Operation Grapes of Wrath

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Part of the 1982-2000 South Lebanon conflict

Fighting near an UN post

Date	April 11, 1996–April 27, 1996
Location	Lebanon, northern Israel
Result	Cease fire on civilian targets; much Lebanese infrastructure destroyed.
Casus belli	Roadside bomb killing Lebanese boy; cross-border shelling injuring Israeli civilians

Combatants

Israel

South Lebanon Army

Hezbollah

Casualties

3 killed. [1]

14 killed. [2]

Civilian casualties:
154 to 170 Lebanese civilians killed.
350,000 to 500,000 Lebanese displaced.
20,000 to 30,000 Israelis displaced
1 Syrian soldier killed.

1982–2000 South Lebanon conflict
Accountability – *Grapes of Wrath*

Operation Grapes of Wrath (Hebrew: מבצע ענבי זעם) is the Israeli Defense Forces code-name (Hezbollah calls it April War) for a sixteen-day military blitz against Lebanon in 1996 in an attempt to end the indiscriminant shelling of Northern Israel of it's civilian population by Hezbollah. Israel conducted more than 1,100 air raids and extensive shelling (some 25,132 shells). There is no record from Hezbollah on numbers, but it is in the thousands. A UN installation was also hit by Israeli shelling causing the death of 118 Lebanese. It is not known how many were militia and how many were civilians as Hezbollah do not wear uniforms. The installation was being used to keep Lebanese civilian human shields to protect the Hezbollah fighters. (Amnesty 1996) 639 Hezbollah cross-border rocket attacks targeted northern Israel and all of it's innocent civilians, particularly the town of Kiryat Shemona. (HRW 1997) 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.

1 Historical Background
2 Casus Belli
3 Operation
4 Aftermath
5 Ceasefire
6 See also
7 Sources
8 External link

[edit] Historical Background

Main article: Israel-Lebanon conflict

After continual cross border attacks committed by forces in Southern Lebanon, the Israeli army crossed over to Lebanon for the second time in 1982, starting the 1982 Lebanon War. After three months it occupied the capital city of Beirut. Over the next three years the Israeli army partially withdrew, until in 1985 it established what it called the "Security Buffer Zone" in Southern Lebanon. Armed resistance against Israeli occupation never stopped and in 1993 Israel responded with a massive attack against Lebanon (Operation Accountability) to disrupt the actions of Hezbollah, the major resistance force. The military campaign was ultimately unsuccessful as Hezbollah continued attacking targets in both Lebanon and northern Israel, including Israeli armed forces, South Lebanon Army militia and civilian areas.^[1] Hezbollah placed their military assets adjacent to civilian areas, forcing the Israeli military to shell targets in very close proximity to or inside civilian areas, frequently causing the death of many civilians. In April 1996, Israel decided it would once again attempt to subdue Hezbollah, and Operation Grapes of Wrath was launched.

[edit] Casus Belli

While armed conflict between the IDF and South Lebanon Army (SLA) on one hand and Hezbollah and other Lebanese militias (such as Amal) on the other was often intense prior to late March 1996, it was largely restricted to the Israeli controlled area of South Lebanon and military targets.

On March 30, two men were killed by an IDF missile while working on a water tower in Yafar, Lebanon. Hezbollah responded by launching 20 missiles into northern Israel targeting indiscriminately. A roadside bomb explosion, in all probability on inner faction fighting, that caused the death of a 14-year old Lebanese boy and injury of three others in the village of Barashit was wrongly cited by Hezbollah as the reason for firing 30 missiles into northern Israel, targeting indiscriminately, on 9 April.(UNIFIL 1996; Amnesty 1996) Israeli officials announced Operation Grapes of Wrath on April 11 as a last resort preventative action for in discriminant Hezbollah shelling, which had injured six Israeli civilians.(Amnesty 1996)

[edit] Operation

In the early morning of 11 April, Israeli aircraft and artillery began an intensive bombardment of southern Lebanon as well as targets in the Beirut area and in the Bekaa Valley. The objective of these attacks was to put pressure on the Government of Lebanon so that it would curb the activities of Hezbollah. Israel conducted air raids, on targets which included Katyusha launchers, Hezbollah installations and personnel, as well as vehicles and civilian infrastructure, all of which were being used for military purposes. The raids were accompanied by radio broadcasts and warning leaflet droppings which were used to urge residents to flee the area. Somewhere between 300,000 and 500,000 did so.

