The Battle of Shuja'iyya occurred between the Israel Defense Forces and the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades on 20 July 2014 during 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict in the Shuja'iyya neighborhood of Gaza City, in the Gaza Strip. Shuja'iyya, with 92,000 people in 6 sq-kilometres, is one of the most densely populated areas of the Gaza Strip. According to the IDF, it had become a "terrorist fortress", that between 8 and 20 July had fired over 140 rockets into Israel after the outbreak of hostilities. Casualty figures are not known with precision, partly because bodies were recovered long after the fighting, and people had also died of injuries afterwards. The UN Protection Cluster states that between the 19-20th, 55 civilians, including 19 children and 14 women, were killed as a result of the IDF's actions. At the time, estimates varied from 66 to about 120 Palestinians killed, with a third of them women and children, and at least 288 wounded. The UN figures of Palestinian casualties are preliminary and subject to revision. 16 Israeli soldiers were killed.
On 16 July, Israeli forces told residents of Shuja'iyya to leave and relocate to central Gaza City until further notice by means of leaflets, loudspeaker announcements, telephone calls, text messages, and radio messages. Residents interviewed afterwards by The Independent claimed lack of safe refuges and the difficulty of fleeing as reasons for staying put. By 19 July, OCHA reported that while the majority ignored the warnings and had not left their homes, up to half had gone as bombardments intensified. Israel condemned Hamas for using "human shields". According to Amnesty International, the UNRWA shelter facilities were overflowing and many of the residents had nowhere to go. Residents interviewed later also cited confusion due to lack of electricity and communications. The official Israeli view was that Hamas had compelled residents of Shujai'iya to stay behind in the face of IDF warnings to evacuate prior to the IDF assault, holding civilians as "hostages".
The assault on Shuja'iyya, involving a combination of F-16, tank and mortar fire, began at 11 pm on 19 July. Initially the attack led by the Golani Brigade encountered little resistance, until late on Saturday Hamas units emerged from tunnels to engage and put up stiff resistance, surprising the Israelis with their tenacity and effectiveness in taking on armoured units. According to Israeli military and intelligence sources, Israel then made use of heavy aerial bombardment and artillery fire, in what was described as a "risky and unusual step to save Israeli soldiers' lives" and "a battle against the hub of Hamas' terror infrastructure, primarily the so-called 'terror tunnels'". Palestinians attempting to flee the area described the scene as a "massacre", as did Mahmoud Abbas, Richard Falk, Norwegian physician Dr. Mads Gilbert and journalist Sharif Abdel Kouddous in The Nation.
The conclusion of U.S. military experts interviewed by Mark Perry was that the IDF did not target Hamas sites specifically or try solely to destroy Hamas tunnels, but rather laid down a "walking barrage" to "crater the neighbourhood". This bombardment was carried out instead of using suppressive fire to protect IDF forward troops, a strategy they deemed "indefensible". The operation was condemned internationally, with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon calling it an "atrocious action" and the European Union stating that it "is particularly appalled by the human cost of the Israeli military operation in Shuja'iyya", while also criticising Hamas calls for using "human shields".
Build up On Wednesday 16 July, Israeli forces dropped leaflets and delivered warnings by phone and text that residents in the Zeitoun and Shujai'iya areas of Gaza City should evacuate ahead of planned strikes. Hamas had told the civilians to stay put, which were prompted by fears of psychological warfare and perhaps a desire to avoid panic. On Thursday Israel began what it thought of as a limited operation, involving the Nahal, Paratrooper and Givati Brigades, in the Shuja'iyya area's sparsely populated eastern periphery, intent on uncovering Hamas's tunnel system. In the face of stiff resistance over the following two days, the probing advance developed into a full-scale battle in Shuja'iyya and the surrounding areas, as the IDF suffered upwards of 56 casualties.
In Ben White's reconstruction of the background, 'Premeditated murder: the Shuja'iyya massacre and Israeli criminality,' Middle East Monitor, 22 July 2014. the day after flyers were dropped, Yedioth Ahronoth's military analyst, Alex Fishman noted that an order had been given to the tank units advancing the assault "to open fire at anything that moved,"Harriet Sherwood, Peter Beaumont, Ian Black, 'Gaza conflict: Palestinian death toll reaches 274 amid fierce fighting,' The Guardian 18 July 2014. and a military spokesman declared that Israel was "taking off the gloves" in Shuja'iyya.Anshel Pfeffer, 'In Gaza, a war of two narratives,' Haaretz 22 July 2014. On Saturday night, the Golani Brigade was sent in with armoured battalions into the densely populated heart of Shuja'iyya, and suffered heavy casualties.Amos Harel ‘As casualties mounted, the Gaza operation threatens to become a war,’ Haaretz, 21 July and only then did Israel decide to increase the intensity of its firepower, resulting in the steep rise in Palestinian civilian casualties, as commanders envisaged a repeat of Dahiya tactics used in Dahieh in Beirut, Lebanon, were resistance to continue. A local Gazan woman, returning to the ruins of her home in the neighbourhood, made the same comparison.Daniel Siryoti and Lilach Shoval,"Shujaiyya has turned into Dahiye", Israel Hayom, 27 July 2014: "On Saturday, residents tried to salvage what they could from destroyed buildings. 'Shujaiyya has turned to Dahiye. Where will return to? We had house with more than 20 family members in it. The house was completely destroyed', one Shujaiyya resident said." As a result of the onslaught 670 buildings in Shuja'iyya were completely destroyed, 608 were severely damaged, 576 moderately damaged, and over 1800 buildings were affected.
