2006 Lebanon War

2006 Lebanon War
	Part of the Israeli–Lebanese conflict, the Iran–Israel proxy conflict and the war on terror
	; Clockwise from top left: Mushroom cloud from an IAF airstrike on Tyre; IDF soldiers during the Battle of Maroun al-Ras.; Smoke from a Hezbollah rocket strike near Bnai Zion Medical Center in Haifa.; UNIFIL soldiers evacuating refugees from Tyre.;
Date	12 July – 14 August 2006; (1 month and 2 days)
Location	Lebanon, northern Israel and the Golan Heights
Result	Inconclusive (see analysis)
Belligerents
Israel	Hezbollah Allies: Amal ; Popular Guard ; PFLP-GC ;
Commanders and leaders
Ehud Olmert; Amir Peretz; Dan Halutz; Moshe Kaplinsky; Udi Adam; Eliezer Shkedi; David Ben-Besht	Hassan Nasrallah; Imad Mughniyeh; Nabih Berri; Khaled Hadadi
Strength
Up to 10,000 soldiers by 2 August;; 30,000 soldiers in the last few days	Up to 1,000; (south of the Litani River)
Casualties and losses
Israel 121 Israel Defense Forces personnel killed; 1,244 Israel Defense Forces personnel wounded; 20 tanks destroyed; 1 helicopter shot down, 3 lost in accidents; 1 corvette damaged; 44 Israeli civilians killed; 1,384 Israeli civilians wounded; 2 Foreign civilians killed	Lebanese citizens* and foreign citizens killed in Lebanon:; Dead: 1,191 (per Amnesty International and Lebanese government); 1,109 (per Human Rights Watch); ; Wounded:; 4,409 Hezbollah fighters:; 250 killed (per Human Rights Watch and Hezbollah); 600+ killed and 800 wounded (per Israel); Captured: 4 fighters Lebanese Armed Forces and Internal Security Forces: 43 dead; ; Amal militia: 17 dead ; LCP militia: 12 dead ; PFLP-GC militia: 2 dead Foreign civilians:; 51 dead; 25 wounded United Nations:; 5 dead; 12 wounded
	* The Lebanese government did not differentiate between civilians and combatants in death toll figures. ; For total casualty figures, see: Casualties of the 2006 Lebanon War

The 2006 Lebanon War was a 34-day armed conflict in Lebanon, fought between Hezbollah and Israel. The war started on 12 July 2006, and continued until a United Nations-brokered ceasefire went into effect in the morning on 14 August 2006, though it formally ended on 8 September 2006 when Israel lifted its naval blockade of Lebanon. It marked the third Israeli invasion into Lebanon since 1978.

After Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon in 2000, Hezbollah aimed for the release of Lebanese citizens held in Israeli prisons. On 12 July 2006, Hezbollah ambushed Israeli soldiers on the border, killing three and capturing two; a further five were killed during a failed Israeli rescue attempt. Hezbollah demanded an exchange of prisoners with Israel. Israel launched airstrikes and artillery fire on targets in Lebanon, attacking both Hezbollah military targets and Lebanese civilian infrastructure, including Beirut's Rafic Hariri International Airport. Israel launched a ground invasion of Southern Lebanon and imposed an air-and-naval blockade on the country. Hezbollah then launched more rockets into northern Israel and engaged the IDF in guerrilla warfare from hardened positions.

On 11 August 2006, the United Nations Security Council unanimously approved United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701 (UNSCR 1701) in an effort to end the hostilities, which called for disarmament of Hezbollah, Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon, and for the deployment of the Lebanese Armed Forces and an enlarged United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) in the south. The Lebanese Army began deploying in Southern Lebanon on 17 August and the blockade was lifted on 8 September. On 1 October, most Israeli troops withdrew from Lebanon, although the last of the troops continued to occupy the border-straddling village of Ghajar.

Both Hezbollah and the Israeli government claimed victory, while the Winograd Commission deemed the war a missed opportunity for Israel as it did not lead to disarmament of Hezbollah. The conflict is believed to have killed between 1,191 and 1,300 Lebanese people, and 165 Israelis. It severely damaged Lebanese civil infrastructure, and displaced approximately one million Lebanese and 300,000–500,000 Israelis. The remains of the two captured soldiers, whose fates were unknown, were returned to Israel on 16 July 2008 as part of a prisoner exchange.