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Mia - השבויים והנעדרים

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Resource Type: Peula in: English

Age 12 - 20

Group Size 5 - 40

Estimated Time: 60 minutes

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שבויים ונעדרים.doc (126 KB)

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תמונות לשבויים ונעדרים.doc (0.73 mb)	Source	English

Resource Goal

Goals:

The chanichim will understand the dilemma that the government is faced when a soldier is kidnapped, and feel connected to the difficulty and pain on a personal level.
The chanichim will become familiar with the stories of the major MIAs.

Resource Contents

Goals:

The chanichim will understand the dilemma that the government is faced when a soldier is kidnapped, and feel connected to the difficulty and pain on a personal level.
The chanichim will become familiar with the stories of the major MIAs.

Accessories and materials:

Esther Wachsman's letter.
Army uniforms and suits for the actors.
Signs with the different opinions of the three madrichim. "Don’t negotiate, and no military action", "Military action, no negotiations", "Negotiations, no military action".
Operation Thunderbolt, film + means of showing a film.
Information on Ron Arad's capture.
Ron's letter home from 1987.
The song "כשתבוא", by Boaz Shara'abi- Words and music + means of playing music.
Pictures and info. On Zecharia, Tzvi and Yehudah. (1982).
Article by Binny Friedman on Zecharia Baumel.(Translated from עלון שבות)
מי שברך לשבויים ונעדרים.
Cards with the chronology of the 2000 captives + board and paper clips/ scotch.
Slide show on Hezbollah and computer.
נר זיכרון and matches.

Read this letter by Nachshon Wachsman's mother:

My name is Esther Wachsman. I was born in a DP camp in Germany in 1947 to parents who had survived the ovens of Nazi Germany, in which their entire families had perished. My parents, my sister and I sailed to America in 1950. I grew up as a child of survivors, and became a true JAP. But the cloud of depression, of a deep sadness and melancholy, hung over our home.

In 1969 I made aliya to Jerusalem. My parents were Zionists, and their sole remaining relatives lived in Israel. I came to study with their blessing, though when I met my future husband and knew that only here in Jerusalem did I wish to raise my family, I'm not sure they were too thrilled.

But I had caught the bug. I was going to be part of the history of our old/new homeland, and I would raise proud, independent, believing Jewish children in their homeland after 2,000 years of exile. I could no longer pray for the "Return to Zion" and the "Building of Jerusalem" when I knew I was a plane ticket away from fulfilling those prayers.

And so I was married to Yehudah in 1970 and we had seven sons between 1971 and 1986. Our sons were raised on a three-fold love -- of their people, their land, and their heritage, the Torah. Our lives were complete, my dreams fulfilled, and I felt privileged to be able to live my life and raise my children in this, our sacred city, in this, our God-given land.

My children grew up, attended Yeshivot, and in time served their country, proudly wearing the uniform of the Jewish army. How proud I was -- the Jewish immigrant from Brooklyn, mother of soldiers of Israel!

My two oldest sons served in the Golani Brigade. When the time came for my third son to be drafted, he wanted to outdo his two older brothers and volunteered for an elite commando unit of Golani. His brothers mocked him, for he was shorter and slighter than the big staffing soldiers in that unit, but he persevered and became a soldier in the Orev Golani, and was the pride of his brothers, of his entire family.

After having served in the army for a little over a year, with two stints in Lebanon, Nachshon came home on a week's leave, Friday, October 7, 1994 just before the Sabbath. On Saturday night, he got a call from the army informing him that the following day, Sunday, he was to attend a course up north, where he and another soldier from his unit would learn to operate a special military vehicle and in a one-day-course receive a license.

Nachshon found this offer very prestigious, and got a ride with a friend to take the course up north. He left us late Saturday night and told us he would be back home the following night.

Nachshon did not come home on Sunday night. Perhaps because of my background with over-protective parents, I felt that I must know where my children are, when to expect them home -- and they always notified me of any delay or change of plan.

When by midnight Nachshon did not call or arrive home, I feared the worst. We notified the military authorities, we traced his movements, we spoke to his army friends. We discovered from one of them that he had been dropped off after completing the course at the Bnai Atarot junction -- one of the most populated areas in the center of Israel -- where he could either catch a bus or hitchhike (as all soldiers do) to Jerusalem. This friend was the last one to have seen him.

