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5 FACTS ABOUT THE GAZA WAR
Duration: The Gaza War, which Israel calls “Haravot Barzel” (“Iron Swords”), is the longest in Israel’s history: 262 days. In comparison, the June 1967 War, in which Israel occupied the entire Sinai, Gaza Strip, Golan Heights, and West Bank, took six days (and—yes—it is called “The Six-Day War,” but not because it lasted six days, rather because it was regarded as a miracle comparable to the miracle of God’s world creation, which took six days).
Forces: The force Israel assembled for the Gaza war was 4-5 divisions. It is a considerable force. Just for a comparison, in the Six-Day War, Israel deployed no more than three divisions to occupy the entire Sinai and the Gaza Strip.
Bombs & Casualties: Israel dropped more than 75,000 tons of explosives on the Gaza Strip; more than half of the Gaza Strip’s homes have been destroyed or damaged. It killed at least 38,500 Gazans (including combatants); I believe that by the end of the war, the number killed in Gaza will exceed 40,000. In the West Bank, Israel killed 572 Palestinians. The death toll in Israel from the Hamas-led attacks on October 7 is estimated at 1,139. In addition, 307 Israeli troops have been killed and thousands wounded since October 27, when the ground invasion of Gaza was launched. There are still 120 Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip; I believe that most of them are already dead.
The Bombardment of Gaza
Warfare: The big surprise of this war has been the introduction by Hamas and Hezbollah of drones or UCAVs, unmanned combat aerial vehicles that can collect data and launch actual attacks. Israel does not have a good answer to the problem yet.
Hezbollah drones
Three Fronts: Along with the war in Gaza, Israel fights on two other fronts: in northern Israel, where it fights against Hezbollah; the latter vowed it would attack Israel as long as Israel keeps attacking Hamas in Gaza. More than 60,000 Israelis had to evacuate their villages, which are adjacent to and close to the border with Lebanon. On the Lebanese side of the border, around 100,000 villagers also left and moved to northern Lebanon. The third front in which Israel fights is the West Bank, where the IDF dismantles anything related to Hamas. Jewish settlers, taking advantage of the distraction caused by the Gaza War, keep confiscating Palestinian land.
