ABSTRACT
Since 2006 the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has geographically shifted to the Gaza Strip. This was primarily the result of three factors: the 2005 unilateral Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, the 2006 ascendance of Hamas in intraPalestinian politics and Hamas’s subsequent determination to stay in power. Militarily, the conflict revolved around a series of wars of attrition fought between Israel and Hamas which were characterized, on the one hand, by the firing of rockets and mortars by Hamas as well as Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) into Israel and, on the other hand, by Israeli air and ground operations against Hamas positions in Gaza. Israeli operations, from ‘Summer Rains’ in June 2006 to ‘Protective Edge’ in July 2014, collectively aimed at reducing Hamas’s military capacity by curtailing its ability to fire rockets into Israel, as well as the smuggling of weapons into the Gaza Strip. Politically, they aimed at maintaining the status quo rather than defeating or destroying Hamas. This served the broader Israeli goals of keeping the Palestinians divided and weak in order to prevent the emergence of a viable Palestinian state.
