Operation Bringing Home the Goods

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Operation Bringing Home the Goods
Part of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict
DateMarch 14, 2006
Location
Jericho, Palestinian Authority
Result Israeli victory
Belligerents
 Israel (IDF) Palestinian National Authority Palestinian Authority
Commanders and leaders
Israel Yair Naveh
Ahmed Saadat
Strength
1,000 soldiers[1] 200 prisoners and guards[2]
Casualties and losses
None[3] 2 killed
28 wounded
Several captured[3][4]

Operation Bringing Home the Goods (Hebrew: מבצע הבאת ביכורים, romanized: Mivtza Hava'at Bikurim) was a raid launched by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on March 14, 2006, on a Palestinian prison in Jericho. The prison held several prisoners wanted by Israel, whose incarceration was monitored by British and American wardens. In early 2006, the newly elected Hamas government announced that it intended to release the prisoners.[4]

On March 14, the monitors left, and the IDF raided the prison. The prisoners put up a fight and, after a ten-hour siege, surrendered and were arrested. A series of riots and kidnapping of foreigners ensued throughout the Palestinian territories.[5]

Background

In 2001, in response to the assassination of its secretary general

Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, in April 2002. The agreement allowed the prisoners to be transferred from Yasser Arafat's Mukataa in Ramallah, where they were hiding during Operation Defensive Shield of April 2002.[2] The four cell members who actively participated in Ze'evi's assassination were Hamdi Quran, who pulled the trigger, Basel al-Amar, Majdi Rimawi and Ahed Gholami. In a quick military trial in Ramallah, headed by Brigadier-General Ribhi Arafat, they were sentenced to hard labor. Quran was sentenced to 18 years, Asmar to 12, Rimawi to eight and Gholami to one year. Sa'adat was not placed on trial but remained in custody. The prison was situated next to the Palestinian Authority (PA) government building.[3] Israeli rightists opposed the deal, saying it allowed the assassin to escape justice, while Palestinians opposed the jailing of a senior militant leader under Israeli pressure.[2]

In the

Apache will kill him".[7]

Israeli Defense Minister, Shaul Mofaz, instructed the IDF to draw a plan to arrest Sa'adat,[10] and the IDF began planning for the possibility that it would be required to act.[3]

Raid and siege

On March 14, the monitors told Palestinian authorities at the prison they were getting their car fixed. Then they headed straight for the Israeli checkpoint on the road out of Jericho.[11] At around 09:00, Israeli soldiers stationed at the checkpoint spotted the monitors leaving the city. Immediately after, special forces, backed up by tanks, converged on the prison in order to force the wanted men out.[3] At around 09:30, some 100 Israeli soldiers were surrounding the prison.[4] By the end of the siege, the IDF had committed a force of approximately 1,000 soldiers from an armored division.[1][11] Reports from the scene said 50 jeeps, three tanks, and an armored bulldozer pushed into Jericho, and two helicopters were flying overhead.[5] At the time of the raid, there were a total of 200 prisoners and guards in the prison.[2]

A senior IDF officer told reporters on the outskirts of Jericho that "We want to take them out alive, but if they threaten us, we won't hesitate to kill them. We won't agree to any change in Sa'adat's prison status". Some inmates took control of an armory in the prison. Israeli troops encircled the building while

Israeli Central Command, Major-General Yair Naveh, announced that the wanted men and several other militants in the jail had surrendered.[4] The six, stripped to their underpants, surrendered and were questioned by security officials in the prison compound. The IDF also arrested 67 other Palestinians who were still hiding inside the compound.[3]

Throughout the day, young Palestinians threw stones at Israeli troops who sealed off several blocks around the compound. Along a narrow residential street leading to the compound, teenagers from the nearby Hisham Bin Abdel Malik School threw rocks at IDF jeeps a block away, then scattered through groves of fruit trees amid Israeli gunfire. A university student and a young boy were wounded.[12] PA security officers also clashed with the IDF. Two PA security men were killed during the fighting, and twenty-eight were wounded. The IDF suffered no casualties. A third of the compound was demolished by IDF bulldozers.[3] The Israelis said they evacuated three wounded Palestinians.[4] An IDF spokesman said 182 people had been taken from the prison and were being questioned, including twenty-six wounded. Between thirty and eighty people were left in the compound.[5]

Riots and protests

A wave of Palestinian unrest followed the raid. Gunmen kidnapped the director of the

