Operation Rainbow
Operation Rainbow (In
Hebrew,
Mivtza Keshet Be-Anan, מבצע קשת בענן) is a controversial
military operation which began on
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 in
guerrilla attacks. Israeli security sources said that operation was also aimed at preventing a shipment of
Strela-2 (SA-7 Grail) shoulder-launched
anti-aircraft missiles,
AT-3 Sagger anti-tank guided missiles, and other long-range rockets which are stored on the Egyptian side of the border from being smuggled through tunnels into the Gaza Strip. [
1]
On
May 11 and
May 12, two
armoured personnel carriers of Givati's
Dolev combat engineering battalion were destroyed by Palestinian militants. The two separate attacks, in Gaza City's
Zeitoun neigbourhood and the
Philadelphi Route near
Rafah and the
Egyptian border, claimed the lives of 11 soldiers. Palestinian
Islamic Jihad guerrillas took parts of the remains, mutilating the bodies and disgracing them. [
2] That caused an outrage in Israel, eventually leading to a massive operation in the neighbourhood of Zeitoun and in Rafah. [
3],[
4] After international pressure and aggressive Israeli operation in Zeitoun, the bodies of soldiers killed in Zeitoun were returned to Israel and were properly buried.
|
Heavily armed Palestinian boarding UNRWA ambulance, Gaza - Zaitoun, May 11, 2004. |
In the Zaitoun incident,
UNRWA ambulances were allegedly used by militants as transportation for themselves, and perhaps the bodily remains of Israeli soldiers dismembered in the explosion of armored personnel carriers carrying explosives to be used in destroying
smuggling tunnels. A
Reuters video shows armed militants boarding and being transported by a UNRWA ambulance. In
his interview with
Haaretz, Israel's Defense Minister
Shaul Mofaz also said that UNRWA's ambulances were used by Palestinian militants in order to smuggle some of the remains of IDF soldiers killed in Zaitoun neigbourhood in
Gaza on
May 11,
2004. UNRWA confirmed the incident and offered the explanation that the militants forced the driver to take them, but denied they carried body parts.
After two more soldiers killed in
Rafah while securing their comrades who searched for the remains of Rafah's fallen, include an incident where one was shot by militants while assisting an old Palestinian women,
Israel launched Operation Rainbow which involved
Givati forces, reinforced by
Golani Brigade soldiers with
IDF Achzarit HAPCs, a battlion of officers from the squad-commanders school and several
Caterpillar D9 armoured bulldozers. The aim of Operation Rainbow was to destroy the infrastructure of Rafah, destroy
smuggling tunnels and stop illegal missile shipment.
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 off the entire area in order to prevent movement of miltants into and out of Rafah.
Israeli
Caterpillar D9 armoured 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 widening the
Philadelphi Route (buffer zone), in order to allow a digging of a
moat which would block the excavation of tunnels in future. As this would require the destruction of even more houses in the area than were destroyed to create the current buffer, the plan was abandoned in order to find a more humanitarian solution for the residents of southern
Rafah.
During the operation, IDF forces arrested several wanted people and exchanged fire with militants. Several bombs and
anti-tank missiles were fired 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 militant organizations opened fire on them and killed two Palestinian children. A senior officer in Gaza reported that the IDF have in their possession pictures of this incident, of Palestinians killing their children. The army has not published the pictures.
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 the "Brazil" section.
A
zoo located in or adjacent to the "Brazil" section of the
Rafah refugee camp was destroyed during the operation. [
5] [
6]
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 of the killing of many civilians [
7].
On
May 25 2004, the IDF withdrew most of its forces out of Rafah and removed the blockade around it. However, there were still small IDF forces in Rafah, with the goal of pinpointing smuggling tunnels. On
June 1 the operation officially ended.
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.[
8] Palestinian witnesses claim there were no armed people mingling with the protesters. [
9] [
10] 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 performed by the
Palestinian Authority in
Jenin.
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 for the death of any protestors but denying they deliberately shot them. The Israeli press reported that a
tank shot four shells at an 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 a few days before by Palestinian militants. [
11] Palestinians consider such claims completely baseless. The IDF is investigating the incident.
As of
May 23,
2004 only one smuggling tunnel had been found. That 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 action of using
armored bulldozers to plow up the
asphalt in order to expose and detonate explosives planted under the roads, thus clearing a way for
armored fighting vehicles and troops. On some roads there are still sand-barriers.
There are contradictary reports on the 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 claims 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 of disease. According to the IDF, Israel offered
humanitarian aid and allowed NGOs and welfare organizations to enter Rafah and distribute food and medicine. Israeli
supreme court chief judge professor
Aharon Barak, praised the
Israeli Defence Forces for their
humanitarian aid in Rafah. [
15]
As of
May 24,
2004 Brigadier-General
Shmuel Zakai, the commander of forces in
Gaza reported in a press conference that 41 terrorists and 12 civilians had 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 being fired upon by IDF forces and others were demolished because they used for preparing explosives. Additionally, some buildings were damaged because IDF forces were forced to go through them in order to avoid explosive charges on the streets. Among the houses demolished is the house of the terrorist who murdered
Tali Hatuel and her 4 daughters."Source:
Hebrew,
English 1Palestinians 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.
1 Haaretz
translation differs little from what appears here and has some mistakes in content, therefore the Wikipedia translation of the
Hebrew source is the one to appear in the body of this article.
*
Summary Of Briefing Held 24 May 2004 By GOC Southern Command/Reference to: Palestinian Terrorists kills Palestinian Children *
Briefing - Gaza Division Commander, Brigadier-General Shmuel Zakai*
PMW:PA called "Women, Children and Elderly" to Wednesday's Battle*
Israel Launches Largest Offensive in Gaza Since 1967*
Israel Defies World Outcry, Expands Gaza Offensive*
IDF Humanitarian aid in Rafah (
Israeli Defence Force statement)
*
Haaretz report - UNRWA: 45 housed were razed. IDF: we killed 40 terrorists, Palestinians killed 2 children.
