Battle of Ayta ash - Shab The Battle of Ayta ash - Sha ' b took place during the 2006 Lebanon War , when the Israel Defense Forces and the Islamic Resistance , the armed wing of Hizbullah , fought a 33 days battle for the town of Ayta ash - Sha ' b and the neighboring villages of Ramiya , al - Qawzah and Dibil in southern Lebanon . The initial phase of the battle consisted of two and a half weeks of intense bombardment by air and artillery , followed by more than two weeks of intensive fighting in and around the town . The IDF failed to capture the town and suffered relatively heavy casualties in the process . Background . On July 12 , 2006 , under the cover of mortar and rocket fire directed at Israeli communities and IDF positions , forces belonging to the Islamic Resistance launched a cross border raid into Israeli territory , killing three Israeli soldiers and abducting two , Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev . The abductors apparently headed for the town of Ayta ash - Sha ' b , less than a kilometer from the site of the abduction . Nir Rosen writes that Ayta ash - Sha ' b was defended by approximately 100 fighters , mainly local inhabitants . Some of the defenders of the town were not members of the Islamic Resistance or even of Hizbullah . According to Andrew Exum , the majority of the fighters were not " regular Hizballah fighters " . Blanford agrees that most the fighters were local residents , but that they were " no second - rate home guard . They were battle - hardened veterans , … many of them with specialist training in anti - armor missiles and sniping . " According to a study supported by Israeli authorities , Hizbullah ’ s military infrastructure in the village consisted of 60 – 70 Hizbullah operatives . The battle . Ayta ash - Sha ' b and other Lebanese border villages and Hizbullah outposts were immediately subjected to bombardment from aircraft and artillery , plus attack helicopters supporting Israeli ground forces . This would continue almost daily throughout the war . On the first day the IDF declared , somewhat optimistically , that " all Hezbollah outposts along the border were destroyed . " First attempted incursion . Less than two hours after the capture of the two soldiers , the IDF sent a force of tanks and armored personnel carriers across the border following a dirt track , through an olive grove called Khallat al - Warda , leading to Ayta ash - Sha ' b . The force was ordered to capture a Hizbullah post and to take control of the exit roads from the town , in case the abducted soldiers were still there . Only 70 meters into Lebanese territory , a Merkava heavy battle tank drove over a remote - controlled mine . The tank was destroyed and its four crewmen were killed instantly , and the mission to capture the access roads to the town was quickly abandoned . Hizbullah fire prevented the extraction of the destroyed tank and the remains of the four soldiers just inside Lebanese territory for several days . A fifth soldier was killed and two soldiers wounded in the effort . Defence Minister Amir Peretz , who watched the tank exploding live on his monitor , was stunned . It was later described as the " Zidane effect " that cemented Israel ' s resolve towards going to war . Second attempted incursion . On the evening of July 12 , IDF Northern Command contemplated sending paratroopers to Ayta ash - Sha ' b " to conduct arrests " . This was postponed because of a lack of intelligence , but during the first week fighting was limited to exchanges of fire over the border . The original plan deemed it unnecessary to occupy Lebanese territory to rid the border of Hizbullah . Israel used the air force , both aircraft and attack helicopters , and artillery fire . The Lebanese fighters fired rockets , guided missiles , mortars , Katyusha rockets and heavy machine guns at Israeli towns and positions . According to Yedioth Ahronoth more than 300 rockets were fired from the area during the war . The headquarters of the 91st Division at Biranit just across the border from Ayta ash - Sha ' b was subjected to a " hard and extremely accurate " attack by Katyusha rockets . The Command bunker received a direct hit destroying the generator and cutting off light and air supply to the facility . Only the dim lights of cell phones could be seen when terrified Israeli soldiers called home . According to Islamic Resistance commanders the fighters suffered no casualties during this period . On July 14 the civilian inhabitants of the town were warned through loudspeakers to evacuate the town . The great majority of the population therefore left . About a week into the war the IDF resumed ground operations around Ayta ash - Sha ' b , with nightly incursions by foot , mainly around the Old Quarter in the west and the northern sections of the town , such as the Abu Tawil hill . These incursions were described by Arkin as " probes " and probably served mainly to gather intelligence . On the 19th , Northern Command launched a simultaneous attack on the border