Operation Kinereth

Operation Olive Leaves

Ariel Sharon (left), overall commander of Operation Olive Leaves, consults with Aharon Davidi (center), commander of the 771 Reserve Paratroop Battalion and Company Commander Yitzchak Ben Menachem (right), who was killed during the assault.

Date	December 10–11, 1955
Location	North-Eastern shoreline of the Sea of Galilee (Kinneret)
Result	Israeli victory

Belligerents

Israel

Syria

Commanders and leaders

Ariel Sharon
Rafael Eitan
Aharon Davidi
Meir Har-Zion
Yitzchack Ben Menachem †

Casualties and losses

6 killed
10 wounded

54 killed
30 captured

Operation Olive Leaves (Hebrew: מבצע עלי זית‎‎, Mivtza ʿAlei Zayit) also known as Operation Kinneret (the Hebrew name for the Sea of Galilee) was an Israeli reprisal operation undertaken on December 10–11, 1955, against fortified Syrian emplacements near the north-eastern shores of the Sea of Galilee. The raid was prompted by repeated Syrian attacks on Israeli fishing in the Sea of Galilee. The successful operation resulted in the destruction of the Syrian emplacements. The Syrians also sustained fifty-four killed in action. Another thirty were taken prisoner. There were six IDF fatalities.

Following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, Syria and Israel negotiated an armistice arrangement, signed on July 20, 1949, which provided for the establishment of demilitarized zones (DMZ) on the border between Israel and Syria. Disputes soon arose concerning sovereignty over the DMZs leading to periodic border clashes and constant border tensions. Despite the fact that the armistice agreement had placed the demarcation line ten meters east of the sea, and the international border passed inland from the east bank of the Sea of Galilee, which placed the entire sea and surrounding shoreline under Israeli sovereignty, the Syrians placed their military positions directly on the shoreline, and Syrian gunners frequently fired at Israeli fishermen approaching the northeastern shore. Moreover, there were a number of border transgressions involving Syrian fishermen and farmers, who, under the protection of Syrian guns, continued utilize the sea for fishing and irrigation. Israeli patrol boats sent to enforce Israeli sovereignty rights were frequently fired on from Syrian emplacements east of the shoreline. On the day before the operation, an Israeli police boat approaching the sea's northwestern shore was fired on by Syrian guns.

Israel's newly re-elected Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion decided that a response was necessary, and ordered a large-scale operation to destroy Syrian gun emplacements along the shoreline in response to the "extended period of Syrian provocative actions and extended shootings". In addition, the Israelis hoped to take Syrian prisoners who could be exchanged for four Israelis held captive by Syria under brutal and inhumane conditions.Ariel Sharon was given overall command of the operation. Foreign Minister Moshe Sharett was in the United States to negotiate a possible arms purchase at the time.

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Wikipedia