The 2004 Israeli operation in the northern Gaza Strip took place when the Israel Defense Forces launched Operation "Days of Penitence" (Hebrew: מבצע ימי תשובה), otherwise known as Operation "Days of Repentance" in the northern Gaza Strip. The operation lasted between 29 September and 16 October 2004. About 130 Palestinians, and 1 Israeli were killed.
The operation focused on the town of Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahia and Jabalia refugee camps, which were said to have been used as launching sites of Qassam rockets on the Israeli town of Sderot and Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip, and in particular in response to the death of two children in Sderot. The operation's name corresponds to the Hebrew name for the High Holiday season during which the operation was carried out.
The 2004 Israeli operation in the northern Gaza Strip took place when the Israel Defense Forces launched Operation "Days of Penitence" (Hebrew: מבצע ימי תשובה), otherwise known as Operation "Days of Repentance" in the northern Gaza Strip. The operation lasted between 29 September and 16 October 2004. About 130 Palestinians, and 1 Israeli were killed.
The operation focused on the town of Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahia and Jabalia refugee camps, which were said to have been used as launching sites of Qassam rockets on the Israeli town of Sderot and Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip, and in particular in response to the death of two children in Sderot. The operation's name corresponds to the Hebrew name for the High Holiday season during which the operation was carried out.
Overview
Following the death of two Israeli children from a Qassam rocket launched by Palestinian militants, Israel launched a major military invasion of the northern Gaza Strip, focusing on the towns of Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahia and the Jabaliya refugee camp. The stated goal of the operation, code-named "Days of Penitence" (ימי תשובה) by the Israeli Defence Force, was to prevent Palestinians from launching rockets and mortar shells into Israeli settlements in Gaza and the town of Sderot in Israel.
During this 17-day attack the Israeli military killed some 130 Palestinians; demolished at least 85 houses and damaged hundreds more; damaged public facilities, including schools, kindergartens and mosques, and destroyed farmland. The archaeological site of the Byzantine Church of Jabalia was also damaged. According to Israeli soldiers, many of the buildings that were demolished were used by Palestinian militants as a cover for launching Qassam rockets and for shooting anti-tank missiles.
During the UN Security Council deliberations over censuring Israel for this military attack, Israel accused the United Nations Relief and Welfare Agency (UNRWA) of complicity in Palestinian attacks by allowing its vehicles to transport rockets. The Israeli government released a video claiming that it showed rockets being loaded into the UNRWA ambulance. UNRWA denied the accusation and demanded an apology stating that the object was a stretcher, not a rocket (the person in the video was carrying the lightweight object with just one hand). On October 6, Israel retracted the accusation.(Reuters)
The attack resulted in a proposed Security Council resolution calling for Israel to withdraw. The United States vetoed the resolution on October 5 with the US Ambassador to the UN, John Danforth, saying the proposed resolution would have encouraged terrorism.
Over the weekend of October 17, the Israeli military announced that its troops withdrew from the Jabalia refugee camp and other populated areas and redeployed to positions nearby and proclaimed the attack a success, with a warning that the troops would return if the rocket attacks resume, which analysts from both sides say is likely. Israel 'redeploys' in Gaza, but who won?
Both sides claimed victory in the operation.
Capt. Jacob Dallal, an Israeli Defence Forces spokesman, acclaimed the operation's success: "We really impaired the ability to shoot Qassams from Jabalya. We engaged many cells and now there are fewer Hamas members to shoot rockets," he says. "We dealt a hard blow to the whole Hamas infrastructure in Jabalia." Israel 'redeploys' in Gaza, but who won?
The Palestine Information Center published a statement by Hamas spokesman Ismail Hanneya who asserted that the problem was not in resistance or in Qassam missiles but rather in what Hamas views as the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land: "Hamas achieved a victory over the Zionist enemy ... the blows of the resistance and the steadfastness of the people caused the occupying forces to withdraw without achieving any of their goals." Hamas: Resistance forced occupation to retreat
Timeline
September 29
Five Palestinians, including Hamas member Tawfik Ali Charafi, were killed during Israeli raids in the Jabalia refugee camp in the Gaza Strip and Nablus in the West Bank. The Israeli government claims the troops entered in response to continued shelling of the Israeli town of Sderot from the Jabalia area, including Qassam rockets launched on September 28. (BBC) (Reuters) (Al Jazeera) (Haaretz)
Two Israeli children, aged 3 and 5, are killed after a Qassam rocket attack by Hamas on the town of Sderot. Hamas claimed the attack was launched in retaliation for the Israeli raid of the Jabalia refugee camp, which left four Palestinians dead. (BBC) (Haaretz)
Two Palestinian teenagers are killed and power supplies are knocked out after an Israeli raid on the Jabalia refugee camp. The raid was launched in response to the rocket attacks on the town of Sderot which left two children dead. (BBC)
September 30
Israel launched a major offensive into the Jabalia refugee camp killing at least 23 gunmen and civilians. Earlier this morning, a column of Israeli tanks moved into the center of the camp, followed by bulldozers. At least three Palestinian civilians have been killed thus far. Homes are being demolished, forcing people to flee. 72 Palestinians are known to have been wounded. (BBC) (Reuters)
Two Palestinians are killed by Israeli troops returning fire after an Israeli soldier was killed at an observation post in the northern Gaza Strip. The troops have been engaged in that part of the northern Gaza Strip since yesterday, September 29. (AP)
Two Israelis, including a civilian, are killed in an ambush close to Gaza. The Palestinian gunman was also killed. (BBC)
October 1
