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Operation Rhodes
Operation Rhodes (Hebrew: מבצע רודוס) was an Israeli heliborne raid against the Egyptian island of Shadwan on 22 January 1970, during the War of Attrition. It was carried out by Israeli paratroopers and Shayetet 13 naval commandos, who took control of the island for over a day before leaving with 62 captured Egyptian soldiers and radar equipment.
Egypt had launched the War of Attrition in order to weaken Israel's hold on the territories in the Sinai it had captured during the 1967 Six-Day War. While the war raged mainly along the Suez Canal, Israel hoped to secure a ceasefire by showing Cairo that it could strike anywhere in Egypt and by presenting the Egyptian leadership with the prospect of an all out conflict for which Egypt was likely ill-prepared. Refusing to limit the war to the canal front, in January 1970 Israel launched Operation Priha, a series of Israeli Air Force strikes against targets in the Egyptian heartland, while its ground forces were tasked with a strike at the isolated and lightly garrisoned Shadwan. The aim of the raid was to capture Egyptian POWs to be exchanged for Israeli prisoners in Egypt, and to sabotage a local radar post which was deemed a threat to Israeli shipping in the Gulf of Suez.
The task of taking Shadwan was assigned to the Israel Defense Forces' Paratroopers Brigade under the command of Haim Nadal. Its 202nd Battalion, commanded by Lt. Colonel Ya'acov Hasdai, and the brigade's elite reconnaissance company (Sayeret Tzanhanim), commanded by Captain Motti Paz, were to land on the island. These were to be assisted Shayetet-13 operators, while additional paratroops were to be at hand at Sharm el-Sheikh and on nearby Israeli Navy vessels.
The Egyptian garrison on Shadwan was headquartered in the island's lighthouse, at its southern tip. The lighthouse was defended by a fortified perimeter consisting of 9 outlying outposts and manned by a company of Egyptian Sa'ka Forces commandos. In all, 100 Egyptian soldiers were present on Shadwan, of which 60 were commandos and the rest Egyptian Navy and technical personnel.
Operation Rhodes commenced on the morning of January 22, 1970, with a strike by twelve 109 and 115 Squadrons A-4 Skyhawks which killed a number of Egyptian soldiers, including the officer commanding of the local garrison. With the defenders thus engaged, Israeli ground forces started landing on Shadwan, ferried to the island by a pair of Bell 205s and 114 Squadron's fleet of Aerospatiale Super Frelons. Landing at 09:15, the forces disembarked a mile north of the lighthouse and broke up into various elements. Hasdai's battalion moved to capture the outposts on the island's eastern side and those leading to the lighthouse, fighting Egyptian soldiers who refused Israeli calls to surrender. Within an hour after landing, all but three outposts had fallen to the paratroops. One Israeli soldier, corporal Haim Isrovich, was killed by sniper fire.
Paz's troops, attempting to flank the Egyptian forces from the west, met with resistance on the defensive perimeter's western side, only to enter a minefield. One officer, Lt. Israel Bar-Lev, was killed and several injured, and the force withdrew, leaving the posts codenamed "Dafna" and "Dvora" in Egyptian hands. At 10:30 the reserve force at Sharm el-Sheikh, led by Lt. Colonel Amos Yaron was therefore dispatched to the island.
A force led by Lt. Yitzhak Kotler, meanwhile, arrived at the lighthouse. Despite expecting significant resistance, little movement was spotted at the site, and at 12:00 the Israeli troops stormed the building. A few rooms were initially found to be empty, but fire soon erupted from a building on the western side of the compound, hitting Kotler and leaving the force leaderless. Hasdai instructed one of Kotler's squad's to flank the structure and clear it out using grenades. By 12:57 they managed to secure the building, which was found to be defended by only a pair of Egyptian soldiers, one of whom was killed and the other injured. An Israeli helicopter soon arrived to ferry both the Egyptian officer and Kotler to hospital, though the latter died of his wounds.
Landing on the island at 11:30, Amos Yaron was dispatched by Nadal to overcome remaining resistance at the western edge of the island's defensive perimeter. Leading a three-pronged assault, Yaron, aided by a pair of Israeli Air Force strike aircraft, secured the post codenamed "Dafna" by 14:15. Nearby "Dvora" was soon secured as well and by 15:30 fighting had ceased. 14 Egyptians had been captured and 17 killed. Several dozen more POWs were found in subsequent scouring of the island.
