Operation Defensive Shield

Operation Defensive Shield
Part of the Second Intifada
Israeli soldiers taking cover behind an M113 APC in Qalqilya, April 2002
Date March 29 – May 10, 2002 Location West Bank (Palestinian territories)
Belligerents
Israel	Palestinian National Authority National Security Forces Fatah Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades Tanzim Hamas Islamic Jihad
Commanders and leaders
Ariel Sharon Shaul Mofaz Yitzhak Eitan	Yasser Arafat Mahmoud Tawalbe †
Strength
20,000	10,000
Casualties and losses
30 killed 127 wounded[1]	497 killed (per UN reports)[2] 1,447 wounded[3][4] 7,000 detained[2]
Ramallah Tulkarm Qalqilya Bethlehem Jenin Nablus Hebron class=notpageimage| Cities in the West Bank that saw major combat during Operation Defensive Shield

Operation Defensive Shield (Hebrew: מִבְצָע חוֹמַת מָגֵן Mītzvāh Ḥōmat Māgēn) was a 2002 Israeli military operation in the West Bank, carried out amidst the Second Intifada. Lasting for just over a month, it was the largest combat operation in the West Bank since the 1967 Arab–Israeli War, when Israel seized the territory from Jordan. Israel's stated goal for the escalation was to stop Palestinian terrorist attacks; the operation was launched two days after the Passover massacre, in which a Palestinian suicide bomber attacked the Park Hotel in Netanya, killing 30 civilians while injuring 140 more.^[5]

The operation began with an Israeli incursion into Ramallah, where Yasser Arafat was placed under siege at his compound. This was followed by successive incursions into the six largest cities in the West Bank and their surrounding localities.^[6] Israel's military moved into Tulkarm and Qalqilya on April 1, into Bethlehem on April 2, and into Jenin and Nablus on April 3. From April 3–21, strict curfews were enforced on civilian populations in the West Bank, and international personnel had their movement restricted—including, at times, prohibition of entry to humanitarian and medical personnel as well as human rights monitors and journalists.^[7]

In May 2002, Israeli troops withdrew from Palestinian cities in the West Bank while maintaining cordons of troops around certain towns and villages, and also continued carrying out raids on Palestinian-populated areas.^[8]

The United Nations' report on the subject states: "Combatants on both sides conducted themselves in ways that, at times, placed civilians in harm's way. Much of the fighting during Operation Defensive Shield occurred in areas heavily populated by civilians and in many cases heavy weaponry was used."^[7]