Operation Autumn Clouds

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Operation Autumn Clouds
Part of al-Aqsa Intifada

Israeli troops prepare to move into Gaza.
Date October 31, – November 7, 2006 [1]
Location Beit Hanoun, Gaza Strip
Result Ongoing
Casus belli Palestinian rocket attacks into Israel
Combatants
Flag of Israel Israel (Israel Defense Forces and Israeli Security Forces) Hamas
Popular Resistance Committees,
al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades,
Jaish al-Islam
Commanders
Dan Halutz (Chief of Staff)
Yoav Galant (Regional)
Khaled Mashal (Leader of Hamas[1])
Mohammed Deif (Leader of Hamas' military wing)
Casualties
1 killed[2]
3 civilians wounded
53 killed (38militants + 15civilians)
200 wounded [3]
Al-Aqsa Intifada
Noah’s Ark – Defensive Shield – Ain es Saheb – Rainbow – Days of Penitence – Summer Rains  – Autumn Clouds

Operation Autumn Clouds (Hebrew: מבצע ענני סתיו, Mivtza Ananei Stav) is an Israeli military operation that began on 1 November 2006 when the Israeli Defense Forces entered the Gaza Strip triggering sporadic fighting near Beit Hanoun. The operation is the largest military endeavor undertaken by the Israeli military since Operation Summer Rains.[2]The operation was launched to stop Palestinian rocket attacks into Israel.

On 5 November Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said the operation would continue until Palestinian rocket attacks significantly decreased. He did not give a timetable for the withdrawal.[3]

Earlier November 5 four Qassam rockets fired from northern Gaza struck Sderot, causing one person to go into shock, and shattering hopes of a quick end to the widening IDF Gaza operation.[4]

Palestinian government officials said on 7 November that IDF troops were beginning to withdraw, thus ending the operation. Fifty-three Palestinians, including 16 civilians, and an IDF soldier, were killed since October 31.[5]

[edit] Aftermath

Numerous buildings in Beit Hanoun bore the scars of tank shells and one mosque was left with only its minaret standing, AFP reported. Tens of thousands of residents had been ordered to stay indoors, leading to shortages of electricity and water. [4]

One day after the Israeli retreat, 19 Palestinian civilians were killed by an Israeli artillery shelling of a family house in Beit Hanoun. The shelling came to disrupt Grad and Qassam rockets attack on Sderot and Ashkelon.

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