Artillery attack on Cana

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The artillery attack on Cana took place on April 18, 1996 in Cana , a town southeast of Tire , Lebanon . During fierce fighting between the Israeli army (IDF) and the Hezbollah militia during Operation Grapes of Wrath one with soldiers was Fiji occupied items of UNIFIL -Beobachtertruppe of the Israeli artillery shells fired. Around 800 Lebanese civilians took refuge there from the fighting, 106 of whom were killed and around 116 others injured. Four UNIFIL soldiers were seriously injured. The incident is also known as the " Massacre of Cana ", among others. a. by Human Rights Watch , the Independent, and the BBC .

background

In April 1996, a ceasefire negotiated between Israel and Hezbollah in 1993 broke due to violations when Hezbollah carried out several attacks on the Israeli people. Seven Israeli soldiers, three Lebanese civilians and at least one Hezbollah fighter were killed during the five weeks of fighting, between March 4 and April 10. In addition, 16 Israeli soldiers, seven Lebanese and six Israeli civilians were injured. On April 9th, Major General Amiram Levine commented on the ceasefire violations: “ The residents of southern Lebanon who are under the responsibility of Hezbollah will be hit harder and Hezbollah will be hit harder and we will find the way to act correctly and quickly . “On April 11th, after initial attacks on Hezbollah positions, Israel, through SLA radio stations, urged residents of 44 cities and villages in southern Lebanon to leave within twenty-four hours. Within forty-eight hours, Israel launched Operation The Fruits of Wrath . On April 11, Israel first bombed Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon and Beirut with artillery and later with laser-guided missiles. On April 13, Israeli warships began a sea blockade against Beirut, Sidon and Tire , Lebanon's main seaport. In the meantime, Hezbollah continuously bombarded northern Israel with Katyusha rockets . Israel continued to bomb Hezbollah facilities.

Artillery fire

The conflict intensified and thousands of Lebanese civilians tried to flee the area and find safe refuge from the fighting. On April 14, 745 people occupied the United Nations post in Cana. More than 800 were there on April 18th.

According to a United Nations report, on April 18, Hezbollah fired two Katyusha rockets and eight 29-caliber mortar shells at Israeli soldiers near the so-called Red Line (the northern limit of the security zone ) from an area about 200 meters southwest and 350 southeast of the UN post. Fifteen minutes later, an Israeli unit responded by bombarding the area with M-109A2 155mm cannons.

According to the Israeli military, 38 projectiles were fired, two thirds of them were fitted with proximity fuses, causing the grenade to explode above the ground ( air burst ammunition ) and develop an optimal fragmentation effect. The United Nations investigation found that 13 shells exploded inside or above the UN post and four very close to it .

Reactions

Israel immediately expressed regret at the loss of innocent lives, stating that the Hezbollah position, not the UN post, was the intended target of the shell fire and that the post "was hit due to incorrect targeting based on inaccurate data ". Deputy Chief of Staff Matan Vilnai explained that the shells hit the guard not because they missed the target, but because the Israeli riflemen used outdated maps of the area. He also noted that the gunners had miscalculated the range of the grenades.

Prime Minister Shimon Peres claimed: “ We did not know that several hundred people were concentrated in the camp. It was a bitter surprise for us. "The Israeli chief of staff, Lieutenant General Amnon Shahak, defended the shell fire at a press conference in Tel Aviv on April 18th:" I don't see any errors in the assessment ... We fought Hezbollah there [in Cana], and when they fire at us, we fire on them to defend us ... I don't know any other rules of the game, neither for the army nor for civilians ... ". Both the US and Israel accused Hezbollah of using human shields, which is the abuse of civilians to cover military activities, in violation of the laws of war. The spokesman of the US State Department Nicolas Burns noted that " Hezbollah used civilians as cover. To do that is a reprehensible thing, a devilry. "And Prime Minister Shimon Peres said on April 18," [Hezbollah] used them as a shield, they used the UN as a shield - and the UN allowed it ... " Rabbi Yehuda Amital , a member of Peres' cabinet, named them Kana killings in God's name ( chilul hashem ).

The United Nations commissioned the Dutch Major General Franklin van Kappen to investigate the incident. He realized:

(a) The distribution of impacts in Kana shows two different focal points, the main points of which are about 140 meters apart. Quote: " If the guns were converged, as stated by the Israeli forces, there should have been only one main point of impact ".
(b) The pattern of impacts is inconsistent with the normal overshooting of a declared target (the mortar production) with a few volleys as portrayed by the Israeli forces.
(c) During the shell bombardment, a shift of the fire from the mortar production to the UN post was recognizable
(d) The distribution of the impact point detonations and the air explosions makes it incomprehensible that the impact fuses and proximity fuses were used in a random order, as it was by the Israeli ones Troops is specified.
(e) There are no impacts in the second target area that Israeli forces claim to have shot at.
(f) Contrary to repeated disputes, two Israeli helicopters and one remote-controlled device were in the Kana area at the time of the shell bombardment. Although the possibility cannot be ruled out, it is unlikely that the UN post's shell fire was the result of gross technical and / or execution errors.

