| Operation Sharp and Smooth | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of 2006 Lebanon War | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
| Israel Defence Forces | Hezbollah | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 200 | Unknown | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| None | 2 Hezbollah fighters killed, 2 armed Communist party members killed[1] |
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| 12 civilians killed, 5 civilians kidnapped |
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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. Five Lebanese civilians were kidnapped and brought to Israel.
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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).[2]
According to the IDF ten “terrorists” were killed and five captured during a ”precise surgical raid”, that claimed no IDF or civilian casualties.[3] The IDF claimed that some of the captives "were known Hizbullah gunmen."[2] This version was refuted by Lebanese sources and by a subsequent inquiry conducted by Human Rights Watch.
Upon landing, the two units split up. The Sayeret Matkal unit proceeded to the Dar al-Hikma hospital, known for its connections to Hezbollah, in the Jamaliyah suburb of Ba'albek. The precise target of the operation remains a mystery. The Jerusalem Post suggests that the IDF believed that the two captured soldiers, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, were being treated there after their abduction. Lebanese sources suspected that the target was Muhammad Yazbek, a well-known Hezbollah leader. The IDF claimed that the hospital was used as a headquarters for the movement.[2]
The Israeli force occupied the hospital. One male nurse was killed and two security guards were wounded during the take-over. Two armed Hezbollah fighters were killed outside the hospital while engaging the Israelis.[4]
A group of local residents were alarmed by the sound of fighting and assembled at the house of the local mukhtar. Two of the men were armed members of the Lebanese Communist Party. An Israeli helicopter fired a number of missiles at the group, killing the two militants and five unarmed men. According to an assessment by Human Rights Watch the two armed militants were to be considered combatants and therefore legitimate targets.[5]
A Syrian Kurdish family, working as agricultural workers, were hit by a missile, killing the parents and four children, aged 4 to 14. Surviving relatives denied any relationship with Hezbollah.[6]
According to the investigation by Human Rights Watch 16 Lebanese were killed in the raid, of whom four were deemed combatants and a further two civilian members of Hezbollah or the Communist party.[7] An official report by the Lebanese Interior Security Forces (ISF) confirm these numbers, although the names do not always match those supplied by HRW. Only two of the victims were identified as belonging to Hezbollah and the Communist party is not mentioned in the report. The report also contains the names of the 14 Lebanese wounded in the fighting.[8]
The second Israeli unit swept through the al-Usaira neighborhood of Ba'albek, some five kilometers from the hospital. Apparently they were looking for persons related to as-Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah, the General-Secretary of Hezbollah. The Israeli soldiers entered a house in the neighborhood and asked a shopkeeper: "Are you Hassan Nasrallah?" That was his name, although he was unrelated to the Hezbollah leader. Five civilian men were apprehended and brought to Israel. They were interrogated about their relationship to Hezbollah and its leader. After realizing that the five were not Hezbollah members they were released to UNIFIL.[9][10]
Group of men killed by hellfire missiles fired from helicopter or drone:
Men killed in or around Dar al-Hikma hospital:
Syrian Kurdish family killed by Hellfire missile strike: