2006 shelling of Beit Hanoun

The 2006 shelling of Beit Hanoun by the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) happened on 8 November, when shells hit a row of houses in the Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanoun, killing 19 Palestinians and wounding more than 40. The shelling followed the IDF's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in completion of a week-long operation codenamed Operation "Autumn Clouds", which the Israeli government claimed had been intended to stop the Qassam rocket attacks on Israel by Palestinian militants. The Israeli government apologized and attributed the incident to a technical malfunction.

Israel claimed the shelling was in response to a Qassam rocket attack from that location, possibly from a car driven into the area. According to the Israeli military, the artillery had misfired due to a malfunction of the guidance system. At least 40 people were wounded. Thirteen of the dead belonged to the same family.

On 15 November 2006, the United Nations Human Rights Council adopted resolution S-3/1 which called for a fact-finding mission, consisting of Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Professor Christine Chinkin of the United Kingdom to travel to Beit Hanoun. The resolution was accepted by a wide margin, with only seven countries opposing and six abstaining.

In reaction to the resolution, the Foreign Affairs Minister of Israel released a statement noting that Israel had already expressed regret regarding the incident, decrying the UN's "ignoring of the ongoing terrorism against Israeli civilians by the Palestinian terrorist organizations", and expecting the UN "to show a more balanced and fairer approach toward Israel and not to automatically adopt any notion from those whose only desire is to discredit Israel."

On three occasions, the mission attempted to travel to Beit Hanoun via Israel. Each of these attempts was frustrated by the refusal of the Government of Israel to cooperate with the mission. The mission finally visited Beit Hanoun from 27 to 29 May 2008.

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