Learn about Operation Black Arrow – Israel’s 1955 counter-terrorism raid in Gaza – in this quick read from the Center for Israel Education. In the years from 1948 to 1955, many Israeli civilians and soldiers were killed at the hands of nationalistically-motivated Palestinian terrorists (fedayeen). In 1953, IDF Unit 101 was established with the purpose of responding to and curbing the fedayeen attacks. Within a year, Unit 101 merged with the IDF’s Paratroop Battalion, which carried out the Gaza raid in 1955. Altogether, thirty-eight Egyptian soldiers and eight Israeli soldiers were killed in Operation Black Arrow. These and the other losses incurred during the reprisal operations of the 1950s are commemorated today by the Black Arrow Memorial site just outside of Gaza.
Photo by israel palacio on Unsplash