Operation Fruits of Wrath

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Operation Fruits of Wrath
date April 11, 1996 - April 27, 1996
place Lebanon and northern Israel
Exit Ceasefire for civilian objectives; destroyed Lebanese infrastructure
Parties to the conflict

IsraelIsrael Israel
South Lebanese Army

Hezbollah Hezbollah Amal Militia Syria
Amal
SyriaSyria 

losses

3 Israeli soldiers killed,
20,000 to 30,000 refugees

14 Hezbollah fighters
killed 1 Syrian soldier killed
154 to 170 civilians killed
350,000 to 500,000 refugees

Operation Fruits of Wrath ( Hebrew מבצע ענבי זעם Mivtza Enavi Za'am ) was the code name of the Israeli armed forces for a military operation in Lebanon in 1996. The aim of the operation was to stop Hezbollah shelling northern Israel . The South Lebanese Army (SLA) fought alongside Israel ; on the other side, forces from the Amal militia and the Syrian army participated to a lesser extent . The operation began on April 11th and ended on April 27th with a ceasefire agreement that prohibited attacks on civilians .

prehistory

After continuous terrorist attacks across the border by groups in southern Lebanon, the Israeli army invaded Lebanon a second time in 1982 ( 1982 Lebanon War ). After three months it occupied the capital Beirut . During the next three years, the Israeli army partially withdrew until it established a so-called safety buffer zone in southern Lebanon in 1985 . Armed resistance to the Israeli occupation did not cease, however, and in 1993 Israel responded with a large-scale military action in southern Lebanon. The so-called Operation Responsibility , however, failed to achieve its goal of permanently preventing Hezbollah's military activities. Even thereafter, Hezbollah continued to attack targets in Lebanon and northern Israel, including the Israeli army, SLA and civilian targets. For its part, the Israeli army often fired at targets very close by or within civil areas, often causing civilian deaths.

trigger

In mid-March 1996, the situation between the Israeli armed forces and the South Lebanese Army on the one hand and Hezbollah and other Lebanese militias (e.g. Amal ) on the other , escalated according to the tit-for-tat scheme , rather than through attacks by Hezbollah and Amal a total of six Israeli soldiers fell. Israel then shelled targets in the Lebanese town of Yater on March 30, killing two civilians while working on a water tower . The Israeli army admitted that this action was mistaken. Hezbollah responded by launching 20 missiles into northern Israel. A roadside bomb explosion that killed a 14-year-old Lebanese boy and injured three others in the village of Barashit was cited by Hezbollah as the reason for firing 30 missiles at northern Israel on April 9. Israeli authorities then announced Operation The Fruits of Anger on April 11 as a retaliatory and preventive measure against the Hezbollah shelling that injured six Israeli civilians.

course

Israel fired around 25,000 projectiles and carried out more than 1,100 air strikes on Katyusha launching ramps, Hezbollah facilities and personnel, as well as vehicles and civilian infrastructure that Israeli claims were used for military purposes. The attacks were prepared by radio reports urging residents to flee the area. Between 300,000 and 500,000 Lebanese responded. Hezbollah also announced on the radio that Israeli civilians were to flee northern Israel, causing the flight of around 30,000 residents at the border.

639 Hezbollah rocket strikes targeted northern Israel, particularly the city of Kiryat Shmona . Hezbollah troops clashed in numerous clashes with units of the Israeli army and the South Lebanese Army (SLA).

On April 18, 1996, a woman and eight children were killed in their sleep when Israeli fighter planes shot at a two-story building. The Israeli army justified this by saying that anti-aircraft fire was directed at Israeli aircraft from the area around the building . On the same day, Hezbollah fired mortars and rockets at Israeli troops near Cana . The Israelis fired artillery at the Hezbollah position, which was 200 to 350 meters from a UNIFIL facility . The UN post was also hit, killing 118 Lebanese civilians ( artillery attack on Cana ).

armistice

Hostilities subsided after an Israeli-Lebanese armistice was agreed - an informal written agreement brokered by the United States was promulgated on April 26, 1996 at 6:00 p.m. and came into effect on April 27 at 4:00 a.m. The agreement banned cross-border attacks on civilian targets and the use of villages as starting points for attacks. The ceasefire monitoring commission included representatives from the United States, France, Syria, Israel and Lebanon.

Loss and damage

Three soldiers died on the Israeli side and 14 Hezbollah fighters on the Lebanese side. A Syrian soldier was also killed.

Around 154 to 170 civilians were killed and around 350 injured in Lebanon. 62 civilians were injured on the Israeli side.

The damage to the Lebanese infrastructure was significant because important bridges and power plants were destroyed. According to Human Rights Watch, homes and buildings in southern Lebanon were either completely destroyed or badly damaged in 2018. Israel estimated the damage to Israeli civil property at NIS 20 million (approximately US $ 7 million ) and the indirect damage to tourism in Israel at NIS 40 million (approximately US $ 13 million). The Lebanese side stated their damage in billions of USD.

Follow-up conflict

The evacuation of the security zone by Israel in May 2000 did not bring about the hoped-for lasting stability on the border with Lebanon. Instead, six years later the conflict with Hezbollah broke out again in the Second Lebanon War .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Sergio Catignani, Israeli Counter-Insurgency and the Intifadas. Dilemmas of a Conventional Army , Taylor and Francis (2008), 70
  2. ↑ UNIFIL 1996, Amnesty 1996
  3. ↑ Amnesty 1996
  4. ↑ HRW 1997
  5. ^ Amnesty International: Unlawful Killings During Operation "Grapes of Wrath," July 24, 1996
  6. ↑ Amnesty 1996
  7. ↑ HRW 1997
  8. ^ ICRC 1997
  9. ↑ HRW 1997
  10. ^ Israel Ministry of Defense: Summary of Katyusha Attacks
  11. ^ Human Rights Watch: Military Operations by Lebanese Guerilla Forces
  12. ↑ Israel Ministry of Defense: SUMMARY OF KATYUSHA ATTACKS - Apr 21, 96 , accessed September 11, 2007
  13. ↑ LCPS 1996