Operation Summer Rain
Map of the Gaza Strip
| date | June 25, 2006 - November 26, 2006 |
|---|---|
| place | Gaza Strip |
| Casus Belli | Shelling of Israel with surface-to-surface missiles from the Gaza Strip, arrest of the Muamar brothers by Israeli forces, killing of two Israeli soldiers and the kidnapping of Gilad Shalit by Palestinian militants. |
| output | Waning during the 2006 Lebanon War and ceasefire on November 26, 2006 |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
|
|
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| Commander | |
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Khalid Maschal (leader of Hamas ) |
|
| losses | |
|
202 militants killed |
4 soldiers killed |
Operation Summer Rain ( Hebrew מבצע גשמי קיץ Miwtza gischmei kaitz ) is the military code name of an action by the Israeli forces in late June 2006 in the Gaza Strip .
The trigger was the capture of the 19-year-old Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit . This was preceded by an intensification of the shelling of southern Israel with surface-to-surface missiles by militant Palestinians from the Gaza Strip and the arrest of two terrorist suspects by Israeli special forces.
On the night of June 28, 2006, Israeli ground forces invaded the Gaza Strip, which was evacuated in 2005, and partially occupied it. While the Palestinian rocket fire intensified and also hit cities in the previously safe Israeli hinterland, Israel attacked targets in the Gaza Strip from the air. In the course of the Second Lebanon War , which began on July 12, the fighting subsided and then turned into Operation Autumn Clouds , which ended with a ceasefire on November 26, 2006.
prehistory
Rocket fire from the Gaza Strip
In August and September 2005, Israel evacuated the Gaza Strip, which it had occupied since 1967, for no consideration . On March 28, 2006, militants from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad Movement fired a 122mm Katyusha missile from the Gaza Strip into Israel. These rockets are normally used regularly by Hezbollah and have now been shot down from the Gaza Strip for the first time. A large number of Qassam rockets hit the western Negev ; 49 in March, 64 in April, 46 in May and over 83 in June. Before Hamas won the election , most rocket launches were carried out by Islamic Jihad. Since then, other groups have been accused of shooting down these missiles.
Bait Lahiya Beach Incident
The Israeli army regularly fired at positions which they claim were used by Palestinian militants to launch rockets.
On June 9, an explosion on a beach near Bait Lahiya , Gaza Strip, killed eight Palestinians and injured at least 30 others. Human Rights Watch and the Palestinian Interior Ministry accuse the Tzahal of causing the incident through artillery fire. The Israeli army dismissed responsibility and blamed a mine or an older unexploded dud for the explosion. Hamas officially ended the 16-month ceasefire after the incident and assumed responsibility for the Qassam rockets fired on Israel.
Usama and Mustafa Muamar are captured
In the early morning of June 24, 2006, commandos of the Israeli armed forces penetrated the Gaza Strip for the first time since the Israeli withdrawal in 2005. They captured Osama and Mustafa Muamar at 3:30 a.m. local time (0.30 a.m. GMT) at the home of the Muamar family near Rafah , in the village of Umm al-Nasser , and took them both to Israel. The two were accused of planning attacks in Israel as Hamas activists.
Killing of two Israeli soldiers and capture of Gilad Shalit
On June 25, 2006, militants invaded Israeli territory. For this operation they used a tunnel that had previously been dug after months of work to smuggle weapons. After a guard of the Israeli army was taken by surprise near Kerem Shalom , two Israeli soldiers were killed and 19-year-old corporal Gilad Shalit was captured in the course of the ensuing battle . (The Israeli government later stated that this action was the reason for the start of its military offensive in the Gaza Strip. However, it also cited that it wanted to stop the Qassam rocket bombardment of the western Negev desert from the Gaza Strip).
The radical Islamic Popular Resistance Committees , the previously unknown group Army of Islam as well as the military arm of the Hamas force Izz-ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades equally known to the deportation of the soldiers and demanded the release of his exchange of all female and juvenile Palestinian prisoners .
