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|partof=[[2006 Lebanon War]]
|partof=[[2006 Lebanon War]]
|image=
|image=
|caption=
|caption=An IDF commando filmed during the operation in Baalbek.
|date=August 1, 2006 – August 2, 2006
|date=August 1, 2006 – August 2, 2006
|place=[[Baalbek]], [[Lebanon]]
|place=[[Baalbek]], [[Lebanon]]
|result= The raid failed to accomplish aim
|result=Israeli tactical victory
|combatant1=[[Image:Flag of Israel.svg|22px]] [[Israel]]
|combatant1= [[Israel Defence Forces]]
|combatant2=[[Hezbollah]]
|combatant2= [[Hezbollah]]
|commander1=
|commander1=
|commander2=
|commander2=
|strength1=200
|strength1=200
|strength2=Unknown
|strength2=Unknown
|casualties1=None
|casualties1=None<ref>http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/745332.html</ref><ref name=usatoday>{{cite news
|casualties2=According to HRW 2 Hezbollah fighters killed, <br />2 armed Communist party members killed<ref>HRW, pp.124-129</ref>According to IDF 10 Hezbollah "terrorists" were killed.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-3285428,00.html | title=כך התנהל מבצע הקומנדו בבעלבק | accessdate=February 19, 2012}}</ref>
| last = Katz
|casualties3=According to HRW 12 civilians killed. <br />5 civilians kidnapped and were released after three weeks .}}
| first = Yaakov
| title = Israeli commando missions come out of shadows
| work = The USA Today
| accessdate = 2007-12-07
| url = http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2006-08-13-commando-missions_x.htm
| date=2006-08-13
}}</ref><ref name=harel>{{Cite news
| last = Harel
| first = Amos
| coauthors = Zafrir Rinat, Yoav Stern
| title = Sayeret Matkal and Shaldag killed ten Hezbollah men in the Beqaa Valley
| work = Haaretz
| accessdate = 2009-03-11
| date = 2006-08-02
| url = http://www.haaretz.co.il/hasite/pages/ShArtPE.jhtml?itemNo=747005
}} {{he icon}}</ref>
|casualties2=19 killed (IDF claim)<br>5 captured
}}
{{Campaignbox Lebanon 2006}}
{{Campaignbox Lebanon 2006}}

During the [[2006 Lebanon War]], '''Operation Sharp and Smooth''' ({{lang-he|מבצע חד וחלק}}), also known as the '''[[Baalbek]] operation''', was an [[Israel Defense Forces]] (IDF) raid on a [[Hezbollah]]-run hospital in [[Lebanon]]’s [[Bekaa Valley]]. Conducted by [[Israel]]i [[special operations forces]] on the night of August 1, the raid resulted in retrieved intelligence information and five locals captured, several of whom were believed by the IDF to be [[Hezbollah]] militants<ref name="jpost-rsmth">{{cite news|url=http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?apage=2&cid=1153292059666&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull|title=Raid 'sends message' to Hizbullah
During the [[2006 Lebanon War]], '''Operation Sharp and Smooth''' ({{lang-he|מבצע חד וחלק}}), also known as the '''[[Baalbek]] operation''', was an [[Israel Defense Forces]] (IDF) raid on hospital in [[Lebanon]]’s [[Bekaa Valley]] which was also a [[Hezbollah]] headquarter.<ref name="peda"></ref> According to HRW and Lebanon security 16 Lebanese most of them civilians were killed.According to IDF 10 Hezbollah "terrorist" were killed during the operations<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-3285428,00.html | title=כך התנהל מבצע הקומנדו בבעלבק | accessdate=February 19, 2012}}</ref>. .Five Lebanese civilians were abducted to Israel but released after three weeks.
|publisher=Jerusalem Post|date=2006-08-02}}</ref>, while [[Hezbollah]] insisted that the prisoners are civilians<ref name=Al-Manar-020806>{{cite news|title=The Baalbek operation is a fiasco|date=2006-08-02|publisher=[[Al Manar]]|url=http://www.almanar.com.lb/}}</ref><ref name=La-repubblica-0208>{{cite news|title=Libano, incursioni e raid (in Italian)|date=2006-08-02|publisher=[[La Repubblica]]|url=http://www.repubblica.it/2006/08/dirette/sezioni/esteri/mediorient/2agosto/index.html}}</ref>. The five were released on August 21, 2006<ref name=La-repubblica-2108>{{cite news|title=Forza Onu in Libano subito (in Italian)|date=2006-08-21|publisher=[[La Repubblica]]|url=http://www.repubblica.it/2006/08/dirette/sezioni/esteri/mediorient/21agosto/index.html}}</ref>.