Israeli troops, backed by tanks and other military vehicles, entered the northern Gaza Strip city of Jabalia, and the nearby towns of Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya. At least five Palestinians are killed by Israeli rocket strikes on Jabalia. (BBC) (The Guardian)
The Israeli military releases unmanned drone footage of the Gaza Strip showing what Israel says are Palestinian militants loading rockets into a van marked "UN." The UN dismisses the claim, saying that the footage actually shows a stretcher being loaded into a van. (Islam Online, S. Arabia) (Haaretz: 1, 2)
October 2
Yassir Arafat declared a state of emergency in the Gaza Strip and called for international aid following Israel's raid into Jabalia. (News 24 [S. Africa])
Israeli forces shoot dead four members of Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades and Hamas, who had tried to infiltrate the Israeli Kibbutz of Nahal Oz, about 200 meters outside of that Kibbutz. (Haaretz) (Al Jazeera) (The Statesman [India]) (INN [Israel])
The U.S. government issues a statement urging Israel not to use excessive force during its current offensive into the Gaza Strip. (BBC)
The Palestinian militant group Hamas says that it will continue using rockets to attack Israeli communities that border on the Gaza Strip, or Israeli settlements within it, regardless of Israeli military operations. (BBC)
The Israeli military begins an operation to create a 9 km (5.6 mi) "buffer zone" within the northern Gaza Strip. Israel says that the purpose of the zone is to protect Israel from attacks using Qassam rockets (which have a 9 km (5.6 mi) range). (The Telegraph) (CNN)
October 3
On interview to CBC, UNRWA's commissioner-general, Peter Hansen said that he was sure that members of Hamas are also members of UNRWA. The Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs, who designate Hamas as a terrorist organization said it "will immediately seek clarification from Mr. Hansen directly and from UN authorities." (CBC)
The UNRWA demanded an apology from Israel over claims that Gaza militants used a UN vehicle to transport a homemade Qassam rocket. The UN body showed what it said was the ambulance seen in footage released by the Israel Defense Forces and presented its driver and rescue workers to reporters. (Haaretz) (Jerusalem Post) He later said it would "have been outright dishonest to say that among a population with about 30% support for Hamas that none of them worked for us" (The Guardian)
Secretary-General Kofi Annan requested that Israel halt its current military operations in the Gaza Strip, saying that they have led to "the deaths of scores of Palestinians, among them many civilians, including children." He also urges the Palestinian Authority to convince Hamas to halt the firing of rockets into Israel .
At least four civilians—a deaf man and 3 children—are killed during Israeli raids in the Gaza Strip town of Jabalia. More than 60 Palestinians, including civilians, have been killed during Israel's current offensive into Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon says the Gaza operation will continue until Qassam rocket attacks end. (BBC) (Toronto Star) Archived 2011-09-27 at the Wayback Machine
Two Palestinians are killed by an Israeli helicopter-launched missile moments after they launch a Qassam rocket into Israel. (Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights)
October 4
The siege on and within Gaza was severely tightened. According to Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, electricity and water facilities were targeted. Sick people were not allowed access to medical treatment in main hospitals in Gaza City or Egypt.
"UN Monitor". unobserver.com. Archived from the original on October 23, 2004.
"Two senior Hamas activists were also seriously injured in a separate Israeli helicopter gunship attack in Gaza City overnight. Two rockets were fired at Mohammad al Simri and Hassan al Jabari. A Palestinian woman was also injured in the attack". unobserver.com. Archived from the original on October 23, 2004.
Hassaballah, Ramzi (October 23, 2004). "UN Monitor". unobserver.com. Archived from the original on October 23, 2004.
Israeli army chief Moshe Yaalon warned that the raid could last weeks. Melbourne Herald Archived 2005-03-10 at the Wayback Machine
October 5
The United States vetoed a Security Council resolution demanding an immediate end to military operations in the northern Gaza Strip and the withdrawal of Israeli forces. The vote in the 15-member Security Council was 11 in favor and one against, with Britain, Germany and Romania abstaining. (ABC News)
A 13-year-old girl, Iman Darweesh Al Hams, was shot by soldiers from an Israeli military post near Rafah, while she was on her way to school. According to Israeli forces, the area was restricted and they suspected that Iman's schoolbag contained a bomb. IDF chief of staff Moshe Yaalon said she was sent there as a decoy by Palestinian militants. Platoon soldiers accused their commander of shooting 20 rounds at close range to "confirm the kill". The Israeli army chief prosecutor ordered an investigation of the allegations.
Palestinians claim an Israeli unmanned drone aircraft fired a missile towards the Al Ajramy street in Jabalia camp. Two brothers were killed, Hasan Abdul Hai Darweesh, 30, and Mousa Abdul Hai Darweesh, 24, both from the neighboring Mashrou' neighborhood. Six others were injured, two of whom critically. (Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights)
In Gaza City, Bashir al-Dabbash, a leader in the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad, is killed by a missile fired from an Israeli aircraft. (INN) (BBC)
Three Hamas militants are killed after infiltrating the Israeli settlement of Kfar Darom. One of the militants blew up when hit by Israeli gunfire, killing a Thai worker in addition to himself. The other two militants were killed by IDF forces. Gaza Strip. (Haaretz) (INN) (IMRA)
October 6
An Israeli tank fired artillery at homes in the Al Maslakh neighborhood of Jabalia camp killing Abdullah Qahman, 15, Hamdan Faraj Ubaid, 50, and his 22-year-old son Hammudeh Ubaid. IDF said it shot back after being attacked by anti-tank weapon, hitting the house from which the rocket was fired. Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights, (Guardian)
Ahmad Imad Abu Samak, 8, and Amneh An Najjar, 60, were critically injured by bullet wounds to the head in al Maslakh and Nuzha neighborhoods, respectively, of Jabalia town.
A 10-year-old boy, Muhammad Mansour Abed Rabu was wounded in his left leg by Israeli gunfire in al Mahkama street in Jabalia. (Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights)