April 18, 1996: The “ethnic cleansing” operations carried out by the Israeli Army have encompassed not only Palestinian civilians, but Lebanese civilians in south Lebanon as well. In an attempt to break the power of the Lebanese Hizballah organization, Israeli forces undertook a military operation against south Lebanon. This operation was likewise based upon the Zionist mentality, supportive as it is of blood-letting and terrorism and based upon the belief that “exercising pressure against Lebanese citizens will lead in practical terms to comprehensive, overall pressure on account of which the Hizballah organization will be obliged to adhere to a ceasefire.” Given this reasoning, the Israeli forces bombed the shelter which was providing refuge to approximately five hundred Lebanese, most of whom were children, elderly and women who had been forced out of their homes by Israeli raids on their villages, and who had been unable to get to Beirut. This bombing led to the deaths of 109 Lebanese civilians and seriously wounded 116 others. During the attack, Israeli forces used between 5 and 6 advanced bombs designed to explode above their target in order to cause the largest possible number of casualties. Moreover, international investigations confirmed that the Israeli forces had deliberately targeted the shelter.
Ali, one of those wounded in the attack, says, “I fled in the morning with two friends and went for refuge to the emergency forces in Qana. I had my wife and my four children with me. They led us into a shelter where there were about fifty people. Then suddenly the sound of bombing rang out. A first shell, then a second fell near the shelter, and as we were trying to get out, another shell hit the shelter directly. I don’t know what happened to my wife and children.”
Fadi Jabir weeps as he talks about what he saw after the Israeli bombs fell on those who had left their homes to come to the base for the UN Fayjiya peace-keeping forces. He says, “I heard people shouting ‘Allahu Akbar!’, and a woman fell down unconscious. I reached out to get an idea what had happened to her, and her brain fell into my hand.”
As for Sa’d Allah Balhas, who was wounded by a piece of shrapnel in the Israeli massacre, he says, “In one second I lost everything: my children, 14 of my grandchildren, and my wife. I don’t want to live anymore. Tell the doctors to let me die.”