2011 southern Israel cross-border attacks

2011 southern Israel cross-border attacks
Part of Sinai insurgency and the Gaza–Israel conflict
Site of the attacks
Location	Near the Ein Netafim spring, on Highway 12, Southern Israel
Coordinates	29°35′8.52″N 34°52′52.96″E / 29.5857000°N 34.8813778°E / 29.5857000; 34.8813778
Date	August 18, 2011 (2011-08-18)
Attack type	spree killing, shooting attack, bombings, rocket attack, suicide bombing,firefight
Weapons	AK-47 rifles, RPGs, anti-tank missile, roadside bomb
Deaths	6 Israeli civilians, 1 Israeli soldier, 1 Israeli Yamam policeman, 5 Egyptian soldiers, 10 attackers
Non-fatal injuries	40 Israelis
Perpetrators	Presumably 12 assailants. Israel has stated that the attacks were orchestrated by the Gaza based Popular Resistance Committees, who deny involvement. Egyptian sources report that three of the attackers were Sinai-based Egyptians.

August 2011 Gaza Strip air raids
Part of Israeli–Palestinian conflict
Date August 18–19 Location Southern Gaza Strip Result Israeli military victory
Belligerents
Israel (IDF, ISA)	Hamas Popular Resistance Committees
Commanders and leaders
Benny Gantz (Cos) Ido Nehoshtan (Air Force) Yoram Cohen (Shin Bet)	Ismail Haniyah Kamal al-Nairab (KIA) Immad Hammad (KIA)
Casualties and losses
None	14 Palestinians killed including at least 6 senior PRC militants; "scores" injured

On August 18, 2011, a series of cross-border attacks with parallel attacks and mutual cover was carried out in southern Israel on Highway 12 near the Egyptian border by a squad of presumably 12 militants in four groups. The attacks occurred after Israel's interior security service Shin Bet had warned of an attack by militants in the region and Israeli troops had been stationed in the area. The militants first opened fire at an Egged No. 392 bus as it was traveling on Highway 12 in the Negev near Eilat. Several minutes later, a bomb was detonated next to an Israeli army patrol along Israel's border with Egypt. In a third attack, an anti-tank missile hit a private vehicle, killing four civilians. Eight Israelis – six civilians, one Yamam special unit police sniper and one Golani Brigade soldier—were killed in the multiple-stage attack. The Israel Defense Forces reported eight attackers killed, and Egyptian security forces reported killing another two.

Five Egyptian soldiers were also killed. According to Egypt, they were killed by Israeli security forces chasing militants across the Egyptian border, while an Israeli military officer initially said they were killed by a suicide bomber who had fled across the border into Egypt. The five deaths triggered a diplomatic row between Egypt and Israel and led to mass protests outside the Israeli embassy in Cairo. According to media reports, Egypt threatened to withdraw its ambassador to Israel, but Egypt's foreign minister later denied this. Israel expressed regret over the deaths, and sent a letter of apology to Egypt. The IDF was ordered to conduct a military probe of the incident, and on August 25, 2011, Israel agreed to a joint investigation with Egypt of the events.

The identity of the attackers, three of whom were reportedly Egyptian, is not widely agreed upon, and so far no group took responsibility for the attacks. The Israeli government accused the Palestinian Popular Resistance Committees (PRC), a Gaza-based coalition of Palestinian militant groups, of orchestrating the attacks, but the PRC denies involvement. However, Israel attacked seven targets in the Gaza Strip immediately after the terror attacks in the Negev, killing five members of the PRC, including its leader.