In June, the Israel-Gaza conflict erupted into all-out fighting over the disappearance of three Israeli boys who were later found murdered in Gaza. This led to one of the bloodiest chapters of the conflict, claiming more than two thousand lives.
June 12: Naftali Fraenkel, Gilad Shaer, and Eyal Yifrah disappear while hitchhiking in the West Bank, which is part of Palestine. Hamas is blamed for their abduction (and, later, deaths). Operation Brother’s Keeper is launched in an effort to find the missing teens.
June 17: Operation Brother’s Keeper enters the fifth day. 800 Palestinian civilians are arrested by IDF troops without due process. 40 alleged terror suspects are arrested in connection with the kidnappings, and Palestinian weapons caches are seized.
June 25: Israeli police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld admits in a public statement that the kidnappings did not occur with the knowledge or consent of Hamas officials and the actions were of a lone cell not in line with Hamas policies. (This backs up a statement made by Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, that no evidence had surfaced connecting Hamas with the kidnapping. Rosenfeld retracted his use of the words “lone cell” a few days later.)
June 30: The bodies of the three missing teens are found in a field north-west of Hebron. Prime Minister Netanyahu vows to launch a “tough response” to the killings.
Over the course of two weeks, over 1000 areas are raided by IDF forces looking for the missing teens. Claims arose of abuses perpetrated by IDF soldiers, including theft, looting, and destruction of property. Eight Palestinian civilians die during the searches. The homes of two of the kidnapping suspects are bombed by the IDF.
July 1: Gilad Shaer’s call to an Israeli emergency line is leaked to the public, causing outrage over the fact that the call was not treated with proper care.
Crowds delay the funeral for all three teens over an hour.
20 rockets are fired from Gaza, and the IDF responds with an aerial attack on 34 locations. A Palestinian teen is shot by IDF troops who allege that he threw a grenade; the teen’s family say he was carrying eggs.
July 2: A Palestinian teen is abducted and murdered by Israeli nationalists. The families of the Israeli teens denounce the kidnappers’ actions.
July 25: Alleged Hamas member Hussam Qawasmeh is arrested and charged with orchestrating the murders of all three teens; interrogated by Shin Bet (Israel’s internal security service) until he confessed.
July 4 – 30: Operation Protective Edge is carried out, with the majority of hostile actions perpetrated by IDF forces. Numerous areas of Palestine are bombed or face Israeli troop movements. The buffer zone around Palestine is extended, reducing the area of safe movement by almost two miles. 25 IDF soldiers are killed in Palestine.
Allegations of the use of DIME bombs (Dense Inert Metal Explosive; typically filled with tungsten, nickel, cobalt, and/or iron) by the IDF arise at a UN hospital at a Gaza refugee camp.
August 20: Salah al-Aruri, a Hamas official living in exile in Istanbul, blames one of Hamas’ armed wings for the kidnappings and murders (al-Aruri’s statement is considered suspicious, as he may be exaggerating his own role in Hamas in an effort to appear relevant).
August 26: A ceasefire agreement is reached between Israel and Palestine, with talks to be held in Egypt.
Casualties on the Israeli side of the conflict include 66 soldiers and six civilians (one child was killed); 450 soldiers and 80 civilians are wounded.
Casualties in Palestine (from UN OCHA sources): 2131 dead (1662 are civilians, 490 are children) and 10895 are wounded (3000 of them are children).