Operation Shock
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict = Operation Shock
מבצע הלם
| image = Super Frelon Hatzerim 28042004.jpg
| image_size = 300px
| caption = Super Frelon helicopter
| date = {{start date and age|1968|10|31}}
| place = Egypt
| partof = War of Attrition
| casus = Artillery bombings conducted by the Egyptian army on IDF positions along the Suez Canal
| result = Israeli victory
- Mission successful
- Qena bridge irreparably damaged
- Nag-Hammadi dam damaged
- 7 out of 9 transformers destroyed
- Egyptian shelling on IDF positions along the Suez canal halted for four months.Col. Elizar "Cheetah" Cohen, Israel's Best Defence, p.300
| combatant1 = {{flagu|Israel}}
| combatant2 = {{flagu|Egypt|1958}}
| strength1 = 14 paratroopers,
4 Super-Frelon helicopters
| strength2 =
| casualties1 = None
| casualties2 =
| campaignbox = {{Campaignbox War of Attrition}}
}}
Operation Shock ({{langx|he|מבצע הלם}}) was a commando operation executed on October 31, 1968, by Israeli paratroopers. Targets of the raid were the new Qena bridge 280 miles south of Cairo, the Nag Hammadi bridge 35 miles west of Qena span and the Nag Hammadi transformer station near the bridge. The station provided electricity to the area and was described as a switching station on a high tension line between Cairo and the Aswan Dam.
Background
The War of Attrition between Israel and Egypt lasted from 1968 to 1970 and was fought along the cease-fire lines that ended the 1967 Six-Day War.
Both sides intended the war of attrition to weaken the other as much as possible in hopes of gaining advantages in subsequent negotiations. Egypt in particular sought to regain territory it had lost in 1967. Egypt's leader, Gamal Abdel Nasser, calculated that by waging a low-grade war on Israel over territory it lost in the Six-Day War, international pressure would force Israel to withdraw. Nasser was also intent on redressing the humiliation he and Egypt had suffered in the 1967 war. Israel, for its part, attempted to solidify its hold on Sinai as some members of the Israeli cabinet and Knesset believed the Peninsula should be annexed to Israel—a step toward achieving the vision of a Greater Israel.
Planning
In response to two heavy artillery bombings conducted by the Egyptian army on IDF positions along the Suez Canal, which killed 25 soldiers, the IDF initiated a long series of operations against deep military and strategic targets in Egypt. Operation Shock was the first which targeted Egypt's electricity infrastructure.
References
=Notes=
{{reflist}}
=Bibliography=
{{Refbegin}}
- {{cite book|last1=Cohen|first1=Col. Elizar|title=Israel's Best Defence|date=October 26, 1993|publisher=Crown|isbn=978-0517587904|edition=1st American|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/israelsbestdefen0000cohe}}
{{Refend}}
{{Authority control}}
{{coord missing|Egypt}}
Category:Operations involving Israeli special forces
Category:October 1968 in Africa
Category:Attacks on buildings and structures in 1968
Category:Military operations involving dams
Category:Attacks on electrical infrastructure
Category:Attacks on buildings and structures in Egypt