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2006 Lebanon War
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{{Short description|Armed conflict primarily between Israel and Hezbollah}}{{For|other wars in Lebanon|Lebanon War (disambiguation){{!}}Lebanon War}}{{pp-30-500|small=yes}}{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}- the content below is remote from Wikipedia
- it has been imported raw for GetWiki
| factoids |
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{{flag|Lebanon}}
{{flagicon|Lebanon}} Michel Sleiman
Background
Cross-border attacks from southern Lebanon into Israel by the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) dated as far back as 1968, and followed the Six-Day War; the area became a significant base for attacks following the arrival of the PLO leadership and its Fatah brigade following their 1971 expulsion from Jordan. Starting about this time, increasing demographic tensions related to the Lebanese National Pact, which had divided governmental powers among religious groups throughout the country 30 years previously, began running high and led in part to the Lebanese Civil War (1975–1990).Concurrently, Syria began a 29-year military occupation in 1976. During the 1978 South Lebanon conflict, Israel failed to stem the Palestinian attacks in the long run. In the 1982 Lebanon War, Israel invaded the country again and forcibly expelled the PLO.WEB,www.unhcr.org/refworld/type,CHRON,,LBN,469f38b21e,0.html, Chronology for Druze in Lebanon, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, 20 September 2014, dead,www.unhcr.org/refworld/type%2CCHRON%2C%2CLBN%2C469f38b21e%2C0.html," title="web.archive.org/web/20121018152915www.unhcr.org/refworld/type%2CCHRON%2C%2CLBN%2C469f38b21e%2C0.html,">web.archive.org/web/20121018152915www.unhcr.org/refworld/type%2CCHRON%2C%2CLBN%2C469f38b21e%2C0.html, 18 October 2012, Israel withdrew to a borderland buffer zone in southern Lebanon, held with the aid of proxy militants in the South Lebanon Army (SLA).ENCYCLOPEDIA,encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761588322_2/Arab-Israeli_Conflict.html#s6, Arab–Israeli Conflict, 13 July 2008, Encarta Encyclopedia,encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761588322_2/Arab-Israeli_Conflict.html," title="web.archive.org/web/20091028083130encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761588322_2/Arab-Israeli_Conflict.html,">web.archive.org/web/20091028083130encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761588322_2/Arab-Israeli_Conflict.html, 28 October 2009, dead, The invasion also led to the conception of a new Shi’a militant group, which in 1985, established itself politically under the name Hezbollah, and declared an armed struggle to end the Israeli occupation of Lebanese territory.NEWS,news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4314423.stm, Who are Hezbollah?, BBC News, 20 September 2014, ENCYCLOPEDIA,encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_701835564/Nasrallah_Hassan.html, Hassan Nasrallah, 19 March 2007, Encarta Encyclopedia,encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_701835564/Hassan_Nasrallah.html," title="web.archive.org/web/20091030105014encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_701835564/Hassan_Nasrallah.html,">web.archive.org/web/20091030105014encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_701835564/Hassan_Nasrallah.html, 30 October 2009, dead, When the Lebanese Civil War ended and other warring factions agreed to disarm, both Hezbollah and the SLA refused. Ten years later, Israel withdrew from South Lebanon to the UN-designated and internationally recognized Blue Line border in 2000.WEB,news.google.com/newspapers?id=dKkaAAAAIBAJ&pg=2779,7283268&dq=israel+lebanon&hl=en, UN Chief Says Israel Is Completely Out of Lebanon, 20 September 2014, {{Dead link|date=February 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}The withdrawal also led to the immediate collapse of the SLA, and Hezbollah quickly took control of the area. Later, citing continued Israeli control of the Shebaa farms region and the internment of Lebanese prisoners in Israel, Hezbollah intensified its cross-border attacks, and used the tactic of seizing soldiers from Israel as leverage for a prisoner exchange in 2004.WEB,71.18.226.238/final/en/bn/viewbndetails.php?bnid=13," title="web.archive.org/web/2007100912392671.18.226.238/final/en/bn/viewbndetails.php?bnid=13,">web.archive.org/web/2007100912392671.18.226.238/final/en/bn/viewbndetails.php?bnid=13, 9 October 2007, dead,71.18.226.238/final/en/bn/viewbndetails.php?bnid=13, What the Struggle Over a Cease-Fire Could Mean for US-Israeli Unilateralism, 13 July 2008, Institute for Palestinian Studies, NEWS,www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2006/08/08/death_and_destruction_are_hezbollahs_goals/, Death and destruction are Hezbollah’s goals, 8 August 2006, 13 July 2008, The Boston Globe,www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2006/08/08/death_and_destruction_are_hezbollahs_goals/," title="web.archive.org/web/20100302050943www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2006/08/08/death_and_destruction_are_hezbollahs_goals/,">web.archive.org/web/20100302050943www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2006/08/08/death_and_destruction_are_hezbollahs_goals/, 2 March 2010, live, Andrea, Levin, All told, from summer 2000, after the Israeli withdrawal, until summer 2006, Hezbollah conducted approximately 200 attacks on Israel—most of them artillery fire, some raids and some via proxies inside Israel. In these attacks, including the attack that precipitated the Israeli response that developed into the war, 31 Israelis were killed and 104 were wounded.{{Citation needed|date=October 2015}}In August 2006, in an article in The New Yorker, Seymour Hersh claimed that the White House gave the green light for the Israeli government to execute an attack on Hezbollah in Lebanon. Supposedly, communication between the Israeli government and the US government about this came as early as two months in advance of the capture of two Israeli soldiers and the killing of eight others by Hezbollah prior to the conflict in July 2006.MAGAZINE,www.newyorker.com/archive/2006/08/21/060821fa_fact," title="web.archive.org/web/20140718025823www.newyorker.com/archive/2006/08/21/060821fa_fact,">web.archive.org/web/20140718025823www.newyorker.com/archive/2006/08/21/060821fa_fact, 18 July 2014, dead,newyorker.com/printables/fact/060821fa_fact, Watching Lebanon, Hersh, Seymour, 21 August 2006, The New Yorker, According to Conal Urquhart in The Guardian, the Winograd Committee leaked a testimony from Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert suggesting that Olmert “had been preparing for such a war at least four months before the official casus belli: the capture by Hezbollah of two Israeli soldiers from a border post on 12 July 2006.“NEWS,www.theguardian.com/world/2007/mar/09/syria.israelandthepalestinians, Israel planned for Lebanon war months in advance, PM says, Conal Urquhart, The Guardian, 20 September 2014,Abduction efforts in the year prior to conflict
In June 2005, an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) paratroop unit operating near the Shebaa Farms engaged three Lebanese it identified as Hezbollah special force members, killing one. Videotapes recovered by the paratroopers contained footage of the three recording detailed accounts of the area.WEB,www.haaretz.com/chronicle-of-disaster-1.249950, Chronicle of Disaster, Haaretz, Amos Harel, 18 July 2008, 8 December 2015, Over the following 12 months, Hezbollah made three unsuccessful attempts to abduct Israeli soldiers. On 21 November 2005, a number of Hezbollah special forces attempted to attack an Israeli outpost in Ghajar, a village straddling the border between Lebanon and the Golan Heights. The outpost had been deserted following an intelligence warning, and three of the Hezbollah militants were killed when Israeli sniper David Markovich shot a rocket-propelled grenade they were carrying, causing it to explode. From his sniper position, Markovich shot and killed a fourth gunman shortly thereafter.Dudkevitch, “Paratrooper Sniper Becomes Hero”, The Jerusalem Post Online Edition, 22 November 2005.Timeline
{{for timeline|Timeline of the 2006 Lebanon War}}{{further|Military operations of the 2006 Lebanon War}}Hezbollah cross-border raid
File:Zarit incident map.png|350px|thumb|left|The cross-border raid map]]At around 9{{nbsp}}am local time on 12 July 2006, Hezbollah launched diversionary rocket attacks toward Israeli military positions near the coast and near the border village of Zar’itNEWS, Report of the Secretary-General on the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon for the period from 21 January 2006 to 18 July 2006, 21 July 2006, United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon,domino.un.org/unispal.NSF/fd807e46661e3689852570d00069e918/87e2508779d8ec83852571b6004c761f," title="web.archive.org/web/20150107080734domino.un.org/unispal.NSF/fd807e46661e3689852570d00069e918/87e2508779d8ec83852571b6004c761f,">web.archive.org/web/20150107080734domino.un.org/unispal.NSF/fd807e46661e3689852570d00069e918/87e2508779d8ec83852571b6004c761f, 7 January 2015, dead,domino.un.org/unispal.NSF/fd807e46661e3689852570d00069e918/87e2508779d8ec83852571b6004c761f, as well as on the Israeli town of Shlomi and other villages.NEWS, Day-by-day: Lebanon crisis — week one- Samir Kuntar (a Lebanese citizen captured during an attack in 1979, convicted by Israel of murdering civilians and a police officer);
- Nasim Nisr (an Israeli-Lebanese citizen whom Israel tried and convicted for spying);
- Yahya Skaf (a Lebanese citizen whom Hezbollah claims was arrested in Israel; Israel states that he was killed in action);WEB,www.upc.org.uk/hasann12jul06.html, Press Conference with Hasan Nasrallah, 13 July 2008, 12 July 2006, Understanding the present crisis, UPC,www.upc.org.uk/hasann12jul06.html," title="web.archive.org/web/20061113080502www.upc.org.uk/hasann12jul06.html,">web.archive.org/web/20061113080502www.upc.org.uk/hasann12jul06.html, 13 November 2006, NEWS,news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5211930.stm, Who are the Mid-East prisoners?, BBC News, 26 July 2006, 6 October 2006,news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5211930.stm," title="web.archive.org/web/20060924182931news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5211930.stm,">web.archive.org/web/20060924182931news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5211930.stm, 24 September 2006, live,
- Ali Faratan (another Lebanese citizen whom Hezbollah claimed to be held in Israel, believed to have been shot at sea.).WEB,www.hrw.org/ja/node/24445/section/9, Why They Died – Human Rights Watch, Human Rights Watch, 14 July 2008, 4 December 2016, 29 November 2014,www.hrw.org/ja/node/24445/section/9," title="web.archive.org/web/20141129052816www.hrw.org/ja/node/24445/section/9,">web.archive.org/web/20141129052816www.hrw.org/ja/node/24445/section/9, dead,
Israeli response
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert described the seizure of the soldiers as an “act of war” by the sovereign state of Lebanon,NEWS, Israelis invade Lebanon after soldiers are seized, The Guardian, London, 12 July 2006,www.theguardian.com/israel/Story/0,,1818696,00.html, 26 September 2006, Conal, Urquhart,www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0%2C%2C1818696%2C00.html," title="web.archive.org/web/20060819033938www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0%2C%2C1818696%2C00.html,">web.archive.org/web/20060819033938www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0%2C%2C1818696%2C00.html, 19 August 2006, live, NEWS, Olmert: We were attacked by a sovereign country, Ynetnews, 12 July 2006,www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3274385,00.html, 13 July 2008, Sofer, Ronny, stating that “Lebanon will bear the consequences of its actions“WEB,www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Government/Communiques/2006/PM+Olmert+-+Lebanon+is+responsible+and+will+bear+the+consequences+12-Jul-2006.htm, PM Olmert: Lebanon is responsible and will bear the consequences, 21 September 2010, 12 July 2006, Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and promising a “very painful and far-reaching response.“NEWS,www.nbcnews.com/id/13827858, Regional tensions fuel Lebanon-Israel clashes, 13 July 2008, Fletcher, Martin, Martin Fletcher, 12 July 2006, NBC News, Israel blamed the Lebanese government for the raid, as it was carried out from Lebanese territory.WEB,www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=737687&contrassID=1&subContrassID=0&sbSubContrassID=0,www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=737687&contrassID=1&subContrassID=0&sbSubContrassID=0," title="web.archive.org/web/20060715095803www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=737687&contrassID=1&subContrassID=0&sbSubContrassID=0,">web.archive.org/web/20060715095803www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=737687&contrassID=1&subContrassID=0&sbSubContrassID=0, 15 July 2006, Israel holds Lebanon government responsible for Hezbollah attack, 13 August 2006, Alon, Gideon, Aluf Benn, Amos Harel, Yoav Stern, 13 July 2006, Haaretz, Hezbollah had two ministers serving in the Lebanese cabinet at that time.In response, Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora denied any knowledge of the raid and stated that he did not condone it.WEB,www.manilatimes.net/national/2006/aug/02/yehey/opinion/20060802opi7.html, Statement by Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, 26 September 2006, 17 July 2006, The Manila Times,www.manilatimes.net/national/2006/aug/02/yehey/opinion/20060802opi7.html," title="web.archive.org/web/20071015180358www.manilatimes.net/national/2006/aug/02/yehey/opinion/20060802opi7.html,">web.archive.org/web/20071015180358www.manilatimes.net/national/2006/aug/02/yehey/opinion/20060802opi7.html, 15 October 2007, WEB,dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=74027, Statement by Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, 13 July 2008, 17 July 2006, Daily Star (Lebanon) (registration required),www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=74027," title="web.archive.org/web/20060811001008www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=74027,">web.archive.org/web/20060811001008www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=74027, 11 August 2006, dead, An emergency meeting of the Lebanese government reaffirmed this position.WEB,dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=73930, Simiora’s Cabinet makes clear it had nothing to do with ‘what happened’, Qawas, Nafez, Raed El Rafei, 13 July 2008, 13 July 2006, Daily Star (Lebanon) (registration required),dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=73930," title="web.archive.org/web/20060714183432dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=73930,">web.archive.org/web/20060714183432dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=73930, 14 July 2006, The Israel Defense Forces attacked targets within Lebanon with artillery and airstrikes hours before the Israeli Cabinet met to discuss a response. The targets consisted of bridges and roads in Lebanon, which were hit to prevent Hezbollah from transporting the abductees. An Israeli airstrike also destroyed the runways of Beirut–Rafic Hariri International Airport.NEWS, China Radio International, Chronology – Events in Middle East,english.cri.cn/3126/2006/08/08/266@124092.htm,english.cri.cn/3126/2006/08/08/266@124092.htm," title="web.archive.org/web/20090908120837english.cri.cn/3126/2006/08/08/266@124092.htm,">web.archive.org/web/20090908120837english.cri.cn/3126/2006/08/08/266@124092.htm, dead, 8 September 2009, 8 August 2006, 5 May 2008, Forty-four civilians were killed. The Israeli Air Force also targeted Hezbollah’s long-range rocket-and-missile stockpiles, destroying many of them on the ground in the first days of the war.Amos Harel and Avi Issascharoff, Korey Akavish, Sipura shel Mmilchemet Levanon (Tel Aviv: Yediot Aharonot, 2008), pp. 179–81WEB, Benn, Aluf,www.haaretz.com/news/report-iaf-wiped-out-59-iranian-missile-launchers-in-34-minutes-1.203252, Report: IAF wiped out 59 Iranian missile launchers in 34 minutes, Haaretz, 2 April 2008, 16 January 2011, Many of Hezbollah’s longer-range rocket launchers were destroyed within the first hours of the Israeli attack.Later that same day (12 July 2006), the Cabinet decided to authorize the Prime Minister, the Defense Minister and their deputies to pursue the plan which they had proposed for action within Lebanon. Prime Minister Olmert officially demanded that the Israel Defense Forces avoid civilian casualties whenever possible.WEB,www.pmo.gov.il/PMO/Government/Decisions/2006/07/des258.htm, Operation “Just Reward“--the Response of the IDF to Hezbollah Aggression from Lebanese Territory, 12 July 2006, 19 March 2007, Israeli Prime Minister’s Office,www.pmo.gov.il/PMO/Government/Decisions/2006/07/des258.htm," title="web.archive.org/web/20130526034517www.pmo.gov.il/PMO/Government/Decisions/2006/07/des258.htm,">web.archive.org/web/20130526034517www.pmo.gov.il/PMO/Government/Decisions/2006/07/des258.htm, 26 May 2013, dead, {{cbignore}} Israel’s chief of staff Dan Halutz said, “if the soldiers are not returned, we will turn Lebanon’s clock back 20 years“NEWS, Associated Press, Israel authorizes ‘severe’ response to abductions,www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/07/12/mideast/index.html, CNN, 12 July 2006, 23 September 2007,www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/07/12/mideast/index.html," title="web.archive.org/web/20070305101409www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/07/12/mideast/index.html,">web.archive.org/web/20070305101409www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/07/12/mideast/index.html, 5 March 2007, while the head of Israel’s Northern Command Udi Adam said, “this affair is between Israel and the state of Lebanon. Where to attack? Once it is inside Lebanon, everything is legitimate—not just southern Lebanon, not just the line of Hezbollah posts.“On 12 July 2006, the Israeli Cabinet promised that Israel would “respond aggressively and harshly to those who carried out, and are responsible for, today’s action”.Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs (12 July 2006). “Special Cabinet Communiqué – Hizbullah attack”. Retrieved 8 April 2007. The Cabinet’s communiqué stated, in part, that the “Lebanese Government [was] responsible for the action that originated on its soil.” A retired Israeli Army Colonel explained that the rationale behind the attack was to create a rift between the Lebanese population and Hezbollah supporters by exacting a heavy price from the elite in Beirut.NEWS,www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/18/AR2006071801436_pf.html, Bush Supports Israel’s Move Against Hezbollah, 13 July 2008, WrightIsraeli air and artillery attacks
