Operation Defensive Shield
| Operation "Defensive Shield" | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Second Intifada | |||||
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| Belligerents | |||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||
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| Strength | |||||
| 20,000 | 10,000 | ||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||
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497 killed (according to UN) 1,447 wounded 7,000 detained |
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Operation "Defensive Shield" (Hebrew: מבצע חומת מגן Mivtza Homat Magen, literally "Operation Defensive Wall") was a large-scale military operation conducted by the Israel Defense Forces in 2002 during the course of the Second Intifada. It was the largest military operation in the West Bank since the 1967 Six-Day War. The stated goal of the operation was to stop terrorist attacks. The spark that gave rise to the action was the March 27 suicide bombing during Passover Seder at the Park Hotel in the Israeli resort city of Netanya; a Palestinian suicide bomber killed 30 mostly elderly vacationers.
Operation Defensive Shield began on March 29, 2002, with an incursion into Ramallah placing Yasser Arafat under siege in his Ramallah compound, followed by incursions into the six largest cities in the West Bank, and their surrounding localities. The Israel Defense Forces invaded Tulkarm and Qalqilya on April 1, Bethlehem the next day, Jenin and Nablus the next. From April 3–21, the period was characterized by strict curfews on civilian populations and restrictions of movement of international personnel, including at times prohibition of entry to humanitarian and medical personnel as well as human rights monitors and journalists.
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