2006 Baalbek hospital raid
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| Operation Sharp and Smooth | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict | |||||||
| File:IDFcommandoBaalbek.jpg An IDF commando filmed during the operation in Baalbek. | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Israel Defense Forces | Hezbollah | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 200 Overall | Unknown | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 3 helicopter crew injured |
18 terrorists killed 5 disguised terrorists kidnapped | ||||||
The Baalbek operation code-named "Operation Sharp and Smooth" by the IDF started late night on August 1, 2006 during the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict. Israeli special operations forces conducted a large scale airborne attack on the Bekaa Valley.
The operation
The operation began with at least five rapid air strikes. Approximately 200 elite commandos fast-roped from helicopters which refuelled over the Mediterranean Sea. The operation involved 2 units, one affiliated with the Israeli Air Force and the other with the IDF branch of Intelligence (Aman). ,[1] Upon landing the units split, Sayeret Matkal assigned to take Dar al-Hikma hospital - believed by Military Intelligence to be a base for Iranian Revolutionary Guards. The unit from the air force, Shaldag swept through the Sheikh Havit neighborhood, some three kilometers from the hospital, where it found five apparent Hezbollah members, who were taken captive.
The troops traveled the 200 km. to Baalbek by helicopters, which were refueled over the Mediterranean, and had air cover from attack helicopters and jet fighters. The troops were on the ground in Baalbek from 10:32 p.m. Tuesday until 3 a.m. Wednesday.
The IDF kidnapped five Lebanese civillians and killed at least 18 in the commando raid.
Israel's military released video that it said proved a hospital it raided over night deep inside Lebanon was actually a Hezbollah headquarters.
Despite IDF claims that the captured individuals are Hezbollah fighters, Hezbollah insists that they are civilians, with one of them having the same name of Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, which raised the suspicions (according to Al-Jazeera Correspondent) on the scene that the operation was meant to kidnap or kill Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.[citation needed]
Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah in his 3/8/2006 televised speech claimed the operation was a grave intellegence fiasco for the IDF.
Sources
References
- ^ "Raid 'sends message' to Hizbullah". Jerusalem Post. 2006-08-02.
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