Military operation
Penetration into the southern Gaza Strip
On June 28, the Israeli Air Force (IAF) dropped leaflets over the Gaza Strip warning the population of the impending military action. The IAF then attacked targets in the Gaza Strip, destroying, among other things, the only power station there and several bridges. The latter was justified by the fact that any escape routes should be cut off for the hostage takers. Then 3,000 Israeli soldiers moved into the southern Gaza Strip near Chan Yunis . Israeli forces also occupied Gaza International Airport.
The Popular Resistance Committee responded to the fighting by announcing the kidnapping of 18-year-old settler Elijahu Ascheri from Itamar in the West Bank . The organization threatened to assassinate Ascheri if the invasion was not stopped. (On June 29, units of the Tzahal found Ascheri shot dead in an abandoned car in a field near Ramallah. According to Israeli sources, the student was shot in the head shortly after his abduction on June 25. - The organization had committed itself to Ascheri's kidnapping known, but units of Tzahal later took four suspects, the activists of the Fatah members of al-Aqsa martyrs brigades and members are Palestinian security units.)
The al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade later announced that they had kidnapped another Israeli. Noah Moskowich from Rishon LeTzion was found dead near the place where he was last seen. Apparently his death was due to natural causes.
As night fell, Israeli forces began firing mortar shells at targets in the Gaza Strip and reportedly destroyed two warehouses containing weapons.
Penetration into the northern Gaza Strip
On the evening of June 28, 2006, Tzahal tanks and troops marched on the northern border of the Gaza Strip and took strategic positions for the second phase of the operation, which Israeli claims were the Qassam rocket launchers. The Qassam rocket fire continued, and in the early hours of June 29, Israeli warships began firing mortar shells at the sites from which the rockets had emerged.
According to eyewitness accounts, Gaza Islamic University was also hit by a missile. It was also reported that Israeli tanks, troops and bulldozers entered the northern Gaza Strip. Egypt appealed to allow more time for negotiations. The Israeli army then announced an interruption of the second phase in order to allow the militants to surrender Schalit.
Hamas members arrested
On June 29, Israeli forces arrested 64 Hamas leaders in the West Bank , including eight members of the Palestinian Authority and up to twenty members of the Palestinian Legislative Council . Among those arrested were Finance Minister Abed Rayek , Labor Minister Muhammad Barghuti , Minister of Religious Affairs Nayif al-Rajub (his brother Jibril al-Rajub is a member of rival Fatah), number two on the Hamas electoral list Muhammad Abu Tir and some chairmen of Regional councils, as well as the mayor of Qalqiliya and his deputy. As a result, representatives of Hamas went underground . According to the Tzahal, the captured ministers are not a bargaining chip for the release of Schalit, but simply an operation against a terrorist organization . The Israeli army and government officials announced that those arrested in Israel should be charged and brought to justice.
According to press reports, the operation had been planned weeks beforehand and coordinated with the Israeli attorney general Menachem Matzutz . Matzutz wanted to prosecute the arrested because they had failed to prevent terrorist attacks and because they were members of a terrorist organization . The maximum sentence for these offenses in Israel is twenty years in prison and, as is customary for residents of Gaza and the West Bank, the trial takes place before a military tribunal . - Later in the conflict, on August 6, Abd al-Aziz Duwaik , the spokesman for the Palestinian Legislative Council, was placed under house arrest in his home in the West Bank.
Israeli air strikes on Gaza
On June 30, the Israeli Air Force began a series of bombing raids on various targets in the Gaza Strip. During the night, Israeli warplanes attacked an office of Fatah and the Ministry of the Interior in Gaza City . The Tzahal also reported an attack on Interior Minister Said Sizam's office . According to the Tzahal, the office was a meeting point for planning and controlling terrorist activities. In a separate air strike , three rockets struck the office of Khalid Abu Ilal , an interior ministry official who also heads a pro-Hamas militia.
On the night of July 1, Israel air strikes destroyed seven major roads in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli military declared that the freedom of movement of the kidnappers Shalit should be restricted further. These in turn extended their demand for the release of all women and young Palestinian prisoners in Israel to include all elderly and sick.
On the early morning of July 2, 2006, after the Israeli army warned Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyya that he could become a target if Shalit was not released, the IAF fired two rockets at the office of the Palestinian Prime Minister.