{{See also|Dahiya doctrine}}File:Haret Hreik Before After 22 July 2006.png|thumb|Satellite photographs of the Haret Hreik, a Hezbollah-dominated neighborhood (Dahieh]] district of southern Beirut, Lebanon, before and after 22 July 2006. The neighborhood is home to Hezbollah’s headquarters. See also high-resolution photographs before and WEB,www.digitalglobe.com/images/qb/beirut_harat_july22_2006_dgwm.jpg, after,www.digitalglobe.com/images/qb/beirut_harat_july22_2006_dgwm.jpg," title="web.archive.org/web/20070821013412www.digitalglobe.com/images/qb/beirut_harat_july22_2006_dgwm.jpg,">web.archive.org/web/20070821013412www.digitalglobe.com/images/qb/beirut_harat_july22_2006_dgwm.jpg, 21 August 2007, )File:Bombed commercial centre.jpg|thumb|A building in Ghazieh, near Sidon, bombed by the Israeli Air ForceIsraeli Air ForceDuring the first day of the war the Israeli Air Force, artillery and navy conducted more than 100 attacks mainly against Hezbollah bases in south Lebanon, among them the regional headquarters in Yatar. Five bridges across the Litani and Zahrani rivers were also destroyed, reportedly to prevent Hezbollah from transferring the abducted soldiers to the north.NEWS,www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/ForeignPolicy/Terrorism/Hizbullah/Pages/Hizbullah%20attack%20on%20northern%20border%20and%20IDF%20response%2012-Jul-2006.aspx, IDF Spokesman: Hizbullah attack on northern border and IDF response, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 12 July 2006, 3 July 2013, Attacks from land, sea and air continued in the following days. Among the targets hit were the Hezbollah headquarters in the southern suburbs of Beirut as well as the offices and homes of the leadership, the compounds of al-Manar TV station and al-Nour radio station, and the runways and fuel depots of the Rafic Hariri International Airport in Beirut. Also targeted were Hezbollah bases, weapons depots and outposts as well as bridges, roads and petrol stations in south Lebanon.NEWS,www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Terrorism-+Obstacle+to+Peace/Terrorism+from+Lebanon-+Hizbullah/IDF%20operations%20against%20Hizbullah%20in%20Lebanon%2013-Jul-2006, Summary of IDF operations against Hizbullah in Lebanon, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 13 July 2006, 3 July 2013, NEWS,www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Terrorism-+Obstacle+to+Peace/Terrorism+from+Lebanon-+Hizbullah/IDF%20operations%20against%20Hizbullah%20in%20Lebanon%2014-Jul-2006, Summary of IDF operations against Hizbullah in Lebanon, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 14 July 2006, 3 July 2013, Forty-four civilians were killed throughout the day.It was later reported that the Israel Air Force after midnight, 13 July, attacked and destroyed 59 stationary medium-range Fajr rocket launchers positioned throughout southern Lebanon. Operation Density allegedly only took 34 minutes to carry out but was the result of six years of intelligence gathering and planning. Between half and two-thirds of Hezbollah medium-range rocket capability was estimated by the IDF to have been wiped out. According to Israeli journalists Amos Harel and Avi Issacharoff the operation was “Israel’s most impressive military action” and a “devastating blow for Hezbollah”. In the coming days IAF allegedly also attacked and destroyed a large proportion of Hezbollah’s long range Zelzal-2 missiles.Harel and Issacharof, p. 91–92“All the long-range rockets have been destroyed,” chief of staff Halutz allegedly told the Israeli government, “We’ve won the war.“NEWS,www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article620874.ece," title="web.archive.org/web/20070304030521www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article620874.ece,">web.archive.org/web/20070304030521www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article620874.ece, 4 March 2007, dead,www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article620874.ece, Humbling of the supertroops shatters Israeli army morale, The Sunday Times, Uzi Mahnaimi, 27 August 2006, . newsgroups.derkeiler.com/pdf/Archive/Rec/rec.martial-arts/2006-08/msg04921.pdf" title="web.archive.org/web/20141129053308newsgroups.derkeiler.com/pdf/Archive/Rec/rec.martial-arts/2006-08/msg04921.pdf">Backup copy.American officials claimed that the Israelis overstated the effectiveness of the air war against Hezbollah and cited the failure to hit any of the Hezbollah leaders in spite of dropping twenty-three tons of high explosives in a single raid on the Beirut Southern suburbs of Dahiya.Hirst, David (2010) Beware of Small States. Lebanon, battleground of the Middle East. Faber and Faber. {{ISBN|978-0-571-23741-8}} pp.336-337 The Israeli assessments are “too large,” said one US official.NEWS,www.washingtontimes.com/news/2006/jul/21/20060721-102631-9200r/?page=all, U.S. doubts Israeli figures about damage of air war, The Washington Times, 21 July 2006, 3 July 2013, Al-Manar TV station only went dark for two minutes after the strike before it was back into the air. The TV station was bombed 15 times during the war but never faltered after the first hiccup.Cambanis (2007), p. 69–70According to military analyst William Arkin there is “little evidence” that the Israeli Air Force even attempted, much less succeeded in, wiping out the medium- and long-range-rocket capability in the first days of the war. He dismissed the whole claim as an “absurdity” and a “tale”.Arkin p.128–129 Benjamin Lambeth, however, insisted that it was far-fetched to suggest that the “authoritative Israeli leadership pronouncements” were not based on facts. He admitted however that there was “persistent uncertainty” surrounding the “few known facts and figures” concerning the alleged attacks.NEWS,www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG835.html, Air operations in Israel’s war against Hezbollah: learning from Lebanon and getting it right in Gaza, RAND Corporation, Lambeth, Benjamin S., 2011, 20 November 2012, Anthony Cordesman believed that IAF probably destroyed most medium- and long-range missiles in the first two days of the war but acknowledged that these claims “have never been validated or described in detail.“Cordesman, 2007, p. 10 and 30Hezbollah long remained silent on the question of its rockets, but on the sixth anniversary of the war, chairman Hassan Nasrallah asserted that Israel had missed them, claiming that Hezbollah had known about Israeli intelligence gathering and had managed to secretly move its platforms and launchers in advance.NEWS,english.alahednews.com.lb/essaydetails.php?eid=20509&cid=444&st=Sayyed%20Nasrallah%20Speech%20on%206th%20Anniversary%20of%20Divine%20Victory#.UmqS4xBQhSI, Sayyed Nasrallah Speech on 6th Anniversary of Divine Victory: “Israel’s” Operation Was Qualitative Illusion, Moqawama, Nour Rida, 18 July 2012, 20 November 2012, (File:Locations bombed Aug13 no fact box.jpg|thumb|Areas in Lebanon targeted by Israeli bombing, 12 July to 13 August 2006)During the war the Israeli Air Force flew 11,897 combat missions, which was more than the number of sorties during the 1973 October War (11,223) and almost double the number during the 1982 Lebanon War (6,052).Kober (2008), p. 23The Israeli artillery fired 170,000 shells, more than twice the number fired in the 1973 October War.Kober (2008), p. 24 A senior officer in the IDF Armored Corps told Haaretz that he would be surprised if it turned out that even five Hezbollah fighters had been killed by the 170,000 shells fired.NEWS, The Northern Command Ran Out of Targets, Haaretz, Amos Harel, Avi Issacharoff, 2 April 2007, cited in JOURNAL, Human Rights Watch,www.hrw.org/en/node/10734/section/11, VII. Israeli Conduct During the War Civilian Deaths, Why They Died: Civilian Casualties in Lebanon During the 2006 War, 6 September 2007, The Israeli Navy fired 2,500 shells.NEWS, The war in numbers, Jane’s Defence Weekly, 23 August 2006, The combined effect of the massive air and artillery bombardment on Hezbollah capacity to fire short-range Katyusha rockets on northern Israel was very meager. According to the findings of the post-war military investigations the IDF shelling succeeded only in destroying about 100 out of 12,000 Katyusha launchers. The massive fire led to a severe shortage of ammunition towards the end of the war.Rapaport (2010), p.19Northern command had prepared a list before the war on potential Hezbollah targets, identified by the Israeli intelligence, to be struck in case of renewed hostilities. By the fourth day of the war the IDF ran out of targets, as all the 83 targets on the list had already been hit.NEWS,www.haaretz.com/misc/article-print-page/idf-preparing-for-next-lebanon-war-based-on-bank-of-possible-targets.premium-1.469660, IDF preparing for next Lebanon war based on ‘bank’ of possible targets, Haaretz, Amos Harel, 13 October 2012, 8 November 2012, A high-ranking IDF officer told reporters off the record that the Israeli chief of staff Dan Halutz had ordered the air force to destroy ten 12-story buildings in the Southern suburbs of Beirut for every rocket that fell on Haifa. The statement was denied by the IDF spokesperson.NEWS,www.jpost.com/LandedPages/PrintArticle.aspx?id=29291, High-ranking officer: Halutz ordered retaliation policy, The Jerusalem Post, Katz, Yaakov, 24 July 2006, 3 July 2013, Large parts of the Lebanese civilian infrastructure, however, were destroyed, including {{convert|640|km|abbr=off}} of roads, 73 bridges, and 31 other targets such as Beirut’s Rafic Hariri International Airport, ports, water and sewage treatment plants, electrical facilities, 25 fuel stations, 900 commercial structures, up to 350 schools and two hospitals, and 15,000 homes. Some 130,000 more homes were damaged.HTTPS://WWW.WASHINGTONPOST.COM/WP-DYN/CONTENT/ARTICLE/2006/08/17/AR2006081700909_PF.HTML>TITLE=MIDEAST WAR, BY THE NUMBERSHezbollah rocket attacks
(File:2006crisis lebanon israel.png|thumb|Map showing some of the localities in Israel and the Golan Heights hit by rockets fired from Lebanese soil as of Monday 7 August)File:KiryatShmona Rocket Damage.JPG|thumb|upright|Structural damage of a residential building in Kiryat ShmonaKiryat ShmonaOn 16 July, eight employees of the Israel Railways were killed by direct rocket hits on the Haifa train depot. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah defended the attacks, saying that Hezbollah initially had aimed its rockets on “military sites only”. But since Israel, he said, had systematically bombed civilian targets he felt that Hezbollah had no choice but to answer in kind and target Israeli cities.HRW (August 2007), pp. 99–100The attack on the Haifa depot was not the first civilian target to be hit by Hezbollah. Civilians in the border communities were hurt in the initial cover fire on IDF positions for the cross-border raid. Two Israeli civilians were killed in an attack near the air force base at Mount Meron on 14 July. Since Hezbollah rockets were not very accurate it is unclear whether civilians were intentionally targeted in these attacks. After the attack on Haifa, however, Hezbollah made no attempt to cover this fact. According to a Human Rights Watch study civilian Israeli targets were mentioned four times as often in official Hezbollah war time communiques as was military targets.HRW (August 2007), p. 11Hezbollah TV station al-Manar warned both in Arabic and Hebrew specific Israeli communities for future rocket attacks.Ehrlich, p. 238 Similarly Hezbollah sent text messages to warn Israeli residents to evacuate their homes to avoid being targeted by rocket attacks.Cordesman (2007), p. 143Israel published an alleged range card for upgraded Grad rocket launcher placed outside the village of Shihin in the Western sector of South Lebanon, issued by the Artillery Department of the elite Nasr Unit of Hezbollah. This list included 91 targets, 56 of whom were civilian and 27 were IDF posts or bases. The military targets had three-digit reference numbers while civilian targets had double-digit numbers.Ehrlich p. 166During the war, the Hezbollah rocket force fired between 3,970 and 4,228 rockets at a rate of more than 100 per day, unprecedented since the Iran–Iraq War. About 95% of these were {{cvt|122|mm}} Katyusha artillery rockets, which carried warheads up to {{cvt|30|kg}} and had a range of up to {{cvt|30|km}}.NEWS,news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5187974.stm, Hezbollah’s rocket force, BBC News, 18 July 2006, 13 July 2008, An estimated 23% of these rockets hit cities and built-up areas across northern Israel, while the remainder hit open areas.NEWS,www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/17/AR2006081700909_pf.html, Mideast War, by the numbers, The Washington Post, Associated Press, 18 August 2006, 21 September 2010, Cities hit were Haifa, Hadera, Nazareth, Tiberias, Nahariya, Safed, Shaghur, Afula, Kiryat Shmona, Beit She’an, Karmiel, Acre, and Ma’alot-Tarshiha, as well as dozens of towns, kibbutzim, moshavim, and Druze and Israeli-Arab villages. The northern West Bank was also hit.NEWS,www.nytimes.com/packages/khtml/2006/07/19/world/middleeast/20060719_MIDEAST_GRAPHIC.html, Major Attacks in Lebanon, Israel and the Gaza Strip, 13 July 2008, 14 August 2006, The New York Times, WEB,www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3275609,00.html
, Woman, grandson killed in Meron rocket attack
, 13 July 2008
, Greenberg
, Hannan
, Neta Sela
, Aviram Zino
, Ahiya Raved
, 14 July 2006
, Ynetnews
,www.ynetnews.com/articles/0%2C7340%2CL-3275609%2C00.html" title="web.archive.org/web/20080725161517www.ynetnews.com/articles/0%2C7340%2CL-3275609%2C00.html">web.archive.org/web/20080725161517www.ynetnews.com/articles/0%2C7340%2CL-3275609%2C00.html
, 25 July 2008
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, NEWS, Long-range rocket lands near Jenin, 2 August 2006, Ynetnews,www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3285259,00.html, 25 November 2011, NEWS, Glossary of Key Terms/Events in Israel’s History, 2009, Anti-Defamation League,www.adl.org/Israel/advocacy/glossary/Lebanon_War_2006.asp,adl.org/israel/advocacy/glossary/Lebanon_War_2006.asp," title="web.archive.org/web/20090217225144adl.org/israel/advocacy/glossary/Lebanon_War_2006.asp,">web.archive.org/web/20090217225144adl.org/israel/advocacy/glossary/Lebanon_War_2006.asp, 17 February 2009, dead, 7 May 2009, Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz ordered commanders to prepare civil defense plans. One million Israelis had to stay near or in bomb shelters or security rooms, with some 250,000 civilians evacuating the north and relocating to other areas of the country.WEB,www.jcpa.org/brief/brief006-10.htm, Hizballah’s Rocket Campaign Against Northern Israel: A Preliminary Report, Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, 31 August 2006, 13 July 2008, After the high number of Lebanese civilian casualties in the Qana airstrike, Israel announced a unilateral freeze in its air attacks on Lebanon. Hezbollah then halted its own rocket attacks on Israel. When Israel resumed its air attacks on Lebanon, Hezbollah followed suit and recommenced rocket attacks on Israeli targets.Harel and Issacharoff, p. 170Hezbollah rocket attacks also targeted and succeeded in hitting military targets in Israel. The Israeli military censorship was, however, very strict and explicitly forbade Israel-based media from reporting such incidents. The wartime instruction to media stated that “The Military Censor will not approve reports on missile hits at IDF bases and/or strategic facilities.“NEWS,www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=30102, Censorship Policy Regarding Fighting in the North, Independent Media Review Analysis, Sima Vaknin-Gil, 16 July 2006, 23 September 2013, A notable exception was the rocket attack 6 August, on a company of IDF reservists assembling in the border community of Kfar Giladi, which killed twelve soldiers and wounded several others. Initially Israel did not confirm that the victims were military but eventually relented.On 6 August, two elderly Arab women in Haifa were killed, and an Arab man was mortally wounded, by Hezbollah rocket fire. The day after Hezbollah leader Nasrallah appealed to Haifa’s Arab community to leave the city so as not be hurt.NEWS,usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/world/2006-08-09-mideast-nasrallah_x.htm, Nasrallah urges Arabs to leave Haifa, USA Today, 9 August 2006, 13 July 2008, After the initial Israeli response, Hezbollah declared an all-out military alert. Hezbollah was estimated to have 13,000 missiles at the beginning of the conflict.NEWS,news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5242566.stm, Hezbollah missile threat assessed, Frank Gardner, BBC News, 3 August 2006, 13 July 2008, Israeli newspaper Haaretz described Hezbollah as a trained, skilled, well-organized, and highly motivated infantry that was equipped with the cream of modern weaponry from the arsenals of Syria, Iran, Russia, and China.NEWS,www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/743763.html, Justified, essential and timely, Avraham, Tal, 14 August 2006, Haaretz, 31 July 2006,www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/743763.html," title="archive.today/20060810092727www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/743763.html,">archive.today/20060810092727www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/743763.html, 10 August 2006, live, Hezbollah’s satellite TV station Al-Manar reported that the attacks had included a Fajr-3 and a Ra’ad 1, both liquid-fuel missiles developed by Iran.NEWS, Sam F. Ghattas, Israel Batters Lebanese Seaports, Roads; Hezbollah Rockets Kill 8 in Haifa, 16 July 2006,www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/16/AR2006071600067.html, NEWS, Hizbullah: One of the rockets is a Ra’ad 1, 16 July 2006, Ynetnews,www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3276411,00.html, 25 November 2011, , Woman, grandson killed in Meron rocket attack
, 13 July 2008
, Greenberg
, Hannan
, Neta Sela
, Aviram Zino
, Ahiya Raved
, 14 July 2006
, Ynetnews
,www.ynetnews.com/articles/0%2C7340%2CL-3275609%2C00.html" title="web.archive.org/web/20080725161517www.ynetnews.com/articles/0%2C7340%2CL-3275609%2C00.html">web.archive.org/web/20080725161517www.ynetnews.com/articles/0%2C7340%2CL-3275609%2C00.html
, 25 July 2008
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Ground war
(File:Flickr - Israel Defense Forces - Hezbollah Secret Bunker (1).jpg|thumb|An Israeli soldier tosses a grenade into a Hezbollah bunker.)File:D9N 02.jpg|thumb|IDF Caterpillar D9N armored bulldozerarmored bulldozer(File:Hezbolladefenseslebanon.png|thumb|War map, “Hezbollah Defensive System in Southern Lebanon”, 2006)Hezbollah engaged in guerrilla warfare with IDF ground forces, fighting from well-fortified positions, often in urban areas, and attacking with small, well-armed units. Hezbollah fighters were highly trained, and were equipped with flak jackets, night-vision goggles, communications equipment, and sometimes with Israeli uniforms and equipment. An Israeli soldier who participated in the war said that Hezbollah fighters were “nothing like Hamas or the Palestinians. They are trained and highly qualified. All of us were kind of surprised.“During engagements with the IDF, Hezbollah concentrated on inflicting losses on the IDF, believing an unwillingness to absorb steady losses to be Israel’s strategic weakness.WEB,www.jamestown.org/single/?no_cache=1&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%DD=860, The Jamestown Foundation: single, Jamestown.org, 29 May 2011,www.jamestown.org/single/?no_cache=1," title="web.archive.org/web/20110418050331www.jamestown.org/single/?no_cache=1,">web.archive.org/web/20110418050331www.jamestown.org/single/?no_cache=1, 18 April 2011, dead, Hezbollah countered IDF armor through the use of sophisticated Iranian-made anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs). According to Merkava tank program administration, 52 Merkava main battle tanks were damaged (45 of them by different kinds of ATGM), missiles penetrated 22 tanks, but only 5 tanks were destroyed, one of them by an improvised explosive device (IED). The Merkava tanks that were penetrated were predominantly Mark II and Mark III models, but five Mark IVs were also penetrated. All but two of these tanks were rebuilt and returned to service.The IDF declared itself satisfied with the Merkava Mark IV’s performance during the war. Hezbollah caused additional casualties using ATGMs to collapse buildings onto Israeli troops sheltering inside. As a result, IDF units did not linger in any one area for an extended period of time. Hezbollah fighters often used tunnels to emerge quickly, fire an anti-tank missile, and then disappear again.NEWS,www.nytimes.com/2006/08/07/world/middleeast/07hezbollah.html, The New York Times, Steven, Erlanger, Richard A. Jr., Oppel, A Disciplined Hezbollah Surprises Israel With Its Training, Tactics and Weapons, 7 August 2006, 25 November 2011, On 19 July a force from the Maglan special forces unit seized a fortified Hezbollah dugout adjacent to the Shaked post; two IDF soldiers and five Hezbollah operatives were killed in the battle.Gal Perl Finkel, The IDF vs subterranean warfare, The Jerusalem Post, 16 August 2016.Position of Lebanon
{{See also|Siniora Plan|Foreign relations of Lebanon}}(File:Fouad Sinora.jpg|thumb|upright|Lebanon’s Prime Minister Fouad Siniora)While the Israeli government initially held the Lebanese government responsible for the Hezbollah attacks due to Lebanon’s failure to implement United Nations Security Council Resolution 1559 and disarm Hezbollah, Lebanon disavowed the raids, stating that the government of Lebanon did not condone them, and pointing out that Israel had a long history of disregarding UN resolutions.In interviews, Lebanese President Emile Lahoud criticized Israel’s attacks and was supportive of Hezbollah, noting Hezbollah’s role in ending Israel’s previous occupation of southern Lebanon.NEWS, Lebanese president gives full backing to Hezbollah,www.cbc.ca/news/world/lebanese-president-gives-full-backing-to-hezbollah-1.618101, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, 31 July 2006, 13 July 2008, NEWS, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 11 August 2006, UN diplomacy may not end conflict: Lebanese President, Brown, Matt,www.abc.net.au/am/content/2006/s1712385.htm, 25 November 2011, On 12 July 2006, PBS interviewed the Lebanese ambassador Farid Abboud to the United States and his Israeli counterpart. The interview discussed Hezbollah’s connection to the Lebanese government.WEB,www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/middle_east/july-dec06/israel_07-12.html," title="web.archive.org/web/20140115164420www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/middle_east/july-dec06/israel_07-12.html,">web.archive.org/web/20140115164420www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/middle_east/july-dec06/israel_07-12.html, 15 January 2014, dead,www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/middle_east/july-dec06/israel_07-12.html, Ambassador Farid Abboud Interview, PBS NewsHour, Israel never declared war on Lebanon,WEB,www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/About%20the%20Ministry/Behind%20the%20Headlines/Behind%20the%20Headlines-%20UN%20Security%20Council%20Resolution%201701%2012-Aug-2006.htm, Behind the Headlines: UN Security Council Resolution 1701, Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 12 August 2006, 13 July 2008,www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/About%2Bthe%2BMinistry/Behind%2Bthe%2BHeadlines/Behind%2Bthe%2BHeadlines-%2BUN%2BSecurity%2BCouncil%2BResolution%2B1701%2B12-Aug-2006.htm," title="web.archive.org/web/20080704211422www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/About%2Bthe%2BMinistry/Behind%2Bthe%2BHeadlines/Behind%2Bthe%2BHeadlines-%2BUN%2BSecurity%2BCouncil%2BResolution%2B1701%2B12-Aug-2006.htm,">web.archive.org/web/20080704211422www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/About%2Bthe%2BMinistry/Behind%2Bthe%2BHeadlines/Behind%2Bthe%2BHeadlines-%2BUN%2BSecurity%2BCouncil%2BResolution%2B1701%2B12-Aug-2006.htm, 4 July 2008, live, NEWS,abc.net.au/tv/btn/qanda/Ceasefire
