Kent Klich

1 August 2014 and its Aftermath
In one day, the first of August 2014, IDF, (Israel Defense Forces) killed more than 130, men, women and children, mostly civilians on the streets of Rafah, Gaza. Seven o’clock that morning the sky turned quiet when a 72-hours truce started. The ceasefire did not last long.

According to the IDF blogg: 010814
“We suspect that Hamas kidnapped 2nd. Lt. Hadar Goldin, an IDF officer, during the exchange of fire and dragged him into a tunnel. The IDF is currently conducting extensive searches in order to locate the missing soldier. During the event, 2 IDF soldiers were killed by Hamas fire.”

After the abduction, the Israel Defense Forces executed in full its »Hannibal procedure«, a protocol that calls for the massive use of force in an effort to rescue a captured soldier, even at risk to his life. During the entire day the people living in Rafah were attacked with more than 2,000 bombs, missiles and shells. Thus, in this incident, many civilians were killed because of the heavy fire the IDF laid to thwart the abduction. Under the Hannibal procedure, there was no time to warn them.

The 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict, also known as »Operation Protective Edge«, was a military offensive during 50 days launched by Israel in the Gaza Strip on 8 July that killed more than 2,000 inhabitants of Gaza, including 1,500 civilians, among them some 539 children, wounded thousands more civilians, and caused massive civilian displacement and destruction of property and vital services. Israel maintained its air, sea and land blockade of Gaza, imposing collective punishment on its approximately 1.8 million inhabitants and stoking the humanitarian crisis. This was the third military offensiv since Operation Cast Lead, (2008-2009) and Operation Pillar of Defence, (2012).

Kent Klich is a Swedish photographer working on projects with social and political impact. His work has been shown internationally in museums and galleries. After »Gaza Photo Album« (2009) and »Killing Time« (2013), »Black Friday« is the third part of his ongoing depiction of life in Gaza.