Qana massacre: Difference between revisions
Content deleted Content added
Undid revision 147469868 by 216.187.127.2 (talk) |
redirected |
||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
#REDIRECT [[Qana massacre]] |
|||
<!-- Unsourced image removed: [[Image:Qana_massacre.jpg|250px|thumb|right|The scene shortly after the attack]] --> |
|||
:''For the 2006 incident, see [[Qana airstrike]].'' |
|||
The '''shelling of Qana''' took place on [[April 18]], [[1996]] in [[Qana]], a village located southeast of [[Tyre (Lebanon)|Tyre]], in [[Southern Lebanon]], when [[Israel]]i artillery, returning fire against [[Hezbollah]] forces in the area, hit a UN compound in the village. Around 800 Lebanese civilians had taken refuge there to escape the fighting, of whom 106 were killed and around 116 others injured. Four [[Fiji]]an [[United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon]] soldiers were also seriously injured. <ref>{{cite web|url=http://domino.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/62d5aa740c14293b85256324005179be?OpenDocument |title=Letter Dated 7 May 1996 from the Secretary-General Addressed to the President of the Security Council |date= 7 May 1996 |accessdate=2007-07-05|publisher=[[United Nations Security Council]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://domino.un.org/UNISPAL.nsf/2ee9468747556b2d85256cf60060d2a6/c2a9efb804d4155685256e5a006d2c41!OpenDocument|title=QUESTION OF THE VIOLATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE OCCUPIED ARAB TERRITORIES, INCLUDING PALESTINE|date=[[2004-03-11]]|accessdate=2006-07-13|publisher=[[United Nations Commission on Human Rights]]|work=[[United Nations]]}}</ref> |
|||
The incident took place amid heavy fighting between the [[Israeli Defense Forces]] and [[Hezbollah]] during "[[Operation Grapes of Wrath]]". [[Israel]]i, [[U.N.]] and [[U.S.]] officials accused Hezbollah of using civilian refugees as [[human shields]] by opening fire from positions near the UN compound. A United Nations military investigation later determined it was unlikely that Israeli shelling of the U.N. compound was the result of technical or procedural errors.<ref>Franklin Van Kappen, ''[http://domino.un.org/UNISPAL.nsf/db942872b9eae454852560f6005a76fb/62d5aa740c14293b85256324005179be!OpenDocument Report ... of the Secretary-General's Military Adviser concerning the shelling of the United Nations compound at Qana on 18 April 1996]'', [[1 May]] [[1996]].</ref> |
|||
The incident has been widely referred to as a '''massacre''' (for example, by [[Human Rights Watch]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://hrw.org/reports/1997/isrleb/Isrleb.htm|title=ISRAEL/LEBANON:"OPERATION GRAPES OF WRATH":The Civilian Victims|accessdate=2006-07-31|year=1997|month=September|publisher=[[Human Rights Watch]]}}</ref> and the [[BBC]]<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/72493.stm|title=History of Israel's role in Lebanon|publisher=[[BBC News Online]]|date=[[1998-04-01]]|accessdate=2006-07-13}}</ref>) or, since the [[2006 Qana airstrike]], as the '''first Qana massacre'''. This characterisation is rejected by Israel and its supporters. |
|||
==Background== |
|||
[[Image:Qana memorial.jpg|px200|right|thumb|Memorial to the victims]] |
|||
In April 1996, a [[cease-fire]] that had ended the July 1993 fighting between [[Hezbollah]] and [[Israel]] broke down. During the five weeks of fighting between [[March 4]] and [[April 10]], seven Israeli soldiers, three Lebanese civilians and at least one Hezbollah fighter were killed. The tally of injured was sixteen Israeli soldiers, seven Lebanese civilians, and six Israeli civilians.<ref>''Lebanon: Main Events in Recent Hizbollah-Israel Violence'', ''[[Reuters]]'', [[April 11]] [[1996]].</ref> On [[April 9]], in response to the cease fire violations, Maj.-Gen. [[Amiram Levine]] declared: "The residents in south [[Lebanon]] who are under the responsibility of Hezbollah will be hit harder, and the Hezbollah will be hit harder, and we will find the way to act correctly and quickly."<ref>Shlomi Afriat, ''Israel vows retaliation for Lebanon rocket attacks'', Reuters, [[April 9]] [[1996]].</ref> On [[April 11]], after initial strikes against Hezbollah positions, Israel, through [[SLA]] radio stations, warned residents in forty-four towns and villages in southern Lebanon to evacuate within twenty four hours.<ref>''"Israel Steps Up Lebanese Attacks," Washington Post, [[April 13]] [[1996]], p. A23''</ref> |
