The day was 12th July, 2006. Hezbollah, a Lebanon-based Islamic terror outfit, launched an unprovoked attack on Israel. The terrorists fired artillery rockets and mortal shells in the towns of Shlomi and Zar’it in Northern Israel, injuring five civilians.
They also targeted military outposts and infiltrated into the Israeli territory from the Lebanese side of the border. At about 9 o’clock in the morning on 12th July 2006, two armoured jeeps, carrying reserved Israeli soldiers, were ambushed between Moshav Zar’it and Moshav Shtula by Hezbollah.
The convoy was attacked with anti-tank missiles and explosives. Three soldiers were killed instantly while three others were severely injured. The Hezbollah terrorists also abducted two Israeli soldiers named Ehud (Udi) Goldwasser and Eldad Regev.
They managed to flee using an escape vehicle, which was waiting on the other side of the fence. The attack was so abrupt that the Israeli soldiers could not even fire a single shot.
It was only 45 minutes after the attack that a contingent of 8 soldiers and officers arrived at the scene and gauged the severity of the situation. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) swung into action and conducted aerial surveillance.
A helicopter and an Israeli armoured personnel carrier were also dispatched to Lebanon to trace the abducted soldiers. While travelling close to a Hezbollah terror camp, the ‘Merkava Mk III’ tank was attacked by an Improvised Explosive Device (IED), laden with 200-300 kg of explosives.
Four Israeli soldiers onboard the armoured personnel carrier was killed. Another IDF personnel was killed by mortar fire while trying to recover the bodies of the fallen soldiers. In total, 8 soldiers were killed while two remained in captivity of Hezbollah by the end of 12th July, 2006.
Israel declares war against Hezbollah
The then Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, described the actions of Hezbollah as an ‘act of war.’ He had said, “These are difficult days for the state of Israel and its citizens…There are people…who are trying to test our resolve. They will fail, and they will pay a heavy price for their actions.”
And then began a 34-day-long military excursion by Israel against Hezbollah and the Lebanese government. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) conducted airstrikes and destroyed transport routes to prevent the terrorists from taking the abducted Israeli soldiers further away from the border.
The Israeli Air Force (IAF) wiped out 59 Iranian Missile Launchers, which were in possession of Hezbollah, on the 2nd day of conflict. This averted a possible strike on Tel Aviv by the Islamist terror outfit.
On July 16, 2006, the Israeli Cabinet declared [pdf], “Israel is not fighting Lebanon but the terrorist element there, led by Nasrallah and his cohorts, who have made Lebanon a hostage and created Syrian- and Iranian-sponsored terrorist enclaves of murder.”
Over the following days, Israel clamped down on Hezbollah terrorists. Lebanon’s infrastructure, including bridges, buildings, vital facilities, transport hubs, and industrial structures were decimated to the ground.
The Jewish State also deployed up to 7,000 troops into Lebanon, intensifying their ground offensive against the Hezbollah terrorists. The operation was backed by air support, tanks, and armoured bulldozers, targeting multiple areas along the border.
Israeli forces moved up to four and a half miles inside Lebanon, engaging Hezbollah terrorists and dismantling their outposts and infrastructure. Numerous airstrikes were conducted in support of ground operations.
The targets included Hezbollah terrorists , missile launchers, launching sites, and routes used to transport weapons from Syria. Additionally, suspected trucks carrying weapons near the Syrian border were targeted, intensifying the air campaign.
House-to-house battles ensued between Israeli forces and hundreds of Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanese towns and villages near the border. Israel faced the loss of 43 civilians, mainly due to indiscriminate rocket attacks by Hezbollah. About 117 Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers were martyred in the conflict.
The two kidnapped soldiers, Ehud (Udi) Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, had also succumbed to their injuries. Hezbollah terrorist Khalid Bazzi, who orchestrated the terror attack on Israel, was neutralised in an air strike during the 34-day war.
Besides, 150-170 Hezbollah terrorists and 43 Lebanese security force personnel were also executed. A cease-fire agreement was eventually reached between the two sides on August 14, 2006.
A lesson learnt by Hezbollah
Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak (199-2001) had warned the Islamist terror group, shortly after its misadventure in Northern Israel.
“You think you can just do crazy stuff like kidnap our people and we will treat this as a little border dispute. We may look Western, but the modern Jewish state has survived as ‘a villa in the jungle’ because if push comes to shove, we are willing to play by the local rules. Have no illusions about that. You will not outcrazy us out of this neighbourhood,” he had said.
Hezbollah evidently miscalculated the response from the Israeli side after it killed 8 of their soldiers and abducted 2 of them (who eventually died). The pounding of Hezbollah targets by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) was so ferocious that Hezbollah supremo Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah regretted attacking the Jewish State.
While speaking to Lebanon-based New TV, the Hezbollah terrorist lamented, “We did not think, even one per cent, that the capture would lead to a war at this time and of this magnitude. You ask me, if I had known on July 11 … that the operation would lead to such a war, would I do it? I say no, absolutely not”
Hamas paying the price for terror attack on Israel
While Hezbollah was quick to learn its lesson in 2006, Gaza-based Hamas terrorists are yet to learn their lesson.
On 7th October, hundreds of Hamas terrorists infiltrated Israel through various means, overwhelming the Iron Dome with 5,000 rockets in a few minutes. They also abducted hostages and took them to Gaza.
In a counterattack on Hamas by Israeli forces, more than 1,500 Hamas terrorists have been reportedly killed amid the Israel-Hamas war. While hunting for the Hamas terrorists, IDF said it had been actively looking for the hostages.
The death toll in Israel from the Hamas attack has now surpassed 1,300, with over 3,300 injured, primarily civilians. Israel launched a major offensive against Hamas in Gaza, restricting power and water supply and blocking essential goods from entering the region.
On 14th October, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced that it was completing preparations for “significant ground operations” in the Gaza Strip.
According to IDF, they are preparing to “expand the offensive” by putting in place a “wide range of offensive operational plans” that would include “joint and coordinated attack from the air, sea and land,” reported Times of Israel.
An important message for the world to hear from the IDF International Spokesperson, Lt. Col. Richard Hecht. pic.twitter.com/e9rmcgLgex
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 15, 2023
IDF International Spokesperson Lt Col Richard Hecht issued a video statement that urged civilians from the Gaza Strip to evacuate immediately.
He emphasised that the objective of IDF is to protect the people of Israel from the ongoing attacks of the terrorist organisation Hamas, which had initiated the war with a brutal massacre.
Hamas possibly did not anticipate such a strong counter-reaction from the State of Israel. With the Jewish State now determined to crush the terror outfit completely, Hamas terrorists are running for cover.