{{further|Ceasefire attempts during the 2006 Lebanon War}}File:Idf back from lebanon.jpg|thumb|Israeli soldiers of the Nahal BrigadeNahal BrigadeTerms for a ceasefire had been drawn and revised several times over the course of the conflict, yet successful agreement between the two sides took several weeks. Hezbollah maintained the desire for an unconditional ceasefire,NEWS, Hezbollah wants an unconditional ceasefire, 17 July 2006, CTV.ca,www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/CTVNewsAt11/20060716/mideast_template_060717/," title="web.archive.org/web/20110604123339www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/CTVNewsAt11/20060716/mideast_template_060717/,">web.archive.org/web/20110604123339www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/CTVNewsAt11/20060716/mideast_template_060717/, 4 June 2011, dead,www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/CTVNewsAt11/20060716/mideast_template_060717/, while Israel insisted upon a conditional ceasefire, including the return of the two seized soldiers.NEWS, Israel sends instructions to Lebanon through Italy, 16 July 2006, The Jerusalem Post,www.jpost.com/International/Israel-sends-instructions-to-Lebanon-through-Italy, 25 November 2011, Associated Press, Lebanon frequently pleaded for the United Nations Security Council to call for an immediate, unconditional ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. John Bolton confirmed that the US and UK, with support from several Arab leaders, delayed the ceasefire process. Outsider efforts to interfere with a ceasefire only ended when it became apparent Hezbollah would not be easily defeated.NEWS, Bolton admits Lebanon truce block, 22 March 2007, BBC News,news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6479377.stm, 25 November 2011, On 11 August 2006 the United Nations Security Council unanimously approved UN Security Council Resolution 1701, in an effort to end the hostilities. It was accepted by the Lebanese government and Hezbollah on 12 August, and by the Israeli government on 13 August. The ceasefire took effect at 8:00 am (5:00 am GMT) on 14 August.NEWS, Lebanon truce holds despite clashes, 14 August 2006, CNN,www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/08/14/mideast.main/index.html,www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/08/14/mideast.main/index.html," title="web.archive.org/web/20080613073546www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/08/14/mideast.main/index.html,">web.archive.org/web/20080613073546www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/08/14/mideast.main/index.html, 13 June 2008, Before the ceasefire, the two Hezbollah members of cabinet said that their militia would not disarm south of the Litani River, according to another senior member of the Lebanese cabinet,NEWS,www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/08/12/mideast.main/index.html, UN: Cease-fire begins Monday, 13 August 2006, 12 August 2006, CNN,www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/08/12/mideast.main/index.html," title="web.archive.org/web/20060819041624www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/08/12/mideast.main/index.html,">web.archive.org/web/20060819041624www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/08/12/mideast.main/index.html, 19 August 2006, while a top Hezbollah official similarly denied any intention of disarming in the south. Israel said it would stop withdrawing from Southern Lebanon if Lebanese troops were not deployed there within a matter of days.NEWS,www.hurriyetdailynews.com/israel-to-halt-pullout-unless-lebanon-army-deploys.aspx?pageID=438&n=israel-to-halt-pullout-unless-lebanon-army-deploys-2006-08-17," title="web.archive.org/web/20151208023054www.hurriyetdailynews.com/israel-to-halt-pullout-unless-lebanon-army-deploys.aspx?pageID=438&n=israel-to-halt-pullout-unless-lebanon-army-deploys-2006-08-17,">web.archive.org/web/20151208023054www.hurriyetdailynews.com/israel-to-halt-pullout-unless-lebanon-army-deploys.aspx?pageID=438&n=israel-to-halt-pullout-unless-lebanon-army-deploys-2006-08-17, 8 December 2015, live,www.hurriyetdailynews.com/israel-to-halt-pullout-unless-lebanon-army-deploys.aspx?pageID=438&n=israel-to-halt-pullout-unless-lebanon-army-deploys-2006-08-17, Israel to halt pullout unless Lebanon army deploys, Hurriyet Daily News, Reuters, 17 August 2006, 7 December 2015,Techniques
Cluster and phosphorus munitions
{{See also|Convention on Cluster Munitions}}Both sides used cluster bombs during the conflict. Israel fired 4.6 million submunitions into dozens of towns and villages in southern Lebanon in 962 separate strikes, around 90% within the final 72 hours of the war, when the conflict already had been largely resolved by UN Security Council Resolution 1701.Human Rights Watch, February 2008 Flooding South Lebanon − Israel’s Use of Cluster Munitions in Lebanon in July and August 2006, Volume 20, No. 2(E). On weblink {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161116225812www.hrw.org/reports/2008/lebanon0208/index.htm|date=16 November 2016}}. Summary Entire towns were covered in cluster bombs. The unguided and imprecise rockets were fired from mobile rocket launching platforms. To compensate for the inaccuracy of the rockets, the areas were flooded with munitions.Meron Rappaport, “IDF commander: We fired more than a million cluster bombs in Lebanon”. Haaretz, 12 September 2006 Israel claimed to have warned civilians prior to a strike, and that firing was limited to open areas or military targets inside urban areas.WEB,www.hrw.org/en/node/62428/section/10, Flooding South Lebanon, Human Rights Watch, 16 February 2008, 16 January 2011, Israel used advanced cluster munitions produced by Israel Military Industries, and large numbers of older cluster bombs, some produced in the 1970s, purchased from aging American stockpiles. These were fired by multiple rocket launchers, 155 mm artillery guns, and dropped by aircraft. As many as 1 million submunitions failed to explode on impact, lingering as land mines that killed or maimed almost 200 people since the war ended.WEB,www.hrw.org/en/news/2008/02/17/israel-s-use-cluster-bombs-shows-need-global-ban, Israel’s Use of Cluster Bombs Shows Need for Global Ban, Human Rights Watch, 17 February 2008, 16 January 2011, {{as of|2011}}, munitions were still causing casualties and being cleared by volunteers.NEWS,www.theguardian.com/world/2011/aug/12/lebanon-women-clear-cluster-bombs, London, The Guardian, Rachel, Stevenson, ‘I feel like I’ve saved a life’: the women clearing Lebanon of cluster bombs, 12 August 2011, 25 November 2011, Hezbollah fired 4,407 submunitions into civilian-populated areas of northern Israel in 113 separate strikes, using Chinese made Type-81 122 mm rockets, and Type-90 submunitions. These attacks killed one civilian and wounded twelve.WEB,www.hrw.org/en/news/2006/10/18/lebanonisrael-hezbollah-hit-israel-cluster-munitions-during-conflict, Lebanon/Israel: Hezbollah Hit Israel with Cluster Munitions During Conflict, Human Rights Watch, 18 October 2006, 16 January 2011, Human Rights Watch “found that the IDF’s use of cluster munitions was both indiscriminate and disproportionate, in violation of international humanitarian law, and in some locations possibly a war crime” because “the vast majority [were dropped] over the final three days when Israel knew a settlement was imminent.” After the ceasefire, parts of southern Lebanon remained uninhabitable due to Israeli unexploded cluster bomblets.NEWS,news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5382192.stm, ‘Million bomblets’ in S Lebanon, BBC News, 26 September 2006, 13 July 2008, Also phosphorus shells were used by the IDF to attack civilian areas in Lebanon.NEWS,news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5213026.stm, bbc.co.uk: Israel urged to shun cluster bomb, BBC News, 20 September 2014, The shells were originally designed to generate a smoke screen in a battlefield situation, but white phosphorus is also especially harmful to humans because its burning will continue inside the flesh. The shelling was investigated as a violation of international law.WEB,www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde02/033/2006/en/, amnesty.org: Israel/Lebanon: Out of all proportion – civilians bear the brunt of the war, 21 November 2006, Amnesty International,Psychological warfare
{{See also|Psychological warfare|Information warfare|Disinformation}}During the war, the IAF dropped 17,000 leaflets over Lebanon in 47 missions, and sent more than 700,000 computerized voice messages. Many of them contained caricatures of Hassan Nasrallah and Hezbollah leading Lebanon to ruin and making civilians suffer, showing them as puppets of Iran and Syria, and calling on civilians to help remove Hezbollah. Another leaflet addressing Hezbollah fighters told them that they were lied to by their leaders, that they were “sent like sheep to be butchered, lacking military training and without proper combat gear”, that they could not hope to face “highly trained soldiers that fight to protect their homeland, their people, and their home”, referring to them as “mercenaries” without the support of the Lebanese public, and urging them to run and save their lives. On 26 July, Israel dropped leaflets containing illustrations of nine tombstones with the name of a dead Hezbollah fighter on each one, in response to Nasrallah “deceiving” people on the number of Hezbollah casualties. Another leaflet urged Hezbollah fighters to stop bleeding and fighting for Nasrallah, who sat safe in a bunker, to stop fighting against Lebanese national interests, and to return to their homes and families. On 11 August, Israel dropped leaflets accusing Hezbollah of hiding its “great losses”, and containing the names of 90 to 100 Hezbollah fighters killed. Israeli technicians also hacked into Al-Manar and broadcast clips, criticizing Nasrallah, showing the bodies of Hezbollah fighters, footage from Israeli raids and airstrikes, and captured Hezbollah equipment.WEB,www.psywar.org/israellebanon.php, Psychological Operations during the Israel–Lebanon War 2006, Psywar.org, 16 January 2011, 7 January 2011,www.psywar.org/israellebanon.php," title="web.archive.org/web/20110107123720www.psywar.org/israellebanon.php,">web.archive.org/web/20110107123720www.psywar.org/israellebanon.php, dead,Casualties and damage
Total Lebanese casualties
File:South Lebanon refugee.jpg|thumb|Lebanese IDPs in south Lebanon, 2006]]The Lebanese civilian death toll is difficult to pinpoint as most published figures, including those released by the Lebanese government, do not distinguish between civilians and Hezbollah combatants.NEWS,apnews.com/article/82ccc1313d4332f45e2dc09f6bd44989, Lebanon Sees More Than 1,000 War Deaths, Associated Press, Ghattas, Sam F., 28 December 2006, 20 December 2021,web.archive.org/web/20220328125249/https://apnews.com/article/82ccc1313d4332f45e2dc09f6bd44989, March 28, 2022, In addition, Hezbollah fighters can be difficult to identify as many do not wear military uniforms.However, it has been widely reported that the majority of the Lebanese killed were civilians, and UNICEF estimated that 30% of Lebanese killed were children under the age of 13.UNICEF (9 August 2006). “The humanitarian challenge in Lebanon” {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070314062340www.unicef.org/emerg/index_35274.html |date=14 March 2007 }}. Retrieved 10 March 2007.The Lebanese top police office and the Lebanon Ministry of Health, citing hospitals, death certificates, local authorities, and eyewitnesses, put the death toll at 1,123—37 soldiers and police officers, 894 identified victims, and 192 unidentified ones.The Lebanon Higher Relief Council (HRC) put the Lebanese death toll at 1,191, citing the health ministry and police, as well as other state agencies.The Associated Press estimated the figure at 1,035. In February 2007, the Los Angeles Times reported that at least 800 Lebanese had died during fighting,WEB,articles.latimes.com/2007/feb/02/world/fg-probe2," title="web.archive.org/web/20090414224144articles.latimes.com/2007/feb/02/world/fg-probe2,">web.archive.org/web/20090414224144articles.latimes.com/2007/feb/02/world/fg-probe2, 14 April 2009, dead,latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-probe2feb02,1,1213332.story?coll=la-headlines-world, Israeli premier testifies on Hezbollah war, Los Angeles Times, Ken Ellingwood, 2 February 2007, At least 800 Lebanese and more than 150 Israelis were killed., and other articles have estimated the figure to be at least 850.NEWS,www.iht.com/articles/2007/01/29/news/israel.php," title="web.archive.org/web/20090323082422www.iht.com/articles/2007/01/29/news/israel.php,">web.archive.org/web/20090323082422www.iht.com/articles/2007/01/29/news/israel.php, 23 March 2009, dead,www.iht.com/articles/2007/01/29/news/israel.php, Israel may have misused cluster bombs in Lebanon, U.S. says, ((Reuters, Associated Press)), International Herald Tribune, 29 January 2007, NEWS,www.nytimes.com/2006/10/01/world/africa/01iht-troops.2989784.html," title="web.archive.org/web/20101021105014www.nytimes.com/2006/10/01/world/africa/01iht-troops.2989784.html,">web.archive.org/web/20101021105014www.nytimes.com/2006/10/01/world/africa/01iht-troops.2989784.html, 21 October 2010, dead,www.iht.com/articles/2006/10/01/news/troops.php, Israel completes pullout of troops from Lebanon, Associated Press, International Herald Tribune, 1 October 2006, Encarta states that “estimates ... varied from about 850 to 1,200” in its entry on Israel,ENCYCLOPEDIA,encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761575008_12/Israel.html," title="web.archive.org/web/20091028121116encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761575008_12/Israel.html,">web.archive.org/web/20091028121116encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761575008_12/Israel.html, 28 October 2009, dead,encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761575008_12/Israel.html, Israel (country), Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia, 2007, while giving a figure of “more than 1,200” in its entry on Lebanon.ENCYCLOPEDIA,encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761564963_10/Lebanon_%28country%29.html," title="web.archive.org/web/20091029080209encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761564963_10/Lebanon_%28country%29.html,">web.archive.org/web/20091029080209encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761564963_10/Lebanon_%28country%29.html, 29 October 2009, dead,encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761564963_10/Lebanon_(country).html, Lebanon (country), Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia, 2007, The Lebanon Higher Relief Council estimated the number of Lebanese injured to be 4,409, 15% of whom were permanently disabled.Lebanon Higher Relief Council (21 November 2006). Rebuilding Lebanon Together... 100 days after {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070616025628www.rebuildlebanon.gov.lb/images_Gallery/Rebuilding%20Lebanon%20Together-4.pdf |date=16 June 2007 }}. Retrieved 31 March 2007.The death toll estimates do not include Lebanese killed since the end of fighting by land mines or unexploded Israeli cluster bombs.Between the end of the war and November 2008, approximately 40 people were killed and over 270 injured by cluster bombs.NEWS, Lyon, Alistair,www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE4AQ4CC20081127, Israel’s Lebanon war showcased cluster bomb horrors, Reuters, 27 November 2008, 16 January 2011,Hezbollah and other militias
During the war Hezbollah kept a firm lid on its casualties. Although it did sometimes announce casualty numbers in specific clashes, the party did not publish a comprehensive estimate for the duration of the war. A tally made by Associated Press counted to 70 dead Hezbollah fighters officially acknowledged by the party during the war. Intelligence analysts Alastair Crooke and Mark Perry reported a few months after the war a total of 184 “Shiite martyr funerals” having been held in Lebanon since the war. They considered this number an indication of Hezbollah fatalities but warned that it could be revised upward in the future.Crooke and Perry (2006), Part 2Four months after the end of the war the deputy chairman of the Hezbollah Political Council Mahmoud Qomati for the first time presented Hezbollah’s official estimate of its losses. He claimed that 250 fighters had been killed in the war.NEWS,www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Hizbullah-250-guerrillas-killed-in-war, Hizbullah: 250 guerrillas killed in war, The Jerusalem Post, AP, 15 December 2006, 25 September 2013, The NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) specifically studied 94 IDF air, artillery, and ground attacks during the war that claimed the lives of 561 persons. Only 51 of these victims were Hezbollah combatants and about half of them were women or children.HRW (September 2007), p. 5-6HRW said it documented the identities of another 548 fatalities, bringing the total of identified Lebanese deaths in the war to 1109. It argued (as an extrapolation from those 94 attacks) that an estimated 250 of these were Hezbollah combatants and the remaining 860 were civilians.HRW (September 2007), p. 79On 6 August Haaretz reported that the IDF estimated the number of Hezbollah fighters killed to 400, but added that “armies fighting guerrilla forces tend to exaggerate the fatalities of the enemy”.NEWS,www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/lebanon-and-the-territories-no-resemblance-1.194494, Lebanon and the territories / No resemblance, Haaretz, Avi Issacharoff, Amos Harel, 6 August 2006, 10 November 2011, Matt M. Matthews military historian at United States Army Combined Arms Center, described these figures as “highly exaggerated”.Matthews, p.51Lebanese officials cited in The Daily Telegraph estimated Hezbollah’s losses at 500 killed. A UN official also estimated Hezbollah’s losses at 500, though with not all of them being front-line fighters.The Telegraph (August 4, 2006). www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/08/04/wmid404.xml" title="web.archive.org/web/20070530003725www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/08/04/wmid404.xml">Teheran fund pays war compensation to Hizbollah familieswww.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/08/22/wmid122.xml" title="web.archive.org/web/20071016144459www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/08/22/wmid122.xml">Peacekeeping force won’t disarm Hizbollah, The TelegraphBy the end of the war, Israel claimed that more than 800 Hezbollah members had been killed in the war. In December 2006, Israeli government spokesperson Miri Eisin backed down from that claim, saying, “We think that it’s closer to 600.“The Israeli Military Intelligence (AMAN) in November 2006 estimated that some 650 Hezbollah operatives were killed, while over 800 were wounded.Ehrlich (2006), p.56Three years after the outbreak of war the Israel Foreign Affairs Ministry published a summary of the war which concluded that “over 600” Hezbollah fighters were killed in the war.NEWS,mfa.gov.il/MFA/ForeignPolicy/Issues/Pages/The-Second-Lebanon-War-Three-years-later-12-Jul-2009.aspx, Behind the Headlines: The Second Lebanon War-Three years later, Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 12 July 2009, 16 October 2013, IDF Maj.-Gen. (res.) Yaakov Amidror claimed that IDF had identified the names and addresses of 440 members of Hezbollah who were killed in the war. Based on this number he estimated that the total amounted killed in the war to between 500 and 700.NEWS,www.jpost.com/LandedPages/PrintArticle.aspx?id=48315, Lebanon II – the fallout, The Jerusalem Post, Yaakov Amidror, 12 August 2013, 25 September 2013, Yaakov Amidror, According to the Yedioth Ahronoth Encyclopedia of the Second Lebanon War, the main reason for the discrepancy between Lebanese and Israeli estimates of the number of Hezbollah fatalities during the war (300 versus 700, respectively) was that the former included only Hezbollah military while the latter also included civilian members of Hezbollah.NEWS,www.ynet.co.il/yaan/0,7340,L-799018-Nzk5MDE4XzE3NTE2NzU0Nl8xNDg2ODcyMDAeq-FreeYaan,00.html, מלחמת ×œ×‘× ×•×Ÿ ×”×©× ×™×™×” (The second Lebanon war), Yedioth Achronoth/Encyclopedia, 11 January 2022, dead,web.archive.org/web/20141218184133/https://www.ynet.co.il/yaan/0,7340,L-799018-Nzk5MDE4XzE3NTE2NzU0Nl8xNDg2ODM2MDAeq-FreeYaan,00.html, 18 December 2014, Quote: במלחמה × ×”×¨×’×• על פי הערכות ×©×•× ×•×ª בין 300 ל-700 לוחמי חיזב×ללה ×•× ×¤×¦×¢×• ×›-1,000 ההבדל בין מקורות ישר××œ×™× ×œ×œ×‘× ×•× ×™×™× ×‘×™×—×¡ למספר ×”× ×¤×’×¢×™× × ×•×‘×¢ בעיקר מן ×”×”×‘×—× ×” ×”×œ×‘× ×•× ×™×ª בין פעילי חיזב×ללה “×זרחייה לבין ×¤×¢×™×œ×™× “צב××™×™×”; ×›×שר רק ×”××—×¨×•× ×™× × ×›×œ×œ×™× ×‘×ž× ×™×™×Ÿ ×”×”×¨×•×’×™× ×ž×§×¨×‘ הלוחמי×. (According to different estimates, between 300 and 700 Hezbollah fighters were killed and about 1,000 wounded. The difference between Israeli and Lebanese sources concerning the number of casualties is mainly due to the Lebanese distinction between “civilian” Hezbollah operatives and “military” operatives, with only the latter being included in the death toll of the fighters.)The Amal movement, a Shiite militia that fought alongside Hezbollah, suffered 17 dead. Armed elements of the Lebanese Communist Party suffered twelve dead. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command, a Palestinian militia, lost two fighters in an Israeli air raid.NEWS, Timeline of the July War 2006,www.dailystar.com.lb/July_War06.asp,www.dailystar.com.lb/July_War06.asp," title="web.archive.org/web/20060928081123www.dailystar.com.lb/July_War06.asp,">web.archive.org/web/20060928081123www.dailystar.com.lb/July_War06.asp, 28 September 2006, The Daily Star (Lebanon), The Daily Star, 28 September 2006, AFP,Hezbollah commanders