Amnesty International conducted an on-site investigation into the incident with military experts, interviewed UNIFIL staff and civilians at the post, and posed questions to the IDF that were not answered. Amnesty concluded that “ the IDF deliberately attacked the UN post, although the motives for doing so remain unclear. The IDF has failed to prove its claim that the attack was a mistake. Even if she did, she would still be responsible for killing so many civilians by risking launching an attack this close to a UN post. "

Human Rights Watch noted, “ The choice of those planning the attack to use a mix of high-explosive artillery shells, including deadly anti-personnel grenades, designed to inflict maximum injury on the ground - and keep firing them Grenades without warning in close proximity to a large crowd of civilians - violated a key principle of international humanitarian law. "

A video recording made by a UNIFIL soldier shows a drone and a helicopter at the time of the bombardment. Uri Dromi, an Israeli government spokesman, confirmed that a drone was in the area but that it did not detect any civilians in the post. “ The IAF drone shown on the videotape did not reach the area until the UN position was hit and it was not an operational component in targeting Israeli artillery fire in the area. There was no way she could see the camp, especially on a cloudy day, ”he said. “ The shell fire lasted from six minutes past two to 13 minutes past two. It was only 17 minutes past two that the order was given to fly to Cana. It first made contact with the camp at 21 minutes past two, but the images were blurred because of the cloud cover. She re-broadcast pictures from the camp at 2:30 pm. The Israeli video was shown to the UN in New York ... before they released their findings. "

On December 15, 2005, relatives of those killed filed a lawsuit in a Washington court against former Chief of Staff Moshe Yaalon over his role in the incident. The lawsuit was prepared by the Center for Constitutional Rights . Yaalon, who was a visiting lecturer in Washington, refused to accept the lawsuit. The plaintiffs included the Lebanese Saadallah Ali Belhas and his son Ali Belhas, who lost 31 family members in the bombing. Therefore, the lawsuit was dealt with under "Belhas v Yaalon". The United States District Court dismissed the lawsuit on December 14, 2006. Judge Paul L. Friedman justified the refusal on the grounds that Yaalon had "full immunity". The bombardment of the camp was part of Yaalon's duty and was a sovereign act of Israel. The Columbia District United States Court of Appeal upheld the 2008 dismissal.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ BBC : "Protest at Peres Nazi image" , April 1, 2001 (accessed July 31, 2006)
  2. ↑ United Nations Commission on Human Rights : "Question of the violation of human rights in the occupied arab territories, including Plestine" , March 11, 2004 (accessed July 31, 2006)
  3. ↑ Human Rights Watch : Israel / Lebanon: Operation Grapes of Wrath: The Civilian Victims , September 1997. (Accessed July 31, 2006)
  4. ^ Robert Fisk : Massacre in Sanctuary; Eyewitness ( memento of the original from October 22, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ( The Independent , April 19, 1996) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.robert-fisk.com
  5. ↑ BBC : "History of Israel's role in Lebanon" , April 1, 1998 (accessed July 31, 2006)
  6. ↑ Reuters  : Lebanon: Main Events in Recent Hezbollah-Israel Violence, April 11, 1996
  7. ↑ Reuters : Shlomi Afriat, Israel vows retaliation for Lebanon rocket attacks, April 9, 1996
  8. ↑ Washington Post , "Israel Steps Up Lebanese Attacks," April 13, 1996, p. A23
  9. ^ A b c Franklin Van Kappen: "Report ... of the Secretary-General's Military Adviser concerning the shelling of the United Nations compound at Qana on April 18, 1996" , May 1, 1996
  10. ^ The New York Times : Serge Schmemann, Voicing Regret, Israeli Leader Offers a Cease-Fire, April 19, 1996
  11. ↑ Reuters : Israeli Army Chief Says UN Forewarned of Shelling, April 18, 1996
  12. ↑ New York Times : Steven Erlanger, Christopher Sees Syria Chief in Bid on Lebanon Truce, April 21, 1996, citing State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns.
  13. ↑ ICRC : ICRC Condemns Shelling of Civilians in Southern Lebanon, Communication to the press no. 96/14, April 19, 1996
  14. ^ The Jewish Chronicle, May 3, 1996, p. 1 (cited in Prior, M. (1999). Zionism and the State of Israel: A Moral Inquiry. London: Routledge, ISBN 0415204623 , p. 42)
  15. ↑ United Nations : Van Kappen, Franklin LETTER DATED 7 MAY 1996 FROM THE SECRETARY-GENERAL ADDRESSED TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE SECURITY COUNCIL , May 7, 1996 (accessed July 31, 2006).
  16. ^ Amnesty International Unlawful Killings During Operation "Grapes of Wrath," July 1996. Retrieved July 31, 2006
  17. ↑ Human Rights Watch : Operation "Grapes of Wrath," The Civilian Victims , September 1997 (accessed July 31, 2006)
  18. ↑ al-bushra.org http://www.al-bushra.org/lebanon/qana05.htm (accessed July 31, 2006)
  19. ↑ Jerusalem Post : Guttman, Nathan. "Lawsuit filed against Ya'alon in US court"  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , December 15, 2005 (accessed July 31, 2006)@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / fr.jpost.com  
  20. ↑ CCR : Demand for Jury Trial ( Memento of the original from March 8, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF). November 14, 2004 (accessed July 31, 2006) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.ccr-ny.org
  21. ↑ http://ccrjustice.org/ourcases/current-cases/belhas-v.-ya%E2%80%99alon

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