Timeline of the Gaza War. For events pertaining to the conflict which occurred before 27 December 2008, see Gaza War (2008–2009)#Background and 2007–2008 Israel–Gaza conflict.
Timeline
December
27 December 2008
Israeli armed forces began operations against Hamas and the rocket launchers at 11:30 a.m., 27 December. More than 50 fighter jets and attack helicopters entered Gazan airspace. Palestinian sources said that Israeli forces were responsible for killing 225-292 Palestinians and wounding more than 1,000.Israel launches air strikes on Gaza, more than 220 dead Daily News, 27 December 2008 It was the most extensive attack on Gaza since 1967. The IAF, which said that it was responding to Hamas rocket attacks on southern Israel, dropped more than 100 bombs on 50 targets, which reportedly included Hamas paramilitary bases, training camps, and underground Qassam rocket launchers. Bombs were dropped on government offices, police stations, and the Hamas headquarters.
The aircraft used were F-16 fighter jets and AH-64 Apache helicopters. About 140 members of Hamas security forces were killed, including police chief Tawfiq Jabber, the head of Hamas’ security and protection unit and the police commander for central Gaza,More than 200 dead as Israel hammers Hamas-run Gaza , Yahoo, 27 December 2008 along with at least 15 civilians. Children were among the casualties.Rage and Fury in Gaza, http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-3645284,00.html The bombed areas included a ceremony for new police officers. About 40 graduates were killed. A mosque in Gaza City was also targeted in the airstrikes and two Palestinians were killed. Israeli military spokesmen said that the mosque was being used for "terrorist activities".
Sixty Israeli planes also targeted Hamas security and military training compounds, as well as weapon storage buildings, and dropped more than 100 tons of bombs. Some of the bombs used on 27 and 28 December were the U.S. built GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb, the first shipment of which arrived in Israel at the beginning of the month.
Hamas later fired 700 rockets and mortars at Israel. One of the rockets hit the town of Netivot, killing an Israeli man, destroying a house and wounding six other people. Another rocket hit a synagogue in the Eshkol Regional Council, injuring two men, one seriously. In the evening two men in the Israeli community of Mivtahim were injured, one seriously, by a direct hit by a Hamas rocket.
According to United Nations officials, fuel deliveries to the Gaza Strip through the Nahal Oz crossing were suspended, with the last delivery taking place a day previous on 26 December.
Many Palestinians refer to 27 December as the Massacre of the Black Saturday as it produced the highest one-day death toll in 60 years of conflict.At least 205 killed as Israeli pounds Gaza , Alarabiya, 27 December 2008
28 December 2008
Twenty-five airstrikes were carried out on Sunday by Israel, raising the number of casualties to 287 dead and 900 wounded. According to Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Hamas refused to allow casualties to leave Gaza for medical treatment. One rocket shot by an F-16 fighter jet on a mosque near Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, from which rockets were reported by Israeli media to be launched, killed four members of Hamas. In Gaza City, five children from the same family were killed in an Israeli airstrike. Israeli jets bombed tunnels in the Rafah area. These tunnels were reportedly used to smuggle civilian goods and weapons after Israel and Egypt imposed the blockade of Gaza in June 2007. The main road of Sallah el-Dein in northern Gaza Strip was bombed. The road leads to the towns of Beit Hanoun, Beit Lahia and Jabalia. No injuries were reported in the bombing.
An Israeli air-to-ground rocket destroyed a metal workshop in northern Gaza City which, according to Israel, was used in manufacturing Qassam rockets fired at Israel. The Al-Noor organisation in Gaza City, belonging to the Hamas organization, was bombed, causing severe damage to the building. The main building of the Hamas-owned Al-Aqsa TV station was struck. The station continued broadcasting via a "mobile unit". Aidan White, Secretary-General of the International Federation of Journalists condemned the destruction of the television station, stating that international law "forbids attacks on media installations, even when they are instruments of propaganda". The IAF attacked Jabalia and northern Gaza killing two more people and wounding others.
Al Saraya, a building in Gaza City which contained government offices, security offices and a prison, was attacked. Four people died. A fuel lorry traveling in Rafah near the Egyptian border was destroyed, killing six people. The IDF also confirmed an attack on tunnels in Philadelphi Route and claimed successful destruction of 40 of them. Missiles also hit near the Beit Hanoun City Hall.Israeli airstrikes in Gaza enter third day CNN. 28 December 2008.
Rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip, the range of which were extended. Three rockets landed near the city of Ashdod – the fifth largest Israeli city and a main sea port. The border with Egypt was breached and inhabitants from Gaza moved into Egypt. One Egyptian border policeman was killed by Palestinian gunmen, and several Palestinians were wounded by Egyptian gunfire and taken to hospital in Egypt.
The United Nations Security Council held a closed door meeting convened at the request of Libya. The meeting lasted four hours, and resulted in a press statement calling "on the parties to stop immediately all military activities ... [and] to address the serious humanitarian and economic needs in Gaza and to take necessary measures, including opening of border crossings."
On the eve of the ground incursion by Israeli forces, Khaled Mashal assured that should IDF launch ground offensive, black destiny and abduction awaits Israeli soldiers.
