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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Operation Grapes of Wrath
Part of the Israeli-Lebanese conflict and the South Lebanon conflict (1985–2000)
An Israeli M109 Paladin firing on Hezbollah positions in Lebanon, taken on 15 April 1996
Date 11–27 April 1996 (2 weeks and 2 days)
Location
Lebanon, northern Israel
Result Ceasefire on civilian targets; much Lebanese infrastructure destroyed.
Belligerents
Israel Israel
SLA Hezbollah Hezbollah
Ba'athist Syria Syria[1]
Commanders and leaders
Israel Shimon Peres
Israel Amnon Lipkin-Shahak Hezbollah Hassan Nasrallah
Ba'athist Syria Mustafa Tlass
Casualties and losses
No casualties[2] 13 Hezbollah fighters killed[3][4]
62 Israeli civilians wounded[5]
20,000–30,000 Israeli civilians displaced
149[3] – 250[6] Lebanese civilians killed
354 Lebanese civilians wounded[7]
350,000–500,000[8] Lebanese civilians displaced
vte
South Lebanon conflict
Operation Grapes of Wrath (Hebrew: מבצע ענבי זעם Mivtsa Enavi Zaam), known in Lebanon as the April Aggression (Arabic: , romanized: ʿUdwān Nīsān), was a seventeen-day campaign of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) against Hezbollah in 1996 which attempted to end the Iran-backed group's rocket attacks on northern Israeli civilian centres by forcing the group north of the Litani River, out of easy range of these civilian centres.[9] Prior to the operation, Hezbollah had launched 151 rockets from Lebanon into Israel, killing two Israeli civilians and seriously wounding 24 other Israeli civilians.[10]
In their attempt to degrade and destroy Hezbollah, the IDF conducted more than 600 air raids and fired approximately 25,000 shells, killing approximately 154 Lebanese civilians and wounding 351.[7] Over 100 Lebanese civilians died after the IDF shelled the UNIFIL position in Qana where they had taken shelter.[7] After the outbreak of Israel’s response, 639 Hezbollah cross-border rocket attacks targeted northern Israel, wounding 62 civilians.[7] 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
Main article: South Lebanon conflict (1985–2000)
The Israeli army invaded Lebanon for the second time in 1982, in order to stop the Palestinian attacks, starting the 1982 Lebanon War. After three months Israel occupied the capital city of Beirut. Over the next three years the Israeli army partially withdrew. In 1985, it established what it called the "Security Buffer Zone" in Southern Lebanon.
While Israel did succeed in ousting the PLO from Lebanon, armed insurgency by radical Shia organizations emerged in the region. In 1993, Israel responded with a massive attack against the Lebanese Hezbollah (Operation Accountability) to disrupt its actions. The military campaign ended in a ceasefire whose terms included unwritten understandings prohibiting the targeting of civilians. Both sets of belligerents later disregarded the prohibition when particular "red lines" had been crossed, creating cycles of retaliatory violence. 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.[11][7]
On 30 March 1996, two men were killed by an IDF missile while working on a water tower in Yater, Lebanon.[citation needed] Hezbollah responded by launching 20 missiles into northern Israel, and the IDF acknowledged the attack as a mistake.[citation needed] 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.[12][13] On 11 April, Israeli officials announced Operation Grapes of Wrath as a retaliatory and preventative action for Hezbollah shelling, which had injured six Israeli civilians.[13]