2004 Israeli operation in Rafah

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Operation Rainbow מבצע קשת בענן is a controversial military operation begun in May 18 2004 in the Gaza Strip. Israel says its aim was to clear terrorist infrastructure, to find smuggling tunnels connecting the Gaza Strip to Egypt, and to kill militants after the deaths of 13 Israeli soldiers. Israeli security sources said that operation was also aimed in preventing a shipment of SA-7 Strela-2 shoulder-launched anti-aircraft missiles, AT-3 Sagger anti-tank missiles, and other long-range rockets which are stored on the Egyptian side of the border, to be smuggled through tunnels into the Gaza Strip. [1]


Timeline : Course of action

On May 18, Israeli Defence Forces, mobiled by IDF Achzarit heavy armoured personnel carriers, tanks and back-up by helicopter gunships entered Rafah from the north-eastern Tel-Sultan neigbourhood, after sealing of the entire area in order to prevent movement of miltants inside and outside Rafah.

Israeli armored Caterpillar D9 bulldozers erected sand-barriers around Rafah to isolate it. Later, the D9s entered into the Rafah in order to detonate booby traps, open routes and demolish houses used by militants.

The IDF and the Israeli government have considered to widen the Philadelphi Route (buffer zone), in order to allow a digging of a moat which should block the tunnel's digging ground. As this would require the destruction of even more houses in the area than were destroyed to create the current buffer, the plan was halted in order to find humanitarian solution to the residents of southern Rafah.

During the operation, IDF forces arrested several wanted and exchanged fire with militants. Several bombs and anti-tank missiles have been activated against the armored fighting vehicles but caused no damage.

When Palestinian men responded to IDF calls over loudspeakers to turn themselves in to the IDF authorities for questioning, members of Palestinian terrorists organizations opened fire on them and killed two Palestinian children. A senior officer in Gaza reported yesterday that the IDF have in their possession pictures of this incident, of Palestinians killing their children. The army has not published the pictures. [2]

Most of the operation was focused on Tel Es-Sultan. This came as a surprise to Palestinians, as this area is relatively far from the border with Egypt. According to Palestinian sources, soldiers entered the area shortly after midnight, taking up positions on the rooftops. Only after the 3rd day of action, IDF forces entered "Brazil" section.

A zoo located in or adjacent to the "Brazil" section of the Rafah refugee camp was destroyed during the operation. [3] [4]

Israeli supreme court chief judge professor Aharon Barak, praised the Israeli Defence Forces for their humanitarian aid in Rafah. [5]

During the operation, the IDF claimed to have killed 41 militants and 12 civilians, but claimed that some of them may have been killed by Palestinian fire or explosive charges. Palestinians report 44 killed and 120 wounded, and offered testimony to the killing of many civilians [6].

It is not clear whether the operation was ended, on May 25 2004, the IDF withdrew most of its forces out of Rafah and removed the blockade around it. There are still small IDF forces in Rafah, with the goal of pinpointing smuggling tunnels


"Protesters" incident

A group of Palestinians numbering several hundreds approached Israeli military positions and armored vehicles. When called upon to stop, a smaller group continued to approach. Israeli troops fired tank shells in front of or toward the Palestinians. Approximately 10 Palestinians were killed. In a statement the army claimed the protestors included armed gunmen.[7] Palestinian witnesses claim there were no armed people mingling with the protesters. [8] [9] Palestinian sources initially reported 22 dead and dozens injured. The number was later reduced to 10, a number confirmed by the Red Cross; however, the IDF claims only seven persons were killed, five armed men and two youths. Israeli officers accused the Palestinians of inflating the number of casualties for a greater international effect as was done by the Palestinian Authority in Jenin. [10]

The event caused an outrage among Israeli left-wing activists, and helped fuel an international outcry against the operation in Rafah in a repetition of the effect of inflated claims after Jenin. The IDF issued a statement saying it is sorry of the death of any protestors but denying there was a deliberate shooting over them. The Israeli press reported that a tank shot four shells at a empty house in order to deter protesters from marching toward them. Apparently one shell missed and hit the protestors.

Another explanation being suggested by the IDF is that the shell triggered a chain of explosive charges, planted there few days before by Palestinian militants. [11] Palestinians consider such claims completely baseless. The IDF is investigating the incident.

File:Rafahdeadbodies.jpg File:RafahBodies.jpg These pictures may show bodies not from the protestors' incident.

Results

As of May 23, 2004 only one smuggling tunnel has been found. This tunnel was loaded with explosives. [12] Since then 2 more tunnels have been destroyed. Israel claims more than 40 militants have been killed and an unknown number wounded.

Pictures from Rafah shows a devastated city: most of the roads were damaged due to explosive charges and the counter-measure of using armored bulldozers to plow up the asphalt in order to expose and detonate explosives planted under the roads, thus clearing a way to armored fighting vehicles and troops. On some roads there are still sand-barriers.

File:IsraeliBulldozers.jpg

There are contradicting reports on number of houses demolished. The U.N. relief agency UNRWA and other rights groups said the army had demolished some 180 homes. Later UNRWA changed their version and said only 45 houses were razed, leaving about 575 people homeless. [13] Several UNRWA press releases contain numbers that vary significantly over the course of a few days. (See UNRWA) The Israeli Army reports only 56 structures have been demolished. Additional structures have been damaged to varying degrees due to weapons fire.[14]

Human rights group report on the harsh conditions in Rafah: in some places sewage and water pipes were damaged due to operations by bulldozers, resulting in floods and risk to diseases. According to IDF, Israel offered humanitarian aid and allowed NGOs and welfare organizations to enter Rafah and distribute food and medicines.

As of May 24, 2004 Brigadier-General Shmuel Zakkai, the commander of forces in Gaza reported in press conference that 41 terrorists and 12 civilians have been killed.

"We killed 41 terrorists, found and destroyed three tunnels and a hole, used for digging a tunnel. We arrested terror activists, connected to the building of the tunnels."

Zakkai also said that:

"56 structures have been demolished by the IDF. Most of the buildings that were destroyed were due to fire opened from them on IDF forces, others were demolished because they used for preparing explosives. Additionally, some buildings were damaged because IDF forces were forced to go through them in iorder to advoid explosive charges on the streets. Among the houses were demolished was the house of the terrorist who murdered Tali Hatuel and her 4 daughters."

Source: Hebrew , English 1

Palestinians report that 55 people were killed but claim that "only 12 were known to be armed". They also said more than 70 houses were demolished.

Footnotes

1 Haaretz translation differs little from what appears here (done by the writer) and have some mistakes in content, therefore the Wikipedia translation to the Hebrew source is the one to appear in the body of this article.

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