communities of Maroun ar - Ras , Marwahin and Ayta ash - Sha ' b . The attack on Maroun ar - Ras failed , sustaining a number of casualties , and the forces about to attack Ayta ash - Sha ' b were called back at the last moment . Decision to create a Security Zone . Two weeks into the war it was clear that the Israeli strategy was not working . In late July the Israeli cabinet therefore approved Operation " Operation Web of Steel 4 " ( later renamed Operation Change of Direction 8 ) , designed to take control of a " security zone " , 6 – 8 kilometers wide , along the border . Reserves were called up and eight brigades amassed on the Israeli - Lebanese border . On July 31 paratroopers effectively surrounded Ayta ash - Sha ' b with the intention of driving out the Hizbullah . They were met with fierce resistance . On the next day they advanced on the town from two directions . One company - sized unit was advancing into the eastern Abu Laban quarter . The troops were discovered by Lebanese forces , which after several hours of fighting forced the Israelis to retreat . During this fight Hizbullah suffered its first fatality , Younis Surour . The other force , the 890th Paratrooper Battalion , attacked the Old Town from the north and advanced towards the mosque . The battalion came under fire , and its forces got separated as they took cover . Israeli soldiers were shocked by the ferocity of the fire and several stopped functioning . The attack was aborted and reinforcements were called in to extract dead , wounded and shell - shocked soldiers . According to Hizbullah , another Lebanese fighter , Hisham as - Sayyid , was killed while pursuing the retreating Israelis . Three Israeli soldiers , including an officer , were killed and at least 25 were wounded . The IDF had claimed that 15 Hizbullah guerrillas had been killed in the clash , though Hizbullah claimed it only lost two fighters . Israeli injured had to be carried by their comrades , under Hizbullah fire , back to the Israeli border . It took the wounded a whole day to reach the hospital in Nahariya . The Paratroopers were originally supposed to move north the following day but because of the casualties sustained , they were ordered to remain in the vicinity of the town . Defense Minister Amir Peretz expressed his growing frustration at the slow progress IDF was making to his senior officers : " It ' s infuriating – we ' re circling Ayta al - Shaab for the third time already . " Continued street fighting . On August 2 , " harsh battles " were reported inside the town . One Israeli paratrooper was reported killed and nine wounded . On the same day , an Israeli force surrounded a house in the northern Abu Tawil section of the town . When the house was searched two Hizbullah fighters hiding in the house were discovered and taken prisoner . Israeli media reports were still upbeat and reported that the IDF " during the day " was " set to complete its deployment " in a 5 – 6 kilometers wide " security zone " along the Lebanese border , all the way between Metula and Rosh Hanikra . Ayta ash - Sha ' b , less than a kilometer from the border , was going to prove a much more difficult nut to crack than expected . The Hizbullah fighters generally fought from well - protected positions . A Hizbullah fighter told Lebanese daily as - Safir after the war how close the Israeli soldiers and Hizbullah guerrillas were , sometimes separated only by an alley or a destroyed house . The first time he saw Israeli soldiers he could not believe his eyes : " They were so close that sometimes our units would overlap theirs " . The Israeli soldiers would advance into a neighborhood and seek cover in a building when exposed to fire . The fighters would then target the building with remote - controlled missiles or rocket - propelled grenades . Most of the casualties sustained by the IDF were caused by rockets or missiles . When Israeli forces retreated the fighters would generally take cover in tunnels or shelters to avoid the shelling or bombardment from the air that would usually follow . When the shelling stopped the fighters would emerge to face the expected Israeli advance . In one case , three fighters took cover in a shelter during an air raid . The shelter received a direct hit and collapsed , killing them . Their bodies could not be retrieved until 10 days later . Another Hizbullah fighter also became one of the first Lebanese killed by a drone strike during the war . In spite of the substantial losses , IDF officials denied that there was any intention of withdrawing from the village , without " a clear surrender " of Hizbullah , because it was major stronghold and considered a " symbol of the determination " of the movement . One soldier was killed and at least 19 were wounded in further heavy clashes in Ayta ash - Sha ' b on August 5 . The losses precipitated a much criticized withdrawal of the reserve brigade from the village . On August 6 , the Defence Minister again expressed his dissatisfaction over the army ’ s inability to conquer Ayta