Battle Shuja'iyya is a densely populated area of the city with 92,000 residents according to Amnesty International. The UNRWA shelter facilities were overflowing and many of the residents had nowhere to go.'Israel/Gaza: Attacks on medical facilities and civilians add to war crime allegations,' Amnesty International 21 July 2014. According to Israeli sources the area had been designed by Hamas, houses had tunnels to hide weapons and combatants and that 10% of rocket attacks had been done from within Shuja'iyya. The assault on Shuja'iyya, involving a combination of F-16, tank and mortar fire, began at 11 pm on 19 July. According to the IDF, 15 Hamas fighters were killed in the preemptive bombardment. After midnight, on Sunday, 20 July, Israeli forces entered the neighbourhood, stating that over 140 rockets had been fired at Israel from the neighborhood since 8 July. Flyers had been dropped over the neighbourhood, urging residents to flee.
Some families, such as that of Khalil Atash, spoke of being alerted in Arabic by the IDF to evacuate, but dismissed the message as a prank. Fleeing, as did his son, Tamar and his family and neighbours, was difficult since Israel had destroyed all the electricity towers and the area was shrouded in darkness which had to be traversed under withering fire by the use of cellphone flashlights.
Initially the attack, led by the Golani Brigade, encountered little resistance, until late on Saturday when forward elements of the Israeli force met Hamas units, and fierce fighting broke out as Hamas fighters emerged from tunnels and bunkers to engage the Israelis, employing sniper fire and dozens of anti-tank missiles, surprising the Israelis with their capacity to take on armored units. Fierce fighting that lasted into Sunday morning ensued as IDF forces battled Hamas squads, sniper units and teams carrying anti-tank rockets, rocket-propelled grenades, and automatic weapons. Some Israeli formations were pinned down in heavy fighting in the neighborhood's streets and alleys.
On 20 July, beginning in the early morning hours, the IDF suffered 13 fatalities, beginning with an attack on an IDF M113 armored personnel carrier in Shuja'iyya. The APC had stalled while driving through one of the neighborhood's narrow streets. A soldier and officer then exited the vehicle to fix the problem. Shortly after 1 AM, Hamas fighters fired an RPG-29 anti-tank rocket at the APC, causing it to explode and burst into flames. All 7 soldiers inside the vehicle, who were from the Golani Brigade, were killed while the soldier and officer who had exited it survived the attack. Following the attack, an Israeli drone recorded infrared images of five people near the armored vehicle. Golani Brigade commanders then ordered other soldiers in the field to converge on the APC and recover the remains of soldiers inside the vehicle. However, the soldiers were wary of approaching the APC, fearing that weaponry inside could set off a secondary explosion. Soldiers reported hearing shouting in Arabic in the vicinity of the APC. The IDF concluded that Hamas fighters had already reached the vehicle and taken the remains of Sergeant Oron Shaul, one of the seven soldiers in the armored vehicle, by this time. Shaul's body was not found, and the IDF later officially changed his status from missing in action to killed in action, although his body had not yet been recovered. Hamas said it captured an IDF soldier it identified as Aron Shaul."Hamas says it has captured Israeli soldier in Gaza" , Ma'an News Agency, 20 July 2014. Around twenty minutes after the attack on the APC, another Israeli soldier was killed in a firefight. By dawn, with the APC still ablaze, IDF commanders ordered engineers to tow the stricken vehicle back into Israel. During the operation, Hamas fighters targeted the rescue vehicles and engaged in battles with IDF troops as the convoy pulled back. As the APC was being towed, human remains fell out of the vehicle and the engineers, under constant threat of fire, inadvertently drove over and buried some of the remains. Hamas fighters targeted the rescue force with prepared ambushes and emerged from tunnels to attack soldiers. Two Israeli soldiers were killed in an exchange of fire at around 6 AM, after which the IDF brought in D9 armored bulldozers to destroy Hamas positions. In one instance, some Hamas operatives were killed when an IDF D9 bulldozer destroyed the tunnel they were in. Three more Israeli soldiers were killed when an anti-tank missile hit a building where the IDF was establishing a command post, setting it on fire.
Later, when Hamas scouts spotted a large part of the Israeli force, particularly heavy fire was laid down by Hamas fighters. Israeli commanders then gave the order to "take the gloves off" and "fire at anything that moves." The Israeli infantry were ordered to go into protected Namer armored personnel carriers, and given half an hour to do so, after which Hamas positions were targeted by a fierce artillery barrage and airstrikes. Artillery fire landed within 100 meters of IDF positions, closer than the 250 meters normally considered safe. Around 600 shells were fired in a half-hour period. An IDF officer told Haaretz that troops "were taking fire from all sides and they couldn't neutralize the threat with all the firepower we gave them", leading the IDF to use its artillery in close proximity to IDF troops, a decision Haaretz described as "extremely risky" and "unusual". As Israeli artillery intensively shelled the neighborhood, Israeli Air Force planes bombed from above. Following the barrage, all Hamas firing stopped. According to the IDF, 37 Hamas fighters were killed, including several field commanders, eight squad commanders, and a company commander.