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The Battle of Bint Jbeil was one of the main battles of the 2006 Lebanon War. Bint Jbeil (Arabic: بنت جبيل, Bint Jubayl) is a major town of some 40 000, mainly Shiite Muslim, inhabitants in Southern Lebanon. Hezbollah managed to defend the town and defeat at least two sustained Israeli attempts to conquer the town. It suffered heavy losses including several commanders, most notably Khalid Bazzi, the Hezbollah commander of the Bint Jbeil region.
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Bint Jbeil was a major center for the Lebanese resistance during the 18 years of Israeli occupation. After the liberation in 2000 it became an important base for Hezbollah. Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah held his famous victory speech in Bint Jbeil, after the Israeli withdrawal in 2000, where he belittled Israeli power:
According to Israeli journalist Amir Rapaport this speech infuriated the IDF Command which over time developed a "cobwebs complex". The 2006 Lebanon war finally presented an opportunity to get even. Senior IDF officers, such as Chief of Staff Dan Halutz and Chief of Operations Gadi Eisenkot claimed that Bint Jbeil was an important "symbol". They hoped to capture the town and bring an Israeli leader to hold a victory speech at the same place where Nasrallah held his speech in 2000. Instead Bint Jbeil would once again become a symbol of an Israeli failure.[5][6]
Capturing Bint Jbeil would not have changed the outcome of the war. It was not essential for Hezbollah’s capability to fire rockets at Israel. Most of its rocket firing capabilities was located outside built-up areas, in so-called "Nature Reserves".
The Israeli army more or less stumbled into nearby village Maroun ar-Ras and suffered high casualties but eventually succeeded in capturing the village.
According to IDF estimates Bint Jbeil and the nearby village of Aynata was defended by 100-140 fighters, at least 60 of whom were local and around 40 of whom belonged to the Hezbollah Special Force.[7][8] The primary aim of the Hizbollah forces in the string of positions along the border was not to hold territory but to bleed the Israelis and slow down their advance.
The Israeli political and military leadership were frustrated with how the war was going. Despite the claims of success there was "nothing tangible to put on display" to show for it. A clear victory at Bint Jbeil could well be the watershed in the war. A Hezbollah surrender here could create a "ripple effect" on the other strongholds in South Lebanon.[9]
The IDF, however, was divided over exactly how to deal with the town. Some proposed an outright occupation of the town while others a more subtle approach, surrounding it and raiding Hezbollah positions in it. Brigadier General Gal Hirsch of the 91st Division wanted to conquer Bint Jbeil, not just to raid it. It was his division headquarters that came up with the name "Operation Web of Steel" (Hebrew: מבצע קורי פלדה).
The operation was planned as a pincer movement with the Golani brigade approaching the town from the east and the Paratrooper brigade from the west. Unfortunately the paratroopers set out too late and where ordered to halt before reaching their designated positions. Since the painful experiences of the Egoz unit at Maroun ar-Ras Israeli forces were not allowed to advance in day-light. For some reason the northern side of the town was intentionally left open, maybe to provide an escape route for the town’s defenders. Instead Hezbollah used the opportunity to send in reinforcements to the town.[5]
The battle started badly for the Israelis. On July 24, several Golani soldiers were wounded by friendly fire. Two tanks were sent to evacuate the wounded. The first was hit by a missile, killing the platoon commander and wounding two of the crewmen. The second tank, a Merkava IV, ran over a powerful remote-controlled mine and rolled over from the blast. One of the crew was killed and the battalion commander, Lieutenant Colonel Guy Kabili, was wounded. An armor-plated D-9 bulldozer that attempted to rescue the casualties was forced to retreat after being hit by a missile. Finally the wounded could be evacuated under the cover of a smoke-screen.[5]
By the next day the IDF had taken up positions outside Bint Jbeil and the nearby village of Aynata but had not yet entered the built-up areas. In spite of this General Hirsch declared victory to the press. "The town is in our control," he said on July 25. "The work is almost completed and the terrorists are fleeing." The statement would quickly prove disastrously wrong. An Israeli soldier would later describe his feelings when hearing Hirsch's words over the radio, while being under Sager missile attack "from every direction" in the town: "you realize something is wrong."[10]
In the early hours of the morning on July 26, the Golani Brigade's 51st Battalion was finally given the go-ahead to advance into the outskirts of town. After sifting through a dozen buildings, an Israeli force consisting of two companies walked into a well-prepared ambush. Lebanese accounts of this battle refer to it as "the battle of Aynata" as the Israeli forces had not yet entered Bint Jbeil proper. The place has been renamed "Liberation square" (Arabic: مربع التحرير).[11] Dozens of Hezbollah fighters positioned in the upper stories of buildings opened fire with small arms and anti-tank rockets and the Israelis quickly suffered heavy casualties. The battalion's deputy commander, Major Roi Klein was among the dead, having been killed when he allegedly covered a grenade with his body to save his troops. 30 soldiers were hit from one company alone, representing a third of its strength. The IDF troops returned fire and fought to regain control of the battle field. The fighting then changed from an offensive military operation to a rescue mission. The IDF sent in reinforcements to provide covering fire while the dead and the wounded were evacuated. The fighting continued for several hours and often at point-blank range. The wounded were carried 3 kilometers on stretchers to a place where helicopters could land under the protection of smoke grenades and heavy artillery fire. Finally, Israeli Air Force Blackhawk helicopters managed to land under heavy fire and fly the wounded to Rambam Medical Center in Haifa. The commanders decided not to risk pilots to evacuate the dead; they were carried out under cover of darkness by a company from the Golani Brigade's 12th Battalion."[12][13]
IDF suffered eight dead, including three officers, and 24 wounded in the fighting in Bint Jbeil. On the same day an anti-tank missile fired from Bint Jbeil, hit a paratrooper position in nearby Maroun ar-Ras and one officer was killed and three soldiers were wounded.Hezbollah also suffered heavy casualties in the battle. The IDF claims to have killed at least 40 fighters, which was denied by Hezbollah.[13]
Sporadic clashes continued over the next days. Six Israeli soldiers wounded in clashes on July 29. IDF claimed that some 26 Hezbollah fighters were killed.[14]
On the same day IDF troops pulled out of Bint Jbeil, but armored units continued to operate around the town.[14]
Teams from the Red Cross and United Nations arrived in the southern Lebanese town to survey the damage and evacuate residents, a day after heavy fighting reduced much of the area to rubble.[15]
In the beginning of August discussions were held at IDF command about what to do about Bint Jbeil. Chief of Staff Halutz decided to occupy the remaining pockets of resistance close to the border; Bint Jbeil, Ayta ash-Sha’b and Mays al-Jabal. This time Bint Jbeil would be effectively surrounded and attacked simultaneously from all sides. The operation was to be completed by August 8.
