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Operation Summer Rains
Part of the Arab-Israeli conflict
An IDF ground forces Achzarit heavy APC enters southern Gaza
Date June 28, 2006 – Location Gaza Strip Result Conflict ongoing
Belligerents
Israel Defense Forces	Hamas Popular Resistance Committees, al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, Jaish al-Islam
Commanders and leaders
Dan Halutz (Chief of Staff) Yoav Galant (Regional)	Khaled Mashal (Leader of Hamas) Mohammed Deif (Leader of Hamas "Military Wing")
Strength
3,000	Unknown
Casualties and losses
	10 killed 15 wounded

Operation Summer Rains (Template:Lang-he, Mivtza Gishmey Kayitz) is the codename for an Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip that began on June 28, 2006. It is the first ground entrance into the Gaza Strip by the Israel Defense Forces since Israel's unilateral disengagement plan was implemented between August and September 2005.

Israel maintains it has mobilized thousands of troops in order to secure the release of Corporal Gilad Shalit, who was captured by Palestinian militants in Israel, and to stop Qassam rocket attacks on cities and towns in Israel, and has stated it will withdraw from Gaza and end the operation as soon as Shalit is released. The Palestinians say the assault is aimed at toppling the democratically elected Hamas-led government and at destabilizing the Palestinian National Authority, citing the targeting of civilian infrastructure such as a power station and the arrests of government and parliament members.

Background

Tensions had been high for some time due to Qassam rocket attacks launched by Palestinian militants into densely populated areas such as the Israeli city of Sderot and the city of Ashkelon, reported to have exceeded 800 rockets in the past seven months. After the Gaza beach blast, Hamas formally withdrew from its 16-month ceasefire, and began openly taking responsibility for Qassam rocket attacks. During the ceasefire, Hamas had regularly been implicated in similar attacks carried out by other Palestinian militant groups, as well as engaging in its own attacks.

Ashkelon is home to the Rutenberg power plant and its port contains one of the largest fuel depots in Israel. Both facilities have been frequently targetted and, if hit, could cause the disruption of electricity in Israel (as well as Gaza ).

Israel responded by firing artillery shells into unpopulated areas of the Gaza Strip, whose rate of fire reportedly increased from single figures per day at the start of June to more than a thousand per week by the end of the month. The crisis came to a head after the deaths of several Palestinian civilians in incidents such as the Gaza beach blast on June 9.

Raids and abductions

On 24 June, Israeli forces took prisoner Osama and Mustafa Abu Muamar, sons of Hamas member Ali Muamar, in an overnight raid into the southern Gaza Strip. According to an Israeli army spokesman the two men taken were Hamas militants intending to carry out imminent attacks on Israel. This was denied by Hamas, which claimed that the men were not members of the organization.

On June 25, a joint military wing of Hamas - the Popular Resistance Committees and Jaish al-Islam (Army of Islam) - led a raid on an Israeli military post near Kerem Shalom in Israel. Two Israeli soldiers were killed, four more injured and an IDF corporal, Gilad Shalit, was taken prisoner. Three of the Palestinian militants were also killed in the raid. The incident marked the first deaths of IDF soldiers in or around the Gaza Strip since June 2005, all prior attacks were targeted at Israeli civilians.

On July 4, 2006, Less than a week after the kidnaping and murder of Israeli civilian, Eliyahu Asheri a spokesman for one of the three Palestinian groups holding Gilad Shalit announced that the corporal would not be killed. "There are those who believe we will kill the soldier, but the principles of Islam command us to treat prisoners with respect and not to kill them," they said, three hours after the ultimatum to release Palestinian prisoners, which was rejected by Israel, expired.

Demands

The militants who seized Shalit have demanded "the release of all innocent female prisoners and all prisoners under the age of 18" in exchange for information about Shalit. The Prime Minister of Israel, Ehud Olmert said that "we do not negotiate with terrorists", implying that Israel will not negotiate the release of Shalit with his captors. Olmert also warned that if Shalit was not released unconditionally, the army would respond with military action. Once the operation began, Olmert stated that the invasion was intended "to apply pressure so that the abducted soldier will be freed. We want to create a new equation - freeing the abducted soldier in return for lessening the pressure on the Palestinians".