== The operation ==
== The operation ==
The operation began with at least five rapid air strikes. Approximately 200 elite commandos fast-roped from helicopters which previously [[aerial refueling|refuelled]] over the [[Mediterranean Sea]]. The operation involved two commando units: [[Shaldag Unit|Shaldag]] of the [[Israeli Air Force]], and [[Sayeret Matkal]] of the IDF Branch of Intelligence ([[Aman (IDF)|Aman]]).<ref name="jpost-rsmth" /> Upon landing, the units split. <br>
The operation began with at least five rapid air strikes. Approximately 200 elite commandos fast-roped from helicopters which previously [[aerial refueling|refuelled]] over the [[Mediterranean Sea]]. The operation involved two commando units: [[Shaldag Unit|Shaldag]] of the [[Israeli Air Force]], and [[Sayeret Matkal]] of the IDF Branch of Intelligence ([[Aman (IDF)|Aman]]).<ref name="jpost-rsmth">{{cite news|url=http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?apage=2&cid=1153292059666&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull|title=Raid 'sends message' to Hizbullah |publisher=Jerusalem Post|date=2006-08-02}}</ref>

According to the IDF ten "terrorists" were killed and five captured during a "precise surgical raid", that claimed no IDF or civilian casualties.<ref>{{cite news | url= http://www.unitedjerusalem.org/index2.asp?id=788256&Date=8/3/2006 | title = Special Forces Raid in Baal-bek | publisher = ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES | author= | date= 03/08/2006 | accessdate= Dec 4 2011}}</ref> The IDF claimed at first that some of the captives "were known Hizbullah gunmen."<ref name="jpost-rsmth"/>but later there were identified as civilians and were released by IDF after 3 weeks.<ref name="peda">{{cite web | url=http://books.google.co.il/books?id=jhKCiqvUDkEC&pg=PA132 | title=The Israeli secret services and the struggle against terrorism | accessdate=February 19, 2012 | pages=132}}</ref>.According to [[Human Rights Watch]] and Lebanese authorities most of the fatalities were civilians.<ref name=HRW/><ref name=MUST/>

Upon landing, the two units split up. The [[Sayeret Matkal]] unit proceeded to the Dar al-Hikma hospital, known for its connections to Hezbollah, in the Jamaliyah suburb of Ba'albek.

The Israeli force occupied the hospital. According to HRW one male nurse was killed and two security guards were wounded during the take-over. Two armed Hezbollah fighters were killed outside the hospital while engaging the Israelis.<ref>HRW, pp. 125-126</ref>

A group of local residents were alarmed by the sound of fighting and assembled at the house of the local [[mukhtar]]. Two of the men were armed members of the [[Lebanese Communist Party]]. An Israeli helicopter fired a number of missiles at the group, killing the two militants and five unarmed men. According to an assessment by [[Human Rights Watch]] the two armed militants were to be considered combatants and therefore legitimate targets.<ref>HRW, pp. 126-127</ref>

A Syrian Kurdish family, working as agricultural workers, were hit by a missile, killing the parents and four children, aged 4 to 14. Surviving relatives denied any relationship with Hezbollah.<ref>HRW, pp. 127-128</ref>

According to the investigation by [[Human Rights Watch]] 16 Lebanese were killed in the raid, of whom four were deemed combatants and a further two civilian members of Hezbollah or the Communist party.<ref name=HRW/> An official report by the Lebanese [[Interior Security Forces]] (ISF) confirm these numbers, although the names do not always match those supplied by HRW. Two of the victims were identified as belonging to Hezbollah but the Communist party members were not mentioned in the report. The report also contained the names of the 14 Lebanese wounded in the fighting.<ref name=MUST/>

The second Israeli unit swept through the al-Usaira neighborhood of Ba'albek, some five kilometers from the hospital. Apparently they were looking for persons related to [[Hassan Nasrallah]], the General-Secretary of Hezbollah. The Israeli soldiers entered a house in the neighborhood and asked a shopkeeper if he was Hassan Nasrallah, which was his name, although he was unrelated to the Hezbollah leader. Nasrallah, his 14 year old son and five other civilians were kidnapped. The prisoners were allegedly beaten and threatened by IDF soldiers. The soldiers threatened to kill 14 year old Muhammad Nasrallah together with his father unless he told them who was in the resistance. The boy was released but the five adults were brought to Israel.

