Operation Bulmus 6

Part of the War of Attrition

Date	July 19, 1969
Location	Green Island, Gulf of Suez
Result	Israeli victory

Belligerents

Israel

Egypt
As-Sa'iqa

Commanders and leaders

Zeev Almog

Ami Ayalon

Major Saad Amin (Garrison commander)

Brigadier Butros Zaghloul (Brigade commander)
Captain Abbas Shehata (Signal Platoon Leader)

Strength

40+Sayeret Matkal and Shayetet 13

Egypt: ~75 infantry, 30 Signalers
As-Sa'iqa: 12 commandos

Casualties and losses

6 killed
11 wounded

80 killed-

Operation Bulmus 6, also known as the Green Island Raid, was a military raid conducted by special operations units of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) against an Egyptian early warning radar and ELINT station located on a small island in the Gulf of Suez on the night of July 19, 1969.

Green Island, or Al Jazeera Al Khadraa, was a fortress built by British forces during World War II. Located 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) south of the city of Suez and the mouth of the Suez Canal, it was a series of concrete bunkers sitting atop an 8-foot-high (2.4 m) seawall, ringed by razor wire three rolls deep. Only 145 metres (476 ft) long and 50 metres (160 ft) wide, the island was heavily defended. Its garrison consisted of approximately seventy Egyptian infantrymen and twelve As-Sa'iqa commandos, fourteen machine gun positions, two 37-mm anti-aircraft guns, and four 85-mm anti-aircraft guns. The island and surrounding area were within range of both Israeli and Egyptian artillery sited on opposite shores of the gulf.

Though the destruction of Egyptian early warning radar and ELINT sites was an ongoing goal during this period, known as the War of Attrition, the raid was as much prompted by a wish to send a "message" to Egypt as it was the actual destruction of the military targets. IDF Chief of Staff Chaim Bar Lev and Minister of Defense Moshe Dayan together decided that Egypt should be shown that no Egyptian position was safe, no matter how well-fortified or impregnable. As a target, Green Island fulfilled both goals. Green Island could have been more easily attacked by Israeli artillery or aircraft with less risk to Israeli life, but a commando raid would send a clear message and, it was hoped, have a negative effect on Egyptian military forces' morale.

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Wikipedia