|||
==Israeli reconnaissance== |
|||
A video recording made by a [[UNIFIL]] soldier showed an unmanned drone and two helicopters in the vicinity at the time of the shelling. Uri Dromi, an Israeli government spokesman, confirmed there was a drone in the area, but stated that it did not detect civilians in the compound. The Israel response to the report stated that "The IAF drone shown on videotape did not reach the area until after the UN position was hit and was not an operational component in the targeting of Israeli artillery fire in the area. There was no way in which it could see the camp, especially on a cloudy day," he said. "The shelling took place from six minutes past two to 13 minutes past two. It was only at 17 minutes past two that it was ordered to fly towards Qana. At 21 minutes past two it established contact with the camp for the first time, but the pictures were sketchy because of the cloud cover. It relayed pictures of the camp again at 2:30pm. The Israeli video was shown to the UN in New York… before they published their findings." <ref>http://www.al-bushra.org/lebanon/qana05.htm</ref> |
|||
===Operation Grapes of Wrath=== |
|||
Within forty-eight hours, Israel launched the military campaign known as [[Operation Grapes of Wrath]]. On [[April 11]], Israel bombarded Hezbollah positions in [[southern Lebanon]] and [[Beirut]] first, with artillery and later laser guided missiles. On [[April 13]], Israeli warships initiated a blockade against [[Beirut]], [[Sidon]] and [[Tyre (Lebanon)|Tyre]], Lebanon's main ports of entry. Meanwhile, Hezbollah continuously bombarded northern Israel with [[Katyusha]] rockets. Israel continued to bomb Hezbollah installations. |
|||
==Shelling of UN compound== |
|||
The conflict intensified and thousands of Lebanese civilians sought to flee the area and find safe refuge from the fighting. By [[14 April]], 745 people were occupying the United Nations compound at Qana. More than 800 were there on [[April 18]].<ref>Franklin Van Kappen, ''[http://domino.un.org/UNISPAL.nsf/db942872b9eae454852560f6005a76fb/62d5aa740c14293b85256324005179be!OpenDocument Report ... of the Secretary-General's Military Adviser concerning the shelling of the United Nations compound at Qana on 18 April 1996]'', [[1 May]] [[1996]].</ref> |
|||
Beginning with the second day of combat Israel had been retaliating within 10 minutes directly at any source of fire discovered by reconnaissance. This tactic was widely discussed in Israeli media, and well known to the Hezbollah fighters and Lebanese citizens. |
|||
According to a [[U.N.]] report, on [[April 18]], Hezbollah fighters fired two or three Katyusha rockets and between five and eight [[mortar (weapon)|mortar]]s at Israeli soldiers near the so-called Red Line (the northern limits of the "security zone") from positions about 220 meters southwest and 350 meters southeast of the United Nations compound. 15 minutes later an Israeli unit responded by shelling the area with M-109A2 155 mm guns.<ref>Franklin Van Kappen, ''[http://domino.un.org/UNISPAL.nsf/db942872b9eae454852560f6005a76fb/62d5aa740c14293b85256324005179be!OpenDocument Report ... of the Secretary-General's Military Adviser concerning the shelling of the United Nations compound at Qana on 18 April 1996]'', [[1 May]] [[1996]].</ref> According to the Israeli military, thirty eight shells were fired, two-thirds of them equipped with proximity fuses, an anti-personnel mechanism that causes the weapon to explode above the ground. The UN investigation found that 13 shells exploded within or above the compound and 4 "very close to it."<ref>Franklin Van Kappen, ''[http://domino.un.org/UNISPAL.nsf/db942872b9eae454852560f6005a76fb/62d5aa740c14293b85256324005179be!OpenDocument Report ... of the Secretary-General's Military Adviser concerning the shelling of the United Nations compound at Qana on 18 April 1996]'', [[1 May]] [[1996]].</ref> |