ash - Sha ' b . The orders to the IDF to quickly occupy Ayta ash - Sha ' b were repeated several times over the coming days . A negotiating team that had been sent to the town to negotiate a peaceful surrender of its defenders returned empty handed on August 7 . Fighting spreads to Dibil and al - Qawzah . Israeli forces eventually bypassed Ayta ash - Sha ' b and started pushing northward towards the villages of al - Qawzah and Dibil , a few kilometers to the north of the town . Both of the villages were Christian and Hizbullah probably maintained a minimal presence there . The front line was thereby " extended from ash - Shomera - Zar ’ it [ in Israel ] , over Khallat Warda [ near the border ] and reaching al - Qawzah and Dibil ” . A heavy PUMA APC was hit by a missile in the village of Dibil on August 7 , killing one soldier and injuring five others . August 9 , a large IDF force was discovered by Hizbullah scouts while advancing from al - Qawzah towards Dibil . Local headquarters were alerted and the Israeli force was subjected to artillery and mortar fire , near the Dibil public swimming pool , from positions outside Ayta ash - Sha ' b . Hizbullah did not maintain artillery inside the town . An Israeli unit , belonging to the 8219th Engineering Battalion , took up positions in a house on the outskirts of Dibil . The house was hit by two anti - tank missiles fired from Ayta ash - Sha ' b ( about 4 kilometers away ) and the building collapsed . Nine soldiers were killed and 31 wounded , many of whom were buried under the ruins . Among those killed were Major Natan Yahav , the only senior IDF officer to die in the battle of Ayta ash - Sha ' b . The incident was dubbed " The House of Death " . Survivors later expressed bitterness at the IDF command , whose " incompetence and stupidity " contributed to the high number of casualties . " In Debel , those nine guys never even had a chance to shoot a single bullet . " The casualties had to be carried on stretchers back to Israel . The same day , a Merkava tank was hit by a missile , fired from close range in Ayta ash - Sha ' b . The tank turret was blown off and the tank caught fire . Its four crewmen were killed instantly . Ceasefire . On August 9 , General Eisenkott had to inform the government that the army had failed to capture Ayta ash - Sha ' b . Prime Minister Ehud Olmert demanded an explanation . Less than three days before the ceasefire Operation Changing Direction 11 was launched with the aim of pushing further into Lebanese territory . About a dozen Israeli soldiers died in the fighting around the villages of Hadatha , Yatar , at - Tiri , Rashaf and Ayta az - Zut , well to the north of Ayta ash - Sha ' b . There are no reports of any offensive Israeli action against Hizbullah positions in the town itself . On the last day of the fighting , an IDF force at the Abu Tawil hill in the northern part of the town was hit by an anti - tank missile . Four soldiers were killed and 20 wounded . By the time the cease - fire took effect on the morning of August 14 the IDF apparently had abandoned all its positions inside Ayta a - Sha ' b . Blanford notes : " On the first day of the ceasefire , it was possible to reach [ Aita ash - Sha ' b ] … which lay behind the IDF ’ s frontline positions in Haddatha , Rashaf and Yatar without even seeing a single IDF soldier . " A camera team from al - Jazeera reached the village and interviewed a Hizbullah fighter a few hours after the ceasefire took effect . Aftermath . The Israeli army never occupied Ayta ash - Sha ' b . According to Harel and Issacharoff , the town became " a symbol of Israel ' s performance in the war , the village where it all began , where the IDF thrashed about for four weeks and never succeeded in taking . " Exum described Hizbullah ' s " tenacity " in the defense of the border villages as " the biggest surprise of the war " and the performance of the village units as " exceptional " . The Carmeli Brigade pulled a battalion out of the town , after one of its soldiers was killed , in what was described as a " tactical retreat " . The performance of the Carmeli Brigade was afterwards singled out ( together with another unit , the 366th Division ) for particular harsh criticism . It displayed a " lack of determination , an unnecessary retreat and a misunderstanding of the bigger picture . Much of the blame was placed on the top brass , but the [ two ] brigades were left thoroughly shaken by the war . " After the war a committee , headed by Col . ( res ) Yoram Yair , sharply criticized the conduct of 91st Division during the war , including the battle of Ayta ash - Sha ' b . The battle was called " the black hole of the war " . Brig . - Gen . Gal Hirsch , the commanding officer under which the Carmeli Brigade served during the war , was fired a few months after the war . The commander of the Northern Command , Gen . Udi Adam , was practically fired already on Aug 8 , after the repeated failures to capture Bint Jbeil and Ayta ash - Sha ' b . Chief of Staff Halutz sent his