International Red Cross in Gaza, and two French citizens and a Korean were seized from a hotel in Gaza City, one of whom was shot dead by security forces. A British Council cultural center in Gaza was set on fire and a European Union compound was stormed. The border crossing between Gaza and Egypt was shut for the day after European monitors withdrew because of security threats. Militants briefly held an American teacher at the Arab American University in Jenin and two Australian teachers in northern Gaza for two hours before being released. Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades in Gaza City warned US and UK nationals to leave the Palestinian territories immediately. Hundreds of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank demonstrated against the Israeli raid and what they considered the complicity of western governments.[5] Some of the kidnappers demanded that the army halt its operation in Jericho and threatened to hurt their captives. One kidnapper in Nablus told Ynet: "If the operation won't end we'll execute captives".[13]

Some 15,000 Palestinians held a protest march in Gaza City, and militants vowed renewed attacks against Israel.[4] In Nablus, hundreds chanted anti-Abbas slogans during a protest.[14] Most business owners in the Gaza Strip began shutting down their stores in protest of the operation, thereby launching a spontaneous general strike. All the armed Palestinian organizations except Hamas' al-Qassam Brigades issued statements threatening to harm Israel should it not halt the operation. Meanwhile, the Israel Prison Service decided to raise the alert level in all Israeli prisons where Palestinian security prisoners were being held. All prison guards were asked to be extremely alert to the prisoners' behavior in order to prevent any plan of initiating riots.[13]

Reactions

Israeli

Israel's acting Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, said that "We are proud that we have imposed justice on these killers", and that the Palestinians who were seized "will be indicted according to Israeli law, and they will be punished as they deserve".[15] He also said: "Rehavam Ze'evi, Israel has restored your honor with the operation we carried out yesterday".[16] Naveh said that "The message of the operation is clear. The blood of an Israeli minister will not be forfeited and the perpetrators will be hunted down".[3] Israeli officials said the crossing points, already closed for the Jewish holiday of Purim, would remain closed for at least a few days.[17] Ze'evi's son, Palmach Ze'evi, said that "For four years the killers sat half an hour away from Jerusalem and we didn't settle the score. But today things are changing", but described Olmert's actions as "underhanded opportunism". Yisrael Beiteinu chairman Avigdor Lieberman said "I bless Israel for taking this step. The actions are correct and honorable". He claimed that Israel had no choice but to go into the jail in reaction to statements by the PA that it planned to release the men, and added "I don't understand why they need to lay siege to the jail—they need to completely destroy it without leaving a single stone standing".[18]

Kadima's

Ahmed Tibi said that "Kadima and its leaders are using Palestinian blood as a doorway for their election success".[18]

Palestinian

Palestinian prime minister-designate,

Mahmoud Zahar said that "It seems like nobody can win the election among the Israelis without dipping his hands in the blood of the Palestinians".[citation needed
]

The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, called the raid an "unforgivable crime" and suggested Britain and the US had coordinated their withdrawal so Israel could send in tanks as soon as the monitors left. He asked: "I'm giving the facts. They [the monitors] left at 9.20am and the Israelis came in at 9.30am. How can we explain that?".

Israel Radio that the operation "was designed to show the Palestinians what the Israelis can do, and to show the Hamas government what will happen—no agreements, no cooperation, no coordination, only force".[17]

A senior PFLP member said "We will respond, and we will respond harshly, whether Sa'adat is harmed or not". Khalida Jarrar, a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council representing the PFLP, said that "Sa'adat was the winning card for Olmert in the elections. We demand of the international community to fulfill its obligations and responsibilities towards the Palestinian people against the crimes of the occupation".[22]

British and American

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said, "We kept saying to the Palestinians 'please, please, please improve the security and ensure the conditions of the Ramallah Agreement are being observed and ensure the security of our personnel'". On the morning of March 14 he gave the House of Commons a written statement stating that as the PA had "consistently failed to meet its obligations under the Ramallah Agreement" and as a result the British government has "terminated our involvement with the mission today".[23] Regarding the fire set to the British Council in Gaza City and reports of kidnaps of foreign nationals, Straw said, "I must emphasize the Government's condemnation of the appalling acts of violence. They are totally unwarranted".[24]

Israeli officials said the British informed them Friday that they would be withdrawing the monitoring team but did not provide a date. U.S. officials said the Israelis and the Palestinians were notified as the three British guards on duty at the time departed. Stuart Tuttle, a spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv, said that "The withdrawal decision was made on the ground and not in coordination with the Israelis".[12] Senior U.S. officials said they had no choice but to abandon the facility, even though they realized it might undermine the Palestinian Authority, and that they did not make public their concerns because they believed publicity would have made the U.S. and British personnel the targets of attacks. A senior administration official said: "That is the price we pay. Our first responsibility is the safety of American and British monitors". State Department spokesman J. Adam Ereli denied any coordination with Israel and said: "Such accusations are baseless and ignore the facts, quite frankly".[25]

