Operation Grapes of Wrath

Operation Grapes of Wrath
Part of the 1982-2000 South Lebanon conflict
Date April 11, 1996–April 27, 1996 Location Lebanon, northern Israel Result Cease fire on civilian targets; much Lebanese infrastructure destroyed.
Belligerents
Israel, South Lebanon Army	File:Flag of Hezbollah.svg Hezbollah
Casualties and losses
20,000 to 30,000 Israelis displaced during operation.	350,000 to 500,000 Lebanese displaced during operation; 154 to 170 Lebanese civilians killed.

Operation Grapes of Wrath is the Israeli Defense Forces code-name for a sixteen-day military blitz against Lebanon in 1996 in an attempt to end shelling of Northern Israel by Hezbollah. Israel conducted more than 1100 air raids and extensive shelling (some 25,132 shells). A UN installation was also hit by Israeli shelling causing the death of 118 Lebanese civilians (see Qana massacre). (Amnesty 1996) 639 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. The conflict was de-escalated on 27 April by a ceasefire agreement banning attacks on civilians.

Historical Background

After continual cross border attacks committed by forces in Southern Lebanon, the Israeli army invaded Lebanon for the second time in 1982, starting the 1982 Lebanon War. After three months it occupied the capital city of Beirut. Over the next three years the Israeli army partially withdrew, until in 1985 it established what it called the 'Security Buffer Zone' in Southern Lebanon. Armed resistance against Israeli occupation never stopped and in 1993 Israel responded with a massive attack against Lebanon (Operation Accountability) to disrupt the actions of Hezbollah, the major resistance force. The military campaign was ultimately unsuccessful as Hezbollah continued attacking targets in both Lebanon and northern Israel, including Israeli armed forces, South Lebanon Army militia and civilian areas. . The Israeli military shelled targets often in very close proximity to or inside civilian areas, frequently causing the death of many civilians. In April 1996, Israel decided it would once again attempt to subdue Hezbollah, and Operation Grapes of Wrath was launched.

Casus Belli

While armed conflict between the IDF and SLA on one hand and Hezbollah and other Lebanese militias (such as Amal) on the other was often intense prior to late March 1996, it was largely restricted to the Israeli controlled area of South Lebanon and military targets.

On March 30, two men were killed by an IDF missile while working on a water tower in Yafar, Lebanon. Hezbollah responded by launching 20 missiles into northern Israel and the IDF acknowledged the attack as a mistake. A roadside bomb explosion that caused the death of a 14-year old Lebanese boy and injury of three others in the village of Barashit was cited by Hezbollah as the reason for firing 30 missiles into northern Israel on 9 April.(UNIFIL 1996; Amnesty 1996) Israeli officials announced Operation Grapes of Wrath on April 11 as a retaliatory and preventative action for Hezbollah shelling, which had injured six Israeli civilians.(Amnesty 1996)

Results

Israel conducted air raids, on targets which included Katyusha launchers, Hezbollah installations and personnel, as well as vehicles and civilian infrastructure which Israel claimed were being used for military purposes. 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 in attacks like the Qana massacre, an attack on a vehicle carrying civilians and the following attack on April 18, 1996:

Nine people were killed including a mother and seven of her children, and one other child, when Israeli warplanes rocketed a two-storey building where they were sleeping. The Israeli army claimed that anti-aircraft fire was directed at its planes from the area around the building.[1]

Some 350 civilians were wounded in Lebanon (HRW 1997). 62 Israeli civilians were wounded in Israel [2][3]

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 severely bombarded. Israel estimated the total damage it suffered at 150 million shekels as of Tuesday, July 18. Earlier, the damage to Israeli civilian property was estimated at 20 million NIS (about $7 million), and the indirect damage to Israel's tourism industry at 40 million NIS (about $13 million) [4] while Lebanon put its damages in the billions.

Ceasefire

Hostilities retreated from their escalated level following the reaching of an Israeli-Lebanese Ceasefire Understanding - an informal written agreement - under American diplomatic auspices. The understanding was announced 1800 hours, April 26, 1996, and effective 0400 hours on April 27. The agreement barred cross-border attacks on civilian targets, as well as using civilian villages to launch attacks. The Monitoring Committee for the Implementation of the Grapes of Wrath Understandings was set up, comprised of representatives from the US, France, Syria, Israel and Lebanon. The committee convenes to monitor and discuss infringements of the understandings by the two sides.

See also

• Qana massacre
• Operation Accountability
• The rocketed vehicle
• 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict

Sources

• Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, SUMMARY OF OPERATION GRAPES OF WRATH PRESS CONFERENCE15-Apr-96
• Amnesty International, Unlawful Killings During Operation "Grapes of Wrath", July 1996.
• Human Rights Watch, MILITARY OPERATIONS BY LEBANESE GUERRILLA FORCES, September 1997.
• Human Rights Watch, Operation Grapes of Wrath: The Civilian Victims, September 1997.
• Human Rights Watch, Civilian Pawns: Laws of War Violations and the Use of Weapons on the Israel-Lebanon Border, May 1996.
• International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, "Lebanon," Annual Report 1996.
• Israel-Lebanon Ceasefire Understanding
• Lebanese Center for Policy Studies, Costs of Grapes of Wrath, 1996.
• United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, Report of the Secretary-General of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, (for the period from 22 January 1996 to 20 July 1996), UN Document S/1996/575, 1996.

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