29 December 2008
Air strikes on the Strip continued. Just after midnight on 29 December, Israeli forces made six separate airstrikes against the Islamic University of Gaza, a "cultural symbol" of Hamas, though the university had evacuated days in advance. According to The Jerusalem Post, the university hosts Hamas military laboratories under the auspices of professors and its buildings were used for storing rockets and explosives. According to the IDF and the Shin Bet, one compound near the Islamic college, which was bombed twice, was being used as a chemical lab and as a Hamas explosives lab; Israel said that Hamas had been working to improve rockets and manufacture mortar shells. Israel asserted that the university chemistry laboratory was a "fair target", even if it could not show conclusively that those inside the laboratory at the time of the attack where engaged in making weapons.
The death toll rose to 415 that morning, as reported by the Associated Press. The Palestinian interior ministry in Gaza building was hit by Israeli missiles at dawn. The university and the ministry are both located in the Tel al-Hawa neighborhood.
A mosque in the Jabaliya refugee camp was also bombed by the IAF. The building was destroyed and five young girls whose house neighboured the mosque were killed. Ziad Abu-Tir, a senior member of the Islamic Jihad's military wing was killed in a strike in the Khan Younis area.Senior Jihad man, 14 others die in IDF strikes , Ynet, 29 December 2008
The International Red Cross reported that hospitals in the Gaza Strip were overwhelmed and unable to cope with the casualties. Red Cross spokesman in Gaza Iyad Nasr said Gaza needed more supplies to be brought in urgently, "in particular the hospitals have been depleted and stretched to the maximum because of the closure imposed".Israel rejects Gaza truce calls BBC News 31 December 2008 According to the IDF, Israel permitted a number of Turkish-donated ambulances from the West Bank to be transported to the Gaza Strip, as well as Red Cross, UNRWA, World Food Programme and Doctors Without Borders medical supplies.
The Israeli city of Ashkelon was hit by a Grad rocket, killing an Israeli-Arab construction worker and seriously wounding three other people. Nahal Oz army base in Southern Israel was hit by mortar fire, killing one soldier, who was later identified as Lutfi Nasraldin. The attacks increased pressure on the government as the army amassed infantry and armored forces along the border.
Israel's military intelligence chief said that Hamas' ability to fire rockets had been reduced by 50 percent, but that Hamas continued to command "some 20,000 fighters".Israel widens air attack against Hamas in Gaza
The foreign ministry of Senegal reported that exiled Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal was ready to sign an immediate ceasefire with Israel, provided Israel lifted its blockade on the Gaza Strip.
On 29 December an IDF spokesperson confirmed for the first time that, apart from maintaining the naval blockade on Gaza, the Israeli Navy was taking an active part in the operation. A video taken by the Israeli Navy and published on several news sites showed the Israeli Navy attacking the Gaza coast line, using both Typhoon Weapon System and surface-to-surface missiles.
According to Haaretz, among the targets hit by the Israeli Navy were Ismayil Haniah's offices, several command and control centers used by Hamas, and a Hamas patrol boat. On 31 December, the Israeli Navy "targeted a number of Hamas outposts and rocket launching sites", according to the IDF spokesperson. On 4 January, Israel extended the naval blockade from to prevent all vessels from entering the Strip.
Dignity incident
On 29 December 2008, the Free Gaza Movement motor yacht Dignity set course from Cyprus, carrying aid to Gaza. The boat, which carried Irish human rights activist Caoimhe Butterly, former United States Representative and 2008 Green Party nominee for U.S. President Cynthia McKinney, journalists from Al Jazeera and CNN such as Karl Penhaul, and three surgeons including Dr. Elena Theoharous, a member of the Cyprus Parliament, attempted to enter the Gaza Strip, carrying of medical supplies. Its passengers stated that several Israeli naval vessels approached their boat. Free Gaza member David Halpin said that Israeli officers on board asked the captain to halt the Dignity'''s course to Gaza, but he refused. According to CNN reporter Penhaul an Israeli vessel rammed the motor yacht, causing heavy damage. Penhaul has admittedly stated he did not have a view of the Israeli vessel at the time.Penhaul's walkthrough report, Youtube Other passengers said that several Israeli vessels fired machine guns into the water. The activists stated that their boat was clearly in international waters, about "70-80 miles" or "90 miles" from the Gaza Strip coast. McKinney said that the Israeli vessel had rammed the boat "approximately three times, twice in the front and once in the side".
Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said that no shooting had occurred, and that the motor yacht was inside Israeli territorial waters, and that the boat had failed to respond to Israeli naval radio contact. Palmor said that the Dignity had crashed into an Israel vessel while attempting to outmanoeuvre it.YNET Navy orders aid boat to Gaza to retreat , 30 December 2008 Palmor also said that the fact that the ship was carrying journalists, including a CNN crew that had already broadcast live three times, proved that the incident was a provocation on the part of the media. Immediately after the incident, the boat turned back. Palmor stated that the naval ship offered to assist the passengers but that they had declined the offer. Palmor also stated that Israeli ships escorted the damaged boat to Cypriot territorial waters. It did not have enough fuel to return to Cyprus and ended up docking in Lebanon, where it was greeted with cheering crowds.