The raid triggered Israel's Operation Summer Rains and led to Gilad Shalit's five-year captivity, reshaping Israeli-Palestinian tensions in Gaza.
Key Facts
- Date of raid
- 25 June 2006
- IDF soldiers killed
- 2
- Palestinian militants killed
- 2
- IDF soldiers wounded
- 4
- Duration of Shalit's captivity
- Over 5 years, released 18 October 2011
- Previous comparable capture
- Nachshon Wachsman, 1994
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Palestinian militant groups cited Israeli shelling and a series of air raids earlier in June 2006 that killed 22 Palestinians as justification for the operation. The Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Popular Resistance Committees, and the Army of Islam coordinated the attack in declared retaliation for those strikes.
On 25 June 2006, seven or eight Palestinian militants from Gaza breached the Israeli border near the Kerem Shalom Crossing through an attack tunnel, engaging IDF positions. Two Israeli soldiers and two militants were killed, four IDF soldiers were wounded, and soldier Gilad Shalit was captured and taken into the Gaza Strip.
Shalit's abduction prompted Israel to launch Operation Summer Rains, a series of military incursions into Gaza. The operation did not secure his release; Shalit was freed only on 18 October 2011 in a prisoner exchange, marking one of the most prolonged Israeli soldier captivity episodes in decades.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Side B
1 belligerent