Palestinians mark 2nd Gaza war anniv.

Palestinians mark the second anniversary of a devastating war Israel launched on the Gaza Strip in December 2008, which claimed the lives of hundreds of Gazans.

Tel Aviv staged an all-out war on the densely populated coastal sliver three days before the turn of 2009. Twenty-two days of land, sea and air strikes left more than 1,400 Palestinians, including at least 300 children, dead and nearly 5,000 more injured.

The offensive leveled 4,000 houses in the blockaded territory and devastated a large portion of infrastructure. The war also saw targeting of UN-run schools and centers by Israeli army forces.

More than 50,000 people were displaced as a result of the three-week war.

A fact-finding commission mandated by the UN Human Rights Council to probe the deadly offensive found the Israeli army guilty of numerous war crimes.

A report from the committee led by former South African judge Richard Goldstone highlighted above all the premeditated bombardment of centers known to hold civilians and deliberate targeting of civilians on the run.

The 575-page document also charged Israeli forces of using Palestinian civilians, among them children, as human shields upon entering buildings suspected to be used by anti-Israeli resistance fighters.

Tel Aviv also used internationally banned weapons, including white phosphorus bombs, against the Gazans during the three-week war.