Jerusalem, 11 April 1996
ISRAELI AIR FORCE RAIDS IN LEBANON
(Communicated by IDF Spokesman's Office)
IAF combat helicopters attacked in the early afternoon hours the primary
operations headquarters of the Hizbullah terrorist organization situated
in the Ha-Dahia neighborhood of southern Beirut, which has become a
Hizbullah military stronghold. The Hizbullah operations center in Beirut
serves as a planning and coordinating office for launching Hizbullah
terrorist attacks against Israel's northern towns and villages, and
against IDF and SLA forces within the security zone.
The location of the Hizbullah operations center testifies to the fact that
the Hizbullah exploits civilians as a cover and human shield for its
operations. The center is situated in southern Beirut in a building with
several floors, located in a compound of buildings manned and controlled
by the Hizbullah. The Hizbullah determines who resides, enters and moves
within this compound.
In practice, the area in which the Hizbullah operations center is located,
is an area which is under the total control of Hizbullah and is outside
the domain of the Lebanese Government. Furthermore, the Lebanese Police
and Lebanese security forces do not dare maintain a presence within the
compound. This situation is, of course, unacceptable and represents the
special status of the Hizbullah in Beirut and South Lebanon. The Lebanese
Government is not capable or interested in imposing its sovereignty or
authority to prevent attacks against Israel, perpetrated by Hizbullah,
which operates under the encouragement of a foreign state Iran.
It should be noted that during the IAF attacks on the operations center,
special ordinance was used which enables direct hits on a target in order
to prevent civilian casualties. IAF pilots reported accurate hits upon the
target.