Operation Autumn Clouds was a military operation undertaken by the Israel Defense Forces against the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip from October to November 2006.
"Autumn Clouds" was launched on 1 November 2006 as a follow-up to Operation Summer Rains, with the IDF responding to continued Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel. 60 Israeli tanks, backed by helicopter gunships and three airstrikes, opened the offensive in Beit Hanoun, where 6 Palestinians were killed, three houses were razed by bulldozers, and a dozen homes were hit by tank shells. On 3 November, Hamas appealed for women to rescue Palestinian militants trapped inside a mosque by disguising the militants as women, resulting in one Palestinian woman being killed and another ten wounded by Israeli fire. On 7 November, the IDF began to withdraw from Gaza, by which time 53 Palestinians (including 16 civilians) and an IDF soldier had been killed. The next day, however, several civilian houses in Beit Hanoun were struck by Israeli shells, killing at least 19 Palestinian civilians and wounding 40. On 16 November, a Hamas rocket attack on Sderot killed one and injured another. Israel refused to cooperate with the UN Human Rights Council in investigating its conduct during the operation in Beit Hanoun.