The prisoners, two of whom were elderly, were imprisoned for four days and nights inside a bus. Israeli reserve soldiers serving in the Military Police complained about the procedure, calling it "hard to describe it as humanitarian treatment." The reluctance of the IDF to open a formal [[Prisoner of War]] facility contravened army regulations. Around 20 Lebanese prisoners were held at the facility, most of whom were released after questioning.<ref>{{cite news | url= http://www.haaretz.com/news/reservists-lebanese-pows-were-kept-in-bus-for-4-days-1.195623 | title = Reservists: Lebanese POWs were kept in bus for 4 days | publisher = Haaretz| author= Nir Hasson | date= 22.08.2006| accessdate= Feb 25, 2012}}</ref>

The prisoners were subjected to repeated interrogations about their relationship to Hezbollah and its leader. On August 16, they were finally allowed to see a lawyer who brought a petition to the Israeli Supreme Court to obtain their release. Instead of answering the petition the IDF released the five to [[UNIFIL]], three weeks after being abducted. "We captured five people we thought were involved with Hezbollah," explained an Israeli official to New York Times. "Under questioning it turned out we were wrong. So we turned them over to the U.N."<ref>{{cite news| url = http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/23/world/middleeast/23raid.html?_r=1&oref=slogin | title = What’s in a Name? Not, It Seems, a Leader of Hezbollah in Lebanon| accessdate = 2006-08-23| last = KIFNER| first = John| date = August 23, 2006| publisher = [[The New York Times]]}}</ref><ref>HRW, pp. 128-130</ref>

The precise target of the operation remains a mystery. The Jerusalem Post suggests that the IDF believed that the two captured soldiers, [[Ehud Goldwasser]] and [[Eldad Regev]], were being treated there after their abduction and that raid’s purpose was to collect intelligence about their fate. Lebanese sources claimed that the target of the raid was [[Muhammad Yazbek]], a well-known Hezbollah leader living in the area who had been accused by Israel of involvement in the capture of IDF Colonel (res.) [[Elhanan Tannenbaum]] in 2000. Yazbek however escaped unhurt. A spokesman for the IDF denied that the operation had a "specific target". Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Dan Halutz claimed that "the main goal" was to deliver a message to Hizbullah that the IDF "can operate deep inside Lebanon and wherever else we want to."<ref name="jpost-rsmth"/> According to Ami Pedahzur the raid was an unsuccessful attempt to kidnap Hezbollah activists for "bargaining" purposes.<ref name = "peda"> Pedahzur, Ami, The Israeli Secret Services and the Struggle Against Terrorism, Columbia University Press, 2010, p.132</ref>

Hezbollah leader Nasrallah mockingly commented the raid in Baalbek: "There were two landings near Baalbek and not in the heart of Baalbek. They stormed a hospital and threw a grenade. Pay attention to the great gain, to search for injured fighters who they didn’t capture during the battle. They weren't there, they kidnapped five civilians and they are hostages. This is intelligence, this is the Mossad?"<ref>{{cite news | url= http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3285976,00.html| title = Nasrallah: We'll bomb Tel Aviv if Beirut attacked | publisher = Yedioth Ahronoth| author= Roee Nahmias | date= 08.03.06| accessdate= Feb 9, 2012}}</ref>


According to an account published in [[Maariv]] a month after the war the IDF had learnt beforehand that the intended target of the operation would not be in place. The IDF however decided to go ahead with it for "propaganda purposes". The aim had been to obtain information about the fate of the abducted soldiers but in fact none was obtained. In spite of this it was marketed as a success story.<ref>{{cite news | url= http://www.nrg.co.il/online/1/ART1/479/587.html | title = הפעולה בבעל בק - לצרכי תעמולה (The operation in Baalbek – for propaganda purposes) | publisher = Ma'ariv | author= Amir Rappaport | date= 15/09/2006 | accessdate= Jan 23 2012}}</ref> The report was denied by the IDF.
[[Sayeret Matkal]] was assigned to take Dar al-Hikma hospital, believed by [[Aman (IDF)|Military Intelligence]] to be a base for [[Iran]]ian [[Revolutionary Guards]]. There, the five men targeted were captured. During the raid, a Hezbollah source claimed that several Israeli soldiers were trapped in the hospital, engaged in fierce clashes with the group of fighters who surrounded the facility.