Cordesman (2007) wrote that some IDF officers claimed that “significant parts of the key [Hezbollah] leaders and cadres were killed or captured but Israel has given no details of such successes since the war”.Cordesman (2007), p.16On 19 July, a suspected bunker in southern Beirut was attacked with 23 tons of bombs.NEWS,www.nytimes.com/2006/07/20/world/africa/20iht-web.0720mideastfront.2247686.html, Death toll rises in Mideast fight; bunker bombed, Jad Mouawad and Steven Erlanger, The New York Times, 20 July 2006, 20 December 2021, Israeli intelligence leaked that 12 senior Hezbollah members had attended a meeting in the bunker and that among those killed was military chief Imad Mughniya.NEWS,www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=30354, ISRAEL SUGGESTS HIZBULLAH INTEL CHIEF KILLED, Middle East Newsline, 28 July 2006, 20 December 2021, Chairman Hassan Nasrallah himself was said to have been wounded in the attack.NEWS,www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3276362,00.html, Nasrallah wounded in IAF attack?, Ynetnews.com, Roee Nahmias, 17 July 2006, 20 December 2021, The IDF also claimed to have killed Abu Jaafar, the regional commander of central sector, in a clash in or air strike on Maroun ar-Ras.NEWS,edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/07/25/mideast/index.html, Hezbollah, Israel exchange missiles, rockets, CNN, Sanjay, Gupta, John, Vause, Karl, Penhaul, John, King, Nic, Robertson, Christiane, Amanpour, John, Roberts, Fionnuala, Sweeney, Anthony, Mills, Schams, Elwazer, Paul, Courson, Dana, Bash, 26 July 2006, 20 December 2021, WEB,www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1153291993055, Army seals off Hizbullah stronghold of Bint Jbail, jpost.com, YAAKOV KATZ, 25 July 2006, 25 May 2021, dead,www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1153291993055," title="web.archive.org/web/20060908005221www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1153291993055,">web.archive.org/web/20060908005221www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1153291993055, 8 September 2006, NEWS,www.jpost.com/israel/at-least-28-wounded-in-bint-jbail, At least 28 wounded in Bint Jbail, jpost.com, YAAKOV KATZ, 26 July 2006, 20 December 2021,
Sheikh Nabil Qaouk, commander in South Lebanon was reportedly killed in a missile strike on a building in Tyre, where 13 civilians were wounded.NEWS,www.usatoday.com/news/world/2006-07-25-lebanon-fighting_x.htm, MIDEAST FIGHTING CASUALTIES
, USATODAY, AP, 27 July 2006, 20 December 2021,
All of these supposedly dead Hezbollah leaders later appeared in public seemingly unscathed.On commander Abu Jaafar, see Crooke and Perry, Part 2 By the end of July, IDF claimed that about 40, mostly anonymous, “top-level commanders and officials” had been killed.WEB,www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3283102,00.html, IDF leaves Bin Jbeil area, ynetnews.com, Greenberg, Hanan, 29 July 2006, 25 May 2021, dead,www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3283102,00.html," title="web.archive.org/web/20071024093758www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3283102,00.html,">web.archive.org/web/20071024093758www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3283102,00.html, 24 October 2007, IDF also named a few Hezbollah commanders who could not identified after the war, such as Jihad Attiya, said to be a logistical coordinator and Nour Shalhoub, a supposed arms transporter.NEWS,www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3284343,00.html, IDF: Over 200 Hizbullah casualties, ynetnews.com, Greenberg, Hanan, 31 July 2006, 20 December 2021, In the beginning of August IDF reported that several “senior Hezbollah operatives” were killed in a commando raid on a building in Tyre.NEWS,www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/commando-raid-in-tyre-kills-senior-hezbollah-operatives-1.194492, Commando raid in Tyre kills senior Hezbollah operatives, Haaretz, Amos Harel, 6 August 2006, 23 January 2012, Four years later IDF admitted that the senior Hezbollah figure, who was the target of the raid, was not killed but had escaped.NEWS,www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/elite-shayetet-unit-often-carries-army-s-heaviest-most-secretive-burdens-1.293406, Elite Shayetet unit often carries army’s heaviest, most secretive burdens, Amos Harel, 1 June 2010, 23 January 2012, During the war, Hezbollah never commented on these issues or simply offered flat denials. But shortly after the war (27 August), Hezbollah General-Secretary Hassan Nasrallah gave an interview to New TV, In this interview he conceded that between ten and twelve Hezbollah commanders had been killed in the war. None of the first or second levels of the leadership were harmed. But three commanders of the third level were killed; an operations officer in the Bint Jbeil axis, a logistics officer and a third commander involved in the military side of the party. In addition three or four town commanders and four or five village commanders were killed in the war.Noe, Nicholas, Voice of Hezbollah, the statements of Sayed Hassan Nasrallah, Verso, London and New York, 2007, p. 398–99Nasrallah did not mention any names but the killed commanders were later identified by Hezbollah newspaper Al-Intiqad (and later republished by Hezbollah magazine al-Ahed). The three slain mid-level leaders were dubbed the “Three Knights” of the Islamic Resistance: - Khalid Bazzi (“al-Hajj Qasim“) from Bint Jbeil was chief of operations in the Bint Jbeil area, including Maroun al-Ras, Aynata, Aytaroun and Bint Jbeil. He led the operation where two Israeli soldiers were captured. He was killed 29 July 2006 in an air strike on a house in the old city of Bint Jbeil, together with two other Hezbollah members.NEWS,archive.alahednews.com.lb/details.php?id=320270, عروج الÙرسان الثلاثة : الشهيد القائد خالد بزي “قاسم” (The Ascendance of the Three Knights: Martyr Commander Khalid Bazzi “Qasim“), al-Intiqad, 17 August 2007, 10 August 2020, Bazzi’s death or significant role was never commented on by Israel.
- Muhammad Qanso (“Sajid ad-Duwayr“) from the village of ad-Duwayr was a commander in the Hezbollah Special Force, who replaced Bazzi as commander of Bint Jbeil sector. He was killed 11 August in an air raid outside the village of Beit Yahoun, about five kilometres to the north of Bint Jbeil.NEWS,archive.alahednews.com.lb/details.php?id=320269, عروج الÙرسان الثلاثة : القائد الشهيد الØاج Ù…Øمد قانصوه “ساجد الدوير” (The Ascendance of the Three Knights: Martyr Commander Al-Hajj Muhammad Qanso “Sajid ad-Duwayr”, al-Intiqad, 17 August 2007, 17 August 2020,
- Muhammad Sorour (“Jihad al-’Amili“) from Ayta ash-Sha’b was a logistics officer. He was killed in an air raid on the village of Barish on 25 July.NEWS,archive.alahednews.com.lb/details.php?id=320268, عروج الÙرسان الثلاثة :الشهيد القائد Ù…Øمد وهبي سرور “جهاد العاملي” : صهوة الÙرس عروج (The Ascendance of the Three Knights: Martyr Commander Muhammad Wahbi Surour “Jihad al-’Amili“), al-Intiqad, 17 August 2007, 17 August 2020, Sorour’s death was never commented on by Israel.
Hezbullah prisoners
On 21 July, Israel Chief-of-Staff Dan Halutz presented one of the objective of the war as the “taking terrorists alive.“Harel and Issacharoff p127He repeatedly ordered Israeli troops during the war to capture Hezbollah bodies “to show to the media”.Harel and Issacharoff, p.270 On 24 July the IDF announced that it had captured two Hezbollah fighters in Battle of Maroun al-Ras, the first it had captured in the war. According to Brig.Gen. Alon Friedman the prisoners were held in Israel.NEWS,www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/24/AR2006072400597_pf.html, Israeli Forces Push Deeper Into Lebanon, The Washington Post, Gannon, Kathy, July 24, 2006, August 13, 2013, NEWS,edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/07/24/mideast/index.html, Israel takes aim at Hezbollah stronghold, CNN, July 26, 2006, August 13, 2013, During a raid on Baakbek on 1 August, the IDF captured five Lebanese citizens, described by the IDF as “known Hezbollah gunmen”.NEWS,www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=30380, Raid ‘sends message’ to Hizbullah, The Jerusalem Post, 2 August 2006, All five were later identified as civilians and released three weeks later.BOOK, The Israeli Secret Services and the Struggle Against Terrorism, 2009, Columbia University Press, 978-0231140423, 132,books.google.com/books?id=jhKCiqvUDkEC&pg=PA132, Israel claimed to have captured five Hezbollah fighters August 3, during a clash in Rajamin in which three Israeli soldiers were killed.NEWS, Thursday’s victims laid to rest, The Jerusalem Post, Katz, Yaakov, 2 August 2006, On 8 August, Israel announced that it had also captured five Hezbollah “terrorists” in the Bint Jbeil area. The fighters were caught while sleeping and were carrying heavy weapons.NEWS,www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/109500#.UD_ERXJ62So, Heavy Fighting in Southern Lebanon; Sleeping Terror Cell Caught, Israel National News, Hillel Fendel, 8 August 2006, August 13, 2013, A few days after the ceasefire IDF launched a second, seemingly unsuccessful, raid on Baalbek that led to the death of Lieutenant Colonel Emmanuel Moreno. According to The Jerusalem Post, two Hezbollah fighters were reportedly taken prisoner in the raid.NEWS,www.jpost.com/Opinion/Columnists/Article.aspx?id=32411, Our World: Emanuel Moreno’s legacy, CAROLINE GLICK, August 22, 2006, August 13, 2013, Most of the alleged Hezbollah fighters apprehended by IDF during the war, later turned out to be ordinary Lebanese civilians. At the end of the war, Israel held only four Hezbollah fighters as prisoners (plus a civilian Hezbollah member and former fighter). None of them were commanders or Iranians. They were released in a prisoner swap with Israel in 2008. Israel had also seized the bodies of twelve dead Hezbollah fighters and brought them to Israel. They were returned to Lebanon in the prisoner exchange.NEWS,www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/israel-to-hezbollah-forget-palestinian-prisoners-in-swap-for-idf-soldiers-1.246116, Israel to Hezbollah: Forget Palestinian prisoners in swap for IDF soldiers, Yossi Melman, 19 May 2008, 20 October 2011, NEWS,www.haaretz.com/news/israel-frees-one-of-5-hezbollah-guerillas-two-bodies-of-militants-1.231075, Israel frees one of 5 Hezbollah guerillas, two bodies of militants, 15 October 2007, Haaretz, 20 July 2011,Lebanese Armed Forces
Though rarely engaged in combat, 43 Lebanese soldiers and policemen were killed.Israeli civilians
Hezbollah rockets and mortars killed 44 Israeli civilians during the conflict, including a severely wounded Haifa resident who died from his wounds more than a year after the war. In addition four elderly died of heart attacks during rocket attacks. At least 19 of the 46 Israeli civilians killed by Hezbollah rockets and mortars were Israeli Arabs (mainly Sunni Muslims).NEWS,www.pmo.gov.il/PMOEng/Communication/IsraelUnderAttack/Lebanon%2BNorth/attacklebanonnorth.htm," title="web.archive.org/web/20070219113958www.pmo.gov.il/PMOEng/Communication/IsraelUnderAttack/Lebanon%2BNorth/attacklebanonnorth.htm,">web.archive.org/web/20070219113958www.pmo.gov.il/PMOEng/Communication/IsraelUnderAttack/Lebanon%2BNorth/attacklebanonnorth.htm, 19 February 2007, dead,www.pmo.gov.il/PMOEng/Communication/IsraelUnderAttack/Lebanon+North/attacklebanonnorth.htm, Listing of all Israeli casualties in 2006 Lebanon war with photos, Israel, Prime Minister’s Office, NEWS,www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-3288289,00.html
bar:1 text:“Jews”
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bar:6
bar:7 text:“Christians”
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bar:11
bar:12
bar:13 text:“Unclassified”
bar:14
PlotData=
bar:2
bar:3
bar:4 text:“Sunni Muslims”
bar:5
bar:6
bar:7 text:“Christians”
bar:8
bar:9
bar:10 text:“Druze”
bar:11
bar:12
bar:13 text:“Unclassified”
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bar:14 color:pink from:0 till:1.73
Israel Defense Forces
A total of 121 IDF soldiers were killed in the war, including the two soldiers who were seized in the cross-border raid that started the war. Their fates were not confirmed until their bodies were exchanged for Lebanese prisoners in 2008.Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “Israel–Hizbullah conflict: Victims of rocket attacks and IDF casualties” {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090624211414www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Terrorism-%20Obstacle%20to%20Peace/Terrorism%20from%20Lebanon-%20Hizbullah/Israel-Hizbullah%20conflict-%20Victims%20of%20rocket%20attacks%20and%20IDF%20casualties%20July-Aug%202006.htm |date=24 June 2009 }}. Retrieved 9 March 2007.Matériel losses in the Israeli Defense Forces accounted for fewer than 20Lessons of the 2006 Israeli-Hezbollah War – A. Cordesman & William D. Sulivan. 157p, “Israeli main battle tanks destroyed: 20 (6 to mines, 14 to anti tanks guided missiles-- all Merkava 2,3, or 4)”; retrieved 20 July 2015. tanks, depending in the source. Five tanks were damaged beyond repair (’lasting vehicle kills’), 22 tanks received armor penetrations, and 52 tanks suffered some form of damage.{{Sfn|Cordesman|Sullivan|2007|p=110|ps=“Only 5–6 of all types represented a lasting vehicle kill“}}WEB,www.globes.co.il/en/article-1000127813," title="web.archive.org/web/20140819221052www.globes.co.il/en/article-1000127813,">web.archive.org/web/20140819221052www.globes.co.il/en/article-1000127813, 19 August 2014, dead,www.globes.co.il/en/article-1000127813, Defense establishment favors Rafael tank protection system, Globes (newspaper), Globes, Barzilai, Amnon, 30 August 2006, The Merkava tank program administration said five of the damaged tanks cannot be returned to service, including two Merkava Mark II and one Mark III, 6 December 2015, Other sources claim 20 main battle tanks were destroyed (6 to mines, 14 to anti-tank guided missiles—all Merkava II, III or IV).Three helicopters were lost to accidents and one to Hezbollah missile fire. One fixed-wing F-16 was lost during take-off.Lessons of the 2006 Israeli-Hezbollah War – A. Cordesman & William D. Sulivan. 122p, “However, the IAF lost only one aircraft in combat and four in accidents. Three AH-64 Apaches were lost. One, a AH-64 Longbow that was lost as a result of a technical problem, and two AH-64 were lost in a midair collision caused by pilot error. An F-16 crashed during takeoff after a tire failure. The only combat loss was a CH-53 transport helicopter that have just unloaded troops and was struck during take off by a Chinese QW-1 light SAM ”; retrieved 20 July 2015. Three Hermes 450 drones were lost during the war, two by technical difficulties and one by an operator error.WEB,www.flightglobal.com/israel-praises-uav-abilities-during-operation-change-of-direction-anti-hezbollah-lebanon-campaign/69279.article, Israel praises UAV abilities during Operation Change of Direction anti-Hezbollah Lebanon campaign, Flight Global, Arie, Egozi, 29 August 2006, On 14 July, a Hezbollah operated a Chinese C-802 anti-ship missile, that struck the Israeli Navy’s flagship INS Hanit killing 4 sailors and damaging the warshipNEWS,www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3458845,00.html, Exclusive: Photos of navy ship hit during war revealed, Hanan, Greenberg, Ynetnews, 11 October 2007, ynetnews.com, Cordesman (2007), p.131 on the waterline, under the aft superstructure.NEWS, Hezbollah missile hits Navy ship off Beirut coast, 14 July 2006, Haaretz,www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/738695.html, dead,haaretz.com/hasen/spages/738695.html," title="web.archive.org/web/20060718032259haaretz.com/hasen/spages/738695.html,">web.archive.org/web/20060718032259haaretz.com/hasen/spages/738695.html, 18 July 2006, NEWS, Missile, Not Drone, Hit Israeli Warship, 15 July 2006, The Guardian,www.theguardian.com/worldlatest/story/0,,-5952824,00.html, London, dead,www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0%2C%2C-5952824%2C00.html," title="web.archive.org/web/20060716154601www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0%2C%2C-5952824%2C00.html,">web.archive.org/web/20060716154601www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0%2C%2C-5952824%2C00.html, 16 July 2006, NEWS,www.nytimes.com/2009/01/01/world/middleeast/01rockets.html, Striking Deep into Israel, Hamas Employs an Upgraded Arsenal, Mark, Mazzetti, The New York Times, 31 December 2008, 17 July 2015, The attack set the flight deck on fire and crippled the propulsion systems inside the hull.NEWS, INS Hanit Suffers Iranian Missile Attack, 17 July 2006, Defense Update,www.defense-update.com/2006/07/ins-hanit-suffers-iranian-missile.html, 17 July 2015,www.defense-update.com/2006/07/ins-hanit-suffers-iranian-missile.html," title="web.archive.org/web/20150722010225www.defense-update.com/2006/07/ins-hanit-suffers-iranian-missile.html,">web.archive.org/web/20150722010225www.defense-update.com/2006/07/ins-hanit-suffers-iranian-missile.html, 22 July 2015, dead, However, INS Hanit stayed afloat, withdrew and made the rest of the journey back to Ashdod port for repairs under its own power.NEWS, Strike on Israeli Navy Ship, 19 July 2006, NAVSEA,www.dcfp.navy.mil/mc/articles/other/INSHanit.htm, dead,www.dcfp.navy.mil/mc/articles/other/INSHanit.htm," title="web.archive.org/web/20070211102659www.dcfp.navy.mil/mc/articles/other/INSHanit.htm,">web.archive.org/web/20070211102659www.dcfp.navy.mil/mc/articles/other/INSHanit.htm, 11 February 2007, The four crew members killed during the attack were: Staff Sergeant Tal Amgar, Corporal Shai Atas, Sergeant Yaniv Hershkovitz, and First Sergeant Dov Steinshuss.NEWS, Middle East Crisis: Hezbollah-Israel conflict wrap, 15 July 2006, Spero News,www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?id=4398, dead,www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?id=4398," title="web.archive.org/web/20071004212418www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?id=4398,">web.archive.org/web/20071004212418www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?id=4398, 4 October 2007,UN personnel
Four United Nations Military Observers were killed and several more wounded.Environmental and archeological damage
