Following the ceasefire, reports have emerged bolstering speculation that Israel launched the assault as a means to prepare for a potential future attack on Iran. Citing unnamed “American and Israeli officials,” the New York Times reports the Gaza assault and the rocket attacks it provoked were “something of a practice run for any future armed confrontation with Iran, featuring improved rockets that can reach Jerusalem and new anti-missile systems to counter them.” At the United Nations, Palestinian Ambassador Riyad Mansour denounced Israel for using the Gaza assault as what he called an “experiment.”

Riyad Mansour: “The Palestinian people should not be the experiment for the Israeli forces to try to kill hundreds and to wound thousands of Palestinians at their will. We have to put an end to the options of war and to open the gate for option of peace, ending the occupation, and the independence of our state.”