|||
As a result of the shelling, 106 civilians died, with more wounded. Most of the casualties were residents of nearby villages who had fled the conflict, while four were [[UN]] troops. |
|||
==Response of Israel== |
|||
[[Image:Qana07.jpg|250px|thumb|right|UN Troops assemble victims of the shelling (This image is from a raw and an edited video supplied by [[Al Manar]] TV in [[Beirut]], [[April]], [[1996]]).]] |
|||
Israel immediately expressed regret for the loss of innocent lives, saying that the Hezbollah position and not the UN compound was the intended target of the shelling, and that the compound was hit "due to incorrect targeting based on erroneous data." Army Deputy Chief of Staff, [[Matan Vilnai]] stated that the shells hit the base not because they were off target, but because Israeli gunners used outdated maps of the area. He also stated that the gunners miscalculated the firing range of the shells. |
|||
Prime Minister [[Shimon Peres]] claimed that "We did not know that several hundred people were concentrated in that camp. It came to us as a bitter surprise."<ref>Serge Schmemann, ''Voicing Regret, Israeli Leader Offers a Cease-Fire'', ''[[The New York Times]]'', [[April 19]] [[1996]].</ref> Following the attack, Lt.-Gen. [[Amnon Shahak]], Israel's chief of staff, at a press conference in [[Tel Aviv]] on [[April 18]] defended the shelling: "I don't see any mistake in judgment… We fought Hezbollah there [in Qana], and when they fire on us, we will fire at them to defend ourselves… I don't know any other rules of the game, either for the army or for civilians…"<ref>''Israeli Army Chief Says UN Forewarned of Shelling'', Reuters, [[April 18]] [[1996]].</ref>. |
|||
<!--see talk page regarding the following section: |
|||
When he met [[CNN]]’s [[Peter Arnett]] near Jalalabad in March 1997, he mentioned Qana several times, saying that "the mention of the U.S. reminds us before everything else of those innocent children who were dismembered, their heads and arms cut off in the recent explosion that took pace in Qana," and said further that this would have consequences for American civilians: "As for what you asked regarding the American people, they are not exonerated from responsibility, because they chose this government and voted for it despite their knowledge of its crimes in Palestine, Lebanon, Iraq, and in other places, and its support of its client regimes who filled their prisons with our best children and scholars… The U.S. today, as a result of this arrogance, has set a double standard, calling whoever goes against its injustice a terrorist. It wants to occupy our countries, steal our resoures, install collaborators to rule us with man-made laws, and wants us to agree on all these issues… we find that it judges the behaviour of the poor Palestinian children whose country was occupied: if they throw stones against the Israeli occupation it says they are terrorists, whereas when the Israeli pilots bombed the United Nations building in Qana, Lebanon, while it was full of children and women, the US stopped any plan to condemn Israel.”--> |
|||
Both the [[United States|U.S.]] and [[Israel]] accused Hezbollah of "[[human shield|shielding]]", the use of civilians as a cover for military activities, which is a breach of the [[laws of war]]. The [[U.S. State Department]] spokesperson, [[Nicolas Burns]] stated, "Hezbollah [is] using civilians as cover. That's a despicable thing to do, an evil thing."<ref>Steven Erlanger, ''Christopher Sees Syria Chief in Bid on Lebanon Truce'', The New York Times, [[April 21]] [[1996]], quoting State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns.</ref> and Prime Minister [[Shimon Peres]] cited the use of human shielding to blame Hezbollah. On [[April 18]] he said, "They used them as a shield, they used the UN as a shield — the UN admitted it."<ref>''ICRC Condemns Shelling of Civilians in Southern Lebanon'', Communication to the press no. 96/14, [[April 19]] [[1996]].</ref> Rabbi [[Yehuda Amital]], a member of Peres' cabinet, called the Qana killings a desecration of God's name (''chilul hashem'').<ref>''[[The Jewish Chronicle]]'', [[3 May]] [[1996]], p. 1 (quoted in Prior, M. (1999). ''Zionism and the State of Israel: A Moral Inquiry''. London: Routledge, ISBN 0-415-20462-3, p. 42)</ref> |
