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Applied to Operation Cast Lead, General Yoav Galant called it "send(ing) Gaza decades into the past," with no regard for the safety or welfare of civilians. The Goldstone report referred to the "military doctrine that views disproportionate destruction and creating maximum disruption in the lives of many people as a legitimate means to achieve military and political goals."
It quoted retired Major General Giora Eiland's war strategy of eliminating the military threat as well as destroying "the national infrastructure and (inflicting) intense suffering among the population." It concluded from facts on the ground that this was "precisely what (Israel did, and the responsibility for these actions lies) in the first place with those who designed, planned, ordered and oversaw the operations."
Dahiya tactics were central to the overall war strategy to inflict mass civilian deaths, injuries, destruction, and human suffering on 1.5 million Gazans. PCHR's report documents what it calls "the most extensive and brutal offensive in (the) history of Israeli occupation (constituting) clear and flagrant violations of IHL (international humanitarian law)."
Background to the War
Throughout 2008, Israeli crimes escalated in what "was the bloodiest year since the beginning of the" 1967 occupation, particularly while Gaza's been under siege since mid-2007 "in violation of all relevant international human rights instruments."
Besides closure, Israel conducted willful killings, extra-judicial assassinations, targeted civilian property and vital infrastructure destruction, and deliberate razing of agricultural land. From February 28 - March 5, 2008 alone, a planned air and sea operation caused extensive property destruction and killed 110 Palestinians, including 27 children, six women, and a paramedic. During the first six months of 2008, over 440 Palestinians were killed, mostly civilians, including 65 children and six women.
On June 19, 2008, Egyptian mediators negotiated a six-month truce with the possibility of renewal. It stipulated that attacks by both sides would cease. Israel would gradually reopen crossings. Then life in Gaza would begin to be normalized.
Israel reneged despite the deteriorating humanitarian conditions, yet Hamas and other Palestinian factions committed no major violations during the first five months.
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