"On the morning of December 27, 2008, the sixth day of Hanukkah, Israel initiated responded to Hamas rocket fire and military weapon stockpiling with a massive military assault against in Gaza with named "Operation Cast Lead." The name of the operation was a reference to a popular Hanukkah song written by the venerated Israeli poet Chaim Nachman Bialik: "My teacher gave a dreidel to me/A dreidel of cast lead."
When Israel's military actions ended on January 18, some 1,400 Palestinians had been killed, according to some estimates. Among the dead werehundreds of more than 700 Hamas fighters, but also hundreds of unarmed civilians, including over more than 300 children. Personal testimonies testimonials from the Palestinians who lived through Cast Lead in Gaza indicate the profoundly tragic consequences of Israel's military assault. Here is one such account - excerpted from Amnesty International's 2009 Report, "Operation Cast Lead: 22 Days of Death and Destruction":"
When Israel's military actions ended on January 18, some 1,400 Palestinians had been killed, according to some estimates. Among the dead were
