Days of Penitence: Israel's 2004 Offensive in Northern Gaza
In the autumn of 2004, Israel launched its largest operation in Gaza since the start of the second intifada. Its name, and its toll, drew bitter criticism.
In late September 2004, after Palestinian rockets killed two children in the Israeli town of Sderot, Israel launched Operation Days of Penitence in the northern Gaza Strip, centred on the Jabalia refugee camp, Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahia. The operation's name, chosen during the Jewish High Holy Days, struck many critics as grimly ironic given what followed.
The operation
Over about two and a half weeks, Israeli tanks and troops pushed into densely populated areas to stop rocket fire. Palestinian health officials and human rights organisations reported more than a hundred Palestinians killed, many of them civilians and children, and widespread destruction of homes and farmland. Israeli soldiers and civilians were also killed in the fighting and in Palestinian attacks.
The debate
Israel said the operation was necessary to protect its citizens from rockets. Human rights organisations and UN officials criticised the use of heavy force in crowded camps and the scale of civilian casualties and destruction.
A pattern established
Days of Penitence set a pattern repeated many times in the decades since: rocket fire from Gaza, major Israeli operations, heavy civilian casualties and destruction, and ceasefires that did not address the underlying conflict. The following year, Israel withdrew its settlers and soldiers from Gaza. The cycle continued, culminating in the far more devastating war that began in October 2023.