¶ … Gaza Conflict. It explores the causes of the conflict. This paper indicates that the military aggression of Israeli against Gaza begun in December 27, 2009. It however, notes that the conflict actually started much earlier. The aggression brought about the deaths of about 1,300 Palestinians. The paper also finds out that the aggression by Israel wasn't as a result of the launch of Qassam rockets by the Palestinians against Israeli; on the contrary, the conflict had several other causes which the paper has adequately looked at. Besides, the paper also explores the effects of the conflict. It indicates that a number of devastating effects were brought about by the conflict. The adverse effects affected several sectors such as educational sectors, health sectors among several other sectors which the paper has adequately looked at. Contents

Introduction

Those who took part in the Conflict

The Causes of Gaza Conflict

The effects of Gaza Conflict

Shelter

Destruction of Buildings

Health

Medical equipment and facilities

Psychological Effect

Energy

Water

Sanitation

Economic Infrastructure

Conclusion

Introduction

The military aggression of Israeli against Gaza is stated to have begun in December 27, 2009. It should however, be noted that the conflict actually started much earlier. The aggression brought about the deaths of about 1,300 Palestinians. This included about 700 civilians. It also resulted into the demolition of a number of infrastructures within Gaza Strip. Though Western media describes it as a war, it should be noted that it was just an aggression or a conflict. Indeed aggression best describes what was done by the Israelis in Gaza.

Gaza conflict took place between the year 2007 and 2008. It was a conflict that took place between Israel and Gaza. The conflict was characterized by a number of fights and clashes between Israel Defense Forces as well as the Palestinian militants. It started in the month of May, 2007 as Israel reacted to the provocations from the militants through the use of airstrikes. The Palestinians fired about 220 rockets at the Israelites who were in Sderot as well as western Negev for a period exceeding one week. Israeli Air Force also fired back bombs as well as missiles into Gaza. The fighting erupted at a time when there were severe factional violence in Palestine. Besides, a number reports indicated that there were increasing humanitarian crisis levels within Gaza (Spyer,2010). After retaliation by Israel, Hamas retorted to persist with their retaliation against the strikes by Israeli. Some officials of Hamas were arrested by Israel. Among those who were arrested were two members of the cabinet (Ethan, 2009).

Those who took part in the Conflict

The aggression of Israeli against Gaza was a self-defense by the Israelites against the rockets which were launched by the Palestinian against the Israelites. It should be noted that the conflict actually commenced earlier than the rockets launching by the Palestinians. In the month of June 2008 as the conflict was on its course, Israel did not stop attacking as well as killing Palestinian civilians as well as those who were armed, both within Gaza Strip as well as those within the West Bank. The West Bank was under the control of Palestinian Authority. It was clear during the conflict that the Palestinians were given two choices by Israeli. This was either indiscriminate killings or targeted, selective, as well as incremental killings. Israel tried to be fair by giving them a third option which was the entire as well as unconditional Palestinian reception of the peace agreement that Israeli wanted with them. On several occasions, the forces of Israel moved into West Bank so as to kill the Palestinian fighters as well as the civilians without consulting the Palestinian Authorities. The truce which took six months made about 100 Palestinian civilians and fighters to be killed by Israel. Israel killed about six fighters of Gaza in the month of November, 4. At this time, about two months were remaining before truce expires. Similarly, Israel did not honor its promise to open Gaza Strip's crossing points. The closure of the crossing points coupled with Rafah crossing point's closure by Egypt resulted into a strategic tragedy in Gaza. Besides, Israel blocked their access to Mediterranean Sea through Gaza port. These factors, together with the routine targeted as well as selective Palestinian killings in Gaza as well as in West Bank, are the major causes of the conflict. During the month of December 21, the government of Palestine which had their base...

They also wanted Israel to open the closed crossing points. The offer was rejected by Israel. It however, demanded that the truce be extended on terms which Israeli came up with. This included the continued closure of the crossing points as well as continuance with the selective killings.
If it is assumed that it was the Palestinians who started the violence, it was absolutely unjusti-fied to respond via an approach of huge retaliation. It should be noted that the rockets were very primitive and hence did not bring about any big losses to Israel.

The Causes of Gaza Conflict

The aggression by Israel wasn't as a result of the launch of Qassam rockets by the Palestinians against Israeli; on the contrary, the conflict had a number of causes which came from Middle East, Israel as well as from Western politics. All these forces initiated the conflict as a result of their failure to accept the results of the parliamentary elections of Palestinian of the year 2006. It was this parliamentary election that made Hamas to be in power. In short, the conflict was caused by the failure of Israel, the West, as well as a number of the Arab countries to accept the results of the parliamentary elections which were conducted in 2006. During the elections, out of the total 132 seats, Hamas garnered 74 legislative council seats. International observers monitored the elections. Among those who closely monitored the election was aformer president of U.S., President Carter. The elections were described as fair and transparent. It should also be noted that the elec-tions were held at a time when there were a number of projects which were funded by the West in a bid to promote democracy within the Arab nations. However, a number of actors declined to accept the results.They also refused to work with the government which was democratically elected. This was because they didn't recognize the agreements that existed between Israel and Palestinian Authority.

The effects of Gaza Conflict

The Gaza conflict had a number of effects. It had medical, humanitarian, economic, as well as industrial effects. As stated above, the conflict took place between the years 2008 and 2009. The conflict commenced with the air strikes which were initiated by Israeli on December 27, 2008. It however, ended on January 18 after Israel, Hamas as well as other Palestinian factions unilaterally stopped the truce-fire. The conflict ended after 22 bombardment days by sea, land, as well as air. This resulted into the death of about 1,300 Palestinians. Similarly, more than 5,000 were injured. At the same time, about 13 Israelis died. There was a warning from United Nations Development Program that the conflict could bring about severe long-term effects. This was because both the livelihoods as well as the assets of thousands and thousands of the civilians of Gaza could be affected.

The United Nations referred to the 2009 predicament of Gaza as "human dignity disaster,." This is because it entailed huge demolition of livelihoods as well as the destruction of infrastructure as well as the deterioration of other basic services. There was widespread panic and fear. Approximately two fifths of the total population was not capable of supporting themselves. They could only depend on humanitarian help. The situation was described by the Red Cross as intolerable.

Shelter

A number of civilians were displaced as a result of the conflict. The situation was described by the UN as a perilous protection crisis. The whole population of Gaza civilians suffered. They did not have a safe haven. Besides, they had nowhere to shelter from the bombs. They also had nowhere to move due to the fact that the borders were closed. Indeed Gaza conflict was a unique conflict because the civilians had nowhere to flee. Everybody was had panic, fear as well as distress. A number of them evacuated their homes. They moved to the streets for very long hours. This exposed them to danger. The civilians also faced insecurities as they re-stocked basic necessities like food, water as well as cooking gas. A number of children, who were half of the total population, had nowhere to go.

It was estimated that several homes were damaged. It also became very difficult for the inhabitants to reside in them because of cold weather. The displaced individuals used some schools for temporary shelters. A report indicated that by January 3, people in excess of 13,000 (about 2000 families) had been displaced. A number of the affected families sought shelter together with their relatives. On the thirteenth day of the military operation, approximately…