Operation "Summer Rains"
On June 25, 2006, a terror attack occurred near Kibbutz
Kerem Shalom, south of the Gaza Strip, killing two soldiers and kidnapping one
– Gilad Shalit. Following the incident
the IDF launched operation "Summer Rains," June 28 – November 26,
2006. It consisted of a series of ground and air attacks against terror targets
in the Gaza Strip, for the first time since the Israeli disengagement in 2005.
5 Israelis and 394 Palestinians were killed during these operations. Three
weeks later the "Second Lebanon War" broke out (July 12, 2006),
following the kidnapping of two IDF soldiers by the Hezbollah organization.
During the war the IAF attacked multiple targets in Lebanon, and IDF ground
forces reached as far as the Litani River. The Hezbollah launched rockets and
missiles at Israel's civilian rear, causing much damage to life and property
and disrupting normal life. 121 soldiers and 68 civilians were killed, 1,242
soldiers and 1,415 civilians were injured during the war which ended on August
14, 2006.