Israel’s cold-blooded Qana Massacre
On April 18, 1996, Israeli army deliberately bombed civilians in the south Lebanese village of Qana, killing over 100 civilians, almost half of them children
27 years ago, Israel bombed the village of Qana in Southern Lebanon. Even for Israel, this was a particularly heinous war crime.
6 days earlier, the IDF had warned Lebanese civilians to evacuate towns near the southern border with Israel. They were going to, and did, launch massive air attacks, which Israel called Operation Grapes of Wrath, to try to pressure the Lebanese government to disarm Hezbollah. Many of those civilians fled to Qana, because there was a UN site there, so they assumed they’d be safe. They were wrong.
On April 18, 1996, Qana came under deliberate fire. Over 100 civilians were killed, almost half of them children. A UN investigation exposed the lie Israel told that this was “just a terrible mistake.” It was intentional.
The massacre at Qana was not, it is important to note, committed by a “radical right wing” government like Israel has today.
It was carried out by a supposedly liberal government, headed by the Labor Party, with Shimon Peres as Prime Minister. A UN soldier relayed what happened: “The guerrillas fired six Katyushas from near our position. The shells came in two minutes later. But the Israelis know we’re here. This has been a UN battalion headquarters for 18 years. They knew we had 600 refugees here.”
27 years later, there has not been a speck of accountability for anyone involved in the #QanaMassacre. In fact, the military commander, Moshe Ya’alon, rose to be IDF Chief of Staff and later, Minister of Defense. The man who called for the barrage of Qana, Naftali Bennett later became Prime Minister.
This was 1996. This was before Benjamin Netanyahu ever became PM, before Itamar Ben Gvir or Bezalel Smotrich were politicians. This is what Israel was even under Labor.