Later, the militants increased their previous demands and now demanded that 1,000 Palestinians in addtion to previeous demands be released from Israeli jails.

On June 30, Egyptian President, Hosni Mubarak, mentioned in an interview to al-Ahram, that Israel rejected the conditions offered by Hamas for the release of Shalit. The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded by saying that they are unaware of any such proposal. Referring to the Egyptian negotiation efforts Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said: "The efforts by the Egyptians are facing difficulties due to the absence of an address on the Hamas side capable of taking decisions". On July 1, the Israel Broadcasting Authority reported that the abductors have published a second pamphlet, demanding the release of one thousand prisoners from all factions, in addition to their previous demands.

Ultimatum

On July 3, the militants announced that if Israel did not meet their demands by 06:00 Israeli Time, the topic would be considered "closed", but failed to explain what that would entail. Israel was reportedly prepared to release Hamas members of government, legislative council, and other officials, as well as Palestinian prisoners serving relatively light sentences, in exchange the release of Shalit and an end to high-trajectory fire by Palestinian militants into Israel as well as other attacks. A few hours later, however, Israel officially rejected the ultimatum, stating: "there will be no negotiations to release prisoners." On July 4, the deadline expired, and no new information about Shalit has been given by his captors. A spokeperson for the Army of Islam stated: "we will not report whether we will kill the soldier or not." The Palestinian Prime Minister, Ismail Haniya, later announced, however, that: "the Palestinian government, from the first moment, called and still calls to guard the life of the Israeli soldier and to treat him well."

Operation

IDF enters Southern Gaza

Israeli forces entered Khan Yunis on June 28, 2006 to search for Shalit. Four Israeli F-16s flew over the Latakia residence of Bashar Assad, President of Syria, in a symbolic move linked by the IDF Spokesperson's Office to Israel's view of the Syrian leadership as a sponsor of terrorism, and the presence in Syria of Hamas leader Khaled Mashal. In preparation for the Israeli operation, the government of Egypt announced it deployed 2,500 policemen to the border of Egypt and the Gaza Strip in order to prevent the possible transfer of Shalit into Egypt, as well as to prevent an influx of refugees out of the Palestinian territory.

In the early hours of the operation, several Palestinian civilian locations were targeted. Bridges were destroyed to effectively cut the Gaza Strip in half. Power was also cut to 65% of the Gaza Strip after Israeli planes fired at least nine missiles at Gaza's only power station. Israeli forces also occupied the Gaza International Airport. Airstrikes were carried out on Hamas training and munitions camps, though no casualties were reported.

In apparent response to this, the Popular Resistance Committees announced they had abducted a young settler, Eliyahu Asheri, and would kill him if the invasion continued. On June 29, IDF combat engineers and Shabak agents, acting on intelligence, found Asheri's body in an abandoned car in an open field outside of Ramallah. The youth appeared to have been shot to death, and findings indicated that he may have been killed as early as Sunday-which can possibly conclude that the PRC were bluffing when they claimed he was alive and kept in captivity.

Although the Popular Resistance Committees said it was behind the attack, it became known that the kidnapping was planned and carried out by Fatah militants. Four suspects have been arrested for kidnapping and killing Asheri, all al-Aqsa Brigades activists and Palestinian Preventive Security force members.

The al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades later announced that they had captured a third Israeli, Noach Moskovich from the central Israeli city of Rishon LeZion, but that turned out to be a farce. Moskovich was eventually discovered dead, apparently of natural causes, near the spot where he had last been seen. The Brigades also threatened that, should there be any Palestinian civilian casualties as a result of the incursion, they would attack Israel's overseas embassies. As night fell, the Israel Defence Forces began shelling locations in Gaza with artillery, and hit two weapons warehouses.

