- Operation Sharp and Smooth
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Operation Sharp and Smooth Part of 2006 Lebanon War Date August 1, 2006 – August 2, 2006 Location Baalbek, Lebanon Result Israeli tactical victory Belligerents 
IsraelHezbollah Strength 200 Unknown Casualties and losses None[1][2][3] 5 captured Zar'it-Shtula – Baliste – Sukoon – Jiyeh – Maroun al-Ras – Bint Jbeil – Qana – Ayta ash-Shab – al-Qaa – Tyre – Baalbek – Chyah – Ghaziyeh – Marjayoun – Changing Direction – Wadi Saluki
During the 2006 Lebanon War, Operation Sharp and Smooth (Hebrew: מבצע חד וחלק), also known as the Baalbek operation, was an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) raid on a Hezbollah-run hospital in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley. Conducted by Israeli special operations forces on the night of August 1, the raid resulted in retrieved intelligence information and five locals captured, several of whom were believed by the IDF to be Hezbollah militants[4], while Hezbollah insisted that the prisoners are civilians[5][6]. The five were released on August 21, 2006[7].
The operation
The operation began with at least five rapid air strikes. Approximately 200 elite commandos fast-roped from helicopters which previously refuelled over the Mediterranean Sea. The operation involved two commando units: Shaldag of the Israeli Air Force, and Sayeret Matkal of the IDF Branch of Intelligence (Aman).[4] Upon landing, the units split.
Sayeret Matkal was assigned to take Dar al-Hikma hospital, believed by Military Intelligence to be a base for Iranian Revolutionary Guards. There, the five men targeted were captured. During the raid, a Hezbollah source claimed that several Israeli soldiers were trapped in the hospital, engaged in fierce clashes with the group of fighters who surrounded the facility.
A group of Israeli commandos was brought to the hospital by a helicopter. Hezbollah fighters inside the hospital opened fire, but the commandos managed to get inside the hospital. They captured many Hezbollah weapons. Hussein Rahal, a hezbollah spokesman said that the commandos were trapped in the hospital and engaged in fierce clashes with hezbollah fighters. He also added that Israeli jets outside were attacking the surrounding hezbollah forces with rockets. "They entered the hospital and they are trapped inside."[8]
As all troops later returned unharmed and with captured prisoners, this report appears to be one of various other fabricated public relations claims made by Hezbollah during the war as quoted by Jihad Watch.[9][10]
The Shaldag troops swept through the Sheikh Havit neighborhood, some three kilometers from the hospital, and engaged in gunbattles with Hezbollah militants.
The troops were on the ground in Baalbek from 10:32 p.m. Tuesday until 3 a.m. Wednesday. They seized arms and various military equipment and information.[11] The IDF later released a video that it said proved the target raided was a Hezbollah headquarters, but this was never confirmed.
While the IDF believed that the captured individuals were Hezbollah militants, Hezbollah insisted that they were not members of the militia.[5][6] It was subsequently confirmed that the captives were civilians and were all later released.[12] Additionally, Israel claimed that approximately 19 Hezbollah fighters were killed, while Hezbollah denied this.[13]
Footnotes
- ^ http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/745332.html
- ^ Katz, Yaakov (2006-08-13). "Israeli commando missions come out of shadows". The USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2006-08-13-commando-missions_x.htm. Retrieved 2007-12-07.
- ^ Harel, Amos; Zafrir Rinat, Yoav Stern (2006-08-02). "Sayeret Matkal and Shaldag killed ten Hezbollah men in the Beqaa Valley". Haaretz. http://www.haaretz.co.il/hasite/pages/ShArtPE.jhtml?itemNo=747005. Retrieved 2009-03-11. (Hebrew)
- ^ a b "Raid 'sends message' to Hizbullah". Jerusalem Post. 2006-08-02. http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?apage=2&cid=1153292059666&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull.
- ^ a b "The Baalbek operation is a fiasco". Al Manar. 2006-08-02. http://www.almanar.com.lb/.
- ^ a b "Libano, incursioni e raid (in Italian)". La Repubblica. 2006-08-02. http://www.repubblica.it/2006/08/dirette/sezioni/esteri/mediorient/2agosto/index.html.
- ^ "Forza Onu in Libano subito (in Italian)". La Repubblica. 2006-08-21. http://www.repubblica.it/2006/08/dirette/sezioni/esteri/mediorient/21agosto/index.html.
- ^ "Fierce battles reported in Baalbek'". Aljazeera. 2006-08-02. http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/DB65EDEA-76AC-4AC2-9ADC-8A0B14B9B587.htm.
- ^ http://www.hyscience.com/archives/2006/08/flash_baghdad_b_1.php
- ^ http://jihadwatch.org/archives/012378.php
- ^ . http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,20003119-5006506,00.html.[dead link]
- ^ KIFNER, John (August 23, 2006). "What’s in a Name? Not, It Seems, a Leader of Hezbollah in Lebanon". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/23/world/middleeast/23raid.html?_r=1&oref=slogin. Retrieved 2006-08-23.
- ^ Hezbollah Claim
Sources
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