War of Independence

Preceding the establishment of the State of Israel, the region later known as the Gaza Strip was part of the British Mandate of Palestine. Following the UN's decision to partition the land, the Gaza Strip became part of the newly formed Arab state.

At that time there was only one Jewish settlement in that region, Kfar Drom, which was established in 1946. The settlement stood alone amongst numerous Arab communities and was later attacked by the Egyptian army who had infiltrated into Israeli territory. On the 8^th of July, 1948, the settlement was dismantled as it was clear it was impossible to protect.

During the November 1948 Yoav Campaign's incursion into the Negev Road, the Petach Brigade successfully drove a wedge into the Beit Hanun region. The Brigade confined the Egyptian armies and forced them to retreat southbound weakening their morale in the battlefield.

During the Horev Campaign (end of December 1948, beginning of January 1949) Israeli forces attempted to expel the Egyptian army from Israel's boundaries. A similar operation was implemented by the Golani troops at that time, capturing the 86 army post north of Rafah, in order to confine Egyptian forces and to weaken their fighting spirit. Towards the end of the campaign the Israeli forces fought fiercely for the Rafah Junction army post, but were not successful in conquering it.

On February 24, 1949, during the armistice agreement between Israel and Egypt, the Gaza Strip borders were officially delineated and control was handed over to Egypt.

During the War of Independence many Arab citizens fled to the Gaza Strip and resettled in refugee camps. During the 50's the Gaza Strip was the most problematic security area in Israel and was the launching point of many infiltrations into Israeli territory. The infiltrators were responsible for theft, property damage and murder. The Strip also served as the base for the Fedayun terror organizations funded by the Egyptian army. The Israeli forces retaliated by implementing operations in the Gaza Strip, including the capturing of targets near Gaza City (The Hetz Shachor Campaign of February 28, 1955) and the siege of the constabulary in Khan Yunis (The Alkayam Campaign of August 31, 1955).

Sinai Campaign

During the Sinai campaign, the Gaza Strip was captured by Israeli forces (November 1956), placing a military government in control. Israel then retreated from Sinai and the Gaza Strip under international pressure, completing its evacuation from the Strip on March 6, 1957. The Egyptians returned to the Gaza Strip and set up their own military government. Emergency UN forces (that were formed as part of a UN resolution passed on November 4, 1956) were deployed along the Egyptian border with the Gaza Strip.

The Six Day War

During the Six Day War the IDF recaptured the Gaza Strip and fought fiercely in the Rafah region, Khan Yunis and Gaza. After conquering these territories, the IDF set up a military government. Terror organizations based in the Strip executed many attacks including the throwing of grenades, short range fire, mine laying and sabotage. The Southern Command focused its operations in the Gaza Strip, concentrating the forces there and implementing intensive operations against the terrorists. The strenuous endeavor bore positive results, ushering in an era of relative calm in the turbulent Gaza Strip until March 1972.

The First Intifada to the Present

During those years, relative calm prevailed over the Gaza Strip despite occasional riots and disturbances. The situation changed during the end of 1987. In November of that year, the GSA arrested many wanted men, detaining them in the Jabalya refugee camp. Following these arrests, riots erupted throughout the camp. On December 8, 1987, an Israeli truck accidentally collided with a Palestinian car, resulting in the death of four of the refugee camp's residents. Violent riots erupted following the car accident, eventually evolving into the First Intifada in the Gaza Strip in which Palestinian insurgents used violent means to force the Israelis to retreat from the communities in Gaza. Stone throwing escalated into weapons use becoming the defining characteristic of Palestinian operations. The IDF was surprised at the scope and severity of these occurrences but after a certain amount of time was able to restore order to the region.

The IDF opened division headquarters in the region as a means for applying combat doctrine to the violent incidents. Despite producing positive results, the IDF operations were not able to completely suppress the Palestinian terror attacks. Even with the signing of the Oslo accords in 13.9.93 the terror continued and the accords eventually proved to be a failure.

Key incidents from the Intifada (Nov' 87) until the Disengagement Plan

December 8^th, 1987: A car accident resulting in the death of four Gaza Strip residents, leading to the violent outbreak of the First Intifada against Israel

May 18^th 1989: Sheik Yassin arrested in Gaza

September 13^th 1993: The signing of a declaration of policy between Israel and the PLO

November 24^th 1993: The slaying of Imad Akel, Chief of Hamas military ground troops in the Gaza Strip.

May 4^th 1994: The Gaza-Jericho accords signed

May 18^th 1994: The IDF retreats from the Gaza Strip and hands control over to Palestinian security forces

September 1996: The "Blazing Iron" ceremony, celebrating the opening of the Western Wall tunnels

March 31 1997: The "Red Day" incident (violent rioting in the Gaza Strip and Judea and Samaria)

September 29^th 2002: The "Ebb and Flow" incident, the beginning of armed conflict with the Palestinians

September 12^th 2002: The beginning of the "Continual Effort" campaign integrating Southern Command in dealing with the threat of abrupt fire in the Gaza Strip.

May 11^th 2004: Givati Brigade forces launch the "Knights in Armor" campaign, locating bomb producing factories in the Zeiton neighborhood of Gaza. After locating two factories and detonating them in a controlled manner the troops prepared to exit the area. At that point a RPG missile was fired at the troops' armored personal carrier containing 100 kg of TNT, exploding the vehicle and killing six members of the Combat Engineer Company of the Givati Brigade.

May 12 2004: The IDF forces began locating and detonating terrorist tunnels. The booby trapped tunnels where used to smuggle weapons through the Philedelphi Corridor. A RPG missile was fired at the troop's vehicles laden with TNT. The vehicle explodes killing five members of the Israeli force.

May 2004: The "Rainbow in the Clouds" military campaign in Rafa

September 29^th 2004: Two children are killed as a result of rockets fired into Sderot. Following this incident and a number of other rocket launchings into Sderot, the IDF launches the "Days of Repentance" military campaign.

August 2005: Gaza Disengagement

June 29^th 2006: The IDF launches the "Summer Rain" military campaign following the kidnapping of Corporal Gilad Shalit.

October 2006: The "Squeezed Fruit" military campaign is launched to localize tunnels used to smuggle in weapons from Egypt into the Gaza Strip. The IDF troops enter the Philidelphi Corridor for the first time since the Disengagement. During the operations, troops uncover over 20 tunnels.

November 2006: The "Spring Clouds" military campaign is launched during which IDF forces take control over the city of Beit Hanun.