Incursion into Northern Gaza

As night began to approach on June 28th, IDF troops and tanks massed on the Northern border of Gaza Strip, and prepared to take strategic positions in the second phase of the operation, which targeted the Qassam rocket sites. Qassam rockets were continually fired into Israel, and during the early hours of June 29th, several Israeli naval vessels shelled Qassam locations. Moreover, thousands of leaflets were dropped on inhabited areas in the northern Gaza Strip towns of Beit Lahia and Beit Hanoun, advising civilians to leave their homes. This could indicate intentions by the IDF to occupy or heavily shell these areas, which were identified as frequent launch sites for Qassam rockets.

An explosion was reported in Gaza City, and eyewitnesses reported it was at the Islamic University. The university is believed to be a pro-Hamas institute. Witnesses report Israeli tanks, soldiers, and bulldozers have entered Northern Gaza, though since this the IDF announced it would put a hold on the second phase to give the militants a final chance to turn over Shalit following a plea from Egypt for more time for negotiations.

Arrest of Hamas government members

On June 29, Israel continued arresting high-ranking ministers from the political wing of Hamas. Eight Hamas government members (five of whom in Ramallah) and up to twenty Legislative Council representatives were arrested in the operation. Reportedly, as many as 64 Hamas officials were placed under Israeli custody.

Among those arrested are the Finance Minister Abed Razek; Labour Minister Mohammad Barghouti; Religious Affairs Minister Nayef Rajoub, brother of former West Bank strongman Jibril Rajoub of the rival Fatah party; parliamentary speaker Abdel Aziz Duaik; Palestinian Deputy Prime Minister Nasser Shaer; East Jerusalem legislative council member and number two on Hamas list, Muhammad Abu Tir; as well as heads of regional councils, and the mayor of Qalqilyah and his deputy. At least a third of the Hamas cabinet have been arrested and held by Israel. As a result, Hamas officials have gone into hiding.

The IDF stated that the captured Hamas ministers "are not bargaining chips for the return of the soldier - it was simply an operation against a terrorist organization". Israeli Minister of National Infrastructure, Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, hinted that the Prime Minister of the Palestinian National Authority, Ismail Haniya, is not immune from being arrested or attacked by the Security Forces. The Israeli army and government officials said, the captured Hamas officials will be questioned and eventually indicted. "Their arrests were not arbitrary. They will be put to trial, and they will be able to defend themselves in accordance with a legal system which is internationally recognized," Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres said, explaining the Hamas arrests.

The operation to arrest these Hamas ministers was reportedly planned several weeks before and was met then with the approval of Israel's Attorney General, Menachem Mazuz. On June 28, Shabak Director, Yuval Diskin, brought a list of names to the approval of Israel's Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert. Mazuz has decided that those arrested will be prosecuted for the criminal offences of failing to prevent acts of terror and membership in a terrorist organization (which carry a maximum sentence of twenty years) and tried by military judges before an open military tribunal, as would be the case for any other Gaza or West Bank resident.

Bombardment phase

Beginning on June 30th, the IDF began to hit the Gaza strip with a variety of targetted bombardments. Israeli warplanes struck more than a dozen times in Gaza in the hours after midnight, hitting a Fatah office and a Hamas facility in Gaza City as well as roads and open fields.

Israeli Air Force aircraft struck the Palestinian Interior Ministry in Gaza City. The Israel Defense Forces confirmed its planes hit the office of Interior Minister Said Siyam, which it called "a meeting place to plan and direct terror activity". Shortly after, several militants approached an IDF position in Southern Gaza carrying anti-tank weaponry. The Israeli forces opened fire, wounding two militants, and causing them to leave their position.

In a separate Israeli airstrike, three missiles hit the office of Khaled Abu Ilal, a hardline Interior Ministry official, who also heads a pro-Hamas militia.

After Israeli warnings that the Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniya could be targeted for assassination if Corporal Shalit was not freed, Israeli aircraft hit the Prime Minister's office with two missiles in the early hours of 2 July.