Beginning April 13, Israel blockaded the ports of Beirut, Sidon and Tyre. Near Beirut, a Syrian military post was bombed on April 12 by Israeli aircraft, resulting in the death of one soldier and injuring seven others. On April 14 and 15, the Beirut area electric power stations at Jumhour and Bsaleem were attacked.(HRW 1996)

Given the large number of inhabitants who remained behind, IDF did not in fact treat the whole area as a free-fire zone. Th eIDF used carfully planned targetting of military targets. It attempted to elliminate the sources of rocket launches which target innocent Israelis indiscriminantly.

In the last few days of the operation, the Israeli forces targeted the main roads in southern Lebanon using heavy bombs dropped by aircraft in order to reduce the resupply of Hezbollah rockets which had been fired by the thousand into Israel and killed innocent civilians indiscriminantly.

[edit] Aftermath

Altogether, Some acclaimed 154 civilians (HRW 1997) to the acclaimed 170 Lebanese (ICRC 1997) were killed in Lebanon in attacks, including more than 106 acclaimed civilians who died in the Qana shelling and 9 acclaimed civilians killed in an attack in Nabatiyeh when Israeli warplanes rocketed a two-story building where they were sleeping. There is no verification between Hizbullah militia and civilinas as mone wear uniforms. Hizbullah use this tactic to switch sides when desired and to use civilians as human shields. The Israeli army claimed that anti-aircraft fire was directed at its planes from the area around the building. Amnesty International was not able to confirm whether or not those claims were true or not.

Some 350 acclaimed civilians were wounded in Lebanon (HRW 1997). 62 Israeli civilians were wounded in Israel [3][4]. Israeli civilians use their home bunkers for protection. The bunker is a building regulation and requirement for homes in Israel. The majority of the thousands of rockets fired by Hizbullah during the conflict landed in civilian areas.

The damage to the Lebanese infrastructure was significant as major bridges and power stations were destroyed. According to Human Rights Watch, 2018 houses and buildings in South Lebanon were either completely destroyed or severely bombarded. Lebanon's total economic damage was estimated at $500 million by economist Marwan Iskandar (and endorsed as accurate by the Lebanese Center for Policy Studies): $140 million in rebuilding damaged infrastructure, $30 million for assisting those displaced, $260 in lost economic output, and $70 in losses due to delays in economic projects.[5] Israel estimated the total damage it suffered at 150 million shekels as of Tuesday, July 18. Earlier, the damage to Israeli civilian property was estimated at 20 million NIS (about $7 million), and the indirect damage to Israel's tourism industry at 40 million NIS (about $13 million) [6]. At the end of the conflict the Lebanese received millions for it's rebuilding of infrastructure and Israel received nothing for all of it's destroyed homes, almost all in civilian areas. Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres mounted an intense campaign to persuade the Lebanese that this punishment had come down upon them because of Hizbullah’s continued presence to kill innocent Israelis and anti-IDF activities and that they had only to repudiate and dismantle Hizbullah for it to stop. But because of Hizbullah’s political activities over the preceding years, virtually the entire Lebanese body politic closed ranks around it. Not only was there no mention of “dismantling” Hizbullah, but the agreement—signed by Lebanon, Israel, the United States, France, and Syria—specifically allowed Hizbullah to continue its military activities against IDF forces inside Lebanon.^[2]

[edit] Ceasefire

Hostilities retreated from their escalated level following the reaching of an Israeli-Lebanese Ceasefire Understanding - an informal written agreement - under American diplomatic auspices. The understanding was announced at 18:00, April 26, 1996, and became effective at 04:00 on April 27. The agreement barred cross-border attacks on civilian targets, as well as using civilian villages to launch attacks. The Monitoring Committee for the Implementation of the Grapes of Wrath Understandings was set up, comprised of representatives from the US, France, Syria, Israel and Lebanon. The committee convenes to monitor and discuss infringements of the understandings by the two sides.