{{See also|Jiyeh power station oil spill}}File:Jiyyeh oil spill 2006 NASA ASTER.jpg|thumb|upright|Image from space showing Jiyyeh oil slick in darkest blue, picture centered on Beirut. The largest oil spill in the history of the Mediterranean, it was caused by an Israeli air strike on JiyehJiyeh(File:PikiWiki Israel 4484 Birya Forest.jpg|thumb|right|A burnt forest in northern Israel caused by Hezbollah rockets)On 13 July 2006, and again on 15 July, the Israeli Air Force bombed the Jiyeh power station, {{cvt|30|km}} south of Beirut, resulting in the largest-ever oil spill in the Mediterranean Sea.NEWS,www.seattlepi.com/opinion/284404_focussecond10.html, After the bombs, environmental calamity, Steiner, Richard, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 10 September 2006, {{dead link|date=May 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} The plant’s damaged storage tanks leaked an estimated 12,000 to 15,000 tonnes (more than 4 million gallons) of oil into the eastern Mediterranean.NEWS,english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/09CB9736-6131-403E-A4CA-1033CD1107D5.htm," title="web.archive.org/web/20060823180619english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/09CB9736-6131-403E-A4CA-1033CD1107D5.htm,">web.archive.org/web/20060823180619english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/09CB9736-6131-403E-A4CA-1033CD1107D5.htm, 23 August 2006, dead,english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/09CB9736-6131-403E-A4CA-1033CD1107D5.htm, UN sounds Lebanon oil spill alarm, Al Jazeera, 8 August 2006, A {{Convert|10|km|mi|-wide|adj=mid}} oil slick covered 170 km (105 statute miles) of coastline,NEWS, Crisis talks on Lebanon oil spill, 16 August 2006, BBC News,news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4798965.stm, 25 November 2011, NEWS,news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5255966.stm, ‘Damage is done’ to Lebanon coast, 8 August 2006, BBC News, Mark, Kinver, 25 November 2011, and threatened Turkey and Cyprus. The slick killed fish including the Atlantic bluefin tuna, a species already nearing extinction in the Mediterranean, and threatened the habitat of the endangered green sea turtle.National Geographic (31 July 2006). news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/07/060731-lebanon-oil.html" title="web.archive.org/web/20060903003513news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/07/060731-lebanon-oil.html">“Lebanon Oil Spill Makes Animals Casualties of War”. Retrieved 8 December 2006. It also potentially increased the risk of cancer in humans. An additional 25,000 tons of oil burned at the power station, creating a “toxic cloud” that rained oil downwind. The Lebanese government estimated it would take 10 years to recover from the damage of the strike. The UN estimated the cost for the initial clean-up at $64 million.Hezbollah rocket attacks caused numerous forest fires inside northern Israel, particularly on the Naftali mountain range near Kiryat Shmona.“Rocket Attacks in Kiryat Shmona, Israel; Israel Cabinet Decides Against Expanding Offensive; Ominous New Message From Ayman al- Zawahiri.” CNN American Morning. 27 July 2006.CNN.com As many as {{cvt|16500|acre|km2}} of land, including forests and grazing fields, were destroyed by Hezbollah rockets.NEWS,www.nbcnews.com/id/14153579, Nature falls victim to Hezbollah rocket attacks, 13 July 2008, Associated Press, 2 August 2006, The Jewish National Fund estimated that it would take 50 to 60 years to rehabilitate the forests.PRESS RELEASE, More Press for JNF’s Work in the North, Jewish National Fund, 9 August 2006,www.jnf.net/blogs/securityblanket/2006/08/more_press_for_jnfs_work_in_th/," title="web.archive.org/web/20081120221045www.jnf.net/blogs/securityblanket/2006/08/more_press_for_jnfs_work_in_th/,">web.archive.org/web/20081120221045www.jnf.net/blogs/securityblanket/2006/08/more_press_for_jnfs_work_in_th/, 20 November 2008, dead,www.jnf.net/blogs/securityblanket/2006/08/more_press_for_jnfs_work_in_th/, Israeli bombing also caused significant damage to the World Heritage Sites of Tyre and Byblos. In Tyre a Roman tomb was damaged and a fresco near the centre of the site collapsed. In Byblos, a medieval tower was damaged and Venetian-period remains near the harbour were dramatically stained by the oil slick and were considered to be difficult to clean. Damage was also caused to remains at Bint Jbeil and Chamaa, and to the Temple of Bacchus in Baalbek.WEB,biblicalarchaeology.org/bswbOOnews_warupdate.html, Biblical Archaeology society,www.biblicalarchaeology.org/bswbOOnews_warupdate.html," title="web.archive.org/web/20070602142346www.biblicalarchaeology.org/bswbOOnews_warupdate.html,">web.archive.org/web/20070602142346www.biblicalarchaeology.org/bswbOOnews_warupdate.html, 2 June 2007, NEWS, Roy, Sharp, Bombs shatter Lebanon’s Roman legacy,arts.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0%2C%2C1874509%2C00.html," title="web.archive.org/web/20080821193220arts.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0%2C%2C1874509%2C00.html,">web.archive.org/web/20080821193220arts.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0%2C%2C1874509%2C00.html, 21 August 2008, dead,arts.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,1874509,00.html, The Observer, London, 17 September 2006, NEWS, UNESCO Mission reports on war damage to cultural heritage in Lebanon,portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=34765&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html, UNESCO, 18 September 2006, 24 January 2008,portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID%3D34765%26URL_DO%3DDO_TOPIC%26URL_SECTION%3D201.html," title="web.archive.org/web/20080220015755portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID%3D34765%26URL_DO%3DDO_TOPIC%26URL_SECTION%3D201.html,">web.archive.org/web/20080220015755portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID%3D34765%26URL_DO%3DDO_TOPIC%26URL_SECTION%3D201.html, 20 February 2008, live, NEWS, Mike, Di Paola, Israel–Hezbollah War Endangers Archaeological Sites, Ecosystems,www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601088&sid=aZ.RdJiT_3GY&refer=home, Bloomberg L.P., Bloomberg, 15 August 2006, 24 January 2008, dead,www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601088," title="web.archive.org/web/20080413162716www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601088,">web.archive.org/web/20080413162716www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601088, 13 April 2008,Industrial damage
{{POV section|date=April 2016}}Damage to various industries occurred during the war. This includes the country’s largest dairy farm Liban Lait in the Bekka area, the Maliban Glassworks in Tannayel, Dalal Industries (a factory which produces prefabricated homes),NEWS,www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=3&article_id=74508, Israeli strikes deal major blow to Bekaa’s working class, 5 August 2006, 6 August 2006,www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=3&article_id=74508," title="web.archive.org/web/20060813132725www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=3&article_id=74508,">web.archive.org/web/20060813132725www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=3&article_id=74508, 13 August 2006, live, a dealership for Procter & Gamble,NEWS,www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=3&article_id=74508, Israeli strikes deal major blow to Bekaa’s working class, Daily Star (Lebanon), The Daily Star, 5 August 2006, 5 August 2006,www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=3&article_id=74508," title="web.archive.org/web/20060813132725www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=3&article_id=74508,">web.archive.org/web/20060813132725www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=3&article_id=74508, 13 August 2006, live, two electricity transformers in south Lebanon cutting off power to the city of TyreNEWS,www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3289889,00.html, Israeli warplanes plunge Tyre into darkness, 11 August 2006, 12 August 2006,www.ynetnews.com/articles/0%2C7340%2CL-3289889%2C00.html," title="web.archive.org/web/20060812221235www.ynetnews.com/articles/0%2C7340%2CL-3289889%2C00.html,">web.archive.org/web/20060812221235www.ynetnews.com/articles/0%2C7340%2CL-3289889%2C00.html, 12 August 2006, live, and fuel tanks of an oil-fired power station in Jiyeh.WEB,archive.wn.com/2006/08/21/1400/israelpower/, Israel Power, 5 September 2006, A report from the Lebanese Council for Development and Reconstruction (CDR) said that the IDF bombing campaign had destroyed more than 900 small and medium enterprises with damage to Lebanon’s civilian infrastructure estimated close to US$2.5 billion. The material damage to the private sector was estimated at $200 million with an anticipated increase in that figure due to cancelled contracts.NEWS,www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=3&article_id=74614, Material damage to private sector put at $200 million, 10 August 2006, 12 August 2006,www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=3&article_id=74614," title="web.archive.org/web/20060811221459www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=3&article_id=74614,">web.archive.org/web/20060811221459www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=3&article_id=74614, 11 August 2006, live, Other repair and rebuilding costs resulting from the bombing include power supplies ($208m), telecoms ($99m), water ($74m) and military installations ($16m). The Lebanese national airline, MEA, had also been grounded for the duration of the conflict. Agricultural activity, particularly in south Lebanon, was abandoned due to the fighting and bombing of the irrigation system.NEWS, Reconstruction alone estimated at $7bn in Lebanon, 16 August 2006, The Guardian,www.theguardian.com/international/story/0,,1851049,00.html, London, Brian, Whitaker, 25 April 2010, Tourism, which accounts for 15% of Lebanon’s GDP, has been severely disrupted by the conflict. Damage to communal and business infrastructure, the Israeli-imposed sea-and-air blockade and continued instability is preventing and deterring tourists. Foreign visitors had been expected to bring in $2.5 to $3 billion US during 2006.IDF bombing has damaged irrigation canals, open water channels, and underground water diversion pipes which run Litani River water to more than {{cvt|10000|acre|km2}} of farmland, villages in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley. These attacks have been criticised as an attempt to “lay claim to Lebanon’s prime watersheds”. Attacks on the Litani Dam were also criticised. Israeli officials explained the damage to the water infrastructures was unintentional and collateral to attacks on roads and bridges used by Hezbollah.WEB,latimes.com/news/printedition/la-fg-litani10aug10,1,917757.story?ctrack=1&cset=true, Old Feud Over Lebanese River Takes New Turn, 8 August 2006, Murphy, Kim, 10 August 2006, The Environment, Los Angeles Times, The international journalists’ representative body, Reporters without Borders, reported that, to its knowledge, the IDF had damaged transmitting equipment in the Satka area of Beirut and reduced the premises of Al Manar to ruins.WEB,us.oneworld.net/article/view/136513/1/
, Lebanon: 7 Media Workers Injured in 48 Hours of Fighting
, Glantz
, Aaron
, 15 July 2006
, OneWorld.net
,us.oneworld.net/article/view/136513/1/" title="web.archive.org/web/20060718174102us.oneworld.net/article/view/136513/1/">web.archive.org/web/20060718174102us.oneworld.net/article/view/136513/1/
, 18 July 2006
, dead
, , Lebanon: 7 Media Workers Injured in 48 Hours of Fighting
, Glantz
, Aaron
, 15 July 2006
, OneWorld.net
,us.oneworld.net/article/view/136513/1/" title="web.archive.org/web/20060718174102us.oneworld.net/article/view/136513/1/">web.archive.org/web/20060718174102us.oneworld.net/article/view/136513/1/
, 18 July 2006
, dead
The IDF contend that the Al-Manar TV facilities which they bombed represent the propaganda arm of Hezbollah and were a legitimate target for the IDF military. Reporters Without Borders disputes this saying that the station “cannot be viewed as [a] military” target.NEWS,www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=18386, Reporters Without Borders in Beirut to express solidarity with Lebanese media, Reporters without Borders, 27 July 2006, dead,www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=18386," title="web.archive.org/web/20080610170228www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=18386,">web.archive.org/web/20080610170228www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=18386, 10 June 2008, A statement issued by the Israeli Foreign Ministry read: “The Al-Manar station has for many years served as the main tool for propaganda and incitement by Hezbollah, and has also helped the organization recruit people into its ranks.” The Committee to Protect Journalists responded by saying: “While Al-Manar may serve a propaganda function for Hezbollah, it does not appear based on a monitoring of its broadcasts today to be serving any discernible military function”.
Reactions
International action and reaction
{{further|Humanitarian aid during the 2006 Lebanon War}}File:IsraelRallyLA2006.jpg|thumb|170px|Israel Solidarity Rally in Los AngelesLos Angeles(File:Sydprot.JPG|thumb|upright|A Lebanese protest in Sydney)The governments of the United States,NEWS, President Bush and German Chancellor Merkel Participate in Press Availability, 13 July 2006, 13 July 2008, The White House, Office of the Press Secretary,georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2006/07/20060713-4.html, White House Press Secretary, United Kingdom, Germany,NEWS, Foreign Office (Germany), German Foreign Office, 13 July 2006,www.auswaertiges-amt.de/diplo/en/Infoservice/Presse/Interview/2006/060713SteinmeierNahostIranZDF.html, Interview with Federal Foreign Minister Steinmeier on the Middle East, 25 November 2011, 26 September 2011,www.auswaertiges-amt.de/diplo/en/Infoservice/Presse/Interview/2006/060713SteinmeierNahostIranZDF.html," title="web.archive.org/web/20110926230420www.auswaertiges-amt.de/diplo/en/Infoservice/Presse/Interview/2006/060713SteinmeierNahostIranZDF.html,">web.archive.org/web/20110926230420www.auswaertiges-amt.de/diplo/en/Infoservice/Presse/Interview/2006/060713SteinmeierNahostIranZDF.html, dead, Australia, and Canada asserted Israel’s right to self-defense. The United States government further responded by authorizing Israel’s request for expedited shipment of precision-guided bombs, but did not announce the decision publicly.NEWS, U.S. Speeds Up Bomb Delivery for the Israelis, 22 July 2006, The New York Times, David S. Cloud,www.nytimes.com/2006/07/22/world/middleeast/22military.html, 25 November 2011, United States President George W. Bush said he thought the conflict was part of the “War on Terrorism”.NEWS, Lebanon part of ‘war on terror’, says Bush, ABC News, 30 July 2006,www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200607/s1700569.htm," title="web.archive.org/web/20110430073214www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200607/s1700569.htm,">web.archive.org/web/20110430073214www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200607/s1700569.htm, 30 April 2011, dead,www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200607/s1700569.htm, NEWS,www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/08/14/bush/index.html, Bush: ‘Hezbollah suffered a defeat’, CNN, 14 August 2006, 25 November 2011, On 20 July 2006, the United States Congress voted overwhelmingly to support Israel’s “right to defend itself”.WEB,clerk.house.gov/evs/2006/roll391.xml, Final Vote Results for Roll Call 391, Clerk of the United States House of Representatives, 20 July 2006, 13 July 2008, 410:8:4:10,webarchive.loc.gov/all/20080529035729/http%3A//clerk%2Ehouse%2Egov/evs/2006/roll391%2Exml, 29 May 2008, live, Among neighboring Middle Eastern nations, Iran, Syria, and Yemen voiced strong support for Hezbollah, while the Arab League, Egypt, and Jordan issued statements criticizing Hezbollah’s actionsWEB,www.iht.com/articles/2006/07/17/news/arabs.php," title="web.archive.org/web/20080908031737www.iht.com/articles/2006/07/17/news/arabs.php,">web.archive.org/web/20080908031737www.iht.com/articles/2006/07/17/news/arabs.php, 8 September 2008, dead,www.iht.com/articles/2006/07/17/news/arabs.php, Arab League criticizes Hezbollah for attacks, Fattah, Hassan M., 17 July 2006, International Herald Tribune, and declaring support for Lebanon.WEB,www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=738698&contrassID=1&subContrassID=1Allegations, accusations and reports of war crimes
{{see also|International incidents during the 2006 Lebanon War}}Under international humanitarian law, warring parties are obliged to distinguish between combatants and civilians, ensure that attacks on legitimate military targets are proportional, and guarantee that the military advantage of such attacks outweigh the possible harm done to civilians.Human Rights Watch (19 October 2006). “Lebanon/Israel: Hezbollah Hit Israel with Cluster Munitions During Conflict”. Retrieved 11 March 2007. Violations of these laws are considered war crimes.Various groups and individuals accused both Israel and Hezbollah of violations of these laws during the conflict, and warned of possible war crimes.NEWS, UN warning on Mid-East war crimes,news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5197544.stm, BBC News, 20 July 2006, 25 November 2011, These allegations included intentional attacks on civilian populations or infrastructure, disproportionate or indiscriminate attacks, the use of human shields, and the use of prohibited weapons. No formal charges have been filed against either group.NEWS,fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull&cid=1164881823793," title="web.archive.org/web/20110429195149fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull&cid=1164881823793,">web.archive.org/web/20110429195149fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull&cid=1164881823793, 29 April 2011, dead,fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1164881823793, Study could acquit Israel of war crimes, Associated Press, The Jerusalem Post, 5 December 2006, Amnesty International called on both Hezbollah and Israel to end attacks on civilian areas during the conflict,WEB,news.amnesty.org/index/ENGMDE150642006," title="web.archive.org/web/20071114034757news.amnesty.org/index/ENGMDE150642006,">web.archive.org/web/20071114034757news.amnesty.org/index/ENGMDE150642006, 14 November 2007, dead,news.amnesty.org/index/ENGMDE150642006, Israel / Lebanon: End immediately attacks against civilians, Amnesty International, 13 July 2006, and criticized attacks against civilian villages and infrastructure by Israel.WEB,www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde02/018/2006/en/, Israel–Lebanon Evidence indicates deliberate destruction of civilian infrastructure, 23 August 2006, Amnesty International, They also highlighted IDF use of white phosphorus shells in Lebanon.NEWS,news.amnesty.org/index/ENGIOR410122006," title="web.archive.org/web/20071127013250news.amnesty.org/index/ENGIOR410122006,">web.archive.org/web/20071127013250news.amnesty.org/index/ENGIOR410122006, 27 November 2007, dead,news.amnesty.org/index/ENGIOR410122006, UN: Security Council must adopt urgent measures to protect civilians in Israel–Lebanon conflict, Amnesty International, WEB,www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde15/070/2006/en/, Obligations under international humanitarian law of the parties to the conflict in Israel and Lebanon, 26 July 2006, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch accused both parties of failing to distinguish between civilians and combatants, violating the principle of distinction, and committing war crimes.Human Rights Watch (August 2006). “Fatal Strikes: Israel’s Indiscriminate Attacks Against Civilians in Lebanon”. Retrieved 5 April 2007.Ynet News (3 August 2006). “Human rights group accuses Israel of war crimes”. Retrieved 7 April 2007. Peter Bouckaert, a senior emergencies researcher for Human Rights Watch, stated that Hezbollah was “directly targeting civilians ... their aim is to kill Israeli civilians” and that Israel had not taken “the necessary precautions to distinguish between civilian and military targets.“WEB,www.cfr.org/publication/11252/, Bouckaert: Both Israel and Hezbollah Committing ‘War Crimes’, Bernard Gwertzman, Council on Foreign Relations, 7 August 2006, 25 November 2011,www.cfr.org/publication/11252/," title="web.archive.org/web/20081117033119www.cfr.org/publication/11252/,">web.archive.org/web/20081117033119www.cfr.org/publication/11252/, 17 November 2008, dead, WEB,hrw.org/english/docs/2006/07/18/lebano13760.htm, Lebanon: Hezbollah Rocket Attacks on Haifa Designed to Kill Civilians, 13 July 2008, 18 July 2006, Human Rights Watch,www.hrw.org/english/docs/2006/07/18/lebano13760.htm," title="web.archive.org/web/20080711023201www.hrw.org/english/docs/2006/07/18/lebano13760.htm,">web.archive.org/web/20080711023201www.hrw.org/english/docs/2006/07/18/lebano13760.htm, 11 July 2008, dead, They criticized Hezbollah’s use of unguided Katyusha rockets, and Israel’s use of unreliable cluster bombs – both too close to civilians areas – suggesting that they may have deliberately targeted civilians.WEB,hrw.org/english/docs/2006/08/30/global14155.htm," title="web.archive.org/web/20081006043917hrw.org/english/docs/2006/08/30/global14155.htm,">web.archive.org/web/20081006043917hrw.org/english/docs/2006/08/30/global14155.htm, 6 October 2008, dead,hrw.org/english/docs/2006/08/30/global14155.htm, Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW): First Look at Israel’s Use of Cluster Munitions in Lebanon in July–August 2006, Human Rights Watch, 30 August 2006, UN humanitarian chief Jan Egeland said Israel’s response violated international humanitarian law, and criticized Hezbollah for “cowardly blending... among women and children.