A High Price:The Triumphs and Failures of Israeli Counterterrorism by Daniel Byman

Author:Daniel Byman [Byman, Daniel]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2011-06-14T16:00:00+00:00

Israel’s Response: Operation Accountability

As Hizballah became stronger and stronger Israel found itself fighting a grinding war of attrition against an increasingly capable foe.

In June 1993 the struggle that had long been in the background regained the headlines when Hizballah launched rocket attacks on Kiryat Shemona. In July an attack by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine—General Command led to several IDF casualties. The soldiers of the Givati Brigade had been on a routine operation near the edge of the security zone, where gunmen from the PFLP-GC lay in ambush. Although the squad spotted the ambush, they took heavy casualties in defeating it.55

Israel responded by attacking a PFLP-GC base and shelling a Hizballah stronghold. Hizballah continued the fighting, attacking a joint IDF and SLA post that resulted in even more Israeli casualties, a total of five. From that point on, the back and forth continued, with more Israeli and SLA losses and heavy Israeli shelling of Lebanese villages. When Hizballah launched several Katyusha rockets at the Galilee in response, Israel decided to mount a more massive operation. No single act was excessive in the context of the now eight-year-long struggle over the security zone, yet taken together this was an extremely bloody toll for Israel, the worst it had suffered in such a short period in many years.

Israel responded with Operation Accountability (known in Lebanon as the Seven-Day War) from July 25 to July 31, 1993. It began with a heavy initial bombing effort; gunboats and warplanes blasted the outskirts of Lebanese villages, which had mostly been evacuated after Israeli warnings.56 Helicopters attacked Palestinian refugee camps. Hizballah responded by firing more Katyushas at the security zone and Israel proper. One attack killed two civilians in Kiryat Shemona, a rare case of accuracy that, whatever satisfaction it may have produced in Hizballah circles, increased Israel’s determination to respond.57 Israel then launched a series of helicopter, fighter jet, and artillery strikes in the Bekaa Valley and southern Lebanon.

Israel sought not only to destroy Hizballah facilities and headquarters, but also to hit the organization hard enough to prevent it from launching future attacks of this scale. It hoped that Hizballah’s use of civilian shields and the ensuing civilian suffering would turn the population against the organization.58 The Israeli Cabinet declared, “Israel will not allow firing from within villages and will not permit Hezbollah to conceal itself among the civilian population and from there launch Katyushas at communities in the north.”59 The Israeli assault killed around 120 Lebanese and injured almost five hundred more. In addition 300,000 residents of southern Lebanon fled their homes during the operation, while Hizballah’s rocket strikes in response killed two Israeli civilians and injured twenty-four; one soldier died when an antitank missile struck his tank. Israeli officials estimate that Hizballah lost between fifty and seventy-five guerrillas in the fighting, while Lebanese and international sources put the figure far lower, at eight.60

Israel tried to turn the population against Hizballah and force the government of Lebanon to quash the group. Deputy Defense Minister Ori Orr noted, “The Lebanese government can do more.

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