel Security Agency
- **combatant2**: *  Hamas
** Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Izz ad-Din al-Qassam
*  Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
** Abu Ali Mustapha Brigades
*
** Al-Quds Brigades
* Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, Al-Aqsa Martyrs'
* Popular Resistance Committees
- **commander1**: Ehud Olmert
Prime Minister of Israel, Prime Minister

Ehud Barak
Defense Minister of Israel, Minister of Defense

Gabi Ashkenazi
Chief of General Staff (Israel), Chief of General Staff

Yoav Galant
Southern Command (Israel), Southern Command

Ido Nehoshtan
Israeli Air Force, Air Force

Eli Marom
Israeli Navy, Navy

Eyal Eisenberg
Gaza Division

Yuval Diskin
Shin Bet, Internal Security Service
- **commander2**: Khaled Mashal

Ismail Haniyeh

Said Seyam

Mohammed Deif

Abu Zakaria al-Jamal

Ahmed Jabari

Tawfik Jaber
 Osama Mazini

Nizar Rayan

Mahmoud al-Zahar
 Ramadan Abdullah Mohammad Shallah, Ramadan Shallah
 Jamil Mezher
- **strength1**: IDF: 4,000–20,000 deployed in ground invasion and tens of thousands of reservists mobilized (176,000 total active personnel)
- **strength2**: Hamas (Izzedine Al-Qassam Brigades and paramilitary police): 20,000 (est. total)
Other Palestinian paramilitary forces: 10,000
- **casualties1**: **Total killed**: 13
Soldiers: 10 (friendly fire: 4)
Civilians: 3

**Total wounded**: 518
Soldiers: 336
Civilians: 182
- **casualties2**: **Total killed**: 1,166–1,417

Militants and police officers:
491***** (255 police officers, 236 fighters) (Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, PCHR), 600***** (B'Tselem), 709 (Israel Defense Forces, IDF), 600–700 (Hamas)
Civilians: 926 (Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, PCHR), 759 (B'Tselem), 295 (Israel Defense Forces, IDF)

**Total wounded**: 5,303 (Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, PCHR)

**Total captured**: 120 (Israel Defense Forces, IDF)
- **casualties3**: One Egyptian army, Egyptian border guard officer killed and three wounded, and two children wounded.
Over 50,800 Gaza residents displaced.

Over 4,000 homes destroyed; around $2bn worth of damage to Gaza
- **notes**: *****255 (Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, PCHR) or 265 (B'Tselem) police officers were killed.