“NEWS,www.foxnews.com/story/0%2C2933%2C205352%2C00.html," title="web.archive.org/web/20111204152425www.foxnews.com/story/0%2C2933%2C205352%2C00.html,">web.archive.org/web/20111204152425www.foxnews.com/story/0%2C2933%2C205352%2C00.html, 4 December 2011, dead,www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,205352,00.html, UN Chief Accuses Hezbollah of ‘Cowardly Blending’ Among Refugees, FOXNews, Associated Press, 24 July 2006, He also called Israel’s use of over 100,000 cluster bombs “immoral”. According to Egeland, 90% of such bombs were launched by Israel in the last 3 days of combat, when it was known that a UN resolution was on its way.WEB,www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=19670&Cr=Leban&Cr1, Israel’s ‘immoral’ use of cluster bombs in Lebanon poses major threat – UN aid chief, UN News Centre, 30 August 2006, 30 January 2012, (File:Flickr - Israel Defense Forces - IAF Bombs Katyusha Rocket Launchers.jpg|thumb|IAF targeting a Katyusha rocket launcher)Israel said that it tried to avoid civilians, and had distributed leaflets calling on civilian residents to evacuate,NEWS,edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/07/13/mideast/index.html, Israeli warplanes hit Beirut suburb, Barbara Starr, John Vause, Anthony Mills, CNN, 14 July 2006, 30 April 2007,edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/07/13/mideast/index.html," title="web.archive.org/web/20070429061457edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/07/13/mideast/index.html,">web.archive.org/web/20070429061457edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/07/13/mideast/index.html, 29 April 2007, live, but that Hezbollah stored weapons in and fired from civilian areas, making those areas legitimate targets,NEWS,www.nytimes.com/2006/12/05/world/middleeast/05mideast.html, Greg, Myre, Offering Video, Israel Answers Critics on War, The New York Times, 5 December 2006, 25 November 2011, and used civilians as human shields.NEWS,www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,251-2295625,00.html, 2 June 2006, The Times, UK, Might in the air will not defeat guerillas in this bitter conflict, Charles, Heyman, 29 March 2010, NEWS,www2.canada.com/components/print.aspx?id=ae679beb-d2be-40a4-8e74-8e581c1bf1ca&k=16670," title="web.archive.org/web/20150319085947www2.canada.com/components/print.aspx?id=ae679beb-d2be-40a4-8e74-8e581c1bf1ca&k=16670,">web.archive.org/web/20150319085947www2.canada.com/components/print.aspx?id=ae679beb-d2be-40a4-8e74-8e581c1bf1ca&k=16670, 19 March 2015,www.canada.com/components/print.aspx?id=ae679beb-d2be-40a4-8e74-8e581c1bf1ca&k=16670, Hezbollah’s deadly hold on heartland: Loved by many, accused by others of sacrificing civilians, Verma, Sonia, 5 August 2006, CanWest Global Communications, CanWest Interactive, NEWS,www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/116953, Declassified IDF Photos and Footage Expose Hizbullah Tactics, Ezra HaLevi, Arutz Sheva, 6 December 2006, 13 July 2008,www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/116953," title="web.archive.org/web/20080622170722www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/116953,">web.archive.org/web/20080622170722www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/116953, 22 June 2008, live, NEWS,www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3278026,00.html, IDF: Hizbullah preventing civilians from leaving villages in southern Lebanon, Ynetnews, 18 July 2006, 25 November 2011, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch found cases where Hezbollah did fire rockets from, and store weapons in, populated areas and deploy its forces among the civilian population; however, both say that is not conclusive evidence of the intent to use civilians as human shields.WEB,news.amnesty.org/index/ENGMDE020352006," title="web.archive.org/web/20071113225600news.amnesty.org/index/ENGMDE020352006,">web.archive.org/web/20071113225600news.amnesty.org/index/ENGMDE020352006, 13 November 2007, dead,news.amnesty.org/index/ENGMDE020352006, Israel/Lebanon: Further evidence of grave violations in Israel–Hizbullah conflict underlines urgent need for UN inquiry, Amnesty International, 21 November 2006, WEB,hrw.org/reports/2006/lebanon0806/2.htm, Fatal Strikes: Israel’s Indiscriminate Attacks Against Civilians in Lebanon, August 2006, Human Rights Watch, 25 November 2011, HRW stated that “the IDF struck a large number of private homes of civilian Hezbollah members during the war, as well as various civilian Hezbollah-run institutions such as schools, welfare agencies, banks, shops and political offices.“WEB,www.hrw.org/english/docs/2007/09/06/isrlpa16781.htm, Israel/Lebanon: Israeli Indiscriminate Attacks Killed Most Civilians, 5 September 2007, Human Rights Watch, 20 September 2014, WEB,www.arabmediasociety.org/?article=20, Illegal attack or legitimate target? Israel attacks Al Manar, February 2007, Arab Media & Society, 25 November 2011, Although Israel maintained that the civilian infrastructure was “hijacked” by Hezbollah and used for military purposes,The Boston Globe (24 August 2006). “Amnesty International says Israel committed war crimes”. Retrieved 7 September 2007. but Amnesty International identified the destruction of entire civilian neighbourhoods and villages by Israeli forces, attacks on bridges with no apparent strategic value, and attacks on infrastructure indispensable to the survival of the civilian population, and questioned whether the “military advantage anticipated from destroying” civilian infrastructure had been “measured against the likely effect on civilians.“WEB,www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde18/007/2006/en/, Deliberate destruction or “collateral damage“? Israeli attacks on civilian infrastructure, 23 August 2006, Amnesty International, They also stated that the Israeli actions suggested a “policy of punishing both the Lebanese government and the civilian population.“Al-Jazeera reported at the time: “Foreign journalists based in Lebanon also reported that the Shia militia chose to fight from civilian areas and had on occasion prevented Lebanese civilians from fleeing conflict-hit areas of south Lebanon. Al-Manar, Hezbollah’s satellite channel, also showed footage of Hezbollah firing rockets from civilian areas and produced animated graphics showing how Hezbollah fired rockets at Israeli cities from inside villages in southern Lebanon.“Images obtained by the Sunday Herald Sun show that “Hezbollah is waging war amid suburbia. The images ... show Hezbollah using high-density residential areas as launch pads for rockets and heavy-calibre weapons. Dressed in civilian clothing so they can quickly disappear, the militants carrying automatic assault rifles and ride in on trucks mounted with cannon.“NEWS,www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0%2C%2C19955774-5007220%2C00.html," title="web.archive.org/web/20090705202759www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0%2C%2C19955774-5007220%2C00.html,">web.archive.org/web/20090705202759www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0%2C%2C19955774-5007220%2C00.html, 5 July 2009, dead,www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,,19955774-5007220,00.html, Photos that damn Hezbollah, Chris Link, 30 July 2006, Sunday Herald Sun, Amnesty International stated, however, that the volume of civilian casualties and damage to civilian infrastructure suggested that Israel was not just trying to target Hezbollah fighters. An AI spokesperson, Kate Gilmore, said that “[t]he pattern, scope and scale of the attacks makes Israel’s claim that this was ‘collateral damage’, simply not credible”.NEWS,english.aljazeera.net/English/archive/archive?ArchiveId=35357, AI: Israel committed war crimes, 27 August 2006,english.aljazeera.net/English/archive/archive?ArchiveId=35357," title="web.archive.org/web/20070816190956english.aljazeera.net/English/archive/archive?ArchiveId=35357,">web.archive.org/web/20070816190956english.aljazeera.net/English/archive/archive?ArchiveId=35357, 16 August 2007, “The evidence strongly suggests that the extensive destruction of power and water plants, as well as the transport infrastructure vital for food and other humanitarian relief, was deliberate and an integral part of a military strategy,” Gilmore said.On 24 July 2007, Haaretz reported that the official Israeli inquiry into the war “is to include the examination of claims that the IDF committed war crimes during last summer’s fighting.“NEWS, Azoulay, Yuval, Panel to probe alleged IDF war crimes in Lebanon, Haaretz, 24 July 2007,www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/885676.html,www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/885676.html," title="archive.today/20071001110707www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/885676.html,">archive.today/20071001110707www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/885676.html, 1 October 2007, 13 July 2008, A 6 September 2007 Human Rights Watch report found that most of the civilian deaths in Lebanon resulted from “indiscriminate Israeli airstrikes”, and found that Israeli aircraft targeted vehicles carrying fleeing civilians.NEWS,www.wset.com/news/stories/0907/453157.html," title="web.archive.org/web/20070927212049www.wset.com/news/stories/0907/453157.html,">web.archive.org/web/20070927212049www.wset.com/news/stories/0907/453157.html, 27 September 2007, dead,www.wset.com/news/stories/0907/453157.html, Israel Blamed for Lebanese Civilian Deaths, WSET (ABC News), Associated Press, 6 September 2007, In a statement issued before the report’s release, the human rights organization said there was no basis to the Israeli government’s claim that civilian casualties resulted from Hezbollah guerrillas using civilians as shields. Kenneth Roth, Human Rights Watch executive director, said there were only “rare” cases of Hezbollah operating in civilian villages. “To the contrary, once the war started, most Hizbollah(sic) military officials and even many political officials left the villages,” he said. “Most Hizbollah(sic) military activity was conducted from prepared positions outside Lebanese villages in the hills and valleys around.” Roth also noted that “Hezbollah fighters often didn’t carry their weapons in the open or regularly wear military uniforms, which made them a hard target to identify. But this doesn’t justify the IDF’s failure to distinguish between civilians and combatants, and if in doubt to treat a person as a civilian, as the laws of war require.“WEB,news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article2938967.ece," title="web.archive.org/web/20080112050528news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article2938967.ece,">web.archive.org/web/20080112050528news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article2938967.ece, 12 January 2008, dead,news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article2938967.ece, Hizbollah ‘did not use civilians as cover’, The Independent, Mark Lavie, 7 September 2007, On its final report, issued on 30 January 2008, the Israeli government’s Winograd Commission concluded that the Israel Defense Forces did not commit violations or war crimes, as alleged by the Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and other NGOs. The Commission claimed that the evidence shows that the Israel Defense Forces did not target civilians, in contrast to Hezbollah and to denunciations by NGOs, and explained that terms like “war crimes” are without basis.NGO Monitor (31 January 2008), “Winograd Report: NGOs Use Human Rights in Propaganda War”. Retrieved 7 May 2009. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080821132344www.ngo-monitor.org/article/winograd_report_ngos_use_human_rights_in_propaganda_war |date=21 August 2008 }} 16 May 2009. This report also acknowledged that Israel used cluster bombs illegally, stating that “Israel must consider whether it wants to continue using cluster bombs in the future, because its current manner of employing them does not conform to international law.”Haaretz (31 January 2008), “Winograd: Current use of cluster bombs not in line with int’l law”Media coverage
{{further|2006 Lebanon War photographs controversies|Adnan Hajj photographs controversy}}Pro-Israel bias
The 2007 report {{“’}}War to the Last Moment’: The Israeli Media in the Second Lebanon War” by the Israeli media monitoring NGO Keshev (trans. “Awareness“)NEWS,people.socsci.tau.ac.il/mu/danield/files/2010/07/KESHEV-ENGLISH-REPORT-LEBANON-WAR1.pdf, “War to the Last Moment” – The Israeli Media in the Second Lebanon War., Keshev, July 2007, 20 November 2012, stated that the Israeli media “except for a few exceptional instances ... covered the war in an almost entirely mobilized manner” serving more to support the goals of the Israeli government and IDF than to objectively report the news. “The media created a general atmosphere of complete and absolute support and justification of the war, and systematically suppressed questions that arose as early as the first day of fighting. ... The criticism gradually increased toward the end of the war-as it became clearer that the IDF was not managing to win. But the general spirit of the war coverage, in the broad strategic sense, as utterly uncritical.” Keshev’s report documents a post-war memo from the Deputy CEO of Marketing for the Hebrew newspaper Maariv to Maariv employees which states, in part, that {{cquote|Even when we had problematic material related to the management of the war ... we restrained ourselves. In a certain sense, we betrayed our role as journalists, but we did so because we took national, patriotic considerations into account and decided that in the event of war, and certainly a war which was not progressing as it should and was going awry, we were part of the Country; that it was permissible, and even required of us, to postpone disputes and criticism; and that we did not have to apologize, or to feel abashed, for our support and backing of the Army and the Government.}}According to the report, “significant coverage of the decision-making process was almost entirely absent in Israel’s media” at the beginning of the war and reports on the status of Israelis living in the North who did not receive proper governmental support were marginalized. Further, the report states that the media unreasonably centered on the question of the loyalties of Arab-Israelis in the North instead of focusing on inadequate provision of services by the state. The report acknowledges that the Israeli media reported on Lebanese suffering, But states that it divorced the suffering from the IDF operations causing it. Finally, with regard to diplomacy, Israeli media buried the stories on negotiations to reflect the derision held by decision-makers toward a diplomatic solution.Pro-Hezbollah bias
On 18 July 2006 Hezbollah Press Officer Hussein Nabulsi took CNN’s Nic Robertson on an exclusive tour of southern Beirut. Robertson noted that despite his minder’s anxiety about explosions in the area, it was clear that Hezbollah had sophisticated media relations and were in control of the situation. Hezbollah designated the places that they went to, and the journalists “certainly didn’t have time to go into the houses or lift up the rubble to see what was underneath.” According to his reports, there was no doubt that the bombs were hitting Hezbollah facilities, and while there appeared to be “a lot of civilian damage, a lot of civilian properties,” he reiterated that he could not verify the civilian nature of the destroyed buildings.NEWS, CNN Reliable Sources, Coverage of Mideast Conflict,transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0607/23/rs.01.html, CNN, 23 July 2006, 25 November 2011, Several media commentators and journalists have alleged an intentionally distorted coverage of the events, in favour of Hezbollah, by means of photo manipulation, staging by Hezbollah or by journalists, and false or misleading captioning.NEWS, Media Missiles: Working for the enemy, Tom Gross, National Review, 2 August 2006, For example, CNN’s Charlie Moore described a Hezbollah press tour of a bombed-out area in southern Beirut on 23 July 2006 as a “dog-and-pony show” due to perceived staging, misrepresentation of the nature of the destroyed areas, and strict directives about when and with whom interviews could take place.NEWS, Our very strange day with Hezbollah,www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/anderson.cooper.360/blog/archives/2006_07_23_ac360_archive.html, CNN, 23 July 2006, 25 November 2011, In the same interview CNN’s John Roberts, reporting from an Israeli artillery battery on the Lebanese border, stated that he had to take everything he was told—either by the IDF or Hezbollah—“with a grain of salt,” citing mutual recriminations of civilian targeting which he was unable to verify independently. As another example, Reuters withdrew over 900 photographs by Adnan Hajj, a Lebanese freelance photographer, after he admitted to digitally adding and darkening smoke spirals in photographs of an attack on Beirut.NEWS,www.digitalphotopro.com/dppthisweek/2006/08/08/reuters-withdraws-all-photos-by-lebanese-freelance/," title="web.archive.org/web/20060830094503www.digitalphotopro.com/dppthisweek/2006/08/08/reuters-withdraws-all-photos-by-lebanese-freelance/,">web.archive.org/web/20060830094503www.digitalphotopro.com/dppthisweek/2006/08/08/reuters-withdraws-all-photos-by-lebanese-freelance/, 30 August 2006, dead,www.digitalphotopro.com/dppthisweek/2006/08/08/reuters-withdraws-all-photos-by-lebanese-freelance, Reuters withdraws all photos by Lebanese freelance, Reuters via Digital Photo Pro, 7 August 2006, Photographs submitted to Reuters and Associated Press showed one Lebanese woman mourning on two different pictures taken by two photographers, allegedly taken two weeks apart.NEWS,www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/theeditors/2006/08/trusting_photos.html, Trusting photos, Steve Herrmann, BBC News Online editors’ blog, 8 August 2006, 13 July 2008, It is “common practice to send more than one photographer to an incident”.NEWS,blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2006/08/reuters_adnan_h.html," title="web.archive.org/web/20090122213934blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2006/08/reuters_adnan_h.html,">web.archive.org/web/20090122213934blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2006/08/reuters_adnan_h.html, 22 January 2009, dead,blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2006/08/reuters_adnan_h.html, Reuters: Adnan Hajj is not still taking photos for us, Mark Memmott, USA Today, 9 August 2006, Social and online media were important for providing alternate means of creating and disseminating accounts and political commentary. For example, Lebanese blogger Fink Ployd maintained the blog BloggingBeirut.com, posting images, audio files, and testimony from Lebanon, particularly from Lebanese Arab youth.JOURNAL, Khalil, J.F., Youth-Generated Media: A Case of Blogging and Arab Youth Cultural Politics, Television & New Media, 2012, 14, 4, 338, 10.1177/1527476412463449, 147260039, Swedish politician Lars Adaktusson, who worked as a journalist in Israel for national news outlet Sveriges Television (SVT) at the time of the war, stated in a 2017 presentation that he was ordered by SVT management to report that armed hostilities had been started by Israel irrespective of the facts. Also he was ordered not to report Hizbollah rocket attacks on Israeli civilians.WEB, (sv) Adaktusson: “SVT-chefer ville inte rapportera om raketer mot Israel”,www.inblick.se/nyheter/2017/02/02/adaktusson-jag-fick-inte-rapportera-om-raketer-mot-israel, Nyhetstidningen Inblick, 5 February 2017,Analyses
Following the UN-brokered ceasefire, there were mixed responses on who had gained or lost the most in the war. Iran and Syria proclaimed a victory for HezbollahNEWS, Blair, David,www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1526476/Syria-and-Iran-claim-victory-over-West.html," title="web.archive.org/web/20151208030858www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1526476/Syria-and-Iran-claim-victory-over-West.html,">web.archive.org/web/20151208030858www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1526476/Syria-and-Iran-claim-victory-over-West.html, 8 December 2015, live,www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1526476/Syria-and-Iran-claim-victory-over-West.html, Syria and Iran claim victory over West, The Daily Telegraph, London, 16 August 2006, 8 December 2015, while Olmert declared that the war was a success for Israel.NEWS, Bentov, Ami,www.usatoday.com/news/world/2007-07-12-4087089951_x.htm, Olmert claims Lebanon War was a success, USA Today, 12 July 2007, 16 January 2011,Lebanon
