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1982–1983 Tyre headquarters bombings

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The Tyre truck bombings, also known as the Tyre disaster, were two suicide bombings against the Israel Defense Forces' headquarters building in Tyre, Lebanon, in 1982 and 1983. The blasts killed 103 Israelis and 46–59 Lebanese, wounding 95 people and were some of the worst losses ever for the IDF. Israel believes both to be the responsibility of Hezbollah.

First bombing

After invading Lebanon in June, the Israeli military set up command posts to run the cities they occupied. On November 11, 1982, a Peugeot car packed with explosives struck the seven-story building being used by the Israeli military to govern Tyre. The explosion leveled the building and killed 75 Israeli soldiers, border policemen, and Shin Bet agents. In addition, anywhere from 14–27 Lebanese and Palestinian prisoners that were being held by Israel were killed.[1] Twenty-seven Israelis and 28 Arabs were injured.

The Israeli government said soon after the blast, and insists to this day, that the explosion was an accident resulting from gas cylinders exploding.[2][3] This is contrary to the three witnesses who saw the Peugeot speed to the building, the identification of the car's parts in the rubble of the building, and the existence of a Shin Bet report detailing the Hezbollah preparations for the bombing.[4]

There is also a monument near Baalbek, Lebanon dedicated to 17-year-old Ahmad Qassir, the suicide bomber responsible for the attack.[5][6]

Second bombing

Almost exactly a year later, a nearly identical bombing happened in Tyre. A suicide bomber drove a pickup truck filled with explosives into a Shin Bet building at an army base in Tyre. The explosion killed 28 Israelis and 32 Lebanese prisoners, and wounded about 40 others.[7]

See also

References

  1. ^ Bergman, Ronen (September 2008). The Secret War With Iran. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 1-4165-5839-X.
  2. ^ http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Foreign%20Relations/Israels%20Foreign%20Relations%20since%201947/1982-1984/HIGHLIGHTS%20OF%20MAIN%20EVENTS-%201982-1984
  3. ^ Bergman, 64.
  4. ^ Bergman, 65.
  5. ^ http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?apage=2&cid=1220526712951&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull
  6. ^ Hirst, David (2010) 'Beware of Small States. Lebanon, Battleground of the Middle East. Faber and Faber. ISBN 978-0-571-23741-8. Page 196.
  7. ^ Smith, William E. (November 14, 1983). "Middle East: New Bloodshed, New Hope". Time. Retrieved May 26, 2010.
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