July 12, 2006 (Wednesday)
- Israeli-Palestinian conflict
- An Israeli air strike destroys the Palestinian Foreign Ministry Building in Gaza City. (BBC), (AP)
- An Israeli brigade enters the central Gaza Strip via Kissufim crossing, aiming at temporarily bisecting it. Simultaneously, the Israel Air Force targets a meeting of Hamas operational wing commanders in an apartment building in Gaza city. One Hamas leader, seven members of his family and one neighbour are killed. Top Hamas leaders Mohammed Deif and Abu Anas al-Ghandour, who Israeli officials claim were heavily involved in the kidnapping of Cpl. Gilad Shalit, are moderately wounded. Fourteen additional Palestinian militants are killed in other incidents in the Gaza Strip. (Haaretz), (Ynet), (Reuters) Archived 2005-06-20 at the Wayback Machine
- 2006 Israel-Lebanon crisis:
- Hezbollah militants kidnap two Israeli soldiers patrolling along the northern Israel border. Three soldiers are killed in the incident, and five soldiers are killed in subsequent confrontations inside Lebanon. Hezbollah demands the release of thousands of Palestinian prisoners and one Lebanese prisoner, the killer of two small girls and their father. (Haaretz), (Ynet), (iAfrica) It is later reported that the two Israeli soldiers "had trespassed into Lebanon's side of the border with Israel". (Asia Times) Archived 2006-07-21 at the Wayback Machine (Bahrain News) (What Really Happened.com)
- Simultaneously, Hezbollah militants launch Katyusha rockets and mortar shells at Israeli towns along the border, wounding six Israeli civilians and five soldiers. (Haaretz), (Ynet), (iAfrica)
- Israeli forces attack installations and Hezbollah positions in Lebanon, in failed attempt to thwart the transportation of the kidnapped soldiers from the area. (Haaretz), (Ynet), (iAfrica)
- Hezbollah's attacks draw international condemnation. The US, EU, Japan, UK, Egypt and UN call for the immediate unconditional release of two kidnapped Israeli soldiers. The Syrian government and Hamas praise the attack by Hezbollah. (Haaretz), (Jerusalem Post)
- Lebanon calls back its ambassador to the US after he expresses support for Hezbollah in US media. (Haaretz), (Jerusalem Post)
- The United States blame Syria and Iran for the kidnapping of the two Israeli soldiers. (Fox News), (Reuters) Archived 2006-06-01 at the Wayback Machine
- Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert describes the Hezbollah attacks as "unjustified acts of war" by Lebanon and promises a "very painful and far-reaching response". (Reuters) Archived 2005-06-20 at the Wayback Machine, (Associated Press)
- An IDF reserve armoured division is called up in preparation for large scale operations in Lebanon, raising concerns for war. (Haaretz)
- Israel files a complaint with the UN Security Council and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, urging the international community to enforce council resolutions calling on the Lebanese government to disarm all militias within its borders and to extend its authority throughout its territory and specifically to southern Lebanon and its border with Israel. (Haaretz)
- Several thousand protesters march in the Mexican Federal District, protesting alleged vote fraud in last week's presidential election. (Reuters) Archived 2005-06-20 at the Wayback Machine, (BBC)
- Former General Secretary of the Soviet Union Communist Party Mikhail Gorbachev says "We have made some mistakes," referring to attacks on Russia's democracy, and makes several unflattering comments about the United States. (ABC News America)
- 10 or more of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps members attend North Korea's launch of its Taepodong-2 missile. (World Tribune)
- France, United States, United Kingdom, Russia, People's Republic of China and Germany decide to refer Iran to the U.N. Security Council over its nuclear program, after Iran not deciding whether to respond to a package of incentives quickly enough. (Reuters)[permanent dead link]
- The death toll from the 11 July 2006 Mumbai train bombings rises to 200 deaths and 700 injuries. Timers in pencils have been found at some of the sites of explosion. (Associated Press), (CNN)
- U.S. broadcaster Robert Novak says Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove was not the primary source for the Plame leak. (Wash Post), (Human Events)
- The Japanese national government announces it will introduce a satellite system that will warn residents of incoming missiles, earthquakes, and other disasters in a 200 million yen program named "J-ALERT". (Mainichi Daily News).
- Iraqi security forces discover the bodies of 20 bus drivers kidnapped earlier in the week. Three kidnap victims are freed. (Reuters)
- Condoleezza Rice says Iran's rejection of the international incentives program will force the major powers to take decisions in the United Nations Security Council. (Reuters)[permanent dead link]