File:Hezbollah territory.JPG|thumb|A sign erected after the 2006 Lebanon war in South Lebanon which displays rockets and Hezbollah leader Hassan NasrallahHassan NasrallahAt the outbreak of hostilities, Prime Minister Fouad Siniora promised to rein in Hezbollah in an effort to stop Israel’s offensive. Saniora said that there could be no sovereign state of Lebanon without the group’s disarming. The former President of Lebanon Amin Gemayel, a longtime critic of Hezbollah said, “Hezbollah took a unilateral action, but its repercussions will affect the entire country.“WEB,www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,203825,00.html, Fighting with Israel deepens Lebanese divisions over Hezbollah, Fox News, 20 September 2014,www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,203825,00.html," title="web.archive.org/web/20130521063504www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,203825,00.html,">web.archive.org/web/20130521063504www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,203825,00.html, 21 May 2013, dead, The war deepened the longtime divide in Lebanon over Hezbollah’s role. Many admired the organization for being the sole group to fight against Israel. Others considered it to be a dangerous militia that executes Iran and Syria policies in Lebanon. The divide over Hezbollah followed mostly sectarian lines, with Shias largely supporting the group and Sunnis, Christians and Druze mostly opposing it.On 27 August 2006, Nasrallah said in an interview with New TV that the abduction of the two soldiers did not cause the war. It only advanced a long planned war for a few months. But he added: “If there was even a 1 percent chance that the July 11 capturing operation would have led to a war like the one that happened, would you have done it? I would say no, absolutely not, for humanitarian, moral, social, security, military, and political reasons. [...] What happened is not an issue of a reaction to a capturing operation... what happened was already planned for. The fact that it happened in July has averted a situation that would have been a lot worse, had the war been launched in October.“Nicholas Noe, Voice of Hezbollah, The Statements of Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Verso, 2007, pp. 394–95On 22 September 2006, some eight hundred thousand Hezbollah supporters gathered in Beirut for a rally at which Nasrallah stated that Hezbollah had achieved a “divine and strategic victory.“NEWS,edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/09/22/lebanon.rally, Hezbollah leader: Militants ‘won’t surrender arms’, CNN, 22 September 2006, 30 April 2007,Israel
Within hours of Israeli’s bombing of Lebanon on 13 July 2006, hundreds of protesters gathered in Tel Aviv to oppose the war.NEWS, Beinin, Joel, The 2006 Lebanon War and the Israeli Peace Forces, New Insight, Fall 2006,www.wilberforce.edu/cdsp/cdsp_art1_1.html,www.wilberforce.edu/cdsp/cdsp_art1_1.html," title="web.archive.org/web/20091015072435www.wilberforce.edu/cdsp/cdsp_art1_1.html,">web.archive.org/web/20091015072435www.wilberforce.edu/cdsp/cdsp_art1_1.html, 15 October 2009, dead, 7 May 2009, On 22 July, about 2,000 people, including many Arab citizens of Israel, demanded an end to the offensive during a protest march in Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square.NEWS, Somfalvi, Attila, Tel Aviv: Thousands rally against war, Ynetnews, 22 July 2006,www.ynet.co.il/english/articles/0,7340,L-3279792,00.html,www.ynet.co.il/english/articles/0,7340,L-3279792,00.html," title="web.archive.org/web/20110501102454www.ynet.co.il/english/articles/0,7340,L-3279792,00.html,">web.archive.org/web/20110501102454www.ynet.co.il/english/articles/0,7340,L-3279792,00.html, 1 May 2011, live, 7 May 2009, On 5 August, some Israelis demonstrated in Tel Aviv, including former Knesset members of the Meretz party, Mossi Raz, Naomi Hazan and Yael Dayan.{{citation needed|date=August 2015}}Initially, in a poll by an Israeli radio station, Israelis were split on the outcome with the majority believing that no one won.NEWS, With guns silent, wartime unity unravels in Israel, International Herald Tribune, 18 August 2006,www.iht.com/articles/2006/08/18/africa/web.0818israel.php," title="web.archive.org/web/20070820160659www.iht.com/articles/2006/08/18/africa/web.0818israel.php,">web.archive.org/web/20070820160659www.iht.com/articles/2006/08/18/africa/web.0818israel.php, 20 August 2007, dead,www.iht.com/articles/2006/08/18/africa/web.0818israel.php, By 25 August 63% of Israelis polled wanted Olmert to resign due to his handling of the war.NEWS,www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2006/08/27/MNG5TKQ8UG1.DTL&type=politics, Israeli war protests echo 1973, Matthew Kalman, San Francisco Chronicle, 27 August 2006, 13 July 2008, In a 2012 opinion piece in The Jerusalem Post, Caroline Glick wrote that ” if you fail to win, you lose” and that as “Hezbollah survived, it won the war.“WEB, Glick, Caroline B.,www.jpost.com/Opinion/Columnists/Article.aspx?id=228892, The path to the next Lebanon War, The Jerusalem Post, 11 July 2011, 23 February 2012, Olmert admitted to the Knesset that there were mistakes in the war in Lebanon,NEWS, Olmert: Mistakes made in Lebanon war, United Press International, 14 August 2006,www.upi.com/Top_News/2006/08/14/Olmert-Mistakes-made-in-Lebanon-war/73131155588758/," title="web.archive.org/web/20151208031409www.upi.com/Top_News/2006/08/14/Olmert-Mistakes-made-in-Lebanon-war/73131155588758/,">web.archive.org/web/20151208031409www.upi.com/Top_News/2006/08/14/Olmert-Mistakes-made-in-Lebanon-war/73131155588758/, 8 December 2015, live,www.upi.com/Top_News/2006/08/14/Olmert-Mistakes-made-in-Lebanon-war/73131155588758, 8 December 2015, though he framed UN Security Council resolution 1701 as an accomplishment for Israel that would bring home the captured soldiers, and said that the operations had altered the regional strategic balance vis-à -vis Hezbollah.WEB,www.pmo.gov.il/PMOEng/Communication/PMSpeaks/speechknes140806.htm,www.pmo.gov.il/PMOEng/Communication/PMSpeaks/speechknes140806.htm," title="web.archive.org/web/20070210035841www.pmo.gov.il/PMOEng/Communication/PMSpeaks/speechknes140806.htm,">web.archive.org/web/20070210035841www.pmo.gov.il/PMOEng/Communication/PMSpeaks/speechknes140806.htm, 10 February 2007, PM Olmert’s Speech at the Knesset Regarding the War in the North, Office of the Prime Minister of Israel, 14 August 2006, 13 July 2008, The Israeli Chief of Staff Dan Halutz admitted to failings in the conflict.NEWS, Israel army chief admits failures, 24 August 2006,news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5282548.stm, BBC News, 25 November 2011, On 15 August, Israeli government and defense officials called for Halutz’s resignation following a stock scandal in which he admitted selling stocks hours before the start of the Israeli offensive.NEWS, Stocks scandal spells doom of embattled Israeli army chief, Agence France-Presse, 16 August 2006,lebanonwire.com/0608MLN/06081643LAF.asp," title="web.archive.org/web/20121226042911lebanonwire.com/0608MLN/06081643LAF.asp,">web.archive.org/web/20121226042911lebanonwire.com/0608MLN/06081643LAF.asp, 26 December 2012, dead,www.lebanonwire.com/0608MLN/06081643LAF.asp, 25 November 2011, Halutz subsequently resigned on 17 January 2007.On 21 August, a group of demobilized Israel reserve soldiers and parents of soldiers killed in the fighting started a movement calling for the resignation of Olmert and the establishment of a state commission of inquiry. They set up a protest tent opposite the Knesset and grew to over 2,000 supporters by 25 August,{{citation needed|date=February 2016}} including the influential Movement for Quality Government.NEWS,www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3295083,00.html, Hundreds support protesting reservists, ynet, 24 August 2006, Sela, Neta, On 28 August, Olmert announced that there would be no independent state or governmental commission of inquiry, but two internal inspection probes, one to investigate the political echelon and one to examine the IDF, and likely a third commission to examine the Home Front, to be announced at a later date. These would have a more limited mandate and less authority than a single inquiry commission headed by a retired judge.WEB,www.haaretz.co.il/hasite/spages/755787.html, Olmert: An inquiry commission will not be formed, we do not have the luxury to submerge in investigating the past, ×”×רץ, 20 September 2014,www.haaretz.co.il/hasite/spages/755787.html," title="web.archive.org/web/20110605040059www.haaretz.co.il/hasite/spages/755787.html,">web.archive.org/web/20110605040059www.haaretz.co.il/hasite/spages/755787.html, 5 June 2011, dead, The political and military committees were to be headed by former director of Mossad Nahum Admoni and former chief of staff Amnon Lipkin-Shahak, respectively. Critics argued that these committees amount to a whitewash, due to their limited authority, limited investigatory scope, their self-appointed basis, and that neither would be headed by a retired judge.{{citation needed|date=February 2016}}Due to these pressures, on 11 October, Admoni was replaced by retired justice Eliyahu Winograd as chair of the political probe, and the probe itself was elevated to the status of governmental commission with near-state commission mandate: the Winograd Commission. On 12 September, former defense minister Moshe Arens spoke of “the defeat of Israel” in calling for a state committee of inquiry. He said that Israel had lost “to a very small group of people, 5,000 Hezbollah fighters, which should have been no match at all for the IDF”, and stated that the conflict could have “some very fateful consequences for the future.“WEB,www.cbn.com/cbnnews/commentary/newsblogs/jerusalemdateline/060908.aspx," title="web.archive.org/web/20070111110105www.cbn.com/cbnnews/commentary/newsblogs/jerusalemdateline/060908.aspx,">web.archive.org/web/20070111110105www.cbn.com/cbnnews/commentary/newsblogs/jerusalemdateline/060908.aspx, 11 January 2007, dead,www.cbn.com/cbnnews/commentary/newsblogs/jerusalemdateline/060908.aspx, Did Israel Lose the War? – Part Two, CBNnews.com, Chris Mitchell, 8 September 2006, 8 December 2015, Disclosing his intent to shortly resign, Ilan Harari, the IDF’s chief education officer, stated at a conference of senior IDF officers that Israel lost the war, becoming the first senior active duty officer to publicly state such an opinion.NEWS, Halutz disputes officer’s remarks that Israel lost war, 22 September 2006,www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/766154.html," title="archive.today/20070802091348www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/766154.html,">archive.today/20070802091348www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/766154.html, 2 August 2007, dead,www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/766154.html, Haaretz, IDF Major General Yiftah Ron Tal, on 4 October 2006 became the second and highest ranking serving officer to express his opinion that the IDF failed “to win the day in the battle against Hezbollah” as well as calling for Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz’s resignation.NEWS,haaretz.com/hasen/spages/770328.html, IDF general urges army chief to quit his post over ‘failure’ of war, Amos Harel, Haaretz, 4 October 2006, 13 July 2008,www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/770328.html," title="archive.today/20080821150529www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/770328.html,">archive.today/20080821150529www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/770328.html, 21 August 2008, dead, Ron-Tal was subsequently fired for making those and other critical comments.WEB,www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/771417.html, Peretz backs Halutz on dismissal of Major General Yiftah Ron-Tal, 6 October 2006, Haaretz, 20 September 2014, In March 2007, the Committee decided to name the war the “Second Lebanon War”, a decision that was subsequently approved by the Israeli cabinet.NEWS, Sofer, Ronny, Cabinet approves war’s name, Ynetnews, 25 March 2007,www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3380792,00.html, 3 June 2007, In 2008, Ehud Barak, the replacement defense minister for Peretz, stated that the conflict failed to disarm Hezbollah, and that the group is increasingly entrenched in South Lebanon, further stating that “Hezbollah is stronger than ever and has more rockets than at the outbreak of the Lebanon war in the summer of 2006“NEWS,afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gZEvvDWHJCrybf38T2Ylf0aplRXw," title="web.archive.org/web/20130528092138afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gZEvvDWHJCrybf38T2Ylf0aplRXw,">web.archive.org/web/20130528092138afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gZEvvDWHJCrybf38T2Ylf0aplRXw, 28 May 2013, dead,afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gZEvvDWHJCrybf38T2Ylf0aplRXw, Israel’s Barak says Hezbollah stronger than ever: report, AFP, 7 January 2008, but he later noted that “[Israeli] deterrence still exists.“NEWS,www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3810160,00.html, Barak warns Lebanese government, Ynetnews, Ynetnews.com, 24 November 2009, Einav, Hagai, The IDF’s Northern Command cited this deterrence as one reason Hezbollah did not fire any rockets into Israel during Operation Cast Lead.WEB, Katz, Yaakov,fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1253198148634&pagename=JPArticle%2FShowFull, Analysis: Teheran is restraining an already wary Hizbullah, The Jerusalem Post, 29 May 2011,fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1253198148634&pagename=JPArticle%2FShowFull," title="web.archive.org/web/20110429195009fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1253198148634&pagename=JPArticle%2FShowFull,">web.archive.org/web/20110429195009fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1253198148634&pagename=JPArticle%2FShowFull, 29 April 2011, dead, Israeli military historian Martin van Creveld stated that Israel’s war against Hezbollah was indeed “marked by a long series of failures” but he criticized the Winograd Commission for its failure to take into account the substantial achievements of the war. He noted that hundreds of Hezbollah fighters were killed in the war, and that the organization had “the fight knocked out of it”, since following the war, Israel experienced a level of calm on its Lebanon border not seen since the mid-1960s. He also noted that Hezbollah was “thrown out of South Lebanon”, and was replaced by “a fairly robust United Nations peacekeeping force” to prevent its return.NEWS,forward.com/articles/12579/israel-s-war-with-hezbollah-was-not-a-failure-/," title="web.archive.org/web/20141129042632forward.com/articles/12579/israel-s-war-with-hezbollah-was-not-a-failure-/,">web.archive.org/web/20141129042632forward.com/articles/12579/israel-s-war-with-hezbollah-was-not-a-failure-/, 29 November 2014, dead,forward.com/articles/12579/israel-s-war-with-hezbollah-was-not-a-failure-/, Israel’s War With Hezbollah Was Not a Failure, Forward, van Creveld, Martin, 30 January 2008, IDF Maj.-Gen. (res.) Yaakov Amidror highlighted the number of Hezbollah militants killed, the quick military response to Hezbollah’s long-range rocket attacks, the post-war replacement of Hezbollah by the Lebanese Army and UNIFIL in southern Lebanon, and Iran’s loss of Hezbollah as a deterrent against an Israeli first strike following the war.Yaakov Amridor, “Misreading the Second Lebanon War”, 16 January 2007, JCPA.org Thomas Friedman concurred, stating that the war was a “huge strategic loss for Hezbollah”, and contrasted the billions in damage suffered by Hezbollah and Lebanon with the “relatively minor damage” suffered by Israel, which enjoyed an economic “growth spurt” immediately following the war.Friedman, Thomas. “The Arab Commission,” The New York Times, 5 September 2007Winograd Commission report
According to the Winograd Commission report, the Second Lebanon War was regarded as a “missed opportunity” and that “Israel initiated a long war, which ended without a defined military victory”. The report continued to state that “a semi-military organization of a few thousand men resisted, for a few weeks, the strongest army in the Middle East, which enjoyed full air superiority and size and technology advantages.” Furthermore, Hezbollah’s rocket attacks continued throughout the war and the IDF did not provide an effective response to it. Following a long period of using standoff firepower and limited ground activities, the IDF launched a large-scale ground offensive close to the UN Security Council’s resolution which imposed a ceasefire. “This offensive did not result in military gains and was not completed.“Later in the Report, the Commission stated that “[a] decision [was] made in the night of 12 July to react (to the capturing) with immediate and substantive military action and to set ... ambitious goals.” This decision had immediate repercussions in that subsequent decisions were limited mainly to a choice between a) “a short, painful and unexpected blow on Hezbollah” and b) “to bring about a significant change of the reality in the South of Lebanon with a large ground operation,[occupying] ... the South of Lebanon and ‘cleaning’ it of Hezbollah.” “The fact Israel went to war before it decided which option to select and without an exit strategy, all these constituted serious failures of the decision making process.” As for achievements, the Commission reported that “SC resolution 1701, and the fact that it was adopted unanimously, were an achievement for Israel.“NEWS,www.nytimes.com/2008/01/30/world/middleeast/31winograd-web.html, English Summary of the Winograd Commission Report, 30 January 2008, The New York Times, 25 November 2011,International
File:Bush delivers Middle East crisis statement w Rice Aug 7 2006.jpg|thumb|(George W. Bush]] declared that Hezbollah lost the war and that “There’s going to be a new power in the south of Lebanon”.NEWS,www.denverpost.com/nationworld/ci_4180464, Bush: Hezbollah lost the war; it was part of broader global struggle, Nedra Pickler, The Denver Post, 15 August 2006, 13 July 2008,www.denverpost.com/nationworld/ci_4180464," title="web.archive.org/web/20080609085816www.denverpost.com/nationworld/ci_4180464,">web.archive.org/web/20080609085816www.denverpost.com/nationworld/ci_4180464, 9 June 2008, live, )In the aftermath of the conflict US President George Bush said that Hezbollah was responsible for starting the war, and that the group suffered a defeat at the hands of Israel.WEB,georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2006/08/20060814-3.html, President Discusses Foreign Policy During Visit to State Department, White House, 14 August 2006, 13 July 2008, He dismissed claims of victory by Hezbollah leaders, asking: “how can you claim victory when at one time you were a state within a state, safe within southern Lebanon, and now you’re going to be replaced by a Lebanese Army and an international force?” In his 2010 memoir, Decision Points, Bush wrote that Israel had weakened Hezbollah and secured its northern border, but that Israel’s “shaky military performance” cost it international credibility. He also said that Israel “mishandled its opportunity”, and that some of the sites it attacked were of “questionable military value”.NEWS,www.jpost.com/International/Article.aspx?id=194538, Abbas was ready to back Olmert deal, Bush memoir says, Hilary Leila Krieger, The Jerusalem Post, 9 November 2010, 9 November 2010,www.jpost.com/International/Article.aspx?id=194538," title="web.archive.org/web/20101110230454www.jpost.com/International/Article.aspx?id=194538,">web.archive.org/web/20101110230454www.jpost.com/International/Article.aspx?id=194538, 10 November 2010, live, In a speech given on 15 August 2006, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad claimed that the Arab resistance against Israel would continue to grow stronger, saying, “Your weapons, warplanes, rockets and even your atomic bomb will not protect you in the future.“WEB,www.sana.sy/eng/21/2006/08/15/57835.htm," title="web.archive.org/web/20120227041728www.sana.sy/eng/21/2006/08/15/57835.htm,">web.archive.org/web/20120227041728www.sana.sy/eng/21/2006/08/15/57835.htm, 27 February 2012, dead,www.sana.sy/eng/21/2006/08/15/57835.htm, Speech of President Bashar al-Assad at Journalists Union 4th Conference, Syrian Arab News Agency, 15 August 2006, The Economist magazine concluded that by surviving this asymmetrical military conflict with Israel, Hezbollah effectively emerged with a military and political victory from this conflict. They cite the facts that Hezbollah was able to sustain defenses on Lebanese soil and inflict unmitigated rocket attacks on Israeli civilians in the face of a punishing air and land campaign by the IDF.NEWS, Hizbullah’s shallow victory, The Economist, 19 August 2006,www.economist.com/opinion/displayStory.cfm?Story_ID=E1_SSJGSJD, 25 November 2011, Matt M. Matthews, a military historian at the Combat Studies Institute of the US Army Command and General Staff College praised Hezbollah paramilitaries and reflected on what he described as “the lackluster performance of the IDF.” He attributed this to several factors including (Lieutenant-General and Chief of the IDF General Staff) Halutz’s steadfast confidence in air power coupled with continuing COIN operations against the Palestinians at the expense of training for major combat operations.BOOK, We Were Caught Unprepared: The 2006 Hezbollah-Israeli War, 2007,www-cgsc.army.mil/carl/download/csipubs/matthewsOP26.pdf, Matthews, Matt, 978-0-16-079899-3, Combat Institute Studies Press, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas,www-cgsc.army.mil/carl/download/csipubs/matthewsOP26.pdf," title="web.archive.org/web/20090326212531www-cgsc.army.mil/carl/download/csipubs/matthewsOP26.pdf,">web.archive.org/web/20090326212531www-cgsc.army.mil/carl/download/csipubs/matthewsOP26.pdf, 26 March 2009, dead, 10 August 2009, . Retrieved 10 August 2009.The US Congressional Research Service found that although Hezbollah’s military capabilities may have been substantially reduced, its long-term potential as a guerrilla movement appeared to remain intact: “Observers note that Hezbollah’s leaders have been able to claim a level of ‘victory’ simply by virtue of not having decisively ‘lost’.