On Monday we sent search parties to the area where he had last been seen -- at this point the army was still unconcerned and more or less making inquiries at hotels and resorts in Eilat to see if he had just taken off. The fact that I told them that such a thing was simply out of the question in my family just seemed to amuse them as the attitude of a typical Jewish mother. To me, on Monday, my child was dead.

On Tuesday, we were contacted by Israeli Television, who told us that they had received a video tape from a Reuters photographer showing my son being held hostage by Hamas terrorists. They said they were coming directly to our home to show us the video before broadcasting it to the entire nation, and the world.

On that video tape, Nachshon was seen, bound hand and foot, with a terrorist, whose face was covered with a kaffiya, holding up Nachshon's identity card. The terrorist recited his home address, identity number, and then Nachshon spoke at gunpoint. He said that he had been kidnapped by the Hamas, who were demanding the release of their spiritual leader, Achmed Yassin, from an Israeli prison, as well as the release of 200 other imprisoned Hamas terrorists. If these demands were not met, he would be executed on Friday at 8:00 PM.

Three madrichim come in dressed up as army/political leaders and they have a short discussion as of what to do in the case of Nachshon Wachsman:
- Madrich #1: I think we shouldn't take action, we can't negotiate with terrorists, but on the other hand I don't think it's worth endangering other soldiers for one soldier.
- Madrich #2: I think we should take military action, he's a soldier and we can't leave him to die in the hands of the terrorists. On the other hand, we can't negotiate with terrorists.
- Madrich #3: I think we should negotiate with the terrorists, we can't just leave a soldier there, and we can’t endanger other soldiers just for one soldier.

Ask the chanichim to split up according to their opinions, and each group will conduct a discussion of the pros and cons of each approach, here are a couple of points:

Exchange would encourage further kidnapping.
Exchange empowers the enemy, they've won.
Release of terrorists will bring more death and terror.
Terrorists will know that if they're caught by Israel, they will be released. This encourages terror.
The government is responsible for the life and safety of every Jew, even if that means releasing prisoners.
Soldiers will be more willing to risk their lives at battle, knowing that the government will do anything to release them if taken captive.
Military action is the only way to show the other side we are serious.
Military action may fail, endangering the soldiers involved. We may gain nothing, and maybe even lose.

Regroup and finish reading the letter by Esther Wachsman:

At that time I did not have the "luxury" of breaking down. We were all mobilized for the next four days, 24 hours a day, to do everything in our power to save our son's life. We spoke to Prime Minister Rabin, who informed us that he would not negotiate with terrorists, nor would he yield to blackmail. We announced Nachshon's American citizenship, and President Clinton intervened. Arafat called our home and told us that he would leave no stone unturned to locate our son and return him to us safe and sound.

We appealed to the Jewish people throughout the world and asked them to pray for our son. The Chief Rabbi of Israel delegated three chapters of תהילים to be said every day, and people everywhere, including schoolchildren who had never prayed before, did so for the sake of one precious Jewish soul. I asked women throughout the world to light an extra Shabbat candle for my son. From about 30,000 letters that poured into our home, I learned of thousands of women who had never lit Sabbath candles, who did so for the sake of our son.

On Thursday night, 24 hours before the ultimatum, a prayer vigil was held at the Western Wall and, at the same hour, prayer vigils were held throughout the world in synagogues, schools, community centers, street squares ... and churches throughout the world. People of good faith everywhere hoped and pleaded and prayed for Nachshon.

At the Western Wall 100,000 people arrived, with almost no notice -- Chassidim in black frock coats and long side curls swayed and prayed and cried, side by side with young boys in torn jeans and ponytails and earrings. There was total unity and solidarity of purpose among us -- religious and secular, left wing and right wing, Sephardic and Ashkenazi, old and young, rich and poor.

On Friday night we ushered in the Sabbath, and I spoke to my son on the media and begged him to be strong, for all our people were with him. We sat rooted to our Shabbat table; my eyes were glued to the door, expecting Nachshon to walk in at any moment.

We were not aware of the fact that Israeli Intelligence had captured the driver of the car that picked Nachshon up, and that he informed the intelligence that Nachshon was being held in a village called Bir Nabbalah, under Israeli rule, located about 10 minutes from our home in Ramot. We were not aware that Prime Minister Rabin had made a decision to launch a military action to attempt to rescue our son.

