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Qana massacre

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File:Qana memorial.jpg
Memorial to the victims

The Qana shelling took place on April 18, 1996 in Qana, a village located southeast of Tyre, Lebanon. Qana is one possible site for the Biblical Cana, where Jesus is said by John 2 to have turned water into wine. Amid heavy fighting between the Israeli Defense Forces and Hezbollah during "Operation Grapes of Wrath", a Fijian UNIFIL compound in the village was shelled by Israeli artillery. Around 800 Lebanese civilians had taken refuge there to escape the fighting, of whom 106 were killed and around 116 others injured. Four UNIFIL soldiers were also seriously injured. [1][2] The event has sometimes been referred to as the Qana massacre, for example by Human Rights Watch[3] and the BBC.[4]

Background

In April 1996, a cease-fire that had ended the July 1993 fighting between Hezbollah and Israel broke down due to violations, which involved several attacks on Israeli population centers by Hezbollah. 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.[5] 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."[6] On April 11th, 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.[7]

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's main ports of entry. Meanwhile, Hezbollah continuously bombarded northern Israel with Katyusha rockets. Israel continued to bomb Hezbollah installations.

Shelling of United Nations 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.[8]

According to a U.N. report, on April 18, Hezbollah, fired two Katyusha rockets and eight mortars at Israeli soldiers near the so-called Red Line (the northern limits of the "security zone") from areas about 200 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.[9] 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."[10]

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 U.N. troops.

Response

File:Qana07.jpg

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."[11] 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..."[12]. 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."[13] 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."[14] Rabbi Yehuda Amital, a member of Peres' cabinet, called the Qana killings a desecration of God's name (chilul hashem).[15]

The U.N. appointed military advisor Major-General Franklin van Kappen of the Netherlands to investigate the incident. His conclusions were:

(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.[16]

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."[17]

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."[18]

A video recording made by a UNIFIL soldier showed an unmanned drone and a helicopter 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." [19]

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.[20] [21]

Commemoration

The shelled area is marked by a memorial and the marble sarcophagi of the 102 civilians killed. The memorial was funded by the Syrian government.[22]

April 18 is held as an anniversary to commemorate the victims of the bombardment. At other times, Hezbollah has used this event to arouse ill will toward Israel and the United States, prominently marching after the relatives of the victims, or making inflammatory speeches at the event.[23]


Template:Operation Grapes of Wrath

References

  1. ^ "Protest at Peres Nazi image". BBC News Online. 2001-04-01. Retrieved 2006-07-13. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. ^ "QUESTION OF THE VIOLATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE OCCUPIED ARAB TERRITORIES, INCLUDING PALESTINE". United Nations. United Nations Commission on Human Rights. 2004-03-11. Retrieved 2006-07-13. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ "ISRAEL/LEBANON:"OPERATION GRAPES OF WRATH":The Civilian Victims". Human Rights Watch. 1997. Retrieved 2006-07-31. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |year= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  4. ^ "History of Israel's role in Lebanon". BBC News Online. 1998-04-01. Retrieved 2006-07-13. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ^ Lebanon: Main Events in Recent Hizbollah-Israel Violence, Reuters, April 11 1996.
  6. ^ Shlomi Afriat, Israel vows retaliation for Lebanon rocket attacks, Reuters, April 9 1996.
  7. ^ "Israel Steps Up Lebanese Attacks," Washington Post, April 13 1996, p. A23
  8. ^ Franklin Van Kappen, 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.
  9. ^ Franklin Van Kappen, 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.
  10. ^ Franklin Van Kappen, 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.
  11. ^ Serge Schmemann, Voicing Regret, Israeli Leader Offers a Cease-Fire, The New York Times, April 19 1996.
  12. ^ Israeli Army Chief Says UN Forewarned of Shelling, Reuters, April 18 1996.
  13. ^ Steven Erlanger, Christopher Sees Syria Chief in Bid on Lebanon Truce, The New York Times, April 21 1996, quoting State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns.
  14. ^ ICRC Condemns Shelling of Civilians in Southern Lebanon, Communication to the press no. 96/14, April 19 1996.
  15. ^ 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 0415204623, p. 42)
  16. ^ Van Kappen, Franklin (1996-05-07). "LETTER DATED 7 MAY 1996 FROM THE SECRETARY-GENERAL ADDRESSED TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE SECURITY COUNCIL". United Nations. United Nations Security Council. Retrieved 2006-07-13. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  17. ^ "Unlawful Killings During Operation "Grapes of Wrath"". Amnesty International. 1996. Retrieved 2006-07-13. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |year= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  18. ^ "Operation "Grapes of Wrath": The Civilian Victims". Human Rights Watch. 1997. Retrieved 2006-07-20. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |year= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  19. ^ http://www.al-bushra.org/lebanon/qana05.htm
  20. ^ Guttman, Nathan (2005-12-15). "Lawsuit filed against Ya'alon in US court". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 2006-07-13. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  21. ^ "Demand for Jury Trial" (PDF). CCR. 2004-11-04. Retrieved 2006-07-13. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  22. ^ Granby, Benjamin. "The Hospitality of Ruins: An unguided tour through the war-ravaged lands of Lebanon and Syria". Flak Magazine. Retrieved 2006-07-13. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
  23. ^ "1 year later, Lebanese mourn victims of Qana shelling". CNN. 1997-04-18. Retrieved 2006-07-13. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
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