| Operation Grapes Of Wrath |
Article Index for Operation |
Shopping Wrath |
Website Links For Operation |
Information AboutOperation Grapes Of Wrath |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT OPERATION GRAPES OF WRATH | |
| conflicts in 1996 | |
| israel-lebanon conflict | |
Operation Grapes of Wrath is the Israeli Defense Forces code-name for a sixteen-day military blitz against Lebanon in an attempt to pressure the people and the government to stop supporting Hezbollah . During this operation, which is known in Lebanon as '''April Agression''', Israel conducted more than 1100 Air Raids and extensive shelling (some 25,132 shells) mainly on civilian targets. A UN installation was also a target for Israeli shelling causing the death of 118 Lebanese civilians (see Qana Shelling ).(Amnesty 1996) Six-hundred thirty-nine Hezbollah cross-border rocket attacks targeted northern Israel, particularly the town of Kiryat Shemona .(HRW 1997) Hezbollah forces also participated in numerous engagements with Israeli and South Lebanon Army forces. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND Israeli Army invaded Lebanon in 1982 and after three months it occupied the capital city of Beirut. Over the next three years, Israeli Army was partially withdrawing until in 1985 it established what was called 'The Security Zone' in Southern Lebanon. Resistance against Israeli occupation never stopped and in 1993 Israel launched a massive attack against Lebanon ( Operation Accountability ) in order to quell Hezbollah , the major resistance force. Hezbollah kept on targeting Israeli troops and their SLA allies. Israeli troops used to shell civilian targets frequently causing the death of many. Occasionally, Hezbollah targeted villages in Northern Israel declaring it as a legitimate response to Israeli hostilities. In April 1996, Israel decided on quelling Hezbollah and the Operation Grapes of Wrath was launched. CASUS BELLI Israeli officials announced the operation on April 11 as a retaliatory and preventative action for Hezbollah shelling on 9 April , which had injured six Israeli civilians. Hezbollah described that shelling as itself retaliatory for the death of a 14-year old Lebanese boy and injury of three others in the village of Barashit due to a Roadside Bomb on April 9.(Amnesty 1996) RESULTS From the beginning of the operation, Israeli air raids aimed at civilian targets including houses, vehicules and infrastructure. The raids were accompanied by radio broadcasts urging residents to flee the area. Somewhere between 300,000 and 500,000 did so. Likewise, Hezbollah announced by radio that Israeli civilians should flee northern Israel, prompting the fleeing of some 30,000 from the border. Some 154 civilians (HRW 1997) to 170 Lebanese (ICRC 1997) were killed in Lebanon. Some 350 civilians were wounded in Lebanon and three Israeli civilians, all women, were injured.(HRW 1997) The damage to the Lebanese infrastructure was significant as major bridges and power stations were destroyed. According to Human Rights Watch, 2018 houses and buildings in South Lebanon were either completely destroyed or severly bombarded. CEASE FIRE Hostilities retreated from their escalated level following the reaching of an Israeli-Lebanese Ceasefire Understanding (informal written agreement) barring cross-border attacks on civilian targets under French and American diplomatic auspices. The understanding was announced 1800 hours, April 26 , 1996 , and effective 0400 hours on April 27 . SEE ALSO SOURCES
|
|
|