Death toll reaches nine in bloodiest day since Grapes of Wrath
Lebanon, Military, 8/19/1997

In the bloodiest day of violence since last year's Israeli "Grapes of Wrath" onslaught, nine Lebanese civilians were killed and up to 41 wounded, catapulting the South once again to the center stage of the Middle East conflict.

Miday, the confrontations spread to Sidon, with South Lebanese Army artillery shells claiming most of the victims, marking the first time that Sidon has been hit since the April 1995 Israeli aggression.

Six people were killed and up to 39 wounded when six 155 mm rounds struck the city.

Israel immediately denied responsibility, blaming its militia ally for the assault. The SLA refrained from comment, and accused the Lebanese resistance forces of provoking the attacks.

The first shell exploded behind the Hammoud hospital in the Sitt Nafiseh neighborhood at 2:15 p.m. destroying several cars in a nearby car park.

The second, five minutes later, fell in the Hay al Zouhour neighborhood, killing a baby, Rami Khattab, and wounding six people.

Five people were killed at 2:45 p.m. when a third round crashed into al Bawabeh al Fawqa, near the Sea Castle.

The dead included Ramzi Youssef Youssef, a Syrian Haak seller who was decapitated in the blast, and Hanan Basheer, whose husband, Mohammed Rahal, suffered serious wounds. Their month-old baby lost its right foot.

The other three dead were identified as Ramez Abu Hamdan, Mahmoud Sleem and Faten Aziz.

The remaining shells landed on Martyrs Square, the Daher petrol station, and Riad Solh street, damaging cars and shattering windows in several offices.

The Hammoud hospital in the city was flooded with casualties. Doctors and nurses struggled to find space for the wounded as dozens of anxious relatives filled the hospital.

Speaking from his hospital bed, his arms and legs draped in blood-soaked bandages, Safi Gamlouche, 37, said he heard two explosions and decided to close his jewelry shop, located in a narrow alley behind Riad al Solh street.

"I heard two shells explode some distance away, and I was not expecting any near me. But then a third shell landed a few meters from me as I was closing the shop," he said.

The shell that injured him and two other civilians appeared to have been designed to explode in the air a few meters above its target. Air burst shells are intended to inflict maximum casualties among personnel rather than destroy buildings or vehicles and were used to deadly effect in the Qana massacre last year.

Seventy-year-old Ibrahim Shaaban, the concierge of a building on Serail street, was leaving the building as a shell exploded newar him causing his ear drumn to burst.

The bombing left the city streets desolate as residents took shelter, and many other fled to Beirut.

Villages east of Sidon, including Joun and Kfar Milki, were also targeted by the SLA.

Hana Salban, 28, was in the kitchen of her house in Kfar Hatta, when a shell exploded nearby. She suffered shrapnel wounds.

Several homes were damaged in Kfar Milki, and shelling sparked brush fires in nearby valleys. Joun was hit by ten shells but no casualties were reported.

The SLA barrage against Sidon was apparently prompted by the deaths of two civilians in a roadside bomb blast on August 18 in the occupation zone.

Jean Nasr, 16, and his sister Rima, 15, were killed when a bomb exploded beside their car between Kfar Houna and Aichiye. A third passenger was seriously wounded.

The victims were the son and daughter of Assad Naser, a former SLA security officer, who was killed by Hizbullah a year ago.

"The bomb was placed by Hizbullah to avenge the pro-Israeli activities of the father," an Israeli military source said in Jerusalem. The SLA also accused Hizbullah of being behind the bombing

But Hizbullah denied responsibility for the explosion saying it had been planted by the Israelis as an excuse to escalate the fighting.

"The Zionist occupation forces have perpetrated a new massacre against civilians in line with its crimes against civilian areas in the occupied area of Jezzine," a Hizbullah statement said.

"This new crime... which took place on the Kfar Houna-Jezzine road, seeks to undermine the steadfastness of our people living under occupation and to break ranks between them and the resistance fighters," it added.

The Lebanese army responded to the attack on Sidon, and shelled the SLA position at Tohra where the artillery that attacked Sidon was located.

Security sources said at least 110 shells fell on the position. It was the first bombardment of an SLA position by the army since last year's April conflict.

The resistance also fired at least six Katyushas at SLA posts in the enclave. The SLA-run Voice of the South radio station later reported that a civilian, Georges Beydoun, 36, was killed while two women in their 30's, Wardiye Baydoun and Laudy Salloum, were wounded near Jezzine. No further details were given

The bombardment of Sidon was condemned by Israel, who blamed the SLA operating in Jezzine under the command of Antoine Lahd.

"We deeply regret the death of civilians in this shelling which completely contradicts our policy," Israel's defense Minister Yitzhak Mordachai said.

An Israeli army spokesman claimed it was not the SLA in the occupation zone who were responsible, but a separate Lahd militia in Jezzine. "The Jezzine enclave is outside the security zone and under the control of General Lahd," said army spokesman General Oded Ben Ami.

"We coordinate with the SLA in the security zone, not with the others9they are not our responsibility. They are out of our control, as General Lahd has said himself," he added.

Mordachai said Israel had given "strict instructions" to Lahd against any further attacks on civilian targets. Speaker Nabih Berri later toured Sidon and visited the wounded. After meeting President Hrawi in Baabda on August 18, he said that despite the tragedy, all-out war in the south was unlikely.

Sheikh Nabil Qaouk, Hizbullah's southern commander, also toured Sidon hospitals. "The resistance movement will not allow a situation in which one side remains secure while the other is not," he said.

"Sidon's bombardment is blatant violation... but will not deter the resistance movement or force it to be quiet," he added.

The bombardment provoked concern from UN Secretary-general Kofi Annan, who urged the parties to calm the spiraling violence. "He is particularly concerned by the targeting of civilians," UN spokesman Juan Carlos Brandt said in a statement. Brandt said Unifil had been in touch with both sides to prevent a deterioration of the situation and to avoid civilian casualties.

Meanwhile, Katyusha rockets were fired on northern Israel, possibly in retaliation for the Sidon attack. Although Israeli suspicion centers on Hizbullah, no one has claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Previous Stories:
  Lebanon resistance forces attack Israeli position   (8/18/1997)
  South Lebanon Army pulls out of Saidoun   (8/14/1997)

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