Former chief of staff Moshe Ya'alon, a sharp critic of IDF conduct during the Lebanon war, questioned whether the raid was "justified in terms of risk, cost and benefit" and whether it was not simply "an adventure."<ref>{{cite news | url= http://www.haaretz.com/no-way-to-go-to-war-1.197210 | title = No way to go to war | publisher = Haaretz| author= Ari Shavit | date= 14.09.2006| accessdate= Jun 4 2010}}</ref>
<blockquote>A group of Israeli commandos was brought to the hospital by a helicopter. Hezbollah fighters inside the hospital opened fire, but the commandos managed to get inside the hospital. They captured many Hezbollah weapons. Hussein Rahal, a hezbollah spokesman said that the commandos were trapped in the hospital and engaged in fierce clashes with hezbollah fighters. He also added that Israeli jets outside were attacking the surrounding hezbollah forces with rockets. "They entered the hospital and they are trapped inside."<ref name=Aljazeera-020806EN2>{{cite news|title=Fierce battles reported in Baalbek'|date=2006-08-02|publisher=[[Aljazeera]]|url=http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/DB65EDEA-76AC-4AC2-9ADC-8A0B14B9B587.htm}}</ref></blockquote>
As all troops later returned unharmed and with captured prisoners, this report appears to be one of various other fabricated public relations claims made by Hezbollah during the war as quoted by Jihad Watch.<ref>http://www.hyscience.com/archives/2006/08/flash_baghdad_b_1.php</ref><ref>http://jihadwatch.org/archives/012378.php</ref></br>


==Fatalities==
The [[Shaldag Unit|Shaldag]] troops swept through the Sheikh Havit neighborhood, some three kilometers from the hospital, and engaged in gunbattles with Hezbollah militants.
Group of men killed by hellfire missiles fired from helicopter or drone:
* Maxim "'Ali" Jamal al-Din, 18 (combatant in Communist Party)<ref name =HRW>HRW, pp. 192-193</ref>
* 'Awad Jamal al-Din, 58 (combatant in Communist Party)<ref name=HRW/>
* Hassan Jamal al-Din, 18<ref name=HRW/>
* Naji Jamal al-Din, 45<ref name=HRW/>
* Muhammad Naji Jamal al-Din, 12<ref name=HRW/>
* Malik Jamal al-Din, 22<ref name=HRW/>
* Hussain Yusif al-Mekdad, 42<ref name=HRW/>


Men killed in or around Dar al-Hikma hospital:
The troops were on the ground in Baalbek from 10:32 p.m. Tuesday until 3 a.m. Wednesday. They seized arms and various military equipment and information.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,20003119-5006506,00.html }} {{Dead link|date=August 2010|bot=RjwilmsiBot}}</ref> The IDF later released a video that it said proved the target raided was a Hezbollah headquarters, but this was never confirmed.
* Atif Amhaz (nurse, civilian Hezbollah member)<ref name=HRW/>
* Rida Midlej (Hezbollah combatant)<ref name=HRW/>
* Wissam Ahmad Yaghi (Hezbollah combatant)<ref name=HRW/>


Syrian Kurdish family killed by Hellfire missile strike:
While the IDF believed that the captured individuals were Hezbollah militants, Hezbollah insisted that they were not members of the militia.<ref name=Al-Manar-020806/><ref name=La-repubblica-0208>{{cite news|title=Libano, incursioni e raid|date=2006-08-02|publisher=[[La Repubblica]]|url=http://www.repubblica.it/2006/08/dirette/sezioni/esteri/mediorient/2agosto/index.html}}</ref> It was subsequently confirmed that the captives were civilians and were all later released.<ref>{{cite news
* Talal Chibli, 40<ref name=HRW/>
| url = http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/23/world/middleeast/23raid.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
* Maha al-'Issa Sha'ban, 35<ref name=HRW/>
| title = What’s in a Name? Not, It Seems, a Leader of Hezbollah in Lebanon
* Muhanad Talal Chibli, 14<ref name=HRW/>
| accessdate = 2006-08-23
* Muayyad Talal Chibli, 12<ref name=HRW/>
| last = KIFNER
* Asma Talal Chibli, 6<ref name=HRW/>
| first = John
* Muhammad Talal Chibli, 4<ref name=HRW/>
| date = August 23, 2006
| publisher = [[The New York Times]]
}}
</ref>
Additionally, Israel claimed that approximately 19 Hezbollah fighters were killed, while Hezbollah denied this.<ref name="Hezbollah Claim">[http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article1220367.ece Hezbollah Claim]</ref>