Impact on Strip residents

Israeli jets hit the power plant, along with two key bridges, early Wednesday morning as the precursor to a slowly building invasion of the Gaza Strip intended to secure the release of Gilad Shalit, a French-Israeli soldier who was captured by Palestinian militants Sunday in a cross-border raid. Israeli leaders said the strikes were designed to prevent the militants holding Shalit in southern Gaza from spiriting their hostage out of the area.

The impact of the strike in Gaza City: More than half of the 600,000 residents are without water, and at least two-thirds lack power. The power plant hit by Israeli forces does more than provide energy to more than half of the Gaza Strip's 1.3 million residents; it also fuels critical water and sewage pumps as Gaza heads into another Mediterranean coast summer.

Palestinian officials say that it could take six months and some $15 million to repair the damage done to the destroyed power plant. The power outage also exacted its toll on about 80% of Gaza children. It is also predicted that all 22 Gaza hospitals will lose electricity from spare generators within one week due to the shortage of fuel. An average of 200 daily surgeries will be postponed or cancelled. About 250 citizens are suffering renal failure facing death due to stopped dialysis units working on electricity.

The IDF has made the following announcement to Gaza residents, distributed through pamphlets and broadcasted through other means:

To the civilians of the area: The IDF extends its operations to all areas of the Gaza Strip, and therefore conducts military activities in your area, for the time period that is required. The operations will be launched in order to locate the site in which the kidnapped soldier, Gilad Shalit, is being held, to rescue him, and to continue to defend the citizens of Israel. For your own safety and due to our intent to prevent injuring citizens who are not involved in activities against our forces, you must avoid being on any premises in which the IDF is operating and be attentive to the IDF's instructions. Anyone who interrupts IDF forces activities, conducted in order to complete the mission to bring the kidnapped soldier home safely, will be in danger.

Concern for potential humanitarian crisis

Early on, all border crossings in and out of Gaza were shut. Gas stations predicted petrol supplies would run out by sundown Thursday as companies rely on generators.

On June 29, Álvaro de Soto, United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process and the Secretary-General's Special Representative to the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority, said that fuel in Gaza would run out in two to three days, which would result in the collapse of the sewage system. Senior UN officials estimated that Gaza has two weeks of food supply left.

UN Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Jan Egeland said, "No one can hide from us what they’re doing, neither the Palestinian nor the Israeli side. We are appalled by seeing how they're playing with the future of defenseless civilians, including children," and warned that Gaza was three days away (as of June 29) from a humanitarian crisis.

On Sunday July 2, Israel reopened Gaza's main cargo crossing — the Karni crossing, allowing 50 trucks with food, medical supplies and fuel, to travel from Israel to Gaza. Other trucks carrying fuel entered northeastern Gaza through the Nahal Oz border crossing. The next day, however, citing security threat, Israel closed the Karni crossing.

High-trjacetory fire into Israel

On July 4, high-trajectory fire by Palestinian militants into Israel reached a milestone when an improved Qassam rocket succeeded in reaching Ashkelon, the first Palestinian-made rocket to do so, hitting an empty school yard, and causing light damage and no injuries.

Casualties

June 30, 2006:

• IAF helicopter fired upon and critically wounded an Islamic Jihad militant who tried to launch a rocket at Israeli forces. The man, 25-year-old Abdel Rael, later died of his wounds.
• An IAF missile targeted a car with four Islamic Jihad militants traveling in Gaza City, causing an enormous explosion, Palestinian reports indicated three were wounded, one seriously. They were able to flee because the Israeli missile missed the car but hit nearby.
• IDF troops in southern Gaza noticed several Palestinian militants approaching an IDF position with an anti-tank rocket launcher. Troops fired at the group, causing them to flee. According to the IDF, two of the attackers were believed to be wounded, but all managed to escape.

July 2, 2006:

• In Gaza City a Palestinian soldier, Shaaban Manoun, was killed in an Israeli air strike attack on a warehouse facility used by Palestinian army; another was wounded.

