2008 - After the Great Border Breach

             

        

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By the end of January 2008, after seven months of Hamas rule, tens of thousands of Gazans rushed to Egypt after militants had breached through the long steel fence erected by Egyptian forces.

 Palestinians Topple Gaza Wall and Cross to Egypt                              https://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/24/world/middleeast/24gaza.html

They were looking for goods they could not find in the Strip, everything from cartridges of cigarettes to satellite dishes, sheep, coca-cola, cement... After three days though, the Egyptian authorities, under the authority of President Mubarak, decided to close the border again, and drive the hundreds of thousands (by then) back into the Strip.

Still, the Hamas militias never stopped firing Qasams at the closest Israeli communities.

   

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From January 2008 to November included, over 1,200 rockets were thus fired.

On December 27, the Israeli Defence Forces reacted by launching an operation code-named Cast Lead.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

On July 2, 2009, human rights organization Amnesty International (AI) released a report entitled Israel/Gaza: Operation 'Cast Lead': 22 days of death and destruction. 

On January 18, 2009, the war ended. Still, by the end of January and the beginning of February, rockets were fired again, at Ashkelon.

Over the whole year, 569 rockets were fired from Gaza, as opposed to over 2,000 in 2008 (including those fired in December).