“On December 27, 2008, Israel launched a massive assault against the Gaza Strip that killed 1,417 Palestinians –– 926 of whom were civilians including 313 children–in three weeks. […] In  addition, 5,303 Palestinians were wounded, including 1,606 children and 828 women. The total number of Israelis killed came to 10 soldiers (4 killed by friendly fire) and 3 civilians, meaning that the ratio of total Palestinians to Israelis killed was around 100:1, while the ratio of civilians killed was 300:1.” (Sara Roy, Hamas and Civil Society in Gaza. Engaging the Islamist Social Sector, Princeton University Press, Princeton and Oxford, 2011, p. 226).

“This was an attack against the Palestinian people and their continued resistance––be it by Hamas or by the people of Gaza–– and their consistent refusal to accede to Israeli demands and conditions. The Israeli government argued that since all Palestinians in Gaza supported Hamas, there were no true civilians in Gaza and all attacks against them were therefore justified, including the reduction and denial of humanitarian supplies, military incursions and invasions, and the continued assassination of the Hamas leadership.” (ibid. 227).

“The subjection of Gaza (and the West Bank) is not a discrete event without history or context, despite the fact that it has been portrayed that way. The December 2008 attack did not emerge in a vacuum but is a tragic though inevitable part of a far larger context of prolonged Israeli military occupation and colonisation that preceded Hamas by several decades and would undeniably continue should Hamas disappear from the map tomorrow. This occupation, which is the fundamental reason underlying Palestinian resistance, is characterised by economic sanctions, closure, boycotts, and siege that have been all but forgotten.” (ibid. 230-231).

Voor meer over deze instantie van Israelische “grasmaaierij”, de operatie “Cast Lead”, zie Norman G. Finkelstein, Gaza. An Inquest into its Martyrdom, University of California Press, Oakland, CA, 2018. En voor getuigenissen van Israelische militairen: AAVV, Our Harsh Logic. Israeli Soldiers’ Testimonies from the Occupied Territories, 2000-2010, Compiled by the Organization Breaking the Silence, Picador New York, 2013.