A Brief History
On January 21, 2009, Israel pulled its military forces out of the Gaza strip after a three-week war with Palestinian Islamic extremist group Hamas. While fighting in and around Gaza continued in the following weeks, the scale of the fighting was a mere shadow of the Israeli-Hamas fighting that began in October of 2023.
Digging Deeper
In what was called The Gaza War of 2008-2009, 13 Israelis and between 1,100 and 1,400 Palestinians were killed. Lasting from December 27, 2008 until January 18, 2009, the war was just one of many Arab-Israeli wars and other armed and violent conflicts that have occurred since the founding of Israel in 1948.
While the Israelis characterize Hamas as a terrorist organization, the Palestinian supporters of the organization consider Hamas a nationalistic and patriotic group. Arabs called the 2008-2009 Gaza War “The Gaza Massacre,” showing the deep divide then that exists still today.
Question for students (and subscribers) to ponder: Will there ever be peace in the Middle East?
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Glenn. Rissell. Glory Restored? the Implications of the 2008-2009 Gaza War in Times of Extended Conflict. Bibliogov, 2013.
Levy, Gideon. The Punishment of Gaza. Verso Books, 2010.
The featured image in this article, a chart by Timeshifter, has been released into the public domain worldwide by the copyright holder of this work.
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