Operation Grapes of Wrath

Operation Grapes of Wrath
Part of the South Lebanon conflict (1985–2000)
Fighting near a UN post
Date 11–27 April 1996 Location Lebanon, northern Israel Result Cease fire on civilian targets; much Lebanese infrastructure destroyed.
Belligerents
Israel SLA	Hezbollah  Syria
Commanders and leaders
Shimon Peres Amnon Lipkin-Shahak	Hassan Nasrallah Mustafa Tlass
Casualties and losses
3 Israeli soldiers killed	14 Hezbollah fighters killed About a dozen Syrian soldiers killed
62 Israeli civilians wounded 20,000–30,000 Israeli civilians displaced 154–170 Lebanese civilians killed 350 Lebanese civilians wounded 350,000–500,000 Lebanese civilians displaced

Operation Grapes of Wrath (Hebrew: מבצע ענבי זעם‎‎) is the Israeli Defense Forces code-name (referred to as April War by Hezbollah) for a sixteen-day campaign against Lebanon in 1996 in an attempt to end shelling of Northern Israel by Hezbollah. Israel conducted more than 1,100 air raids and extensive shelling (some 25,000 shells). 639 Hezbollah cross-border rocket attacks targeted northern Israel, 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.

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, until 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 banning targeting civilians on both sides. Hezbollah later broke the agreement, and continued attacking targets in both Lebanon and northern Israel, including Israeli armed forces, South Lebanon Army militia and civilian areas. According to HRW the Israeli military shelled targets often in very close proximity to or inside civilian areas, frequently causing the death of many civilians.

On 9 April 1996, a heavy barrage of rockets was shelled by Hezbollah upon Galilee towns, prompting Israel to respond against, and hence Operation Grapes of Wrath was launched two days later.

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