Rocket Fire into Israel and the Israeli Response
July 4, 2006 marks a new high point in rocket fire from Gaza into Israeli territory, as an apparently improved Qassam rocket reached the center of Ashkelon for the first time . The missile hit an empty schoolyard and only caused property damage.
The next day, two more rockets hit southern areas of Ashkelon, injuring 8 civilians. The Tzahal was then ordered to expand the offensive in the northern Gaza Strip. The declared aim of the operation was to push the militias further south, thereby bringing Ashkelon and other coastal locations out of range of the rocket fire.
On July 5, 2006, the Israeli security cabinet called for a longer and more thorough military action in the Gaza Strip. A statement said that "preparations are being made to bring about a change in the rules of the game and process with the Palestinian Authority and Hamas."
On the same day, in the West Bank city of Barkan , near Ariel , Israeli soldiers arrested a Palestinian who was wearing a belt containing explosives. According to the Tzahal, the man had planned an attack in a major Israeli city.
On July 6, 2006, the Golani Brigade, with support from the Air Force and artillery fire, occupied the former Israeli settlements of Dugit , Nisanit and Elei Sinai in the northern Gaza Strip. On July 6, 2006, Israeli tanks advanced to the outskirts of Bait Lahiya to establish a security zone. Six Palestinian civilians and one Israeli soldier lost their lives. 55 Palestinians, including 15 children, were injured in the attack.
An article on the Israeli news portal Ynetnews vividly describes the situation in the eyes of a Palestinian resident:
“It's a crazy picture - everyone shoots everyone. … Soldiers emerge from the trees, from the roofs of houses. The residents don't know whether they should leave their homes or hide. "
Qassam rockets also hit Netivot , Sa'ad, and a few other smaller towns and kibbutzes in the Negev.
Other events
The Israeli army continued to refrain from entering the northern Gaza Strip; According to information from the newspapers Haaretz and Jedi'ot Acharonot, this tactic was based on fears of the Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert that he would have to accept numerous casualties in the army and civilian population in the densely populated area. The opinions of the Israeli newspapers with regard to Operation Summer Rain, which was increasingly directed against the Palestinian Hamas government, were divided: on the one hand, the opportunity was seen to finally clear up Hamas , on the other hand, there was talk of a military escalation free of any logic .
On July 3, the kidnappers ultimately demanded the release of 1,000 Palestinian prisoners within 24 hours, otherwise Shalit would be killed. According to the Arab newspaper al-Hayat , an Egyptian mediator team visited Shalit, who was injured but was receiving medical treatment. Israel expanded its offensive: 25 tanks entered the northern Gaza Strip; three Palestinians were killed and four others injured in attacks on rooms of the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades. The decimated Palestinian Parliament decided to refer Israel to the International Court of Justice in The Hague for the arrests of 30 MPs and ministers .
On July 4, 30 Israeli army tanks advanced to Beit Hanun in the northern Gaza Strip. In several incidents, two Palestinians were killed and four others injured. Despite the expiry of the ultimatum, the spokesman for the Islamic Army group indicated that Shalit was still alive. The Erez international border crossing was closed, leaving numerous foreigners, mainly journalists, stuck in the Gaza Strip.
On the night of July 8, Israeli ground troops entered the suburbs of Gaza City , with intense fighting. Israel withdrew from the territories in the northern Gaza Strip it had occupied the previous days, but did not rule out a return.
Situation in the Gaza Strip during the 2006 Lebanon War
After the shelling of northern Israel by Katyusha rockets on July 12, 2006 and the capture of two Israeli soldiers triggered the Israeli military action that led to the 2006 Lebanon War , the conflict in the Gaza Strip has become the focus of international media interest. The later armistice did nothing to change this, and some observers note that the conflict in the Gaza Strip is a "forgotten war" .
Subsequent military actions
Although Israel ended Operation Summer Rain during the Lebanon War, Israeli forces have repeatedly carried out temporary and localized military operations in the Gaza Strip afterwards. These include Operation Regenmann , Operation Four Species , and Operation Footprints in the Sand , which was primarily aimed at destroying tunnels dug by militants to smuggle weapons under the Philadelphi Route . However, none of these actions came closer to the Tzahal's military goals - the liberation of Gilad Shalit and the end of the fire from Qassam rockets.
