This is a timeline of the 2006 Lebanon War during the month of July.
12 July
Hezbollah At about 9 a.m. local time Hezbollah launched Katyusha rockets across the Lebanese border with Israel as a diversionary tactic, targeting the town of Shlomi and outposts in the Shebaa Farms area. At the same time Hezbollah's military wing staged a cross-border attack in northern Israel on two Israeli Humvees. Three Israeli soldiers were killed, two wounded, and two were captured and taken into Lebanon.
Hezbollah claimed its objective is "to free 10,000 Arabs captured by Israel"."Fulfilling its pledge to liberate the Arab prisoners and detainees, the Islamic Resistance... captured two Israeli soldiers (Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev) at the border with occupied Palestine", Hezbollah said in a statement. 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.(Jerusalem Post)Lebanon Lebanese ambassador to the U.S. Farid Abboud was recalled to Beirut following controversial comments in support of Hezbollah made on CNN. Officials in Beirut claimed that Abboud's view had not represented that of Lebanon, which is opposed to Hezbollah's actions on Israel's northern border.United States The United States condemned what they call Hezbollah's "unprovoked act of terrorism" by saying: "Today Hezbollah terrorists operating from Lebanon kidnapped two Israeli soldiers and launched rocket attacks against civilian targets in Israel. The United States condemns in the strongest terms this unprovoked act of terrorism, which was timed to exacerbate already high tensions in the region and sow further violence. We also hold Syria and Iran, which have provided long-standing support for Hezbollah, responsible for today's violence. We call for the immediate and unconditional release of the Israeli soldiers." The United States blame Syria and Iran for the kidnapping of the two Israeli soldiers.Israel In attempt to pursue the Hezbollah force and release the captured soldiers, an Israeli Merkava Mark II tank was hit by a 200–300 kilogram mine. All 4 crew members were killed. In an attempt to recover the bodies of the soldiers from the burnt tank, another Israeli soldier was hit by Hezbollah fire and killed. 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. Israel retaliated by ground, air and sea attacks. In addition to air strikes on Hezbollah positions, the IDF targeted numerous roads and bridges in southern Lebanon. At least 12 bridges were hit, one Lebanese civilianynet.co.il as well as one Hezbollah fighter were killed. An IDF reserve armoured division is called up in preparation for large scale operations in Lebanon, raising concerns for war. 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".(Associated Press)
13 July
Israel Impose blockade on Lebanon.Israel Israel imposes an air and sea blockade on Lebanon. Israeli fighters attack the Beirut–Damascus Highway, closing the country's main artery and further isolating Lebanon from the outside world. Attack at 7:45 on Beirut's Rafic Hariri International Airport – two main runways damaged. Attack on Rayak Air Base in the Bekaa Valley near the Syrian border, destroying runways, the first attack against Lebanon's army in the 2006 Lebanon war.(Jerusalem Post) Attack small military airport in Qulayaat in northern Lebanon. Israel destroys Hezbollah headquarters and home of its head Hassan Nasrallah in southern Beirut, following repeated early warnings to local civilians. Some 220,000 Israeli civilians spend the night in bomb shelters, after two civilians were killed in rocket attacks. 14 Israelis, including 4 children, remain hospitalized following yesterday's rocket attacks.Hezbollah Hezbollah bombarded the Israeli towns of Nahariya and Safed as well as villages nearby, with about 90 9K51 Grad rockets. The attacks killed two civilians and wounded 29 more. Nasrallah vows to fight "open war" on Israel, striking towns "beyond Haifa". Haifa city is hit by rocket artillery fired from Lebanon. Israeli Ambassador to the United States Daniel Ayalon describes the unprecedented strike on Haifa as a "major, major escalation" by Hezbollah.Lebanon Lebanon announces its refusal to abide UN Security Council's Resolutions 1559 and 1583, calling Lebanon to assert full control over its border with Israel.
14 July
Hezbollah Fired dozens of Katyusha rockets into northern Israel reaching Haifa. Fired two Iranian built C-701 Cruise Missiles of Chinese design – one damages an Israeli Sa'ar 5-class missile boat, the INS Hanit, killing four crew members. The other missile damages a civilian vessel of Egyptian registry. It is later debated whether Hezbollah or Iranian military personnel fired the cruise missiles. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said that Hezbollah is ready for "open war" with Israel.Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the president of Iran, warned Israel of a "fierce response" if it attacks Syria.Syria The ruling party in Syria, Baath, said that Syria fully backs Hezbollah against the "barbaric Israeli aggression".United States US president George W. Bush has said he will urge Israel to avoid civilian casualties in its attacks on Lebanon, but he's "not going to make military decisions for Israel". (Haaretz), (BBC NEWS).IDF
Bombs the airport road in the south of the capital, Beirut. Drops leaflets warning residents to stay away from the Hezbollah offices in southern Beirut, where Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah is thought to live. Bombs the main highway between Beirut and the Syrian capital of Damascus. Attacked the al-Manar television station. A broadcast tower was destroyed and three people were injured, but the station continued its broadcasts. Warships set up a blockade, preventing cruise ships from docking in Beirut and cutting off the delivery of fuel used to operate Lebanese power plants. Airstrikes and artillery shelling of hundreds of targets in Lebanon. Struck the Beirut airport, where helicopter gunships damaged runways and destroyed fuel tanks. Bombs the Jiyeh power station Israel Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert outlined three conditions for the Israeli operation to end: full implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1559 calling for the disarming of Hezbollah, an end to rocket attacks from Lebanon on Israeli towns, and the return of the two abducted soldiers.
