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| |{{Campaignbox Lebanon 2006}} | |{{Campaignbox Lebanon 2006}} | ||
| |} | |} | ||
| The '''Zar'it-Shtula incident''' was a |
The '''Zar'it-Shtula incident''' was a attack committed by ]-based ] special forces on an ]i military patrol on ] ] on Israeli territory. The operation was originally named "Freedom for ] and his brothers" by Hezbollah, but it was shortened to "'''Operation Truthful Promise'''".<ref>{{cite web | ||
| |url=http://www.upc.org.uk/hasann12jul06.html | |url=http://www.upc.org.uk/hasann12jul06.html | ||
| |title=Press Conference with Hasan Nasrallah | |title=Press Conference with Hasan Nasrallah | ||
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| |work=UNDERSTANDING THE PRESENT CRISIS | |work=UNDERSTANDING THE PRESENT CRISIS | ||
| |publisher=]}} (Link is dead but available via the ] ) | |publisher=]}} (Link is dead but available via the ] ) | ||
| </ref> |
</ref>. Hezbollah militants attacked and ambushed two ] vehicles, killing three Israeli soldiers and capturing two. Hezbollah demanded the release of Lebanese prisoners held by Israel in exchange for the release of the abducted soldiers. Israel refused and launched a large-scale military campaign across Lebanon in response to the Hezbollah incursion. This marked the start of the ]. | ||
| ==Planning phase== | ==Planning phase== | ||
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| ==The incident== | ==The incident== | ||
| At around 9:00 a.m. local time (06:00 ]), on ] ], Hezbollah initiated a ] ] rocket and mortar attack on Israeli military positions and border villages, including Zar'it and ].<ref name="HRTZ_Harel">{{cite web | |||
| |url=http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=737825 | |||
| |title=Hezbollah kills 8 soldiers, kidnaps two in offensive on northern border | |||
| |accessdate=2006-08-13 | |||
| |last=Harel | |||
| |first=Amos | |||
| |date=],] | |||
| |publisher=]}} | |||
| </ref><ref name="wsh">{{cite web | |||
| |url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/12/AR2006071200262_pf.html | |||
| |title=Hezbollah Raid Opens 2nd Front for Israel | |||
| |accessdate=2006-08-18 | |||
| |date=],] | |||
| |publisher=]}}</ref><ref></ref><ref></ref><ref></ref><ref>{{cite news | title= Day-by-day: Lebanon crisis - week one | |||
| | date=July 19, 2006 | publisher=] | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5179434.stm}}</ref> | |||
| A ground contingent of Hezbollah fighters |
A ground contingent of Hezbollah fighters attacked two Israeli armoured ]s patrolling on the Lebanese side of the ] between the villages of ] and Shtula (Shetula). The attackers took advantage of a "dead zone" in the border fence not visible from any of the IDF lookout posts and may have used a wheeled ladder to climb the fence.<ref name="HRTZ_Harel" /> After hiding in a ] on the Lebanese side of the fence they attacked with a combination of pre-positioned explosives and ]s. The team knocked out the trailing Humvee, killing three soldiers inside, and captured two soldiers from the first vehicle.<ref name=wilson/> "Another soldier was seriously wounded, another lightly wounded and a third suffered a shrapnel scratch." The entire incident took no more than 10 minutes.<ref name="HRTZ_Harel" /> | ||
| A total of seven army posts "reported taking fire at the same time, coordinated attacks that knocked out surveillance cameras." The attack had knocked out command communications with the convoy. Twenty minutes passed until Staff Sgts. ], 31, and ], 26, were confirmed to be missing from the first vehicle, while the gunmen "fled through olive orchards to the Lebanese border village of ]."<ref name=wilson/> | A total of seven army posts "reported taking fire at the same time, coordinated attacks that knocked out surveillance cameras." The attack had knocked out command communications with the convoy. Twenty minutes passed until Staff Sgts. ], 31, and ], 26, were confirmed to be missing from the first vehicle, while the gunmen "fled through olive orchards to the Lebanese border village of ]."<ref name=wilson/> | ||
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The Zar'it-Shtula incident was a attack committed by Lebanon-based Hezbollah special forces on an Israeli military patrol on 12 July 2006 on Israeli territory. The operation was originally named "Freedom for Samir Al-Quntar and his brothers" by Hezbollah, but it was shortened to "Operation Truthful Promise".. Hezbollah militants attacked and ambushed two Israeli Army vehicles, killing three Israeli soldiers and capturing two. Hezbollah demanded the release of Lebanese prisoners held by Israel in exchange for the release of the abducted soldiers. Israel refused and launched a large-scale military campaign across Lebanon in response to the Hezbollah incursion. This marked the start of the 2006 Lebanon War.
Planning phase
In the months leading up to the attack, Lt. Col. Ishai Efroni reported seeing increased activity across the fenceline, including more brazen Hezbollah patrols. He had repeatedly seen burden-laden donkeys, which he had believed were being led by innocent farmers, but after the incident suspected were laden with arms and equipment. After a rocket attack on May 28, the colonel, who at 41 had spent much of his career along the northern border, "got the feeling something had changed."
Hezbollah had carved a hollow from the underbrush, just above the Israeli border patrol track. The "camp was stocked with food, water, radios, rifles, antitank missiles and diagrams detailing the insignia and size of Israeli military units."