==Civilians kidnapped to Israel==
==Footnotes==
* Hasan Deeb Nasrallah, 60<ref name=MUST>{{cite news | url= http://www.almustaqbal.com/storiesv4.aspx?storyid=190040 | title = تقرير أمني يقدّم المعلومات الرسمية عن إنزال بعلبك (A security report presents official information on the Ba’lbak landing) | publisher = al-Mustaqbal | author= | date= Aug 3 2006| accessdate= Dec 28 2011}}</ref><ref name = Jaz1>{{cite news | url= http://www.aljazeera.com/archive/2006/08/20084916445795272.html | title = Israel raid 'captures Hezbollah fighters'
<div class="references-small" style="-moz-column-count:2; column-count:2;">
| publisher = al-Jazeera | author= | date= 02 Aug 2006| accessdate= Feb 9, 2012}}</ref>
<references />
* Bilal Nasrallah, 32<ref name=MUST/><ref name = Jaz1/>
</div>
* Ahmad Salih al-‘Awtah (or al-Ghawtah), 55<ref name=MUST/><ref name = Jaz1/>
* Hasan al-Burji, 40<ref name=MUST/><ref name = Jaz1/>
* Muhammad Shukr, unknown age<ref name=MUST/><ref name = Jaz1/>
==External Links==
Video of the operation by IAF, [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WYn7gQHSWY]
==Sources==
* Human Rights Watch (HRW), [http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/lebanon0907.pdf ''"Why They Died"''], Civilian Casualties in Lebanon during the 2006 War, September 2007


== Sources ==
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{wikinewspar|Israeli soldiers landing in Baalbek}}
*[http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=newsOne&storyID=2006-08-01T201942Z_01_L01895035_RTRUKOC_0_US-MIDEAST-BAALBEK.xml (Reuters)]
*[http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14128276/from/RS.3/ (MSNBC)]
*[http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/08/01/mideast.main/index.html (CNN)]
*[http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/08/02/mideast.main/index.html (CNN)]
*[http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?apage=2&cid=1153292059666&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull (Jerusalem Post)]
*[http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/7F33674C-7083-4F9D-8762-C32C26E12E59.htm (Aljazeera)]


{{coord missing|Lebanon}}
{{coord missing|Lebanon}}

Revision as of 12:39, 31 May 2012

Operation Sharp and Smooth
Part of 2006 Lebanon War
DateAugust 1, 2006 – August 2, 2006
Location
Baalbek, Lebanon
Result The raid failed to accomplish aim
Belligerents
Israel Defence Forces Hezbollah
Strength
200 Unknown
Casualties and losses
None According to HRW 2 Hezbollah fighters killed,
2 armed Communist party members killed[1]According to IDF 10 Hezbollah "terrorists" were killed.[2]
According to HRW 12 civilians killed.
5 civilians kidnapped and were released after three weeks .

During the 2006 Lebanon War, Operation Sharp and Smooth (Hebrew: מבצע חד וחלק), also known as the Baalbek operation, was an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) raid on hospital in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley which was also a Hezbollah headquarter.[3] According to HRW and Lebanon security 16 Lebanese most of them civilians were killed.According to IDF 10 Hezbollah "terrorist" were killed during the operations[4]. .Five Lebanese civilians were abducted to Israel but released after three weeks.