deputy , Maj . - Gen . Moshe Kaplinsky , to Northern Command , to serve as his " coordinator " beside Adam . Adam formally resigned from the army in September . Chief of Staff Dan Halutz himself resigned in January 2007 . Veteran Israeli war correspondent Ron Ben - Yishai claimed that the problem was not limited to the commanding officers . He claimed that a " crybaby culture " had developed among the soldiers of the Israeli army . Almost every Israeli offensive operation in the war , including those in Ayta ash - Sha ' b , were called off as soon as resistance was encountered and casualties were sustained , even though IDF in almost every clash enjoyed superiority , both in terms of numbers and firepower . Soldiers often abandoned their missions and focused all efforts on evacuating casualties from the battlefield rather than pursue their objectives . Gilad Sharon asked in a column in Yedioth Ahronoth after the war : " How could it be that after a month of war , our soldiers were still being wounded among the still - standing houses of the village of Aita al - Shaab , literately hundreds of meters from the location of the abduction that sparked the war ? " Casualties . Journalist Simon Assaf who visited Ayta ash - Sha ' b shortly after the cease - fire says that eight local fighters were killed and six civilians , claiming to have seen the 14 graves at the local cemetery . A Washington Post report , citing local residents , confirmed that eight Hizbullah guerrillas were killed in the town . Nir Rosen and Hannah Alam of McClatchy claimed that nine local fighters died in the battle . The Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth confirmed that around ten local Hizbullah fighters were killed in the battle in addition to other fighters that arrived to the battle . The IDF , on the other hand , claimed that 40 Hizbullah guerrillas were killed in the battle . The Lebanese daily as - Safir about a year later published a casualty list that included the names of 11 Hizbullah fighters , including non - locals , and 7 " civilian martyrs " from the town . Another Ayta resident , Muhammad Wahbi Surour , was also named as a martyr of Ayta , but he died in the fighting around the village of Barish further to the north . One of those named by as - Safir , Hassan Da ’ iq , also appear on a list of martyrs from the town of Tayiba published on the local website . The local website identifies him as a native of Tayiba who was killed in the " battles of Ayta ash - Sha ' b " . His name was given as Muhammad Mahmoud Da ’ iq , adding that his " nom - du - guerre " was Hassan . Two Hizbullah fighters were taken prisoner by the IDF during the battle of Ayta ash - Sha ' b . The captured fighters were not recognized as prisoners - of - war . In September 2006 the two prisoners were put on trial , together with a third prisoner , Mahir Kourani , who was captured a few days later at the village of Shihin . The three were accused of a long series of criminal offenses , including " providing service to an illegal association , " " weapons training in Iran and Lebanon without government permission , " " conspiracy to commit a crime , " and " conspiracy to commit murder " as well as participation in the kidnapping and attempted kidnapping of Israeli soldiers . Before the trial was concluded the three prisoners ( including the fourth prisoner , Khadr Zaidan , who was captured at al - Ghandouriya ) were released in the 2008 prisoner exchange . According to a spokesman for the U . N . High Commissioner for Refugees , only 100 of the 1300 houses in the town remained after the war . In spite of the wide spread destruction in Ayta ash - Sha ' b there were surprisingly few civilian casualties . According to Lebanese sources only seven civilian residents were killed in the war . The main reason for this seems to have been that the great majority of the civilian population had been evacuated from the town early in the conflict . According to a Human Rights Watch report two of the civilian fatalities were actually killed outside the town . On the July 19 Safa Salah Jawad , aged 7 , and her brother Kawthar , 4 , were killed when an 155 mm artillery shell struck the private home in the nearby Christian village of Rumaysh , where the family had sought refuge after being evacuated from Ayta ash - Sha ' b . Most of the other civilian fatalities seems to have occurred before the ground war started . One man was killed July 20 by an missile fired by a helicopter . An elderly couple and their son in his forties were killed the day after when their home was destroyed by an air strike . The IDF admitted 28 killed ( of which five were officers ) in 33 days of fighting in and around the town ( including five at the border on the July 12 , thirteen inside the town and ten in the nearby village of Dibil ) . Islamic Resistance fatalities . The Lebanese daily as - Safir published the following casualty list . Israeli fatalities . July 12 , 2006 Aug 1 , 2006 Aug 2 , 2006 Aug 5 , 2006 Aug 7 , 2006 Aug 9 , 2006 Aug 13 , 2006