Mideast crisis timeline
2006-07-21 12:18
Key events in the crisis between Israel, the Palestinians and Lebanon.
Sunday, June 25:
Palestinians attack army post on Israel-Gaza border, killing two soldiers, capturing a third.
Israel starts to mass forces around Gaza, from which it withdrew in September 2005.
Monday, June 26:
Three Palestinian groups - the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC), the armed wing of the ruling Hamas movement and the Army of Islam - say they captured 19-year-old Gilad Shalit.
They demand Israel free detained women and minors.
Tuesday, June 27:
Hamas, which dominates the Palestinian government, signs agreement to end bitter internal conflict and which implicitly recognises Israel's existence.
Wednesday, June 28:
Israeli ground forces enter southern Gaza.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert says Israel will use "extreme measures" to rescue Shalit.
Washington says Israel has the right to defend itself.
Thursday, June 29:
Israel detains scores of Hamas members, including one third of the Palestinian cabinet.
International community steps up calls for restraint.
Olmert suspends a ground offensive expected in northern Gaza as Cairo tries to mediate.
Friday, June 30:
Israeli jets blitz Gaza, set interior ministry ablaze.
Prime minister Ismail Haniya insists government working to free Shalit.
Saturday, July 1:
Israel rejects Palestinian demand to free 1 000 prisoners.
Sunday, July 2:
Israel hits Haniya's Gaza office.
Monday, July 3:
Israel sends troops and armour into northern Gaza. Palestinian militant is killed.
Shalit's captors give a 24-hour deadline for Israel to free Palestinian prisoners. Israel rejects ultimatum.
Tuesday, July 4:
Israeli air raid kills Hamas activist in northern Gaza.
Israel says Shalit is alive; his captors say they will not kill him.
Hamas militants fire rocket into Israeli town of Ashkelon, no casualties.
Wednesday, July 5:
Israeli planes strike interior ministry in Gaza City again. Militants fire second rocket at Ashkelon.
Thursday, July 6:
Twenty-two Palestinian civilians and militants killed in Gaza as Israel reoccupies areas.
Israeli soldier is killed.
Two 16-year-old Palestinians killed in Israeli raid on West Bank town Jenin.
UN security council debates draft resolution demanding immediate withdrawal of Israeli forces and release of detained Palestinian officials; US calls it "unbalanced".
Friday, July 7:
Israeli air raid on northern Gaza kills armed Palestinian. Another two Palestinians are killed by ground forces.
Saturday, July 8:
Israeli forces advance toward Gaza City, killing four Palestinians. Other units pull back from northern Gaza.
Haniya calls for mutual ceasefire.
Sunday, July 9:
Israeli air strikes on Gaza. Death toll rises to 41 Palestinians and one Israeli soldier.
Monday, July 10:
Exiled Hamas political leader Khaled Meshaal says Shalit will not be freed without prisoner swap, pledges he will be protected.
Israel says some Palestinian prisoners could be released, but only after safe return of Shalit.
Nine Palestinians killed in Gaza.
Tuesday, July 11:
Israeli air strikes batter Gaza. At least 52 Palestinians have been killed since Israeli operation began.
Wednesday, July 12:
Hezbollah captures two Israeli soldiers and kills eight, prompting first Israeli ground operation into Lebanon since its 2000 pullout.
In Gaza, 23 Palestinians are killed by Israeli air strikes.
Thursday, July 13:
Israeli planes bomb Beirut airport, kill at least 44 civilians in air strikes across Lebanon.
Two Israelis are killed, more than 35 wounded by Hezbollah rockets.
Russia, France, Britain and Italy criticise "disproportionate" use of force by Israel. US blames "terrorists who want to stop the advance of peace".
US vetoes UN resolution calling Israel to halt military operations in Gaza.
Israel withdraws ground troops from centre of Gaza.
Friday, July 14:
Israel bombs Beirut home of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah. He declares "open war" on Israel.
