Operation Summer Rains
Operation "Summer Rains" (Hebrew: מבצע גשמי שמים, 'Mivtsa Gishmey Shamaim') was the first IDF ground operation in the Gaza Strip since Israel's unilateral disengagement from the Strip in 2005. It was the first step of a larger operation with the stated goals of stopping rocket fire from the southern Gaza Strip and securing the release of Corporal Gilad Shalit, a soldier kidnapped from within Israeli territory by three terrorists affiliated with the Hamas terrorist organization, Popular Resistance Committees, and Army of Islam.
The State of Israel announced from the beginning of the operation that the goal was not to reconquer the Gaza Strip, but rather that the IDF would withdraw at the end of the operation, and that the operation would end in the release of Gilad Shalit.
30.10.17
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Soldiers of the Paratroopers Brigade during Operation Summer Rains
Israeli forces entered the city of Khan Yunis
Beginning of the operation: incursion into the southern Gaza Strip and unsuccessful attempts to liberate Gilad Shalit
On June 28, 2006, Israeli forces entered the town of Khan Yunis in order to locate Shalit. The Israeli Air Force bombarded strategic targets in Gaza City to enable a possible transfer of Gilad Shalit. In addition, an IDF ground force seized Dahaniya International Airport, now known as Yasser Arafat International Airport, in the southeast of the Gaza Strip. This airport was an observation point and strategic control of the Rafah and southern parts of the Gaza Strip.
On the evening of June 28, Israeli troops concentrated on the northern Gaza Strip to attack the strategic positions from which the rockets were fired. On June 29, many Israeli ships bombarded Qassam rocket launch sites. Thousands of leaflets were dropped over the cities of Beit Lahia and Beit Hanoun to warn the civilian population of imminent bombardments in these areas, which housed many rocket launch sites.
Targeted bombardments and incursion into the northern Gaza Strip
Given the refusal of Hamas leaders to negotiate for the liberation of Gilad Shalit, the IDF began a targeted bombing phase on June 30, against Fatah offices, Hamas buildings, and the unoccupied office of Palestinian Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh. On July 4, the operation took a turn when Palestinian militants succeeded in firing an improved Qassam rocket into downtown Ashkelon, hitting an empty schoolyard.
Faced with this increased threat, the IDF was ordered to make an incursion into the northern Gaza Strip in order to repel the Palestinian rocket militants and put them out of reach of Ashkelon and other coastal towns.
The wider military operation continued until a ceasefire was signed on November 26, 2006.
Cross-Strait Tunnels in the Gaza Strip