The operation

The operation began with at least five rapid air strikes. Approximately 200 elite commandos fast-roped from helicopters which previously refuelled over the Mediterranean Sea. The operation involved two commando units: Shaldag of the Israeli Air Force, and Sayeret Matkal of the IDF Branch of Intelligence (Aman).[5]

According to the IDF ten "terrorists" were killed and five captured during a "precise surgical raid", that claimed no IDF or civilian casualties.[6] The IDF claimed at first that some of the captives "were known Hizbullah gunmen."[5]but later there were identified as civilians and were released by IDF after 3 weeks.[3].According to Human Rights Watch and Lebanese authorities most of the fatalities were civilians.[7][8]

Upon landing, the two units split up. The Sayeret Matkal unit proceeded to the Dar al-Hikma hospital, known for its connections to Hezbollah, in the Jamaliyah suburb of Ba'albek.

The Israeli force occupied the hospital. According to HRW one male nurse was killed and two security guards were wounded during the take-over. Two armed Hezbollah fighters were killed outside the hospital while engaging the Israelis.[9]

A group of local residents were alarmed by the sound of fighting and assembled at the house of the local mukhtar. Two of the men were armed members of the Lebanese Communist Party. An Israeli helicopter fired a number of missiles at the group, killing the two militants and five unarmed men. According to an assessment by Human Rights Watch the two armed militants were to be considered combatants and therefore legitimate targets.[10]

A Syrian Kurdish family, working as agricultural workers, were hit by a missile, killing the parents and four children, aged 4 to 14. Surviving relatives denied any relationship with Hezbollah.[11]

According to the investigation by Human Rights Watch 16 Lebanese were killed in the raid, of whom four were deemed combatants and a further two civilian members of Hezbollah or the Communist party.[7] An official report by the Lebanese Interior Security Forces (ISF) confirm these numbers, although the names do not always match those supplied by HRW. Two of the victims were identified as belonging to Hezbollah but the Communist party members were not mentioned in the report. The report also contained the names of the 14 Lebanese wounded in the fighting.[8]

The second Israeli unit swept through the al-Usaira neighborhood of Ba'albek, some five kilometers from the hospital. Apparently they were looking for persons related to Hassan Nasrallah, the General-Secretary of Hezbollah. The Israeli soldiers entered a house in the neighborhood and asked a shopkeeper if he was Hassan Nasrallah, which was his name, although he was unrelated to the Hezbollah leader. Nasrallah, his 14 year old son and five other civilians were kidnapped. The prisoners were allegedly beaten and threatened by IDF soldiers. The soldiers threatened to kill 14 year old Muhammad Nasrallah together with his father unless he told them who was in the resistance. The boy was released but the five adults were brought to Israel.

The prisoners, two of whom were elderly, were imprisoned for four days and nights inside a bus. Israeli reserve soldiers serving in the Military Police complained about the procedure, calling it "hard to describe it as humanitarian treatment." The reluctance of the IDF to open a formal Prisoner of War facility contravened army regulations. Around 20 Lebanese prisoners were held at the facility, most of whom were released after questioning.[12]

The prisoners were subjected to repeated interrogations about their relationship to Hezbollah and its leader. On August 16, they were finally allowed to see a lawyer who brought a petition to the Israeli Supreme Court to obtain their release. Instead of answering the petition the IDF released the five to UNIFIL, three weeks after being abducted. "We captured five people we thought were involved with Hezbollah," explained an Israeli official to New York Times. "Under questioning it turned out we were wrong. So we turned them over to the U.N."[13][14]

The precise target of the operation remains a mystery. The Jerusalem Post suggests that the IDF believed that the two captured soldiers, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, were being treated there after their abduction and that raid’s purpose was to collect intelligence about their fate. Lebanese sources claimed that the target of the raid was Muhammad Yazbek, a well-known Hezbollah leader living in the area who had been accused by Israel of involvement in the capture of IDF Colonel (res.) Elhanan Tannenbaum in 2000. Yazbek however escaped unhurt. A spokesman for the IDF denied that the operation had a "specific target". Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Dan Halutz claimed that "the main goal" was to deliver a message to Hizbullah that the IDF "can operate deep inside Lebanon and wherever else we want to."[5] According to Ami Pedahzur the raid was an unsuccessful attempt to kidnap Hezbollah activists for "bargaining" purposes.[3]

Hezbollah leader Nasrallah mockingly commented the raid in Baalbek: "There were two landings near Baalbek and not in the heart of Baalbek. They stormed a hospital and threw a grenade. Pay attention to the great gain, to search for injured fighters who they didn’t capture during the battle. They weren't there, they kidnapped five civilians and they are hostages. This is intelligence, this is the Mossad?"[15]

According to an account published in Maariv a month after the war the IDF had learnt beforehand that the intended target of the operation would not be in place. The IDF however decided to go ahead with it for "propaganda purposes". The aim had been to obtain information about the fate of the abducted soldiers but in fact none was obtained. In spite of this it was marketed as a success story.[16] The report was denied by the IDF.