“Congressional Research Service, 2006 “Lebanon: The Israel–Hamas–Hezbollah Conflict”Military analyst and former IDF general Giora Eiland concluded that, though outgunned and outnumbered, Hezbollah managed to hold off Israel’s advanced armed forces and proved its ability to damage Israel by launching rockets at its territory until the end of the war. He estimates that Hezbollah’s destructive capabilities have increased in the years after the war and that the group is capable to inflict “far worse damage on the Israeli homefront” than in 2006.NEWS,www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-lebanon-idUSTRE6BF20L20101216, Israel can’t defeat Hezbollah: Israeli expert, 16 December 2010, Reuters, An Israeli official warned that combat with Hezbollah will be very bloody and Lebanon would sustain heavy damage in any future war.NEWS,www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Hezbollah-planning-large-raids-into-Galilee-senior-army-source-says-375303, Hezbollah planning ‘large raids’ into Galilee, senior army source says, 14 September 2014, The Jerusalem Post, In the 2007 BBC documentary, Hunting for Hezbollah, BBC This World reporter Emeka Onono referred to Israel’s inability to eliminate Hezbollah as a “humiliation for Israel’s supposedly all-powerful army,” and he went on to claim that Hezbollah’s survival propelled it to hero status throughout many Muslim nations.“Hunting for Hezbollah.” Norman, Louise. This World. British Broadcasting Corp. 4 July 2007. Television.British military historian John Keegan stated that the outcome of the war was “misreported as an Israeli defeat” due to anti-Israel bias in the international media. He concluded that Hezbollah had suffered heavy losses, and that a ceasefire came into effect before Israel could completely dislodge Hezbollah from its positions. He also stated that the casualties sustained by Israel during the war had alarmed the Israeli Government and High Command because Israel’s small population is acutely vulnerable to losses in battle.Keegan, John, www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/personal-view/3633843/Why-Israel-will-go-to-war-again-soon.html" title="wayback.archive-it.org/all/20171014063553www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/personal-view/3633843/Why-Israel-will-go-to-war-again-soon.html">“Why Israel will go to war again – soon”, TelegraphCharles Krauthammer, a syndicated columnist and political commentator, citing an interview by which Nasrallah admitted that he would not have captured the soldiers had he known that it would lead to war, wrote, “Nasrallah’s admission, vastly underplayed in the West, makes clear what Lebanese already knew. Hezbollah may have won the propaganda war, but on the ground it lost. Badly.” He noted that Hezbollah’s entrenched infrastructure along Israel’s border was shattered and would not be easily rebuilt due to the presence of the Lebanese Army and a robust UNIFIL force, hundreds of Hezbollah’s best fighters were killed in the war, and that many Lebanese were angry with Hezbollah for provoking a war which largely devastated the country.Krauthammer, Charles. “Hezbollah’s ‘Victory’”, The Washington Post 9 January 2006The Washington Post stated that the war had been “widely seen as a disaster for the Israeli military”. It further reported that the US Defense Department had sent as many as a dozen teams to interview Israeli officers who had fought in the war, to learn the lessons of the Israeli army’s failures during the conflict.NEWS, 2006 Israel–Lebanon War Looms Large in Pentagon Debate on Future, 6 April 2009,www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/05/AR2009040502235.html, 6 March 2012, The Washington Post, Greg, Jaffe, NEWS, Pentagon learning from ‘IDF’s disaster’, Ynet News, 4 June 2009,www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3697924,00.html, 6 March 2012, Michael Young, opinion-page editor at the Lebanese Daily Star newspaper, stated that Hezbollah turned “the stench of defeat into the smell of victory”, through clever use of its propaganda machine. He suggested that Hezbollah had “hoodwinked” pundits who believed that Hezbollah was victorious, and opined that “one dreads to imagine what Hezbollah would recognize as a military loss.“Young, “Hoodwinked by Hezbollah”, reason.com; 24 August 2006.American military strategist and historian Edward Luttwak drew comparisons with the 1973 Yom Kippur War, where what initially looked like an Israeli setback later turned out to be an IDF victory and an Arab defeat. He stated that although some IDF tanks were penetrated by missiles, they also largely limited IDF casualties, and that Hezbollah had failed to inflict massive losses on the IDF and to kill large numbers of Israelis in rocket attacks.WEB,www.thefirstpost.co.uk/5573%2Cnews-comment%2Cnews-politics%2Cagain-israeli-gloom-is-misplaced," title="web.archive.org/web/20110922222218www.thefirstpost.co.uk/5573%2Cnews-comment%2Cnews-politics%2Cagain-israeli-gloom-is-misplaced,">web.archive.org/web/20110922222218www.thefirstpost.co.uk/5573%2Cnews-comment%2Cnews-politics%2Cagain-israeli-gloom-is-misplaced, 22 September 2011, dead,www.thefirstpost.co.uk/5573,news-comment,news-politics,again-israeli-gloom-is-misplaced, Again, Israeli gloom is misplaced, The First Post, Luttwak, Edward, Cambridge professor and Peterhouse Fellow Brendan Simms summed up the war this way; “Hezbollah have suffered a setback (but are too clever to admit it) and the Israelis have scored a long-term success (but are too narrow-minded to realize it).“Brendan Simms, “Hezbollah have suffered a setback”, Social Affairs Unit, 24 August 2006.Journalist Michael Totten wrote that “Hezbollah lost and Hezbollah knows it.” He questioned why Hezbollah did not attack Israel when the IDF attacked Hamas in Gaza in 2008, and noted that most of Nasrallah’s supporters “want Hezbollah to deter Israeli invasions, not to invite Israeli invasions”. Totten concluded that Nasrallah’s boasts “play well in much of the Arab world”, but that the 2006 “victory” seemed “empty at home.“Totten, Michael, “Who Really Won the Second Lebanon War” {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120118192156www.commentarymagazine.com/2009/01/30/who-really-won-the-second-lebanon-war/ |date=18 January 2012 }}, Commentary, 30 January 2009.Armin Rosen, Defense and military advisor wrote at Business Insider that the 2006 Lebanon War was “widely remembered as one of the worst debacles in the history of the Israeli military”, but remarked that it established Israeli deterrence against Hezbollah.Armin Rosen, “The Israeli Army Is Suffering Some Of Its Most Severe Losses In Years”, Commentary, 21 July 2014.Financial and political repercussions
{{See also|2008 conflict in Lebanon}}The fighting resulted in a huge financial setback for Lebanon, with an official estimate of a fall in growth from +6% to 2% and US$5 billion (22% of GDP)NEWS,www.undp.org.lb/about/AboutLebanon.cfm, UNDP in Lebanon, United Nations Development Programme, January 2007, 15 May 2008,www.undp.org.lb/about/AboutLebanon.cfm," title="web.archive.org/web/20080515030907www.undp.org.lb/about/AboutLebanon.cfm,">web.archive.org/web/20080515030907www.undp.org.lb/about/AboutLebanon.cfm, 15 May 2008, dead, in direct and indirect costs, while the cost for Israel was estimated at US$3.5 billion.NEWS,www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L08225712.htm," title="web.archive.org/web/20090306195653www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L08225712.htm,">web.archive.org/web/20090306195653www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L08225712.htm, 6 March 2009, dead,www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L08225712.htm, Factbox – Costs of war and recovery in Lebanon and Israel, Reuters, 9 July 2007, Indirect costs to Israel include a cut in growth by 0.9%.NEWS,pqasb.pqarchiver.com/jpost/access/1188773011.html?dids=1188773011:1188773011&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Jan+1%2C+2007&author=SHARON+WROBEL&pub=Jerusalem+Post&edition=&startpage=15&desc=2006+GDP+growth+tops+forecasts, 2006 GDP growth tops forecasts, Sharon Wrobel, The Jerusalem Post, 1 January 2007, 12 May 2008, 30 April 2011,pqasb.pqarchiver.com/jpost/access/1188773011.html?dids=1188773011:1188773011&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Jan+1%2C+2007&author=SHARON+WROBEL&pub=Jerusalem+Post&edition=&startpage=15&desc=2006+GDP+growth+tops+forecasts," title="web.archive.org/web/20110430050929pqasb.pqarchiver.com/jpost/access/1188773011.html?dids=1188773011:1188773011&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Jan+1%2C+2007&author=SHARON+WROBEL&pub=Jerusalem+Post&edition=&startpage=15&desc=2006+GDP+growth+tops+forecasts,">web.archive.org/web/20110430050929pqasb.pqarchiver.com/jpost/access/1188773011.html?dids=1188773011:1188773011&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Jan+1%2C+2007&author=SHARON+WROBEL&pub=Jerusalem+Post&edition=&startpage=15&desc=2006+GDP+growth+tops+forecasts, dead, and the cost to tourism was estimated at 0.4% of Israel’s GDP in the following year.NEWS,www.theguardian.com/world/2006/aug/15/israelandthepalestinians.lebanon, Lebanon war cost Israel $1.6bn, Borger, Julian, The Guardian, London, 15 August 2006, 12 May 2008,www.guardian.co.uk/world/2006/aug/15/israelandthepalestinians.lebanon," title="web.archive.org/web/20080513153656www.guardian.co.uk/world/2006/aug/15/israelandthepalestinians.lebanon,">web.archive.org/web/20080513153656www.guardian.co.uk/world/2006/aug/15/israelandthepalestinians.lebanon, 13 May 2008, live, According to Imad Salamey in The Government and Politics of Lebanon, the main casualty was the fragile unity between Lebanon’s sectarian and political groups.BOOK,books.google.com/books?id=SShmAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA68, The Government and Politics of Lebanon, Routledge, Imad Salamey, 2013, 68, 9781135011338,Aftermath
Post-ceasefire events
File:Flickr - Israel Defense Forces - Infographic, Hezbollah’s Arsenal of Rockets.jpg|thumb|An infographic produced by the Israel Defence Force criticizing Hezbollah’s violations of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701. The resolution calls for Hezbollah to remain disarmed and bans paramilitary activity south of the Litani RiverLitani RiverIn the days following 14 August 2006 ceasefire, Hezbollah launched dozens of rockets and mortars inside southern Lebanon, which Israel did not respond to, though there were several instances where Israeli troops killed armed Hezbollah members approaching their positions.NEWS,www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/08/14/monday/index.html, IDF: Hours after cease-fire, 4 clashes between Hezbollah and Israeli troops; 4 Hezbollah fighters killed, 23 August 2006, 14 August 2006, CNN, NEWS,www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/08/15/tuesday/index.html, IDF: Israeli soldiers kill 3 Hezbollah fighters, 23 August 2006, 15 August 2006, CNN, NEWS,www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,208372,00.html, Hezbollah Rockets Fall Inside Southern Lebanon As Citizens Return to Region, Associated Press, Fox News, 15 August 2006, 13 July 2008, Israeli warplanes continued conducting numerous flyovers and maneuvers above southern Lebanon, which Israel said did not violate the ceasefire.WEB,www.wistv.com/Global/story.asp?S=5300553, Israel flies over Lebanon, but no airstrikes, 13 July 2008, Janelle, Chantelle, 18 August 2006, WIS-TV,www.wistv.com/Global/story.asp?S=5300553," title="web.archive.org/web/20110429011956www.wistv.com/Global/story.asp?S=5300553,">web.archive.org/web/20110429011956www.wistv.com/Global/story.asp?S=5300553, 29 April 2011, dead, NEWS,www.americanintifada.com/2006/08/08-16-05.htm," title="web.archive.org/web/20071128114543www.americanintifada.com/2006/08/08-16-05.htm,">web.archive.org/web/20071128114543www.americanintifada.com/2006/08/08-16-05.htm, 28 November 2007, dead,news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060816/wl_mideast_afp/mideastconflictlebanon_060816145220, Four Hezbollah fighters killed in ceasefire breaches: UN, Yahoo! News, Agence France-Presse, 16 August 2006, On 19 August 2006, Israel launched a raid in Lebanon’s eastern Beqaa Valley it says was aimed at disrupting Hezbollah’s weapons supply from Syria and Iran.NEWS,www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/08/19/mideast.main.05/, Israel: Raid targets weapons transfer, 21 August 2006, 19 August 2006, CNN, Lebanese officials “said the Israelis were apparently seeking a guerrilla target in a school.“NEWS,www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2006/08/20/israeli_raid_endangers_cease_fire_deal/, Israeli Raid Endangers Ceasefire Deal, 13 July 2008, 20 August 2006, The Boston Globe, Thanassis, Cambanis, NEWS,www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5674288, Israeli Commando Dies in Lebanon Raid, 27 August 2006, 19 August 2006, Associated Press, {{dead link|date=April 2019|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}NEWS,news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5268870.stm, Israel’s raid in the Bekaa Valley, 13 July 2008, 20 August 2006, BBC News, NEWS,www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/20/AR2006082000149.html, Plans for Lebanon Force Faulted, 13 July 2008, 21 August 2006, The Washington Post, Doug, Struck, NEWS,www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/08/19/mideast.main/index.html, Kofi Annan declares Israeli raid violation of ceasefire, 21 August 2006, MoralesPrisoner swap
On Wednesday 16 July 2008, in accordance with the mandates of Resolution 1701, Hezbollah transferred the coffins of captured Israeli soldiers,NEWS,fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1215330982807&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull," title="web.archive.org/web/20120203072930fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1215330982807&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull,">web.archive.org/web/20120203072930fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1215330982807&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull, 3 February 2012, dead,fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1215330982807&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull, Goldwasser, Regev to be laid to rest after 2 uncertain years, 16 July 2008, The Jerusalem Post, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, in exchange for incarcerated Palestine Liberation Front militant Samir Kuntar, four Hezbollah militants captured by Israel during the war, and bodies of about 200 other Lebanese and Palestinian militants held by Israel.WEB,www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1002425.html," title="web.archive.org/web/20080814215354www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1002425.html,">web.archive.org/web/20080814215354www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1002425.html, 14 August 2008, dead,www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1002425.html, Regev and Goldwasser to receive military funerals Thursday, 17 July 2008, Haaretz, Until that time, Hezbollah had provided no information on Goldwasser and Regev’s condition and disallowed the Red Cross from visiting them.In film
The 2006 Lebanon War is the subject of two feature length films, both of which were screened at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. They are Philippe Aractingi’s Under the Bombs (2007) and Guy Nattiv and Erez Tadmor’s Strangers (2007).NEWS, Milliken, Mary,in.reuters.com/article/idINIndia-31601020080125, Israel–Lebanon war sparks ‘human’ films at Sundance, In.reuters.com, 26 January 2008, 23 February 2012, Israeli soldier and documentary filmmaker Yariv Mozer also wrote, directed and filmed the autobiographical “My First War” based on his experiences in the conflict.WEB,www.imdb.com/title/tt1221143, My First War (2008), 6 April 2008, IMDb, 20 September 2014, The conflict was also the subject of an episode of (Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations), which was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Informational Programming in 2007.WEB,emmyonline.org/mediacenter/news_28th_nominees.html, 17 July 2007, NOMINEES FOR THE NEWS & DOCUMENTARY EMMY AWARDS IN 32 CATEGORIES, 19 July 2014,www.emmyonline.org/mediacenter/news_28th_nominees.html," title="web.archive.org/web/20070829035836www.emmyonline.org/mediacenter/news_28th_nominees.html,">web.archive.org/web/20070829035836www.emmyonline.org/mediacenter/news_28th_nominees.html, 29 August 2007, dead, A collective of Lebanese filmmakers produced during and in the immediate aftermath of the war some twenty short videos that were released as Videos Under Siege and presented in numerous festivals including the Dubai International Film Festival. The directors involved included Akram Zaatari, Khalil Joreige, Joana Hadjithomas, Danielle Arbid, Tina Baz, Gregory Buchakjian, Ghassan Salhab, Rania Stephan and others.BOOK, Arab Filmmakers of the Middle East: A Dictionary, Armes, Roy, 2010, Indiana University Press, Bloomington and Indianapolis, 978-0-253-35518-8, 100,See also
{hide}Columns-list|- List of invasions in the 21st century
- 2006 in Israel
- List of modern conflicts in the Middle East
- List of proxy wars
- List of rocket attacks from Lebanon on Israel
- List of wars involving Israel
- List of wars involving Lebanon
- (List of wars: 2003–present)
- Operation Accountability
- Operation Grapes of Wrath
- Timeline of the Arab–Israeli conflict
- United Nations Security Council Resolution 1697
Notes
{{notelist}}{{reflist|group=N}}{{reflist|group=note}}References
{{Reflist}}Sources
- BOOK, Cordesman, Anthony H., Sullivan, George, Sullivan, William D., Lessons of the 2006 Israeli–Hezbollah War, 2007, CSIS, Washington, {{harvid, Cordesman, Sullivan, 2007, }}
- Cambanis, Thanassis, A Privilege to Die: Inside Hezbollah’s Legions and Their Endless War Against Israel, Free Press, New York, 2010
- Crooke, Alastair and Mark Perry, “How Hezbollah Defeated Israel”, Asia Times
atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/HJ12Ak01.html" title="web.archive.org/web/20061018004448atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/HJ12Ak01.html">PART 1: Winning the intelligence war, 12 October 2006
atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/HJ13Ak01.html" title="web.archive.org/web/20061018004246atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/HJ13Ak01.html">PART 2: Winning the ground war, 13 October 2006
atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/HJ14Ak01.html" title="web.archive.org/web/20061018004320atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/HJ14Ak01.html">PART 3: The political war, 14 October 2006
- Ehrlich, Dr. Reuven (Col. Ret.), “Hezbollah’s use of Lebanese civilians as human shields”, Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center at the Center for Special Studies (C.S.S), November 2006. [The study was supported by Military Intelligence, the Operations Division of the IDF General Staff, the IDF Spokesperson and the legal experts of the IDF and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.]
- BOOK, Harel, Amos, Issacharoff, Avi, 34 Days: Israel, Hezbollah, and the War in Lebanon, Palgrave Macmillan, New York, 2008, citeHI/,
- Human Rights Watch (HRW), “Why They Died”, Civilian Casualties in Lebanon during the 2006 War, September 2007
- Human Rights Watch (HRW), Civilians under Assault, Hezbollah’s Rocket Attacks on Israel in the 2006 War, August 2007 Volume 19, No. 3
- JOURNAL, Kober, Avi, The Israel Defense Forces in the Second Lebanon War: Why the Poor Performance?, The Journal of Strategic Studies, 31, 1, 3–40, 2008, Kober/, 10.1080/01402390701785211, free,
- Marcus, Raphael D. Israel’s Long War with Hezbollah: Military Innovation and Adaptation under Fire (Georgetown UP, 2018) online review
- BOOK, Matthews, Matt M., We Were Caught Unprepared: The 2006 Hezbollah-Israeli War,apps.dtic.mil/sti/citations/ADA477851,web.archive.org/web/20211230145431/https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/citations/ADA477851, live, 30 December 2021, The Long War Series Occasional Paper 26, U.S. Army Combined Arms Center Combat Studies Institute Press Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, 2006, Matthews/,
- Rapaport, Amir, “The IDF and the Lessons of the Second Lebanon War”, Mideast Security and Policy Studies No. 85, The Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, 2010
- WEB,go.ynet.co.il/pic/news/vinograd/vinograd.pdf, The final Winograd Commission report (Hebrew), 4 December 2011, dead,go.ynet.co.il/pic/news/vinograd/vinograd.pdf," title="web.archive.org/web/20120830094827go.ynet.co.il/pic/news/vinograd/vinograd.pdf,">web.archive.org/web/20120830094827go.ynet.co.il/pic/news/vinograd/vinograd.pdf, 30 August 2012,
- Lubotzky, Asael, From the Wilderness and Lebanon, Koren Publishers Jerusalem, 2016
External links
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