At the hour of the ultimatum, 8:00 PM Friday night, General Yoram Yair, not Nachshon, walked through our door and brought us the terrible news. The military rescue attempt had failed -- Nachshon had been killed and so had the commander of the rescue team, Captain Nir Poraz.

At the same time people had all returned to their synagogues, after their Sabbath meal, to recite Psalms for Nachshon's rescue, including our sons. We called them home and together we all sat frozen, unbelieving, shocked and devastated for the rest of Shabbat.

On Saturday night at midnight we buried our son. Thousands attended

My husband asked Nachshon's Rosh Yeshiva, Rabbi Motti Elon, who gave the eulogy, to please tell all our people that God did listen to our prayers and that He collected all our tears. he asked Rabbi Elon to tell everyone that just as a father would always like to say "yes" to all of his children's requests, sometimes he had to say "no" though the child might not understand why. So our Father in Heaven heard our prayers, and though we don't understand why, His answer was "no."

Divide the chanichim into four groups, and they will go around five תחנות each of which teaches about a kidnapping, the way the government dealt with it and personal information on the MIA.
- Ron Arad: The chanichim will read an information card about Ron. Then they will read a letter he wrote to his family in 1987. Then the Madrich will play כשתבוא, and go through the meaning of words of the song.
- Operation Thunderbolt: Show the edited version of Operation Thunderbolt, focusing on the hijacking, the decision to take military action, Yoni's speech, and the rescue.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--9QCfP2y40

יהורם גאון במבצע אנטבה לפני העליה למטוס

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eCkZS-s15k

מבצע החטיפה בסרט מבצע אנטבה

Sultan Yaakov Capture, 1982: The chanichim will get pictures of Yehuda Katz, Tzvi Feldman and Zecharia Baumel, with a short piece on their personalities. Then the Madrich will read out an article written by a close friend of Zecharia Baumel. (Explain that Zecharia was an American and he was learning at Gush at the time. The may have siblings that went there and it becomes personal).If there's time, the Madrich can review the מי שברך לשבויים ונעדרים with the chanichim. Show the chanichim a דסקית.
The soldiers kidnapped in 2000-2006: Hand out cards with the timeline of what happened with these MIAs. The chanichim need to read them out and set them up in the right order. Then show slide show on Hezbollah.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpH47oT2dbI

נסראללה מדבר על חטיפת החיילים

6. Have the chanichim stand in a ח', and light a נר זיכרון for the soldiers killed in rescue operations and for the POW that died. A Madrich will then read out the מי שברך לשבויים ונעדרים, and conclude with singing "אחינו כל בית ישראל".

Letter from Ron Arad to his Family

Hello Everyone,

Today is Sunday (I think for us it's Rosh Hashanah), September 27, 1987. Let me first tell you how much I long to see all of you (so much time has passed -- I think it's been about a year -- right?). I do dream about you at times, but I try not to think too much during the day to avoid getting too demoralized. In general, I'm in good health, and feeling all right. They treat me well. My hand is slowly getting better, but it will be totally better when I return to my normal routine. (G-d and the leaders willing). Every day, I spend hours praying for this [to return home], and hope that you do too. I know it's difficult, but please try to do everything you can for me.

I don't know how, but please send a message to the powers that be, to our leaders, to the government, to anyone who is able to do something to get me out of here. Please do your best, because Lebanon is no place to be, and I really want to see you all -- for one shouldn't have to be held in captivity when there are other alternatives. With hope and good intentions, anything can be accomplished. Just please, don't "play with time", act as if we've run out of time! You have to speak [to the leaders, the public, the terrorists] as much as you can, and compromise whenever possible. Our lives (the hostages on both sides) are in your hands, and we are counting on you. I've heard very little about how you are doing, however one day, everything will be different.

Tammy, I want to tell you, I now fully understand the subject that we've often spoken of, your wanting to help prisoners (not necessarily prisoners of war) . You can try to do something for the prisoners of this organization, to help the time pass, and help them live a better life (a little food, a prayer book, anything you do is significant). You can't imagine how important such small things are to a lonely man who is far away.

I have written the most important things that I wanted to tell you. On the whole, I'm all right, and usually feel O.K. They are treating me well (I hope you do the same). Please build our (new) house, get advice from your father. Please put your all into raising our daughter( which you do wonderfully). Please guide her with the right values, she is our hope for the future! I hope to see you very soon. Just look back at the year that has passed, and you will realize that not much has been done. Please try to do more, for all our sakes. I know that it's hard, but please, convey the message that it is up to us to overcome the obstacles of hate, fear, and suspicion through compassion, love and mercy.... And then everything would change.

