By Bailey Riley
On July 8, Israel launched Operation Protective Edge; the operation was in direct response to a kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers by two members of the militant Islamic group Hamas.
The operation was launched on the Gaza Strip, which is controlled by Hamas. Ultimately, the massacre, which was only one of many prompted by Israel within the past 60 years, ended with an open-ended ceasefire on August 26.
Despite this, 34 tunnels in Gaza were destroyed, upwards of 2,100 Gazans, overwhelmingly civilian, were killed (compared to 66 Israeli soldiers and 5 civilians), 520,000 (30 percent of the population) Gazans were displaced, 17,200 Gazan homes were obliterated, and approximately 5,000–8,000 Israelis were displaced. As if this wasn’t enough, the Israeli Defense Forces shelled UN refugee shelters in Gaza, and bombed hospitals and the only working power plant.