page_title: Timeline of the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict
section_title: 20 July
hierarchical_section_title: Timeline of the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict / Timeline, weeks 1–4 (7 July – 4 August) / Week 2 / 20 July
caption_attribution_description: English: The IDF continues to search for hidden terror tunnels in the Gaza Strip, used by Hamas to carry out attacks on Israelis.
context_page_description: Timeline of the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict. Over 2014, Palestinians suffered the highest number of civilian casualties since the Six-Day War in 1967, according to a United Nations report, given the July–August conflict, and rising tolls in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. A spike in Israeli casualties also occurred. 2,256 Palestinians and 85 Israelis died, while 17,125 Palestinians, and 2,639 Israelis suffered injuries.
context_section_description: The Battle of Shuja'iyya, which had begun the previous day, continued as Israeli troops and Hamas fighters continued to battle in Shuja'iyya. On the morning of 20 July, seven Israeli soldiers were killed when an Israeli M113 armored personnel carrier was hit by an anti-tank missile. Hamas fighters managed to seize the body of Staff Sergeant Oron Shaul, one of the soldiers killed in the attack on the armored personnel carrier. IDF engineering forces later reached the wreck of the APC and towed it back to Israel. In the following hours, three more Israeli soldiers were killed in clashes with Hamas fighters, and three others were killed when an anti-tank missile hit a building where soldiers were setting up a command center. The IDF brought in D9 armored bulldozers to destroy enemy positions. In one case, a few Hamas fighters were killed when an IDF bulldozer destroyed a tunnel they were in. After particularly heavy fire was laid down on Israeli forces in Shuja'iyya, the IDF launched a massive artillery barrage and series of airstrikes after ordering the infantry into armored personnel carriers, with artillery fire landing within 100 meters of Israeli forces. According to the IDF, 37 Hamas fighters were killed in the bombardment, and all firing ceased afterward.
  In total, at least 72 and up to 120 Palestinians, including civilians, were killed in the battle, in what local medical authorities, along with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, called a massacre. The IDF stated that Shuja'iyya had been the site of 8% of the rocket launches since 8 July, and that residents had been warned to leave two days earlier.
  Hamas requested via the Red Crescent a humanitarian ceasefire for the Shuja'iyya neighborhood to allow the evacuation of wounded from the area. The IDF agreed, and the ceasefire began at 13:30; however, only an hour into the truce, IDF troops came under fire and responded. Despite the issues during the ceasefire, Israel agreed to extend it by one hour.
  In total, the IDF confirmed that 13 IDF soldiers were killed during the fighting in Shuja'iyya. Another 56 soldiers were wounded and scores were hospitalized, including the commander of the Golani Brigade, Colonel Ghassan Alian. The IDF claimed that more than 100 Palestinian militants were killed in Gaza during the night. In one airstrike aimed at a Hamas member, 25 members of one family were killed along with the target. During the overnight fighting, the IDF uncovered ten more tunnel systems.
  The military wing of Hamas claimed to have killed at least 32 Israeli soldiers since 19 July. Hamas also claimed captured an Israeli soldier named Shaul Aron. However, Ron Prosor, the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, denied the report. Israel confirmed that Staff Sergeant Oron Shaul was missing, but eventually declared him dead.
caption: Israeli paratroopers operate within Gaza.
exif: {"Image Make": "NIKON CORPORATION", "Image Model": "NIKON D7100", "Image XResolution": "240", "Image YResolution": "240", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4.4 (Windows)", "Image DateTime": "2014:07:21 09:12:00", "Image ExifOffset": "216", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/100", "EXIF FNumber": "28/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Manual", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "400", "EXIF SensitivityType": "Recommended Exposure Index", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0230", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2014:07:20 19:19:27", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2014:07:20 19:19:27", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "415241/62500", "EXIF ApertureValue": "2485427/500000", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "37/10", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "18", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "10", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "10", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CVAPattern": "[2, 0, 2, 0, 0, 1, 1, 2]", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Manual Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "27", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "Low gain up", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0", "EXIF BodySerialNumber": "4400153", "EXIF LensSpecification": "[18, 300, 7/2, 28/5]", "EXIF LensModel": "18.0-300.0 mm f/3.5-5.6"}