I pray that with G-d's help, we will be able to see each other soon, in this new year. Yom Kippur is approaching, and I will be praying together with you that G-d blesses all of us. Let's hope that He will help the leaders make the right choices. You also can help, please try! I hope that you are taking care of yourselves, and the others as well. Don't lose hope, there will be other, better, days. With all my might, I'm trying not to give up. I'm holding my breath and crossing my fingers.

Love Always, Ron

כשתבוא\ מילים: אהוד מנור, לחן: בעז שרעבי

כשתבוא...
ביום מן הימים

ימים שנחתמים בקצה תפילה

כשתבוא...
נגיש לך פרחים,
פרחים שנפתחים ללא מילה.

ואם תהיה עייף
ואם בעצב תתעטף
נשיר לך , בשקט

נשיר לך ברון

ונחכה ונלטף

עד שתצטרף
ואז נשיר ברון
נשיר ברון נשיר ברון

כשתבוא

הביתה מן הקור
הביתה אל האור
הלב ירעד

כשתבוא
מבעד לדמעות
תבחין באותיות
לחופש נולד

ואם תהיה עייף
ואם בעצב תתעטף
נשיר לך , בשקט
נשיר לך ברון

ונחכה ונלטף
עד שתצטרף
ואז נשיר ברון

נשיר ברון
נשיר ברון

ונחכה ונלטף
עד שתצטרף
ואז נשיר ברון
נשיר ברון

עד שתצטרף
ואז נשיר ברון
נשיר ברון

עד שתצטרף
ואז נשיר ברון
נשיר ברון
נשיר ברון
נשיר ברון

כשתבוא\ מילים: אהוד מנור, לחן: בעז שרעבי

כשתבוא...
ביום מן הימים

ימים שנחתמים בקצה תפילה

כשתבוא...
נגיש לך פרחים
פרחים שנפתחים ללא מילה.

ואם תהיה עייף
ואם בעצב תתעטף
נשיר לך , בשקט

נשיר לך ברון

ונחכה ונלטף

עד שתצטרף
ואז נשיר ברון

כשתבוא

הביתה מן הקור
הביתה אל האור
הלב ירעד

נשיר ברון

נשיר ברון

ונחכה ונלטף
עד שתצטרף
ואז נשיר ברון
נשיר ברון

עד שתצטרף
ואז נשיר ברון
נשיר ברון

עד שתצטרף
ואז נשיר ברון
נשיר ברון
נשיר ברון
נשיר ברון

נשיר ברון נשיר ברון

Ron Arad

Ron Arad was born on May 5, 1958 in Israel. Arad, an air-force navigator in an F-4 Phantom jet, had just completed his first year of chemical engineering at The Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa when he was called up for reserve duty. On October 6, 1986 Arad was captured by members of the Amal Shi’ite militia after bailing out of his crippled warplane over the Lebanese city of Sidon.

About a year after his capture, Israel received photographs and letters from Arad’s captors, and Arad’s case quickly attracted the attention of the international community. Ron’s wife Tami, was very reluctantly forced into the public eye as was her infant daughter Yuval and other members of the Arad family. Articulate and determined, she became an international figure, meeting with heads of state, the media, and community officials, becoming the very embodiment of her husband’s plight.

When negotiations for Arad’s release collapsed in 1988, Arad was “sold” by Amal security chief Mustafa Dirani to Iranian backed forces in Lebanon. Since that time there has been a great deal of contradictory information regarding his fate and whereabouts. Israeli intelligence sources have maintained that Arad is being held in Iran or Lebanon by Iranian backed forces. The Iranians have never publicly admitted to holding Arad or to having any information regarding his condition or location. Over the years many foreign governments have pressured Iran on the matter. Particularly the German government has continually attempted to utilize its close relationship with Iran to broker deals for Arad’s release, but without success to date.

Arad’s case continues to haunt the Israeli public. Songs, stickers, birthday celebrations, and events marking the day of his capture have become part and parcel of Israeli popular culture. But for his family, as each day of captivity is counted and added to the thousands that precede it, the years have grown progressively and unbearably long. Yuval Arad, who never has had an opportunity to speak to her father, is now a teenager. Like her mother Tami, she continues to wait to move into the house in Givat Elah that her father had started building before his capture. The house was completed in the summer of 1994. It will be inhabited only upon his return.