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Operation Rhodes
Operation Rhodes (Hebrew: מבצע רודוס) was an Israeli heliborne raid against the Egyptian island of Shadwan on 22 January 1970, during the War of Attrition. It was carried out by Israeli paratroopers and Shayetet 13 naval commandos, who took control of the island for over a day before leaving with 62 captured Egyptian soldiers and radar equipment.
Egypt had launched the War of Attrition in order to weaken Israel's hold on the territories in the Sinai it had captured during the 1967 Six-Day War. While the war raged mainly along the Suez Canal, Israel hoped to secure a ceasefire by showing Cairo that it could strike anywhere in Egypt and by presenting the Egyptian leadership with the prospect of an all out conflict for which Egypt was likely ill-prepared. Refusing to limit the war to the canal front, in January 1970 Israel launched Operation Priha, a series of Israeli Air Force strikes against targets in the Egyptian heartland, while its ground forces were tasked with a strike at the isolated and lightly garrisoned Shadwan. The aim of the raid was to capture Egyptian POWs to be exchanged for Israeli prisoners in Egypt, and to sabotage a local radar post which was deemed a threat to Israeli shipping in the Gulf of Suez.
The task of taking Shadwan was assigned to the Israel Defense Forces' Paratroopers Brigade under the command of Haim Nadal. Its 202nd Battalion, commanded by Lt. Colonel Ya'acov Hasdai, and the brigade's elite reconnaissance company (Sayeret Tzanhanim), commanded by Captain Motti Paz, were to land on the island. These were to be assisted Shayetet-13 operators, while additional paratroops were to be at hand at Sharm el-Sheikh and on nearby Israeli Navy vessels.
The Egyptian garrison on Shadwan was headquartered in the island's lighthouse, at its southern tip. The lighthouse was defended by a fortified perimeter consisting of 9 outlying outposts and manned by a company of Egyptian Sa'ka Forces commandos. In all, 100 Egyptian soldiers were present on Shadwan, of which 60 were commandos and the rest Egyptian Navy and technical personnel.
Operation Rhodes commenced on the morning of January 22, 1970, with a strike by twelve 109 and 115 Squadrons A-4 Skyhawks which killed a number of Egyptian soldiers, including the officer commanding of the local garrison. With the defenders thus engaged, Israeli ground forces started landing on Shadwan, ferried to the island by a pair of Bell 205s and 114 Squadron's fleet of Aerospatiale Super Frelons. Landing at 09:15, the forces disembarked a mile north of the lighthouse and broke up into various elements. Hasdai's battalion moved to capture the outposts on the island's eastern side and those leading to the lighthouse, fighting Egyptian soldiers who refused Israeli calls to surrender. Within an hour after landing, all but three outposts had fallen to the paratroops. One Israeli soldier, corporal Haim Isrovich, was killed by sniper fire.
Paz's troops, attempting to flank the Egyptian forces from the west, met with resistance on the defensive perimeter's western side, only to enter a minefield. One officer, Lt. Israel Bar-Lev, was killed and several injured, and the force withdrew, leaving the posts codenamed "Dafna" and "Dvora" in Egyptian hands. At 10:30 the reserve force at Sharm el-Sheikh, led by Lt. Colonel Amos Yaron was therefore dispatched to the island.
A force led by Lt. Yitzhak Kotler, meanwhile, arrived at the lighthouse. Despite expecting significant resistance, little movement was spotted at the site, and at 12:00 the Israeli troops stormed the building. A few rooms were initially found to be empty, but fire soon erupted from a building on the western side of the compound, hitting Kotler and leaving the force leaderless. Hasdai instructed one of Kotler's squad's to flank the structure and clear it out using grenades. By 12:57 they managed to secure the building, which was found to be defended by only a pair of Egyptian soldiers, one of whom was killed and the other injured. An Israeli helicopter soon arrived to ferry both the Egyptian officer and Kotler to hospital, though the latter died of his wounds.
Landing on the island at 11:30, Amos Yaron was dispatched by Nadal to overcome remaining resistance at the western edge of the island's defensive perimeter. Leading a three-pronged assault, Yaron, aided by a pair of Israeli Air Force strike aircraft, secured the post codenamed "Dafna" by 14:15. Nearby "Dvora" was soon secured as well and by 15:30 fighting had ceased. 14 Egyptians had been captured and 17 killed. Several dozen more POWs were found in subsequent scouring of the island.