Former chief of staff Moshe Ya'alon, a sharp critic of IDF conduct during the Lebanon war, questioned whether the raid was "justified in terms of risk, cost and benefit" and whether it was not simply "an adventure."[17]

Fatalities

Group of men killed by hellfire missiles fired from helicopter or drone:

  • Maxim "'Ali" Jamal al-Din, 18 (combatant in Communist Party)[7]
  • 'Awad Jamal al-Din, 58 (combatant in Communist Party)[7]
  • Hassan Jamal al-Din, 18[7]
  • Naji Jamal al-Din, 45[7]
  • Muhammad Naji Jamal al-Din, 12[7]
  • Malik Jamal al-Din, 22[7]
  • Hussain Yusif al-Mekdad, 42[7]

Men killed in or around Dar al-Hikma hospital:

  • Atif Amhaz (nurse, civilian Hezbollah member)[7]
  • Rida Midlej (Hezbollah combatant)[7]
  • Wissam Ahmad Yaghi (Hezbollah combatant)[7]

Syrian Kurdish family killed by Hellfire missile strike:

  • Talal Chibli, 40[7]
  • Maha al-'Issa Sha'ban, 35[7]
  • Muhanad Talal Chibli, 14[7]
  • Muayyad Talal Chibli, 12[7]
  • Asma Talal Chibli, 6[7]
  • Muhammad Talal Chibli, 4[7]

Civilians kidnapped to Israel

External Links

Video of the operation by IAF, [1]

Sources

  • Human Rights Watch (HRW), "Why They Died", Civilian Casualties in Lebanon during the 2006 War, September 2007

References

  1. ^ HRW, pp.124-129
  2. ^ "כך התנהל מבצע הקומנדו בבעלבק". Retrieved February 19, 2012.
  3. ^ a b c "The Israeli secret services and the struggle against terrorism". p. 132. Retrieved February 19, 2012. Cite error: The named reference "peda" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  4. ^ "כך התנהל מבצע הקומנדו בבעלבק". Retrieved February 19, 2012.
  5. ^ a b c "Raid 'sends message' to Hizbullah". Jerusalem Post. 2006-08-02.
  6. ^ "Special Forces Raid in Baal-bek". ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES. 03/08/2006. Retrieved Dec 4 2011. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r HRW, pp. 192-193
  8. ^ a b c d e f g "تقرير أمني يقدّم المعلومات الرسمية عن إنزال بعلبك (A security report presents official information on the Ba'lbak landing)". al-Mustaqbal. Aug 3 2006. Retrieved Dec 28 2011. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  9. ^ HRW, pp. 125-126
  10. ^ HRW, pp. 126-127
  11. ^ HRW, pp. 127-128
  12. ^ Nir Hasson (22.08.2006). "Reservists: Lebanese POWs were kept in bus for 4 days". Haaretz. Retrieved Feb 25, 2012. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  13. ^ KIFNER, John (August 23, 2006). "What's in a Name? Not, It Seems, a Leader of Hezbollah in Lebanon". The New York Times. Retrieved 2006-08-23.
  14. ^ HRW, pp. 128-130
  15. ^ Roee Nahmias (08.03.06). "Nasrallah: We'll bomb Tel Aviv if Beirut attacked". Yedioth Ahronoth. Retrieved Feb 9, 2012. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  16. ^ Amir Rappaport (15/09/2006). "הפעולה בבעל בק - לצרכי תעמולה (The operation in Baalbek – for propaganda purposes)". Ma'ariv. Retrieved Jan 23 2012. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  17. ^ Ari Shavit (14.09.2006). "No way to go to war". Haaretz. Retrieved Jun 4 2010. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  18. ^ a b c d e "Israel raid 'captures Hezbollah fighters'". al-Jazeera. 02 Aug 2006. Retrieved Feb 9, 2012. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

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