References

  1. ^ a b Associated Press (2006-06-22). "Jailed PFLP leader sues British gov't over abandoning Jericho prison". Haaretz. Retrieved 2009-03-21.
  2. ^ a b c d "Palestinian militants surrender at jail". NBC News. Associated Press. 2006-03-14. Archived from the original on 2016-03-05. Retrieved 2009-03-21.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Katz, Yaakov; Margot Dudkevitch (2006-03-14). "Sa'adat, Ze'evi assassins surrender to IDF forces". The Jerusalem Post. Archived from the original on 2020-02-27. Retrieved 2009-03-21.
  4. ^
    ISSN 0362-4331. Archived
    from the original on 2016-06-04. Retrieved 2009-03-21.
  5. ^ a b c d "West Bank jail raid sparks chaos". BBC. 2006-03-14. Archived from the original on 2008-12-19. Retrieved 2009-03-21.
  6. ^ Bennet, James (2001-10-16). "Right-Wing Israeli Minister Is Killed". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2015-02-18. Retrieved 2014-12-16.
  7. ^ Benhorin, Yitzhak (2006-02-25). "Abbas: I may resign". Ynetnews. Retrieved 2009-03-21.[dead link]
  8. ^ Chason, Miri (2006-02-27). "Dichter: Zeevi's killers in jail or in grave". Ynetnews. Retrieved 2009-03-21.[dead link]
  9. ^ "Riot in Jericho prison preceded monitors' exodus". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. 2006-03-22. Archived from the original on 2023-11-27. Retrieved 2023-11-27.
  10. ^ Waked, Ali (2006-03-14). "IDF to Zeevi killers: Surrender or die". Ynetnews. Retrieved 2009-03-21.[dead link]
  11. ^ a b McGreal, Chris (2006-03-15). "A sudden exit, a jail is stormed - and Israel's long wait is over". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2013-08-30. Retrieved 2009-03-21.
  12. ^ a b Wilson, Scott (2006-03-15). "Palestinians Captured in Israeli Raid On Prison". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 2008-10-12. Retrieved 2009-03-21.
  13. ^ a b Waked, Ali (2006-03-14). "PA: 17 foreign nationals kidnapped". Ynetnews. Retrieved 2009-03-21.[dead link]
  14. ^ a b c Sturcke, James (2006-03-15). "Blair defends withdrawal of monitors from Jericho jail". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2013-08-30. Retrieved 2009-03-21.
  15. New York Times
    . Retrieved 2009-03-21.
  16. ^ Nahmias, Roee (2006-03-15). "Abbas on Jericho siege: 'Unforgivable crime'". Ynetnews. Archived from the original on 2007-12-09. Retrieved 2009-03-21.
  17. ^ a b Myre, Greg (2006-03-16). "Israel and Palestinians Trade Angry Barbs on Prison Raid". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2012-11-07. Retrieved 2009-03-21.
  18. ^ a b Lazaroff, Tovah (2006-03-14). "Ze'evi's son: It was an unsettled account". The Jerusalem Post. Archived from the original on 2011-09-16. Retrieved 2009-03-21.
  19. ^ Somfalvi, Attila (2006-03-14). "Leftists: Jericho raid - Kadima campaign ad". Ynetnews. Retrieved 2009-03-21.
  20. ^ Waked, Ali (2006-03-14). "Hamas warns against hurting Zeevi's killers". Ynetnews. Retrieved 2009-03-21.[dead link]
  21. ^ McGreal, Chris (2006-03-15). "We warned of prison attack, says Israel". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2013-08-30. Retrieved 2009-03-21.
  22. ^ Waked, Ali (2006-03-14). "Popular Front: Israel will pay dearly". Ynetnews. Archived from the original on 2007-11-13. Retrieved 2009-03-21.
  23. ^ Conger, George (2006-03-14). "Straw defends Jericho withdrawal". The Jerusalem Post. Archived from the original on 2011-09-16. Retrieved 2009-03-21.
  24. ^ Smith, Jon (2006-03-14). "Straw condemns 'appalling' Jericho violence". The Independent. Retrieved 2009-03-21.[dead link]
  25. ISSN 0740-5421. Archived
    from the original on 2012-11-07. Retrieved 2009-03-21.

External links

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