|||
==Investigation by UN== |
|||
The UN appointed military advisor Major-General Franklin van Kappen of the Netherlands to investigate the incident. His conclusions were: |
|||
{{cquote|(a) The distribution of impacts at Qana shows two distinct concentrations, whose mean points of impact are about 140 metres apart. 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 a normal overshooting of the declared target (the mortar site) by a few rounds, as suggested by the Israeli forces. |
|||
(c) During the shelling, there was a perceptible shift in the weight of fire from the mortar site to the United Nations compound. |
|||
(d) The distribution of point impact detonations and air bursts makes it improbable that impact fuses and proximity fuses were employed in random order, as stated by the Israeli forces. |
|||
(e) There were no impacts in the second target area which the Israeli forces claim to have shelled. |
|||
(f) Contrary to repeated denials, two Israeli helicopters and a remotely piloted vehicle were present in the Qana area at the time of the shelling. |
|||
While the possibility cannot be ruled out completely, it is unlikely that the shelling of the United Nations compound was the result of gross technical and/or procedural errors.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://domino.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/62d5aa740c14293b85256324005179be?OpenDocument|title=LETTER DATED 7 MAY 1996 FROM THE SECRETARY-GENERAL ADDRESSED TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE SECURITY COUNCIL|publisher=[[United Nations Security Council]]|work=[[United Nations]]|date=[[1996-05-07]]|accessdate=2006-07-13|author=Van Kappen, Franklin}}</ref>}} |
|||
==Investigation by Amnesty International== |
|||
[[Amnesty International]] conducted an on-site investigation of the incident in collaboration with military experts, using interviews with UNIFIL staff and civilians in the compound, and posing questions to the IDF, who did not reply. Amnesty concluded, "the IDF intentionally attacked the UN compound, although the motives for doing so remain unclear. The IDF have failed to substantiate their claim that the attack was a mistake. Even if they were to do so they would still bear responsibility for killing so many civilians by taking the risk to launch an attack so close to the UN compound."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/engMDE150421996|title=Unlawful Killings During Operation "Grapes of Wrath"|publisher=[[Amnesty International]]|month=July|year=1996|accessdate=2006-07-13}}</ref> |
|||
==View of Human Rights Watch== |
|||
[[Human Rights Watch]] concurred, "The decision of those who planned the attack to choose a mix of high-explosive artillery shells that included deadly anti-personnel shells designed to maximize injuries on the ground — and the sustained firing of such shells, without warning, in close proximity to a large concentration of civilians — violated a key principle of international humanitarian law."<ref>{{cite web|url= http://hrw.org/reports/1997/isrleb/Isrleb.htm |title=Operation "Grapes of Wrath": The Civilian Victims|publisher=[[Human Rights Watch]]|month=September|year=1997| accessdate=2006-07-20}}</ref> |
|||
==Lawsuit by relatives of survivors== |
|||
