Qana massacre
Qana is a village located southeast of Tyre, Lebanon, in which during heavy fighting between the Israeli army and Hezbollah, a Fijian (UNIFIL) battallion was shelled by Israeli artillery on April 18, 1996. The incident occurred in the conflict between Hezbollah and the Israel Defense Forces during "Operation Grapes of Wrath". Around 800 Lebanese civilians had taken refuge in the compound to escape the fighting. Over 100 civilians were killed and 300 were wounded during the shelling, which also seriously wounded four Fijian soldiers in Many people, usually opponents of Israel or Israeli policies, refer to the shelling as the Qana massacre.[1] [2].
Background
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.Template:Fn On April 9, 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."Template:Fn On April 11, after initial strikes against Hezbollah positions, Israel, through SLA radio stations, warned residents in fourty-four towns and villages in southern Lebanon, to evacuate within twenty four hoursTemplate:Fn.
Operation Grapes of Wrath
Within forty-eight hours, Israel launched the military compaign known as Operation Grapes of Wrath. On April 11, Israel first bombarded Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon and Beirut with artillery and laser-guided missiles. On April 13, Israeli warships initiated a blockade against Beirut, Sidon and Tyre, Lebanon's main ports of entry. Meanwhile, Hezbollah continued to bombard northern Israel with Katyusha rockets. On April 18, Hezbollah fired two Katyusha rockets and eight mortars at Israel from an area 300 yards away from the Fijian compound, 15 minutes before an Israeli unit responded by shelling the area with M-109A2 155 mm guns.Template:Fn As a result of the shelling, 102 civilians were killed and 300 more were wounded. Most of the casualties were residents of nearby villages who had fled the conflict to seek refuge in the U.N. compund. Four U.N. troops were injured.
Response
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, stating 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."Template:Fn 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..."Template:Fn. Both the U.S. and Israel accused Hezbollah of "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."Template:Fn 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 U.N. as a shield-the U.N. admitted it."Template:Fn
The UN investigated the incident in detail, concluding "while the possibility cannot be ruled out completely, the pattern of impacts in the Qana area makes it unlikely that the shelling of the United Nations compound was the result of technical and/or procedural errors".
A video recording made by a UNIFIL soldier showed an Israeli unmanned drone in the vicinity. Uri Dromi, an Israeli government spokesman, confirmed there was a drone in the area, but it did not detect civilians in the compound.
Commemoration
April 18th is held every year as an anniversary to commemorate the victims of the bombardment. At other times, Hezbollah marks the event to depict Israel and the United States negatively, parading after the relatives of the victims, or making speeches at the event[3].
Footnotes
- Template:FnbLebanon: Main Events in Recent Hizbollah-Israel Violence, Reuters, April 11, 1996.
- Template:FnbShlomi Afriat, Israel vows retaliation for Lebanon rocket attacks, Reuters, April 9, 1996.
- Template:Fnb"Israel Steps Up Lebanese Attacks," Washington Post, April 13, 1996, p. A23
- Template:FnbUnited Nations: Hizbollah Fired From Near U.N. Post Hit by Israel, Reuters, April 18, 1996.
- Template:FnbSerge Schmemann, Voicing Regret, Israeli Leader Offers a Cease-Fire, The New York Times, April 19, 1996.
- Template:FnbIsraeli Army Chief Says UN Forewarned of Shelling, Reuters, April 18, 1996.
- Template:FnbSteven Erlanger, Christopher Sees Syria Chief in Bid on Lebanon Truce, The New York Times, April 21, 1996, quoting State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns.
- Template:FnbICRC Condemns Shelling of Civilians in Southern Lebanon, Communication to the press no. 96/14, April 19, 1996.