This is the תפילה that millions of Jews around the world recite every Shabbat in prayer that Hashem will return the שבויים ונעדרים home:

מי שברך לשבויי ונעדרי צה"ל:

"מי שברך אבותינו אברהם יצחק ויעקב

משה ואהרון דוד ושלמה הוא יברך וישמור

ויפקוד ויושיע את חיילי צבא הגנה לישראל

השבויים ונעדרים:

רון בן בתיה (ארד)

זכריה שלמה בן מרים (באומל)

גיא בן רינה (חבר)

יקותיאל יהודה נחמן בן שרה (כץ)

צבי בן פנינה (פלדמן)

בתוך שאר אחינו כל בית ישראל הנתונים

בצרה ובשביה, בעבור שכל הקהל הקדוש

הזה מתפלל בעבורם.

בשכר זה הקדוש ברוך הוא ימלא רחמים עליהם

וישמרם ויצילם

ויפדם מכל צרה וצוקה ומכל נגע ומחלה יחזק

רוחם ויאמץ כוחם וירפא לכל מכאובם, וימלטם

משחיתותם ויושיעם ממצוקתם ויגאלם מיד אויב

כמה שכתוב: ויהי ה' משגב לדך משגב לעתות

בצרה.

ויחבוש לנשברי לב ויקרא לשבויים דרור

ולאסורים פקח קוח ויוציאם מהרה מצרה לרווחה

ומאפלה לאורה ומשעבוד לגאולה כמה שכתוב:

יוציאם מחשך וצלמוות ומוסרותיהם ינתק.

ויביאם לציון ברינה בקרב כל עמו בית ישראל כמה שכתוב:

ופדויי ה' ישבון ובאו ציון ברינה ושמחת עולם על

ראשם. ששון ושמחה ישיגו ונסו יגון ואנחה.

שבת היא מלזעוק וישועה קרובה לבא השתא

בעגלא ובזמן קריב ונאמר אמן.

I remember that night evening as though it were yesterday. Coming back on Sunday morning about half of the guys hadn't returned. We were told they were drafted into the army on Shabbat. That Sunday morning 20,000 IDF soldiers crossed the border into Lebanon, and during that morning we heard army planes flying over the Yeshiva on their way up north. During night seder that evening, Rav Amital came into the Beit Midrash and stood by the Bima. The Beit Midrash fell silent as Rav Amital told the older guys to pack their things. "In half an hour buses will be here to take you up north. May you go in peace and return in peace".

I walked Zecharia Baumel to the bus, and can still remember his smile. That was the last time I saw him. Three days later we were informed that Zecharia was missing in action, together with Tzvi Feldman and Yehuda Katz in the battle of Sultan Ya'akov.

I remember so many things about Zecharia. We lived next door in the Yeshiva dorms, and we sat a row apart in the Beit Midrash. I remember him as if it were yesterday, sitting across from the ארון קודש learning. We learned בבא מציעא in Bekiut, and he learned מורה נבוכים too. Often we would find ourselves forgetting about the Gemara and delving into deep conversations on Jewish thought. There, late at night in the beit Midrash, Zecharia taught me, a young American student, about the freedom of choice. A short while later, Zecharia found himself alone, beyond the frontline.

When one visits the Baumel residence in בית וגן, he will find Zecharia's room the way it was left 25 years ago. His basketball under his bed, the book on his table still open. "When Zecharia comes back God willing, at least there will be something familiar waiting for him…" His parents explain.

I came to Yeshiva as an American for a year, preliminary to my law studies at a New York university. Something stuck with me and I decided to stay. One of the guys who helped me out was Zecharia. We used to play basketball after midnight on Thursday nights. I can't forget the deep conversations we had under the stars, on the way there and back from Yeshiva. We discussed religion and state, nationalism and Diaspora, and talked about the Hesder program he was enrolled in.

I never understood the grief of the Baumel family until I spoke to Zecharia's parents at my own wedding. After my חופה they apologized for not staying. When I looked into Miriam's eyes I understood. It wasn't me they saw under the חופה, but Zecharia. Miriam's eyes were asking- who was the girl Zecharia had never met? Who were the children that would have been born? The grandchildren who will never sit on their grandparents lap?

