Today, in 2014, the State of Israel began Operation Protective Edge against the Hamas terrorist organization in the Gaza Strip.
In June 2014, 3 Jewish teenagers were kidnapped in Gush Etzion, and intensive searches began as part of Operation ‘Brothers’ Return’. Their bodies were found 18 days later, and the level of public anger was high; on July 2 a number of extremists kidnapped a Palestinian boy and murdered him as well. This led to an increase in rocket fire from the Gaza Strip at the Otef communities (which was a significant problem even before the abduction), and on July 8 the Israeli government launched a military operation in the Gaza Strip to thwart the rocket fire. The operation took a turn after the infiltration of a large terrorist squad into Israel through a tunnel on July 17; a ground entry into the Gaza Strip was decided to destroy the threat of terrorist tunnels. The ground entrance led to a very difficult fight, which lasted 6 weeks: 70 soldiers were killed, and over 1,000 Hamas terrorists. In the end, Israel achieved its goal: Most of the terror tunnels were destroyed, most of Hamas’s rocket stock was shot down or destroyed, and Hamas’s military capabilities have not yet been the same. On the other hand, a situation of some mutual reluctance has arisen, and Israel has also refrained from entering the Gaza Strip again since, untill the 2023 war.
Photo Source: Wikipedia