Tyre raid

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=2006 Tyre raid
partof=2006 Lebanon War


caption=An IDF Shayetet 13 filmed during the operation in Tyre.
date=August 4 2006
place=Tyre, Lebanon
result=Israeli victory
combatant1=
combatant2=
commander1=
commander2=
strength1=
strength2=
casualties1=8 wounded
(according to IDF)
casualties2= 1 Lebanese soldierThe Tyre raid was a night mission by the Israeli Defense Forces frogmen, Shayetet 13 in Tyre, South Lebanon, on August 5, 2006. It targeted the Hezbollah cell responsible for the rocket attack on Hadera on the previous day. This was due to the city of Tyre and its environs having become a central base of the long-range rocket fire against the territory of Israel.

The raid

Lebanese sources reported that the IDF commando forces arrived in helicopters around 1:00 a.m. as two units, and landed in an orange grove near the city’s northern environs. The troops cut through a fence and opened fire on a second floor apartment of a building. The apartment was hit by direct fire, and eyewitnesses reported its occupants were wounded.

The exchange of fire between Israeli soldiers and Hezbollah gunmen erupted, with Israeli Air Force AH-64 Apache helicopter gunships providing the soldiers on the ground with fire-support.

Some three hours later, at around 4:00 a.m., the soldiers withdrew from the area. Two severely wounded soldiers, as well as the other casualties, were airlifted to the Rambam Hospital in Haifa, Israel.cite web
url = http://www1.idf.il/DOVER/site/mainpage.asp?sl=EN&id=7&docid=55760.EN
title = Courageous Commando Operation in the City of Tzor
accessdate = 2006-08-18
date = 5 August 2006
publisher = Israel Defense Force]

It was reported that the Lebanese Army fired Surface-to-air missiles at the Israeli helicopters, which returned fire, hitting a Lebanese M113 Armored Personnel Carrier and destroying it.

August 8 - August 13

August 8: The Israeli military dropped leaflets, warning of stepped-up operations and urging people not to drive on roads. One leaflet, which a Lebanese Broadcasting Corp. reporter showed on the air, said that "terrorist elements ... are using you as human shields by launching rockets toward the state of Israel from your homes." The translated leaflet continued, "All cars and of any type will be shelled if seen moving south of the Litani River because it will be considered a suspect of transferring rockets, military ammunitions and those causing destruction. "You need to know that anyone moving in any type of car will put their life in danger." The area of Tyre has been a launching point for Hezbollah's Katyusha rockets, about 40 of which had landed by midday in Israel, an Israeli police spokesman said. The Red Cross is allowed to bring ships into the Lebanese ports of Tyre. The destruction of a main road and a makeshift bridge by airstrikes forced Médecins Sans Frontières to bring supplies into the southern Lebanese city of Tyre by forming a human chain across the Litani River, said a spokesman for the aid group.cite news|title=Arab League takes Lebanon concerns to U.N. council: report|date=2006-08-08|publisher=CNN|url=http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/08/08/mideast.main/index.html]

August 11: Hezbollah TV reported that Hezbollah forces destroyed an Israeli gunboat off the coast of Tyre, Lebanon, killing or wounding a crew of 12, the Associated Press reported. The Israeli military denied Hezbollah's claim, the AP said.cite news|title=Israel expands campaign as U.N. passes deal|date=2006-08-12|publisher=CNN|url=http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/08/12/mideast.main/index.html]

August 12: Israeli airstrikes targeted two buildings in Tyre believed to be associated with Hezbollah, Arab-language news media reported. One of the overnight airstrikes hit a power station in the Tyre suburbs, cutting off electricity in the area, Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation reported. News footage showed smoke wafting on the horizon following the airstrikes in the southern port city.cite news|title=Israel expands campaign as U.N. passes deal|date=2006-08-12|publisher=CNN|url=http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/08/12/mideast.main/index.html]

August 13: In the southern port city of Tyre, Israeli airstrikes sent columns of smoke into the air. Arabic-language news networks reported civilians were killed in the strikes. It were some of the heaviest attacks of the 33-day conflict. IDF reported that they shot down two Hezbollah-drones on their way to Israel, one was brought down over western Galilee, the other over Tyre.cite news|title=Israel, Hezbollah step up attacks as cease-fire deadline nears|date=2006-08-13|publisher=CNN|url=http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/08/13/mideast.main/index.html]

Aftermath

August 14: In Tyre, people who had spent days or weeks in cramped, uncomfortable shelters in the mountains, with food and water running low, were anxious to get to their homes and find out what had happened to them. Lebanon's interior ministry issued a statement urging civilians to stay away from their homes until army engineers could inspect them for unexploded cluster bombs or artillery, the Associated Press said.cite news|title=Fighting continues up until cease-fire|date=2006-08-14|publisher=CNN|url=http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/08/14/mideast.main/index.html]

August 17: About 6,000 Lebanese troops moved south across the Litani River, reclaiming territory taken earlier by the Israeli army. Between 1,800 and 2,000 more Lebanese troops were expected to arrive in the southern port city of Tyre by midday.cite news|title=Lebanese troops move south as Israel moves out|date=2006-08-17|publisher=CNN|url=http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/08/17/mideast.main/index.html]

August 23: Tekimiti Gilbert, the operations chief of a United Nations mine removal team, told reporters in Tyre: “Up to now there are at least 170 cluster bomb strikes in south Lebanon. It’s a huge problem. There are obvious dangers with people, children, cars. People are tripping over these things.”cite news|title=Human Rights Group Accuses Israel of War Crimes in Lebanon
date=2006-08-23|publisher=New York Times|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/24/world/middleeast/24lebanon.html?ei=5087%0A&en=72beda153f5bc0c2&ex=1156564800&pagewanted=print]

August 24: Workers handed out blankets, mattresses, tents and other basic living items. UNHCR distributed tents to 30 locations near the port city of Tyre. More supplies, including six truckloads of relief items from Syria and four trailer loads from a French ship arrived on August 25.cite news|title=Syria opposes U.N. force on border
date=2006-08-24|publisher=CNN|url=http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/08/24/mideast.main/index.html]

Sources

* [http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/746583.html (Haaretz)]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5247670.stm (BBC)]