We are commanded to believe Zecharia is still alive. He probably fell captive to Syrian forces. Weather this is true or not, Zecharia is very much alive in our hearts. Every time I visit Yeshiva, sit in the Beit Midrash, walk down the paths where we used to talk and laugh, pictures and memories of my times with Zecharia come to my mind, his face always smiling.

May Hashem answer our prayers and may we live to see Zecharia here with us again.

Binny Friedman.

Timeline of events 2000-2006:

On September 28 Ariel Sharon surrounded by hundreds of Israeli riot police, visited the mosque compound of the הר הבית in the Old City of Jerusalem. The day after Sharon's visit, following Friday prayers, large riots broke out around Old Jerusalem. Palestinians on the Temple Mount threw stones over the Western Wall at Jews and tourists below. About 70 policemen were reportedly injured in the clashes. That was the beginning of the El Aksa Intifada, which resulted in the death of 1115 Israelis in terrorist attacks.

On October 7^th, 2000, Hezbollah guerrillas nabbed the three soldiers from a command car patrolling the security road at 12:45 p.m., in an apparently well-planned ambush. They then bundled them into a waiting car and took them deep into Lebanon, military sources said.
The soldiers were identified as St.-Sgt. Omar Sawayid, St.-Sgt. Avraham Binyamin from Bnei Brak, and Sgt. Adi Avitan from Tiberias, all from the Engineering Corps.

On October 16, 2000, the Hezbollah Secretary General announced that his organization was holding an Israeli citizen, Elhanan Tenenbaum. As far as we know, Tenenbaum (a businessman) met Obeid, an old Lebanese friend in Brussels, where he told him he would to need fly to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates to smooth out certain kinks in the deal, according to reports. Once in Abu Dhabi, Tenenbaum was drugged and shipped unconscious to Lebanon by clandestine Hezbollah agents. was abducted while on a private business trip to Europe. Tenenbaum is 54 years old, married and has two children; he is also the son of Holocaust survivors.

A prisoner exchange took place on January 29^th, 2004, in which 30 Lebanese and Arab prisoners, the remains of 59 Lebanese militants and civilians, 400 Palestinian prisoners, and map showing Israeli mines in South Lebanon were exchanged for Tenenbaum, a businessman captured in 2000 on a business trip to Kuwait and held in Lebanon by Hezbollah, along with the remains of the three dead soldiers, Omar Sawayid, Avraham Binyamin and Adi Avitan. The families of the soldiers spent over three years hoping their sons were still alive, and received them back in coffins.

Wednesday morning, the 12^th of July, 2006, was the last day of Udi Golwasser and Eldad Regev's service. They had packed their things and prepared to go home immediately after their last patrol. Nothing out of the ordinary happened until 09:05, at which time the Hezbollah heavily bombarded the whole region. Eldad and Udi's vehicle was suddenly attacked by a group of Hezbollah terrorists. Other soldiers were killed and wounded under the Hezbollah's fire, Udi and Eldad were kidnapped and taken to Lebanese soil.

On Sunday, the 25^th of June, 2006, at 05:40 in the morning, a terrorist attacked an IDF post near Gaza. At least one rocket was fired and grenades were thrown at a tank positioned in the area. The tank was manned by four soldiers one of whom was Gilad Shalit. The missile hit the tank causing the death of its commander and an additional soldier. One soldier was wounded. Gilad Shalit, the fourth soldier in the tank, was wounded in the shoulder and was abducted from the tank and taken by the terrorists to the Gaza strip. The Palestinians declared they were willing to give information about Gilad in return for the release of all female and under 18 years old security prisoners held in Israeli prisons. Then they demanded an additional 1000 prisoners be released. There is no information as to Gilad’s welfare as for now.

On the12th of July, 2006, Hezbollah fired Katyusha rockets and mortars at Israeli border villages, diverting attention from another Hezbollah unit that crossed the Israeli border and kidnapped two Israeli soldiers and killed three others. Israeli troops attempted to rescue the abducted soldiers but were unsuccessful, losing five more in the attempt. Another five soldiers and five civilians were wounded in the attacks. Israel responded with massive air strikes and artillery fire on targets in Lebanon. 120 IDF soldiers were killed, 43 Israeli civilians and 4,262 were injured.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpH47oT2dbI

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Relevant Links:

1. The Hezbollah about the soldiers
2.Entebbe Rescue
3. Operation Entebbe

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