15 July
IDF Warships bombard Beirut's lighthouse and four ports. Air force fired a missile at a van in southern Lebanon, killing 20 people, among them 15 children. Raids on north, east and south Lebanon killed 15 people and wounded 37. Lebanon's main commercial ports of Beirut and Tripoli were attacked, as well as ports in the Christian towns of Jounieh and Amsheet. One Lebanese soldier was killed when an army radar station was hit in Batroun north of Beirut. Warplanes flattened Hezbollah's nine-story headquarters and destroyed the office of a Hamas leader, Mohammed Nazzal. Nazzal survived the attack. Israeli navy gunships bombarded an electric power station on the coast at Jiyeh power station, about 25 km south of Beirut. Israel Air Force strikes Hezbollah targets and facilities in Lebanon. An Israeli general says all Lebanese coastal radars were destroyed, after they took part in the attack on an Israeli missile boat on Friday, killing 4 soldiers.Artists Lebanese artist Mazen Kerbaj took his trumpet to his apartment's balcony and recorded an improvisational duet with the Israeli military force. Later, he titled this sound piece "Starry Night."Hezbollah Fires 20 rockets into Haifa, killing 8 and wounding 20. 10 rockets also fired into Tiberius for the first time, forcing many displaced Israeli civilians who came to the city for shelter from northern cities farther south – total of more than a hundred Katyusha. Israeli defense minister Amir Peretz is about to sign a "home front emergency" declaration, enabling local security forces to shut down schools and close certain areas for traffic, narrowing the damages of the expanding fighting.(Haaretz), (Ynet)United Nations United Nations Security Council turns down for now a Lebanese request to impose a cease-fire. Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert told UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan that Israel would not end its military operation in Lebanon until the implementation of UNSC Resolution 1559, which calls for disarming Hezbollah and the deployment of the Lebanese army in southern Lebanon. (Haaretz), (SF Gate)United States US president George W. Bush calls for Syria to urge Hezbollah to "lay down its arms and to stop attacking". Russian defense minister Sergei Ivanov calls Hezbollah to "cease using terrorist methods, including attacks on neighboring countries". The presidents of the United States and Russia differ in emphasis in voicing concern about the Lebanon crisis at the 32nd G8 summit in Strelna.
16 July
Hezbollah Nazareth and Afula are hit by Hezbollah rockets, reaching the deepest of all rockets fired by the militant group. Hezbollah rockets hit the major Israeli city of Haifa, killing 8 civilians and wounding 17. Local train lines and universities closed down.(Haaretz), (BBC), (Al-Jazeera) , (CBS), (Jerusalem post)Israel Israel increases the alert level in Tel Aviv in preparation to further attacks.(Haaretz), (Reuters)
IDF Lebanon security officials claim that an Israeli air strike on Tyre kills at least 16 people and wounds 42.(AP), (BBC) 25 Lebanese are killed in Israeli Air Force strikes in southern Lebanon.(BBC), (Ynet), , (Haaretz) Among the dead were seven Canadians, with six other Canadians critically wounded. Air attacks on Beirut's southern suburbs, continued through the day and evening.
17 July
IDF Israeli air strikes targeted a Hezbollah stronghold in Lebanon, which killed 17 combatants. Hezbollah retaliated by firing away Katyusha rockets thirty-five miles south of the Lebanese border, which landed in the northern Israeli town of Atlit; although, there were no casualties reported. Some Israeli ground troops briefly entered into Lebanon, its southern portion, with the intent of completing a mission of attacking Hezbollah bases on the border. At least 10 Lebanese have died in an Israeli attack on their vehicles in the south of the country, sources say.(BBC NEWS) Israel extends its air campaign to northernmost Lebanon, killing at least 14, among them 9 soldiers, after Hezbollah rockets hit Haifa. (BBC), (Haaretz), (Al-Jazeera) Israel claims to have destroyed a long-range Iranian missile capable of hitting Tel Aviv in an airstrike on Lebanon. (India Daily)United Nations / United Kingdom U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan and UK Prime Minister Tony Blair urge an international stabilization force to the Mideast to stop the cross-border fighting. Israel responds that it is too early to call for a UN force.Hezbollah Three rounds of Hezbollah rockets struck the Israeli port city of Haifa, that wounded two people and partially destroyed a three-story building. Rockets were also reported to have hit the town of Atlit, 35 miles south of the border and 5 miles south of Haifa. No injuries were reported. Zeev Hospital at Zefat was damaged by a rocket of HezbollahIsrael