SUMMARY OF OPERATION GRAPES OF WRATH PRESS CONFERENCE - 15-Apr-96

(Communicated by IDF Spokesman)

The following is a summary of the press conference held Monday, 15.04.96, by Deputy Chief of Staff, Major General Matan Vilnai, and Israel Air Force Chief of Staff, Brigadier General Dan Halutz:

Maj. Gen. Vilnai:

We shall sum up the 5th day of the IDF "Operation Grapes of Wrath" in Lebanon.

The operation is proceeding according to plan. The most striking feature today was an escalation of Hizbullah Katyusha firing on northern Israel, mostly Kiryat Shmona. Today, over 50 Katyusha rockets fell on Israeli territory a number similar to yesterday's. We responded by expanding our activities we enlarged our theater of operations, and increased our efforts to encourage civilians to leave the area in order to avoid harm.

Today we hit more Katyusha rocket launchers than we did over the past few days. In some sectors, we succeeded in significantly reducing Hizbullah activities only a few Katyusha salvos were fired from those areas. The Hizbullah's repeated attacks on Kiryat Shmona forced us to continue our operations in Lebanon hitting terrorist targets in Beirut and attacking infrastructure.

I would like to stress that we are doing our utmost to avoid harming civilians... Once again, since this morning, we have been giving advance warning to the civilian population. Fortunately, no civilians have been hurt today. However, we shall not hesitate to respond to any further disruption of daily life in northern Israel, by hitting Hizbullah targets and infrastructure throughout Lebanon. There shall be no immunity for Hizbullah terrorists. Anyone staying in the vicinity of Hizbullah emplacements does so at his own risk. We are sensitive to the hardships experienced by citizens of northern Israel, and the IDF will do all in its power assist them.

Brig.-Gen. Halutz:

The IAF continued its attacks on Hizbullah targets and infrastructure in south Lebanon and Beirut.

In south Lebanon we hit mostly buildings belonging to terrorists, as well as vehicles suspected of carrying rocket launchers. In two instances, we made positive identification of rocket launching squads.

Two targets were hit in Beirut the first was an electric transmission station situated east of Beirut which was accurately hit by two combat aircraft. The second was Hizbullah HQ in Beirut which was attacked by Apache combat helicopters. We chose the aircraft and the ordinance in order to maximize precision and accuracy, prevent injury of those not party to the conflict and minimize collateral damage.

[Aerial photographs of targets were shown, demonstrating pinpoint accuracy]

During our raid on targets in Beirut, anti-aircraft fire was directed at out helicopters. We returned fire, hitting one of the A.-A. vehicles. When A.-A. fire was silenced, our helicopters ceased fire and returned to base. We are responding to A.-A. fire in order to protect our aircraft.

The main focus of our activities today was vehicles and terrorist squads. We destroyed seven vehicles leaving areas from which Katyushas had been fired. Likewise, two terrorist squads observed in action were attacked. In at least one instance, our pursuit of vehicles led to a direct hit of a vehicle, from which two terrorists escaped into an abandoned building, which was hit and destroyed.

Guidelines issued by the General Staff and the Government stress the need for accuracy and precision.

Today we flew 220 sorties - combat aircraft, combat helicopters and support aircraft.

Main Points Raised During Q&A:

* Regarding pictures released by Hizbullah, showing 50 suicide bombers, Maj.-Gen. Vilnai said that one of the potential means of retaliation of Hizbullah might be suicide bombings. The IDF is fully prepared for such a contingency.

* Maj.-Gen. Vilnai stressed that today we had more direct hits on Katyusha rocket launchers and Hizbullah personnel than in the past.

* The IDF does not have an accurate estimate of the number of Hizbullah casualties.

* The Lebanese Army's reaction to Hizbullah, said Maj.-Gen. Vilnai, must be evaluated over a long period of time. As of now, they are doing their best not to get involved.

* Maj.-Gen. Vilnai elaborated on the targets hit today, noting that the electrical transmission station hit was a different one than was attacked yesterday. He added that 15 buildings in south Lebanon used by Hizbullah or used by Hizbullah terrorists as hideouts, were accurately hit.