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| Operation Summer Rain | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Arab-Israeli conflict | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Israel Defense Forces | |||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 3,000 | Unknown | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Unknown | Unknown | ||||||
Operation Summer Rain is the codename for an Israeli military operation into the Gaza Strip that began June 28th, 2006. The operation was precipitated when a raid by the military wing of Hamas on an Israeli military post outside of Strip resulted in the deaths of three Palestinian militants and two Israeli soldiers, and the abduction of Israeli Defence Force soldier Gilad Shalit.
Israeli forces entered Khan Yunis on June 28, 2006 to search for Shalit. Several bridges were destroyed to effectively cut the Gaza Strip in half. Power was also cut to most of the Gaza Strip in an effort to make it more difficult for the militants to communicate. Airstrikes were carried out on Hamas training, and munitions camps, though no casualties were reported.
As night fell, the IDF began shelling locations in Gaza with artillery.
Reaction
Mahmoud Abbas condemned the operation, labelling it "a crime against humanity" and warning that it would "destroy the Palestinians' daily lives but serve no other purpose".
According to David Siegel, a spokesman at the Israeli embassy in Washington, D.C., "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."
References
- Israeli attacks mass punishment, crime against humanity -- Abbas, KUNA, 28 June, 2006
- David Rosenberg, Israeli Army Enters Gaza to Find Kidnapped Soldier, Bloomberg.com, 28 June, 2006