Litani offensive

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2006 Litani offensive

Part of 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict

Israeli soldiers enter Southern Lebanon.

Date	August 11 - August 14, 2006
Location	Southern Lebanon
Result	Ceasefire and Israeli withdrawal according to UNSC resolution 1701

Combatants

Israel

Hezbollah

Strength

30,000 ^[1]

5,000 - 20,000 [2]

Casualties

35 killed

150 wounded [3] [4]

Israel claims 50+ killed Hezbollah denies,1 fighter captured[5]

Military operations of the 2006 Lebanon War
Zar'it-Shtula – Baliste – Bint Jbeil – Qana – Ayta ash-Shab – Baalbek – al-Qaa – Tyre – Shiyyah – Ghaziyeh – Marjayoun – Litani

The Litani offensive was a final push by the Israeli Defense Forces during the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict that began on August 11, 2006, and ended 3 days later when the ceasefire came into effect. It involved a major force entering Lebanon that reached as far as the Litani river, and aimed to clear the area of Southern Lebanon of Hezbollah militants as best as possible before the ceasefire began.

[edit] Timeline

On August 11 the long-awaited Israeli offensive began. Some 30,000 troops began their massive push.

20 IDF soldiers were killed and more than 100 injured in heavy clashes on the ground on August 12 with Hezbollah forces in south Lebanon, after Israel dramatically expanded its ground operation in the area. Hezbollah said that they destroyed 21 Israeli tanks, but Israel confirmed that only four tanks were destroyed and two damaged and one armored bulldozer was destroyed, all by anti-tank missiles or large improvised explosive devices. Also an Israeli transport helicopter was shot down in the Maryamein valley near the village of Yater, and other helicopters scrambled to the area to try to rescue the crew, but all five soldiers onboard were killed.

This was the fourth helicopter to crash since Operation Change of Direction was launched on July 12. Two helicopters collided and crashed and a third crashed separately in northern Israel early on in the fighting.

Under cover of intense artillery fire, some Israeli forces reached the Litani River, which is some 20 to 30 kilometers inside Lebanon, Israeli military officials said Saturday evening.^[2]

Military officials claimed that at least 50 Hezbollah fighters had been killed in the clashes but Hezbollah officials denied that number. One Hezbollah fighter was captured after he was wounded in the fighting and he was later sent to a hospital in Israel.

With the expansion of the ground offensive in Lebanon, four divisions were operating in south Lebanon and most of the activity was focused in areas from where Hezbollah has been firing short-range rockets into Israel. Sources in the IDF General Staff said four to seven days would be needed to complete the occupation of the area.

Fighting continued the next day with another 10 Israeli soldiers killed [6] and 45 wounded. Hezbollah continued firing rockets into northern Israel. Israel reported that 250 rockets hit its territory, including the port city of Haifa. At least two persons were killed, including an eight-year-old child, in the rocket attacks.

On the morning of August 14, a UN-brokered ceasefire ended the Israeli offensive.