Israel sets conditions to end offensive: halt rocket attacks, release its soldiers, and Lebanon to implement UN resolution calling for Hezbollah's disarmament.
Two Israelis killed by rocket fire from Lebanon.
Saturday, July 15:
Hezbollah attacks Israeli warship. Israel recovers body of one of four missing sailors, bringing Israeli servicemen toll since Wednesday to nine dead.
Eighteen civilians burnt alive by Israeli helicopter attack. Another seven killed in other raids, bringing toll in Lebanon to at least 87.
Sunday, July 16:
Eight Israelis killed by Hezbollah rocket attack in Haifa.
Israel finds remains of three missing sailors.
Four Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in Gaza.
Syria warns it will respond directly and by all means necessary to any Israeli attack on its territory.
Monday, July 17:
Israeli strikes kill 43 Lebanese.
Hezbollah rejects Israeli terms for a ceasefire.
Annan calls for end to hostilities, suggests UN "stabilisation force" along Lebanon-Israel border.
UN security council fails to agree on call for ceasefire
Tuesday, July 18:
Fifteen people, most of them soldiers, killed in Lebanon as Israel pushes on with attacks.
Helicopters, ferries and cruise liners commandeered to retrieve trapped foreign nationals.
Wednesday, July 19:
At least 70 civilians killed by Israeli bombing on deadliest day of its Lebanon offensive, pushing overall toll to 325.
Two Arab-Israeli children killed by Katyusha rocket fired from Lebanon on northern Israeli town of Nazareth.
Two Israeli soldiers killed, nine wounded in border clashes.
Thursday, July 20:
Israeli troops battle Lebanese guerrillas and planes bomb suspected Hezbollah bunker as Lebanon pleads for international help.
Thousands of foreigners pour out of Lebanon by land, sea and air, leaving homes and possessions to head for the safety of Cyprus, Syria and Turkey.
Israel warns civilians in the Gaza Strip that every home storing weaponry is now a target.
Friday, July 21:
Israel calls up thousands, warning of possible invasion of Lebanon.
Israeli raids hit Baalbeck and Tyre, killing at least five Lebanese.
Lebanese civilians flee from south; foreign nationals' exodus continues.
Rockets hit Haifa, wounding 19.
Hezbollah rejects UN plan for halt to hostilities and release of Israeli soldiers.
Saturday, July 22:
Israel masses thousands more reservists on Lebanese border.
Israeli aircraft hit transmission towers for television stations and mobile telephone networks.
Sunday, July 23:
Syria warns that it will respond if Israel invades Lebanon.
Israeli defence minster Amir Peretz says that Israel supports the deployment of an international force in southern Lebanon, possibly sponsored by NATO.
Monday, July 24:
Rice visits Beirut in "show of support" for Lebanese people and calls for a ceasefire as soon as viable.
Two Israeli soldiers are killed in battles with Hezbollah, while two airmen die in a combat helicopter crash in northern Israel.
The army says two Hezbollah militiamen are captured by troops and brought to Israel.
The UN launches an urgent appeal for $150m to help 800 000 civilians made homeless by Israeli raids on Lebanon.
Tuesday, July 25:
Olmert vows to press on with Israel's two-week-old offensive in Lebanon.
Israel says it has taken control of the border town of Bint Jbeil, a Hezbollah military stronghold. No independent confirmation.
US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, holding talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders, says it is "time for a new Middle East".
UN relief chief Jan Egeland blasts Israel's strike last month on the sole power plant in impoverished Gaza as a "clear" example of excessive force.
Wednesday, July 26:
Israeli air raid kills up to four UN observers on the Lebanese border in what UN chief Kofi Annan calls "an apparently deliberate targeting".
Fifteen-nation summit on the Middle East conflict begins in Rome with Annan calling for an "immediate cessation of hostilities".
Fighting intensifies with 13 Israeli soldiers reported killed fighting Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
First UN aid convoy heads from Beirut to war-torn southern Lebanon.
Israeli raids in the Gaza Strip kill 11 Palestinians.