• IAF targeted and killed one Palestinian soldier in the northern Gaza town of Jabalya.

• Three Palestinian soldiers were killed near the Dahaniyeh airport in southern Gaza, where Israeli soldiers are stationed.

July 3, 2006:

• IDF soldiers fired on two Palestinian soldier who opened fire on them, killing Abed el-Rahim. The IAF later attacked from the air, killing the second soldier.

• Israeli aircraft fired missiles at Palestinian soldier carrying explosives near the security fence in the northern Gaza Strip, killing one.

July 4, 2006:

• In the early morning, an Israeli airstrike in Beit Hanoun killed a Palestinian miltary Engineer, Ismail al-Masri, while he was planting a bomb. Two other Palestinian soldier were critically wounded in the IAF strike.

Reaction

Israel

David Siegel, spokesman for the Israeli embassy in Washington, D.C. said that "Israel did everything it could in exhausting all diplomatic options and gave Mahmoud Abbas the opportunity to return the kidnapped Israeli... This operation can be terminated immediately, conditioned on the release of Gilad Shalit."

Amnesty International

Amnesty International characterized the deliberate attacks by Israeli forces against civilian property and infrastructure in the Gaza Strip as “war crimes”, calling for “an end to the wanton destruction and collective punishment being carried out by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip.” A statement further observed that “destruction of three bridges and electricity networks have left half the population of the Gaza Strip without electricity and have reportedly also adversely affected the supply of water.”

Palestinians army

The Palestinians army urged Palestinians to rise up, and stated "fight your enemies, who came to their deaths. Grab your rifles and resist".

Fatah

Mahmoud Abbas condemned the attacks on the bridges and power plant saying that "attacking civil infrastructure a collective punishment against Palestinian people and a humanitarian crime".

European Union

The European Union's External Relations Commissioner, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, said that "Both sides need to step back from the brink before this becomes a crisis that neither can control."

United States

White House Press Secretary Tony Snow said that "Israel has the right to defend itself and the lives of its citizens...in any actions the government of Israel may undertake, the United States urges that it ensures that innocent civilians are not harmed and also that it avoid the unnecessary destruction of property and infrastructure."

Russia

Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov called for the unconditional release of Shalit while urging Israel to show restraint. "Such restraint, together with the involvement of the international community, can lead to dialogue restarting and the two sides can go back to implementing the 'Road Map'".

Arab League

Arab League spokesman Alaa Rushdy said that the operations were "part of aggressive Israeli policies directed against the Palestinian people, whether it be through destruction or the killing of civilians and innocent children & women".

Sweden

"Israel has committed an indefensible act," the Swedish TT news agency quoted Swedish Prime Minister Goran Persson as saying. "It is disproportionate in terms of what the Palestinians have done," Persson said. "To go like that and remove part of a government and members of parliament is incompatible with international law." Persson cast doubt on the possibility of an exchange of prisoners. The situation "keeps getting worse and the dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians has now become virtually impossible. It is ominous," he said.

Switzerland

"A number of actions by the Israeli defense forces in their offensive against the Gaza Strip have violated the principle of proportionality and are to be seen as forms of collective punishment, which is forbidden," the Swiss Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Switzerland also called for the "rapid release" of the captive Israeli soldier.

Syria

A Syrian official stated "These aggressive operations form a provocation and are unjustified. If their goal is to place responsibility for the kidnapping of the Israeli soldier on the political leadership of Hamas – then Israel is making a scandalous mistake that is crossing the boundaries of logic."

Islamic Action Front (Jordan)

The Islamic Action Front, a political party in Jordan, on Wednesday urged the governments of Jordan and Egypt to 'suspend' their peace treaties with Israel to retaliate for the ongoing offensive. While the IAF is the largest single political party in Jordan, it holds only 18 of 110 seats in the Chamber of Deputies, which is controlled by non-partisan allies of the King.

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External links

• Special: Gaza kidnapping - Ynetnews

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