What were the outcomes of Operation Protective Edge between Israel and Hamas in terms of military political and economic factors ?

The outcome was catastrophic for Palestinian natives.
Palestinians killed and injured:
  • From July 8 to August 26, 2014, the Israeli military murdered more than 2,251 Palestinians during its operation in Gaza, termed “Operation Protective Edge,” which included at least 1,462 civilians among the killed, there are more than 551 children and 299 women.
  • At least 142 families saw the loss of three or more members in a single Israeli attack, resulting in a total of 742 fatalities. Over 1,500 Palestinian children became orphans.
  • At least 16 healthcare personnel were killed and over 80 sustained injuries, predominantly ambulance drivers and volunteers.
  • Over 11,200 Palestinians sustained injuries, including 3,436 children and 3,540 women. Ten percent of the injured individuals, including approximately 1,000 children, suffered a permanent disability.
Palestinians displaced:
  • From a total population of 1.8 million, 108,000 people became homeless.
  • Israel's assault resulted in the displacement of 500,000 people, making up approximately 28% of the population.
Palestinian homes and other buildings destroyed or damaged:
  • The Israeli military completely or partially destroyed 18,000 homes, wreaking havoc on entire neighborhoods such as Shejaiya in central Gaza, Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza, and Khozaa in southern Gaza, while also leveling high-rise buildings and shopping centers.
  • At least 262 schools were damaged, three public schools were completely destroyed, and at least 23 were badly damaged.
  • 128 businesses and workshops were obliterated, while 419 others sustained damage.
War crimes done by Israel:
The Israeli military committed extensive breaches of international humanitarian law, including the use of indiscriminate and disproportionate force, the targeting of civilians and civilian infrastructure, and assaults on medical facilities and UN schools sheltering displaced people, according to the United Nations and human rights organizations.
1- Use of indiscriminate and disproportionate force:
  • Israel's forces consistently employed disproportionate force, constituting a war crime, and utilized imprecise weaponry, particularly artillery, indiscriminately targeting densely populated areas, resulting in extensive civilian casualties. On July 28, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that Israeli assaults posed "serious questions about proportionality.”
  • The Israeli military invoked the "Hannibal Directive" on two occasions, which demands extensive, indiscriminate fire in the immediate vicinity when an Israeli soldier or civilian is suspected of being captured, resulting in the killing and injuries of hundreds of Palestinian civilians, including:
  1. On July 20, the Israeli military enacted the directive, initiating a violent offensive on the residential area of Shejaiya in Gaza City after the alleged capture of a soldier by Palestinian fighters, resulting in the murder of 67 Palestinians, including at least 17 children, 14 women, and four elderly people. Within a span of less than one hour, the Israeli military launched 600 artillery shells into Shejaiya. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon denounced the significant civilian casualties, labeling Israel's conduct as "atrocious."
  2. On August 1, the Israeli military reactivated the directive again, resulting in the massacre of between 130 to 150 Palestinians, predominantly civilians, in the city of Rafah in southern Gaza, following the alleged capture of a soldier (who was subsequently certified dead by Israel). During the attack, Israeli forces launched more than 1,000 artillery shells into Rafah within a span of three hours.
2- Targeting of Palestinian civilians:
During Israel's attack, the UN and human rights organizations documented multiple instances of Israeli soldiers targeting civilians. Human Rights Watch released a report,"Israeli Soldiers Shoot and Kill Fleeing Civilians," on August 4:

"Human Rights Watch investigated eight Israeli airstrikes that were apparent violations of the laws of war before the ground offensive that began on July 17, 2014…. The attacks Human Rights Watch investigated include a missile attack that killed four boys on a Gaza City pier and wounded three others, multiple strikes over several days on a hospital for paralyzed and elderly patients, attacks on an apparent civilian residence and media worker’s car, and four previously documented strikes. In many, if not all, of these cases, Human Rights Watch found no evidence of a military target. Israeli forces’ failure to direct attacks at a military target violates the laws of war. Israeli forces may also have knowingly or recklessly attacked people who were clearly civilians, such as young boys, and civilian structures, including a hospital – laws-of-war violations that are indicative of war crimes.”

On August 21, the United Nations stated:

"Human rights organizations have expressed serious concerns regarding incidents where civilians or civilian objects have been directly hit by Israeli airstrikes, in circumstances where there was allegedly no rocket fire or armed group activity in the close vicinity. Such cases raise concerns about the targeting of civilians, in violation of the principle of distinction.”