However, the Israeli army has changed its tactics and has withdrawn from the haphazardly haphazard bombardment of the Gaza Strip with mortar shells in order - according to the Tzahal - to reduce civilian casualties . (Nevertheless, on November 8, 2006, there was a grenade attack with serious consequences in Beit Hanun, in which at least 19 civilians were killed).
With the arrest of Abd ar-Rahman Zaidan, the Palestinian minister for housing and public works, in his home near Ramallah on November 4, 2006, the tenth minister was arrested since the beginning of the crisis.
West Bank sideshow
Although the West Bank, together with the Gaza Strip, forms the Palestinian Autonomous Territories, there were no major clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinians there. In the West Bank, the moderate Fatah of Palestinian President Abbas continues to play the dominant role, and large parts of the West Bank are under the control of Israeli troops.
Operation autumn clouds
On November 1, 2006, the Israeli military launched a new offensive in the north of the Gaza Strip under the name Operation Autumn Clouds . The target was initially Palestinian positions near Beit Hanun , from which rockets have been fired into Israeli villages in the past few weeks. In the days that followed, members of the armed arm of Hamas and the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades were again deliberately killed.
Since, according to Palestinian figures, there were also numerous civilian casualties in the military operation, Palestinian President Abbas called on the United Nations Security Council to intervene. The Security Council is dealing with a draft resolution tabled by Qatar , but the draft was vetoed by the United States.
Reactions
Foreign ministers of the states of the European Union as well as the USA and the UN expressed concern about the escalation.
Members of the government of Russia , the USA , Germany and the UN called for negotiations again. The Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyya called for the hostage to be released, but at the same time criticized the Israeli offensive as directed against the Hamas government.
In a poll of more than 1000 Palestinians between July 4th and 7th, 96.3% of those questioned agreed with the demands for "consideration" for the release of the kidnapped Israeli soldier, only 2.9% are in favor of the unconditional liberation of Shalit. Almost half of those questioned preferred the release of women and young people detained in Israel to other demands made by the kidnappers.
The UN Human Rights Council criticized the Israeli approach as "disproportionate" and accused Israel of disregarding human rights.
literature
- Barry Rubin: Israel's New Strategy in: Foreign Affairs , July / August 2006, pp. 111–125
Web links
- Haaretz: Funeral of Itamar teen slain by terrorists underway in J'lem , June 29, 2006
- Video with background information by Noam Chomsky , engl.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Y-net.com: Gaza: IDF kills four Hamas members August 28, 2006
- ↑ Ynetnews : PM: No Hamas member is immune July 2, 2006
- ↑ a b 2006 Israel-Gaza conflict casualties timeline (English)
- ↑ BBC : Katyusha rocket fired from Gaza , March 28, 2006
- ↑ The Independent : Israel steps up attacks on Gaza military bases ( Memento of the original from January 15, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , June 11, 2006
- ↑ Al-Jazeera : Israeli air strike kills two Hamas men ( Memento of the original from June 15, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , June 11, 2006
- ↑ BBC : Hamas militants vow to end truce , June 10, 2006
- ↑ BBC : Hamas breaks truce with rockets , June 10, 2006
- ↑ The Observer : World in brief: Gaza Strip arrests , June 25, 2006 (accessed October 8, 2006)
- ↑ BBC : Israel captures pair in Gaza raid , June 24, 2006
- ↑ a b CNN : Settler's body believed found ( Memento of the original from December 11, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , June 29, 2006
- ↑ Ynetnews : Abductors present Eliyahu Asheri's ID card , June 28, 2006
- ↑ BBC : Seized Israeli settler found dead , June 29, 2006
- ↑ Ynetnews : Ramallah: IDF encircles Asheri murderers , July 3, 2006