On [[December 15]] [[2005]], relatives of those killed filed suit in a [[Washington, DC]], court against former IDF Chief of Staff [[Moshe Yaalon]] for his role in the deaths. The lawsuit was prepared by the [[Center for Constitutional Rights]]. Yaalon, who is a visiting scholar in Washington, reportedly refused the papers serving the lawsuit.<ref>{{cite news|url= http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1134309589087&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull|title=Lawsuit filed against Ya'alon in US court|date=[[2005-12-15]]|accessdate=2006-07-13|publisher=[[Jerusalem Post]]|author=Guttman, Nathan}}</ref> <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ccr-ny.org/v2/legal/human_rights/docs/Complaint_Qana.pdf|format=PDF| title=Demand for Jury Trial|publisher=[[Center for Constitutional Rights|CCR]]|accessdate=2006-07-13|date= [[2004-11-04]]}}</ref> Among the plaintiffs named in the lawsuit are Saadallah Ali Belhas and his son Ali Belhas, who lost 31 family members in the raid, including their respective wives and 12 children. The younger Ali Belhas' newborn child was decapitated.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/08/01/1434249|title=Survivors of 1996 Qana Massacre Sue Israel Military Chief For War Crimes|date=[[2006-08-01]]|accessdate=2006-10-10|publisher=[[Democracy Now]]}}</ref> |
|||
==Response by Al-Qaeda associated individuals== |
|||
The deaths of civilians at Qana have been cited by [[Al-Qaeda]] as motivations for its actions and policies towards the United States of America. |
|||
In his [[23 August]] [[1996]] declaration of jihad against the United States, [[Osama bin Laden]] wrote (addressing his fellow Muslims), "Your blood has been spilt in Palestine and Iraq, and the horrific image of the massacre in Qana in Lebanon are still fresh in people’s minds." In November 1996, he told the Australian journal Nida'ul Islam about Qana again, saying that when the United States government accuses terrorists of killing innocents it is "accusing others of their own afflictions in order to fool the masses." |
|||
Speaking to [[Tayssir Alouni]] of [[Al Jazeera]] on [[20 October]] [[2001]], bin Laden cited Qana again even as he declared, "if killing those that kill our sons is terrorism, then let history witness that we are terrorists," and referring to a "balance of terror" between Muslims and the United States.<ref>Bruce Lawrence, ed., ''Messages to the World: The Statements of Osama bin Laden'', Verso, 2005.</ref> |
|||
==Commemoration== |
|||
The shelled area is marked by a memorial and the marble sarcophagi of the 102 civilians killed. Annual commemorations of the bombardment are held on 18 April. |
|||
A memorial to the incident was built in the substantially Arab-American city of [[Dearborn, Michigan]]:<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/08/01/1434249|title=Survivors of 1996 Qana Massacre Sue Israel Military Chief For War Crimes|date=[[2006-08-01]]|accessdate=2006-10-10|publisher=[[Democracy Now]]}}</ref> |
|||
==See also== |
|||
* [[2006 Qana airstrike]] |
|||
==External links== |
|||
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asL_ouHnYWs YouTube.com: Qana Massacre in 1996 and 2006] |
|||
*{{Google video | id = -8391703044736255896 | title = A video showing the aftermath }} |
|||
*[http://www.robert-fisk.com/articles18.htm Robert Fisk's dispatch] |
|||
*[http://domino.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/62d5aa740c14293b85256324005179be?OpenDocument UN report on the incident] |
|||
*[http://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/go.asp?MFAH0ce90 Israel's response to the UN report] |
|||
*[http://www.leb.net/qana/webdoc3.htm Names of the victims] |
|||
*[http://hrw.org/reports/1997/isrleb/Isrleb.htm Human Rights Watch Report partially dealing with Qana shelling] |
|||
*[http://almashriq.hiof.no/lebanon/300/350/355/april-war/qana/ The photographs of Qana shelling] |
|||
*[http://oldpoetry.com/opoem/30746 Poetry of Nizar Qabbani commemorating the bombing] |
|||
*[http://www.veteranen.info/~cedarsouthlebanon/un/milo.htm A UNIFIL veteran's view] |
|||
==References== |
|||
<div class="references-small"><references /></div> |
|||
{{Israel-Lebanon conflict}} |
|||
[[Category:Conflicts in 1996|Shelling of Qana]] |
|||
[[Category:Israel-Lebanon conflict]] |
|||
[[Category:United Nations]] |
|||
[[Category:Battles involving Israel]] |
|||
[[ar:مجزرة قانا]] |
|||
[[de:Artillerieangriff auf Kana (1996)]] |
|||
[[es:Masacre de Qana de 1996]] |
|||
[[fr:Bombardement de Cana de 1996]] |
|||
[[nl:Bombardement op Qana - Libanon (1996)]] |
|||
[[no:Angrepet mot Qana]] |
|||
[[ru:Трагедия в Кане (1996)]] |
|||
[[sl:Obstreljevanje Kane]] |
|||
Revision as of 05:18, 5 August 2007
Redirect to: