8 July marks the one-year anniversary of the start of Operation Protective Edge, the Israeli military’s conversion into rubble of numerous sections of the Gaza Strip.
According to the United Nations, 2,251 Palestinians were killed during the assault; most were civilians, and 551 were children. In Israel, six civilians perished.
One of the most densely populated areas in the world, Gaza also appears to have a disproportionately high incidence of tragedy per square kilometre. Indeed, in contemplating Gaza’s timeline, one is hard-pressed to spot any anniversary that commemorates something pleasant rather than disastrous.
A week and a half ago, for example, was the ninth anniversary of the commencement of Israel’s Operation Summer Rains on 28 June, 2006, which was followed by Operation Autumn Clouds. The meteorological convergence produced more than 400 dead Palestinians.
On the forecast for later this year are the anniversaries of Operation Pillar of Defence - which began on 14 November, 2012 and left nearly 200 Palestinian corpses in its wake - and Operation Cast Lead, launched on 28 December, 2008. The latter project reduced the population of the Gaza Strip by about 1,400, primarily civilians.
The fifteenth of May is, of course, another big day, being the anniversary of the original catastrophe that set the ball rolling towards many more: the forcible establishment in 1948 of the state of Israel, on Palestinian land. Right off the bat, approximately 10,000 Palestinians were killed and three-quarters of a million were rendered refugees, thanks to the policy of ethnic cleansing upon which the state was founded.
Meanwhile, Israel’s adeptness at manipulating timelines has helped to ensure that Gaza’s contemporary history remains chock full of atrocities. READ MORE AT MIDDLE EAST EYE.