Battle of the Beaufort (1982)

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of the Beaufort


caption= Beaufort Castle, Lebanon, 1982.
partof=the 1982 Lebanon War
date=June 6 1982
place=Beaufort Castle, Lebanon
result=Pyrrhic Israeli Victory
combatant1=flag|Israel
combatant2=flagicon|Palestine PLO
commander1=flagicon|Israel Giora HarnikKIA
commander2=
strength1=23 men
strength2=~15 men
casualties1=6 killed
casualties2=~3+}See details below.

The Battle of the Beaufort was fought between the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) on June 6, 1982 over Beaufort Castle, Lebanon. It was one of the first clashes of the 1982 Lebanon War, and resulted in the IDF capturing the castle.

Background

Located 717 meters above sea level, Beaufort Castle commands great parts of the Upper Galilee and South Lebanon.Schiff and Yaari (1984), p. 124] Cite paper
publisher = Marine Corps Command and Staff College
last = Solley
first = George C.
title = The Israeli Experience In Lebanon, 1982-1985
accessdate = 2008-05-07
date = 1987-05-10
url = http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/1987/SGC.htm] It could be used to direct artillery, and even Syria had sent artillery spotters there. Israel shelled the fortress repeatedly, but could never actually enter it. For Israel, it had become a symbol of the Palestinian power over the region. For the Palestinians, it served as a memento of Saladin's victory over the Crusaders in 1192 and of their own endurance against Israel,Fisk (2001), p. 54] and the PLO used it as the colophon on leaflets.

Two weeks before the war started, Yasser Arafat visited the castle, sat down with its defenders and assured them that in thirty-six hours of fighting, the PLO could get a ceasefire. The sector commander protested, insisting that there was no way they could withstand an Israeli attack for so long.Schiff and Yaari (1984), pp. 95-96]

Preparations for the attack

The IDF Northern Command had been planning to capture the Beaufort for a long time before the war, designating the mission to Sayeret Golani, the commando unit of the Golani Brigade. The unit studied the castle and trained for tactics to conquer it.

However, the way the invasion progressed rendered the capture of the Beaufort unnecessary. Capture would have been necessary had the IDF decided to cross the Litani River via the Hardele Bridge, just below the fortress. But since the IDF instead decided to use the Akiye Bridge, located much further to the west, the Israelis could have proceeded to Nabatiye unaffected by the Beaufort. Since the PLO troops stationed in and around the castle were not firing at Israeli settlements when the war began, there was no urgent need to neutralize them. The General Staff issued a command to postpone the operation, but the command failed to reach the Sayeret.Schiff and Yaari (1984), pp. 124-125]

The Sayeret former commander, Giora (Guni) Harnik had been discharged from the IDF just a week earlier, but was suddenly called back. Since the unit commander, Moshe Kaplinsky, was reported wounded while on the road, Harnik was sent as replacement. He drove there so fast that his APC flipped over, although he and the other passengers were uninjured. His surprise return was a morale boost for the unit men.Cite web
title = Battle desciption
work = Golani.co.il
url = http://www.golani.co.il/Info/hi_show.aspx?id=49385&t=5&levelId= he icon] His deputy was Mordechai (Moti) Goldman.Schiff and Yaari (1984), pp. 126-127]

The unit consisted of 23 men, and the supporting engineering company of sixty-five.Schiff and Yaari (1984), p. 127] Zeev Schiff and Ehud Yaari report that fifteen Palestinians were stationed at the Beaufort at the start of the war.Schiff and Yaari (1984), p. 125] Some of them may have escaped before the battle started.

The battle

At first, a daylight attack was planned, but as the war went behind schedule, a night attack became the preferred option. The column began to move at 4:00 PM. As darkness fell, Harnik ordered his drivers to turn on their lights as they approached the castle to get there faster, and then ordered them to disembark the APCs and prepare for an assault on foot. They were to take the northern outpost and its trenches while the supporting engineering company would take the southern outpost.

The first dash up the asphalt road met with heavy machine gun fire which killed two men and wounded four more. A few moments later, Goldman and seven other men began a second assault. Goldman and two others reached the main trench, encountering a Palestinian and killing him. The two men tried to jump over the trench and were cut down. Goldman moved farther along the trench, threw a grenade into it and then jumped down to shoot the Palestinian dead. Since his magazine was almost empty by then, he picked up the dead Palestinian's Kalashnikov. He then climbed out of the trench and ran alongside it. He killed another Palestinian before being joined by Harnik and two other soldiers. Ultimately, Harnik and Goldman were facing a lone Palestinian, entrenched in a concrete position. The Palestinian managed to kill Harnik with a bullet to the chest before Goldman blew his position by throwing an explosive charge at it. Another soldier was killed by the time the engineering company went into action.Schiff and Yaari (1984), pp. 128-129]

Because of both weather conditions and continued firing nearby, medical evacuation was delayed until shortly before daybreak. Only then, did the death toll - six men, including the unit commander - become apparent. After it, the soldiers spread out and climbed to take the roof of the fortress, which turned out to be empty. Several Palestinians may have escaped during the night. By 6:30 AM, Israeli control over the castle was secured.

Aftermath

During the day, the Chief of Staff (Ramatkal), Rafael Eitan, visited the troops and was astounded to learn of the death toll. Later that day, Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Minister of Defense Ariel Sharon arrived, accompanied by newsmen and photographers. They did not know about the losses, as Sharon did not inquire before declaring that the battle was won without casualties on the Israeli side.Schiff and Yaari (1984), pp. 129-131] Showing interest in the Palestinian resistance, Begin asked "Did they have machine guns?", a question which later became a symbol of how uninformed the Israeli leadership was of the events on the front throughout the war.Cite news
last = Rabad
first = Ahiyah
title = Lebanon Lexicon
work = Ynet
accessdate = 2008-05-07
date = 2005-05-24
url = http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-3089604,00.htmlhe icon] Cite news
last = Einav
first = Hagai
title = Tamir's last battle
work = nrg
accessdate = 2008-05-07
date = 2002-10-29
url = http://www.nrg.co.il/online/archive/ART/370/968.htmlhe icon]

Harnik was posthumously given the division commander citation.Cite web
title = Harnik, Guni
work = izkor.gov.il
accessdate = 2008-05-10
url = http://www.izkor.gov.il/izkor86.asp?t=98776 he icon] The commander of the Golani Brigade later confessed that in retrospect, he would not have attacked the Beaufort.Schiff and Yaari (1984), p. 129] An investigation was held after the war as to why the order to postpone the operation failed to reach its destination, but produced inconclusive results.Schiff and Yaari (1984), p. 125]

References

Bibliography

*Cite book
publisher = Oxford University Press
isbn = 0192801309
pages = 727
last = Fisk
first = Robert
title = Pity the Nation: Lebanon at War
date = 2001
*Cite book
publisher = Simon and Schuster
isbn = 0671479911
pages = 320
last = Schiff
first = Zeev
coauthors = Ehud Yaari, Ina Friedman
title = Israel's Lebanon War
date = 1984