Tyre headquarters bombings
The Tyre truck bombings, also known as the Tyre disaster, were two suicide bombings against the Israel Defense Forces' headquarters building in Tyre, Lebanon, in 1982 and 1983. The blasts killed 103 Israelis and 46–59 Lebanese, wounding 95 people and were some of the worst losses ever for the IDF. Israel believes both to be the responsibility of Hezbollah.
First bombing
After invading Lebanon in June, the Israeli military set up command posts to run the cities they occupied. On November 11, 1982, a Peugeot car packed with explosives struck the seven-story building being used by the Israeli military to govern Tyre. The explosion leveled the building and killed 75 Israeli soldiers, border policemen, and Shin Bet agents. In addition, anywhere from 14–27 Lebanese and Palestinian prisoners that were being held by Israel were killed.[1] Twenty-seven Israelis and 28 Arabs were injured.
The Israeli government said soon after the blast, and insists to this day, that the explosion was an accident resulting from gas cylinders exploding.[2][3] This is contrary to the three witnesses who saw the Peugeot speed to the building, the identification of the car's parts in the rubble of the building, and the existence of a Shin Bet report detailing the Hezbollah preparations for the bombing.[4]
There is also a monument near Baalbek, Lebanon dedicated to 17-year-old Ahmad Qassir, the suicide bomber responsible for the attack.[5][6]
Second bombing
Almost exactly a year later, a nearly identical bombing happened in Tyre. A suicide bomber drove a pickup truck filled with explosives into a Shin Bet building at an army base in Tyre. The explosion killed 28 Israelis and 32 Lebanese prisoners, and wounded about 40 others.[7]
See also
References
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Foreign%20Relations/Israels%20Foreign%20Relations%20since%201947/1982-1984/HIGHLIGHTS%20OF%20MAIN%20EVENTS-%201982-1984
- ↑ Bergman, 64.
- ↑ Bergman, 65.
- ↑ http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?apage=2&cid=1220526712951&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull
- ↑ Hirst, David (2010) 'Beware of Small States. Lebanon, Battleground of the Middle East. Faber and Faber. ISBN 978-0-571-23741-8. Page 196.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
External links
- When in Rome, don't forget the bombs of 1983 - Article on Ahmed Qassir
- Sacrifice and "Self-Martyrdom" in Shi'ite Lebanon
- Suicide Superpower: Martyrdom as a Weapon of Mass Destruction
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Prominent terrorist attacks against Israelis in the history of the Arab–Israeli conflict – the 1980s
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| 1980 |
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| 1982 | |
| 1983 |
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| 1984 |
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| 1985 |
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| 1987 |
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| 1988 |
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| 1989 |
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Attacks launched from the Gaza Strip Attacks launched from Lebanon Attacks launched from Egypt
‡ indicates the terrorist attack which caused the greatest amount of Israeli casualties during the 1980s 1970s  1990s |
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