- ^ Arutz Schewa : Fatah Group Announces it Kidnapped 62-Year-Old Israeli , June 28, 2006
- ↑ Associated Press via Houston Chronicle : Israeli Police Find Body of Missing Man ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as broken. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , June 29, 2006
- ↑ Haaretz : IAF strikes south Gaza in bid to press militants to free soldier ( Memento of the original from July 9, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , June 29, 2006
- ^ Haaretz : IDF to launch anti-Qassam operation in northern Gaza , June 29, 2006
- ↑ Hanan Greenberg: Israeli navy fires shells on northern Gaza Strip , Ynetnews , June 29, 2006
- ↑ Reuters : Israel bombs Islamic University in Gaza-witnesses ( Memento of the original from July 10, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , June 29, 2006
- ↑ WPXI: Israel Turns Up Heat On Palestinian Militants ( Memento of the original from February 2, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , June 29, 2006
- ↑ United Nations : Israelis, Palestinians urget to 'step back from the brink', avert full-scale conflict, as Securitz Council debates events in Gaza , June 30, 2006
- ↑ BBC : Israel justifies Hamas detentions , June 29, 2006
- ^ The Guardian : Israelis Arrest Dozens of Hamas Officials , June 29, 2006
- ↑ Haaretz : משרד המשפטים: ישראל תמשיך במעצר בכירי חמאס / IDF begins with arrests of officials in the Gaza Strip ( memento of the original from February 6, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. June 29, 2006 (Hebrew)
- ↑ BBC : Airstrikes and artillery pound Gaza , August 6, 2006
- ^ The Guardian: Israeli jets pound Gaza targets , June 30, 2006
- ↑ The Australian : Israel warns: free soldier or PM dies ( Memento of the original from May 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , July 1, 2006
- ↑ BBC : Airstrike on Palestinian PM's HQ , July 2, 2006
- ^ Haaretz : Qassam rocket hits school in center of Ashkelon , July 5, 2006
- ↑ Haaretz : Large IDF force prepared to capture deep swath of northern Gaza ( Memento of the original from July 18, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , July 5, 2006
- ↑ Jerusalem Post : Would-be bomber caught in West Bank ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as broken. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , July 5, 2006
- ^ Spiegel: Dead in fighting in the Gaza Strip , July 6, 2006
- ↑ Ynetnews : Gaza: 2 Killed, 12 Hurt in IAF Strike , July 6, 2006
- ↑ Haaretz : Three people lightly wounded in weekend Qassam barrage , July 10, 2006
- ↑ Ynetnews : Qassam lands in Kibbutz Saad in the western Negev, July 7, 2006
- ^ Haaretz : Qassam fire increases on the first day of IDF operation, July 9, 2006
- ^ Spiegel Aksa Brigades boast of new kidnapping , June 30, 2006
- ^ Spiegel: Militant Palestinians issue ultimatum to Israel , July 3, 2006
- ^ Spiegel: Palestinians want to sue Israel in The Hague , July 3, 2006
- ^ Spiegel : Israel's tanks advance , July 3, 2006
- ^ Spiegel: War of nerves after the ultimatum has expired , July 4, 2006
- ^ Spiegel: Israel invades Gaza City , July 8, 2006
- ↑ Berliner Zeitung : The Forgotten War , August 16, 2006
- ↑ Haaretz : How a Beit Hanun family was destroyed ( Memento of the original from October 1, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , November 13, 2006
- ↑ Haaretz : 26 Palestinians killed in IDF Gaza raids over weekend ( Memento of the original from October 1, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , November 4, 2006
- ↑ Der Tagesspiegel : Offensive in the Gaza Strip , November 2, 2006
- ↑ Die Zeit : Gaza: Offensive Continues , November 3, 2006
- ↑ Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger : Abbas calls on UN to intervene in Gaza , November 4, 2006
- ↑ United Nations : Security Council fails to adopt draft resolution on Middle East, owing to negative Vote by United States , November 11, 2006
- ^ Spiegel : Haniyah seeks release of Israeli hostages , June 30, 2006
- ↑ AsiaNews.it: Most Palestinians want release of kidnapped Israeli soldier ( Memento of the original from September 29, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , July 17, 2006
- ^ Spiegel: UN accuses Israel of violating human rights , July 5, 2006
