After previous rounds over the past three years, the defense and political chiefs said Hamas and Islamic Jihad had been set back years. But now came the surprisingly strong rocket barrages on Tel Aviv
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May. 16, 2021
A raft of victory photos hang on the walls of Israel’s Hall of Glory. They haven’t been won in the current round of fighting, waiting for a “victory” of its own. Ever since Israel imposed a suffocating blockade on the Gaza Strip, it has notched one victory after another. It won the Pillar of Defense air offensive in 2012, Operation Cast Lead in the winter of 2008-09, Operation Protective Edge in 2014 and Operation Black Belt against Islamic Jihad in 2019, as well as hundreds of smaller clashes.
In all these operations, thousands of people were killed or wounded, many of them innocent bystanders, including women and children. The mutual damage is enormous, with houses destroyed, factories shuttered, Gaza turned into rubble and Israelis losing their sense of personal security.
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