On the evening of August 6, the battle began again. The Israeli advance into Bint Jbeil was slow. The following day a paratrooper was killed and 4 others were wounded in a clash that lasted several hours. Then a tank from the Armored Corps was hit by missile, killing two of its crew and injuring two others. IDF claimed that five Hezbollah fighters were killed in the clash.[16]
A column of tanks was ordered to occupy the former Israeli headquarters building in the northern outskirts of the town, close to the place where Nasrallah held his “cobweb” speech in 2000. Paratrooper Brigade commander Hagai Mordechai was commissioned the task of hoisting the Israeli flag on this building. Thus began the so-called “Battle of the Flag”[17]
At the entrance to Bint Jbeil stood a large ten-story building, later nicknamed “the Monster” by Israeli soldiers, where about ten Hezbollah fighters had taken up positions. The Israeli army was reluctant to bomb the building from the air because of its proximity to a hospital. Although it was assumed to be vacant, Israel did not want to repeat the mistake in Qana. While advancing on the building an Israeli soldier was critically wounded in a suspected friendly fire incident. It was clear that the soldier would not survive unless he could be taken to hospital. The wounded soldier was evacuated in a dramatic rescue operation but died in the helicopter before reaching a hospital. Another soldier was killed in the rescue operation. The Israeli Air Force eventually bombed the building.[18][17]
After the heavy casualties sustained by the IDF, the paratroopers lost the will to continue the fight. Mordechai told his deputy to "take the flag, put it on the building where [the Israeli] forces are, take pictures and leave. No one should die for this picture.” So the flag was raised on another building nearby and a very fuzzy "victory" picture was taken (reproduced here). In the end IDF decided not to publish the picture. By the time it was ready to be distributed it was irrelevant. The IDF had already withdrawn from the town.[17]
On the same day Major General Gadi Eisenkot had to inform the Israeli cabinet that the army had failed to occupy Bint Jbeil and some other localities close to the border.[19] In fact Hezbollah managed to hold its positions in the town throughout the war.[20] In the last days of the war the fighting was concentrated to areas further to the north.
On the last hours before the cease-fire came into effect Lieutenant Adam Kima was ordered to clear a corridor in the Bint Jbeil area. Kima refused to obey orders, claiming a high risk of being exposed to Hezbollah ambushes. The officer and five of his soldiers were arrested and sentenced to prison for 2-3 weeks (though released early).[21][22] . By the beginning of September Israeli forces had withdrawn from the area of Bint Jbeil and control was transferred to the Lebanese army and United Nations peacekeeping forces.[23]
Some have commented that this battle had a psychological component outweighing its military significance. Uri Bar-Joseph wrote about Dan Halutz in Haaretz "He pushed for ineffectual military initiatives with a high casualty toll, like the conquest of Bint Jbail, which was meant to create a spectacle of victory in the place where Nasrallah delivered his "spider web" speech following the IDF pullout in May 2000."[24][25]
Israel claims to have killed over 80 Hezbollah militants in the battle of Bint Jbeil.
According to Human Rights Watch, several Lebanese civilians were also killed during this battle including a Lebanese citizen who also had US citizenship.[26] The man was killed while trying to tend to civilians who were hit by Israeli fire and when there were no Hezbollah fighters in the area, or any fighting at the time.
July 24, 2006
July 26, 2006
Aug 7, 2006
Aug 8, 2006
Bint Jbeil[27]
Aynata[28]
Note: the above lists refer to Bint Jbeil and Aynata locals who died in the 2006 Lebanon war, not to those who died in the battle of Bint Jbeil, although there is probably a substantial overlap between the two categories. An unknown fraction of those who fought and died in the battle where non-locals. Several of people on the list did not die in Bint Jbeil or Aynata.
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