Early on Sunday morning, 25 June 2006, Shalit was captured by Palestinian militants who attacked an army post in Israel after crossing the border from the Gaza Strip into Israel via an underground tunnel they dug near the Kerem Shalom crossing at the south Gaza Strip border.
Shalit's abduction has widely been reported to be the incident that triggered the current crisis, although other sources have pointed out that the day before, June 24, two Palestinian civilians, Osama Muamar and his brother Mustafa Muamar were abducted by the IDF in Al Shouka, near Rafah.
On 29 June commander of the Israeli Southern Command, Aluf Yoav Galant, confirmed that Shalit remains in Gaza.