3- Israeli attacks on UN schools sheltering displaced Palestinian civilians:
The Israeli military struck UN schools housing displaced Palestinian civilians on seven distinct occasions, resulting in the killing of at least 42 Palestinians, including 16 children, and injuring over two hundred others. The assaults comprised:
  1. On August 3, an Israeli missile strike outside a UN school in Rafah, southern Gaza, resulted in the killing of at least 10 Palestinians, including a child, and injured numerous more. UN officials condemned the strike, stating they had notified Israel of the GPS coordinates of the school, where about 3,000 Palestinians were taking refuge, 33 times to avert a bombing, with the last notification being just one hour prior to the assault. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon defined the Israeli assault as a “moral outrage” and a “criminal act,” while a State Department spokesperson expressed that “the United States is appalled by today’s disgraceful shelling,” further stating, "The suspicion that militants are operating nearby does not justify strikes that put at risk the lives of so many innocent civilians.”
  2. On July 30, the Israeli forces bombarded a UN school in Jabalia, northern Gaza, where 3,300 displaced Palestinians were taking refuge, resulting in the killing of at least 20 Palestinians, predominantly women and children. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon condemned the attack, stating: “Nothing is more shameful than attacking sleeping children.” UN authorities reported that they provided the Israeli military with GPS coordinates for the school 17 times in the preceding two weeks to prevent an attack.
  3. On July 24, the Israeli forces struck a UN school in Beit Hanoun, where 1,500 displaced Palestinians were taking refuge, resulting in the killing of at least 12 Palestinians, including six children, and injuring approximately 100 others. According to the UN Secretary-General's 2015 report on children and armed conflict:

"In May, the United Nations shared a list of its facilities with the Government of Israel, which was further discussed with government entities in July. During hostilities in July and August, UNRWA provided the Israeli authorities with real-time information identifying installations that were being used as designated emergency shelters and places of temporary refuge. Despite such information, on 24 July, the UNRWA Beit Hanoun Elementary Coed A and D school… was hit by IDF mortar fire, resulting in the death of at least 12 persons, including 6 children, and in the injury of more than 90 others. The location of the school had been provided to Israeli authorities by United Nations staff on 12 separate occasions over the seven days leading up to the incident, including the day of the incident itself.”

4- Attacks on healthcare workers and medical facilities:
The Israeli military killed 16 healthcare professionals and injured 83 others, predominantly ambulance drivers and volunteers.
73 healthcare facilities, including 17 hospitals and 56 primary healthcare facilities, suffered damage or destruction. 40 ambulances were either damaged or destroyed.
Attacks targeting medical facilities encompassed:
  1. On July 21, the Israeli military attacked Al-Aqsa Hospital in central Gaza, killing four Palestinians and injuring 40 others. In a statement entitled "Attacks on medical facilities and civilians add to war crime allegations," Amnesty International condemned the strike, stating: "There can be no justification for targeting medical facilities at any time." Attacks on medical facilities underline the need for a prompt, impartial international investigation mandated by the UN.”
  2. On July 12, an Israeli bombardment resulted in the killings of two Palestinians at a special needs facility in Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza, and inflicted significant injuries on several more. The victims, 31-year-old Ola Washahi and 47-year-old Suha Abu Saada, suffered from severe mental and physical disabilities.
On August 7, Amnesty International released a statement headlined “Mounting Evidence of Deliberate Attacks on Gaza Health Workers by Israeli Army,” which included the following excerpt:

"An immediate investigation is needed into mounting evidence that the Israel Defense Forces launched apparently deliberate attacks against hospitals and health professionals in Gaza, which have left six medics dead.

"Even more alarming is the mounting evidence that the Israeli army has targeted health facilities or professionals. Such attacks are absolutely prohibited by international law and would amount to war crimes. They only add to the already compelling argument that the situation should be referred to the International Criminal Court.”

5- Attacks on civilian infrastructure:
  • The Israeli military systematically targeted Gaza's civilian infrastructure and commercial sector, including the destruction of Gaza's only power plant.
  • Amnesty International condemned Israel's demolition of the power plant as an act of "collective punishment" directed at the entire populace, while Human Rights Watch stated that: “Damaging or destroying a power plant, even if it also served a military purpose, would be an unlawful disproportionate attack under the laws of war, causing far greater civilian harm than military gain.”
  • The demolition of the power plant by Israel resulted in a shutdown of water treatment plants, and Israeli assaults also rendered Gaza's main sewage treatment plant inoperative. The Israeli military inflicted significant damage on Gaza's water and sewage infrastructure, which was already in a precarious state due to seven years of Israel's debilitating siege and naval blockade, as well as prior assaults. This destruction resulted in the discharge of untreated sewage into open pools, agricultural land, and the Mediterranean Sea, raising health concerns and impacting fishermen. On August 5, Oxfam warned that Israeli assaults on wells, pipelines, and reservoirs have further tainted already compromised fresh water sources, resulting in the leakage of 15,000 tons of solid waste onto the streets of Gaza.
6- Damage to agriculture and industry:

"farmers were forced to abandon their crops and animals, and fishermen were prohibited access to the sea, paralyzing related economic activities. Open fields, greenhouses, gardens and orchards were severely damaged and contaminated with unexploded ordnance. Families who lost animals or fishing assets also lost their daily sources of income and nutrition: eggs, meat, dairy and fish… A sizable proportion of Gaza’s agricultural animals perished, including roughly 40 per cent of poultry and 20 per cent of total productive livestock. The entire agricultural value chain was affected – from farm and sea to market.”