Editing Palestine (section)

=====Operation Protective Edge (2014)=====
The blockade continued and so did the occupation of Gaza-- conditions deteriorated, unemployment rose, drinking water became unsanitary, and farmland infertile. Imports and exports were still controlled by Israel, save for Hamas tunnels used to smuggle items including livestock, weapons, and other goods. They publicly stated that they sought to destroy said tunnels, thereby preventing attacks which could make use of them and cracking down on Gazan trade. 

Israel again created a precedent in their usual fashion: An IDF jeep was attacked, and "in retaliation" Israeli shelling killed four teenage boys playing soccer on the beach on November 10th 2014, while Western media was covering US election results and the world was watching the FIFA World Cup. After days of rocket fire between Hamas and other Palestinian brigades on one hand and Israel on the other, the latter launched an all-out attack on Gaza. In addition to the annihilation of Hamas, the Israelis again used retaliatory rocketfire as a ''casus belli'' for invasion.

On July 8th 2014, dozens were killed and dozens more were injured. Over the next seven weeks, Israel launched a major war on Gaza. 2,200 Gazans were killed (incl. 1,560 civilians, 550 children and 640 combatants), while 73 Israelis were killed (incl. six civilians, one child, and 67 combatants). 18,000 Gazan civilian homes and one Israeli home were destroyed; Gazan infrastructure damage numbered four billion USD while Israeli damages amounted to fifty-five million. Over 150,000 homes sustained damage which left them "uninhabitable". About half a million people were displaced by the assault, most of whom sought shelter in UN schools--which Israel struck anyway. 118 UNRWA installations were damaged, including 83 schools and 10 health centers. Israel formulated the military doctrine of "deterrence", which explicitly involves the large-scale destruction of buildings and other infrastructure and creating mass casualties as a means of "deterring" future attacks; this is a development of the state's plan since even before its founding. The death and destruction is intended to cause demoralization and fatigue which is meant to destroy the morale of Palestinian Arabs in turn, to force their surrender. 

Israel tank operators were quoted by The Guardian as having received orders to fire at whatever buildings were in front of them, sometimes as "revenge" for IDF deaths. Soldiers were told the night before their July 17th operations to fire on any Gazan closer than 200 meters. They also were reported taking Gazans as human shields, but no one was prosecuted. No human rights abuses were reported for the operation on the Israeli side; Hamas and resistance fighters were claimed to have attacked Israel in the vicinity of civilians, which is considered under international law to be "not taking ''all feasible'' precautions to protect civilians", as opposed to human shielding (intentionally putting someone between combatants). On this point, we recall the fact that Gaza is one of the most densely populated areas in the world, in which there is little open land. Amnesty International whitewashed much of Israel's actions in contrast to its previous reports on IDF operations.

The common features of Gazan occupation now have become sedentary, set in stone. The death toll continues rising with each operation, and in so doing the proportion of Palestinians to Israelis killed and injured remains a gulf of disparity; the ratio of Gazan civilians to combatants killed also rises. So too remains a disproportionate ratio in infrastructure damages in the respective regions. Still internally displaced, refugees and their descendants continue to live in tent encampments in the Strip, suspended in the limbo of internal displacement.

Beginning in 2018, Israel funneled millions through Qatari officials to fund Hamas. Though it would initially seem contradictory, there is a simple reason: Israel needed to keep Gaza and the West Bank disunified, and that meant propping up Hamas to a certain extent to guarantee Fatah is prevented from controlling Gaza. In reality this only hurts Israeli credibility, serving as further evidence that Israel manufactures enemies in order to justify itself and the necessity of a Jewish state in general. Fatah, as previously mentioned, is seen as a bigger threat by Israel due to it's (and by extension the PLO's) moderateness in having renounced armed struggle and recognized the state of Israel.

Between 2018 and 2020, Palestinians held massive peaceful protests in Gaza. Beginning on March 30th 2018, Gazans started marching in the tens of thousands to demand an end to the Israeli blockade as well as the right of return for refugees. Though some threw rocks or burned tires, most were unarmed peaceful protesters. In response, Israeli Security Forces (Israeli border security) used tear gas, rubber bullets, and even live ammunition. Haaretz interviewed Israeli snipers who routinely shot random Gazans; whether they were near the border wall or not. Children, pregnant women, and people as far away as 400 meters from the wall were shot with high-powered rifles-- often in the kneecaps or ankles with the explicit goal of paralyzation. Over 200 were killed and 8,000 injured. None faced consequences. 

President Trump helped to negotiate bilateral peace plans between the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Israel and between the latter and Bahrain during this time. 
[[File:Jerusalem demographics.webp|thumb|Jerusalem's demographics as of 2023]]
According to Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics, as of 2023 the Israeli population is about 9.8 million, made up of 73% Jews, 21% Arabs, and 6% others. Of the Jews, about 70% were born in Israel as ''second or third generation Israelis'', with the other 30% being immigrants (~20% from Europe and the Americas, the remaining ~10% from Asia and Africa, including the Arab world). Thus Israelis, as we touched on earlier, are an entirely supplanted population today which is not organically based in the region.

West Jerusalem's population consists of 354,000 Israelis and 5,000 Palestinians as of 2023, having been Israeli territory since 1948. East Jerusalem's population is made up of 236,000 Israelis and 370,000 Palestinians. The Old City itself is divided into quarters, with the Temple Mount its own designated area. More than 140,000 Palestinians of Jerusalem have been psychically separated from the rest of the city by a 700km (435 mile) concrete wall, which Israel started building in 2002.