The incident
A ground contingent of Hezbollah fighters attacked two Israeli armoured Humvees patrolling on the Lebanese side of the Israel-Lebanon border between the villages of Zar'it and Shtula (Shetula). The attackers took advantage of a "dead zone" in the border fence not visible from any of the IDF lookout posts and may have used a wheeled ladder to climb the fence. After hiding in a wadi on the Lebanese side of the fence they attacked with a combination of pre-positioned explosives and anti-tank missiles. The team knocked out the trailing Humvee, killing three soldiers inside, and captured two soldiers from the first vehicle. "Another soldier was seriously wounded, another lightly wounded and a third suffered a shrapnel scratch." The entire incident took no more than 10 minutes.
A total of seven army posts "reported taking fire at the same time, coordinated attacks that knocked out surveillance cameras." The attack had knocked out command communications with the convoy. Twenty minutes passed until Staff Sgts. Ehud Goldwasser, 31, and Eldad Regev, 26, were confirmed to be missing from the first vehicle, while the gunmen "fled through olive orchards to the Lebanese border village of Aita al-Shaab."
Lt. Col. Ishai Efroni, deputy commander of the Baram Brigade, sent a Merkava Mark II tank, an armored personnel carrier and a helicopter in pursuit. Crossing into Lebanon, they headed down a dirt track lined with Lebanese border defenses. When it "unexpectedly veered onto the road near a known Hezbollah post" the resulting blast was "enormous, killing the four soldiers inside instantly." A fifth soldier died during an ensuing firefight while attempting to recover their bodies.
Aftermath
The IDF confirmed the capture of the two Israeli soldiers on 13 July. They were both reservists on their last day of operational duty.
Hezbollah released a statement saying "Implementing our promise to free Arab prisoners in Israeli jails, our strugglers have captured two Israeli soldiers in southern Lebanon." Later on, Hassan Nasrallah declared that "No military operation will return them…he prisoners will not be returned except through one way: indirect negotiations and a trade of prisoners." No Hezbollah casualties were reported.
On 6 August the IDF announced one of the Hezbollah participants was captured in a commando operation.
On 27 August the Hezbollah chief Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah has said he would not have ordered the abduction of two Israeli soldiers if he had known it would lead to such a war. "Had we known that the kidnapping of the soldiers would have led to this, we would definitely not have done it," he said in an interview on Lebanese TV. On the other side, however; Israeli P.M. Ehud Olmert testified before the Winograd Commission that he had fully planned for an intensive war upon a kidnapping as early as March.
Nasrallah stated on 31 October 2006 that indirect talks with Israel on hostage return had begun.
Haaretz reported in March 2007 that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert testified to the Winograd Commission that several meetings regarding Hezbollah were held upon his taking office, and that in response to the likely scenario of soldiers again being abducted, he chose one of several plans of action instead of having to make a snap-judgement if and when such a scenario occurred.
On 6 December 2006, a previously classified report released by Israel stated that the two soldiers were critically wounded during the abduction. On 15 July 2007, a year after the incident, France's foreign minister Bernard Kouchner said he believes the Israeli soldiers are still alive, having spoken with Hezbollah officials attending a conference near Paris.
See also
References
- "Press Conference with Hasan Nasrallah". UNDERSTANDING THE PRESENT CRISIS. UPC. 12 July 2006. Retrieved 2006-11-13.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) (Link is dead but available via the Internet Archive ) - ^ Wilson, Scott (2006-10-21). "Israeli War Plan Had No Exit Strategy: Forecast of 'Diminishing Returns' in Lebanon Fractured Unity in Cabinet". Jerusalem: Washington Post. Retrieved 21 October.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ Cite error: The named reference
HRTZ_Harelwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - Harel, Amos (July 14,2006). "IDF retrieves bodies of four tank soldiers killed in south Lebanon". Haaretz. Retrieved 2006-08-13.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - "IDF retrieves bodies of four tank soldiers killed in south Lebanon". Haaretz. 2006-07-14. Retrieved 2006-07-16.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - "Kidnapped soldier's kin: Stop the killing". CNN. 2006-07-21.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - "Hezbollah captures two Israeli soldiers". 2006-07-12.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - "Hizbullah leader calls for prisoner exchange".
- "IDF says holding soldiers' abductor; 3 soldiers hurt in Lebanon". Haaretz. 2006-08-06.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - "Nasrallah sorry for scale of war". BBC News. 2006-08-27. Retrieved 1 November.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - "Hezbollah confirms Israel talks", BBC News, 1 November 2006
- Aluf Benn (March 08, 2007). "PM: War planned months in advance". Haaretz. Retrieved 2007-05-09.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - Robert Berger (December 06, 2006). CBS News http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/12/06/world/main2233993.shtml. Retrieved 2007-05-09.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Missing or empty|title=(help); Text "title:Captured Israeli soldiers may be dead" ignored (help) - Tovah Lazaroff (December 05, 2006). "EU envoy: No proof that Eldad and Goldwasser are alive". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 2007-05-09.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - "Olmert: No Hezbollah prisoner swap if Israelis dead - report". Reuters. December 01, 2006. Retrieved 2007-05-09.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - Jack Khoury (November 29, 2006). "Red Cross: No signs of life from abducted IDF troops in Lebanon". Haaretz. Retrieved 2007-05-09.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - Captured Israeli troops 'alive', BBC Sport 2007-07-11. Retrieved on 2007-11-12.