July 2006 in The Middle East - 12 July 2006 (Wednesday)

12 July 2006 (Wednesday)

• Israeli-Palestinian conflict
  • An Israeli air strike destroys the Palestinian Foreign Ministry Building in Gaza City. (BBC), (AP)
  • An Israeli brigade enters the central Gaza Strip via Kissufim crossing, aiming at temporarily bisecting it. Simultaneously, the Israel Air Force targets a meeting of Hamas operational wing commanders in an apartment building in Gaza city. One Hamas leader, seven members of his family and one neighbour are killed. Top Hamas leaders Mohammed Deif and Abu Anas al-Ghandour, who Israeli officials claim were heavily involved in the kidnapping of Cpl. Gilad Shalit, are moderately wounded. Fourteen additional Palestinian militants are killed in other incidents in the Gaza Strip. (Haaretz), (Ynet), (Reuters)
• 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict starts.
  • Hezbollah militants kidnap two Israeli soldiers patrolling along the northern Israel border. Three soldiers are killed in the incident, and five soldiers are killed in subsequent confrontations inside Lebanon. Hezbollah demands the release of thousands of Palestinian prisoners and one Lebanese prisoner, the killer of two small girls and their father. (Haaretz), (Ynet), (iAfrica)
  • Simultaneously, Hezbollah militants launch Katyusha rockets and mortar shells at Israeli towns along the border, wounding six Israeli civilians and five soldiers. (Haaretz), (Ynet), (iAfrica)
  • Israeli forces attack installations and Hezbollah positions in Lebanon, in failed attempt to thwart the transportation of the kidnapped soldiers from the area. (Haaretz), (Ynet), (iAfrica)
  • Hezbollah's attacks draw international condemnation. The United States, European Union, Japan, UK, Egypt and UN call for the immediate unconditional release of two kidnapped Israeli soldiers. The Syrian government and Hamas praise the attack by Hezbollah. (Haaretz), (Jerusalem Post)
  • Lebanon calls back its ambassador to the US after he expresses support for Hezbollah in US media. (Haaretz), (Jerusalem Post)
  • The United States blame Syria and Iran for the kidnapping of the two Israeli soldiers. (Fox News), (Reuters)
  • Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert describes the Hezbollah attacks as "unjustified acts of war" by Lebanon and promises a "very painful and far-reaching response". (Reuters), (Associated Press)
  • An IDF reserve armoured division is called up in preparation for large scale operations in Lebanon, raising concerns for war. (Haaretz)
  • Israel files a complaint with the UN Security Council and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, urging the international community to enforce council resolutions calling on the Lebanese government to disarm all militias within its borders and to extend its authority throughout its territory and specifically to southern Lebanon and its border with Israel. (Haaretz)