2004 Israeli operation in Rafah

Operation Rainbow
Part of the Second Intifada
Area of the conflict
Date 12 May – 1 June 2004 Location Gaza Strip Result Israeli withdrawal
Belligerents
Israel (IDF)	Hamas Islamic Jihad PRC
Commanders and leaders
Brigadier General Shmuel Zakkai
Casualties and losses
13 soldiers killed[1][2]	53–55 Palestinians killed Combatants: 41 killed (IDF claim[3][4]), 12 (Palestinians claim) Civilians: 12 (IDF claim), 43 (Palestinians claim)

In 2004, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched Operation Rainbow (Hebrew: מבצע קשת בענן, romanized: Mivtza Keshet Be-Anan) in the southern Gaza Strip on 12–24 May 2004, involving an invasion and siege of Rafah. The operation was started after the deaths of eleven Israeli soldiers in two Palestinian attacks, in which M113 armored vehicles were attacked.^[1][5]

Human Rights Watch reported 59 Palestinians killed during 12–24 May, including 11 under age eighteen and 18 armed men. The IDF razed some 300 homes to expand the buffer zone along the Egypt–Gaza border, expanding it far inside the Gaza Strip. Also, a zoo and at least 700 dunams (70 ha) of agricultural land were destroyed.

Israel's declared aims of Operation Rainbow were finding and destroying smuggling tunnels, targeting terrorists, and securing the Philadelphi Route by expanding the buffer zone.