Effects On Israel
During the conflict, life in much of southern Israel was paralyzed by Hamas rocket and mortar fire. The Israeli Home Front Command issued detailed emergency instructions to Israeli citizens for preparing for and dealing with rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip. The instructions included orders to stay within a certain distance of bomb shelters based on proximity to the source of the rockets. Hamas' Grad rockets' increased range of 40 km put more than 700,000 Israelis within strike range, prompting 40% of the residents of the southern city of Ashkelon to flee the city, despite official calls to stay. Throughout the war, Palestinian rocket attacks into Israel damaged or destroyed more than 1,500 homes and buildings and 327 vehicles. Numerous agricultural fields near Gaza also sustained damage. Twenty-eight Israeli families lost their homes to rocket attacks, and had to temporarily live in hotels. Among the buildings hit were nine educational facilities and three synagogues.
Schools and universities in southern Israel began to close due to rocket threats on December 27. Studies officially resumed on January 11. Only schools with fortified classrooms and bomb shelters were allowed to bring students in, and IDF Home Front Command representatives were stationed in the schools; attendance was low. Palestinian rocket attacks that hit educational facilities caused no casualties.
The largest hospital on Israel's southern coast, Ashkelon's Barzilai Medical Center, moved its critical treatment facilities into an underground shelter after a rocket struck beside its helicopter pad on December 28.
Most business in Southern Israel stopped upon orders of the Home Front Command, with retailers losing an estimated $7 million in the first week. Numerous small businesses suffered in decreased sales, and were unable to pay employee salaries due to low revenues. Major industries remained open, but had high absence rates. The Manufacturers Association of Israel estimated the direct cost to business and industry to be 88 million NIS, and indirect financial losses at several tens of millions of shekels.
The Israel Tax Authority received 1,728 compensation claims for damages related to the conflict, mostly from Ashkelon and Ashdod.
According to Israeli economist Ron Eichel, the war effort cost the Israeli military about 5 billion NIS in military expenditure, or 250 million NIS per day. An anonymous political source told Ynetnews that the aerial assaults were costing $27 million to $39 million a day in munitions and fuel, totaling the first six days of the operation at nearly $265 million for air-strikes alone. Both the IDF and Treasury refused to disclose the exact amount, and the Treasury adamantly denied these figures.
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