Twenty years after Hamas terrorists kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, Israel’s Defense Ministry and IDF Archives on Thursday released the official Southern Brigade operations logs documenting, minute by minute, the dramatic events surrounding the attack near Kerem Shalom on June 25, 2006.

The newly declassified documents trace the military’s response from the first reports of explosions and heavy gunfire to the realization that an Israeli soldier had been abducted into Gaza.

On the morning of June 25, 2006, Hamas terrorists infiltrated Israel through a tunnel dug beneath the security barrier and attacked an IDF armored position near Kerem Shalom. During the assault, Lt. Hanan Barak and Staff Sgt. Pavel Slutsker were killed, several soldiers were wounded, and Gilad Shalit was abducted and taken into the Gaza Strip.

According to the operations log, the first report was received at 5:13 a.m., noting multiple explosions in the area. Initially believed to be mortar or rocket fire, the situation escalated just one minute later when the command post recorded the words: “Casualties reported.”

As reports poured in of terrorists inside IDF positions and attack helicopters being scrambled, commanders worked to understand the scope of the attack.

At 6:40 a.m., the log recorded the entry that changed the operation: “A soldier is missing from the tank.” Four minutes later, the IDF activated the “Hannibal Directive,” the protocol then in place to prevent the capture of Israeli soldiers.

By 7:12 a.m., troops had located a helmet and protective vest near the security fence, though no drag marks were found. At exactly 8:00 a.m., the missing soldier was identified: “Name of the abducted soldier: Gilad Shalit.”

Nearly two hours later, commanders reported discovering tracks belonging to both the terrorists and the abducted soldier. By noon, the logs noted that Shalit’s bloodstained vest, damaged by shrapnel, had been recovered.

The documents also reveal the uncertainty facing commanders as they attempted to determine Shalit’s whereabouts. An afternoon operational assessment concluded that the kidnapped soldier was “likely alive,” though his location remained unknown. Officials assessed that Hamas had spent approximately three weeks preparing the attack and warned that the kidnapping could trigger a broader military confrontation.

Later that afternoon, troops confirmed Shalit’s footprints near the tunnel entrance believed to have been used by the terrorists. At 5:34 p.m., the command post documented reports that Shalit may have been transferred through a tunnel into Egypt, though officials emphasized that the information had not been verified.

Shalit remained in Hamas captivity for more than five years before being released in October 2011 in exchange for 1,027 imprisoned terrorists.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)