Dozens of refugees die in attack on base

April 18, 1996
Web posted at: 1:10 p.m EDT (1710 GMT)

SOUTHERN LEBANON (CNN) -- Israeli artillery shells slammed into a U.N. peacekeeping base in South Lebanon Thursday, killing as many as 94 people, and Israeli officials expressed regret over the civilian casualties. (431K QuickTime movie -- Warning: graphic content)

Two Fijian peacekeepers were among the dead, said Samir Moubarak, Lebanese ambassador to the United Nations. As many as 100 people were wounded.

Most of the dead were refugees who had sought what they thought was a safe haven at the United Nations compound.

One man said he had lost his wife and five children in the blitz. He told a news service that he had sent his family to the compound for safety.

It was the bloodiest attack since fighting between Israel and Hezbollah militants broke out more than one week ago. Israel said it was retaliating against Hezbollah attacks on northern Israel.

Thursday's attack on the base came after Hezbollah rockets were fired from near the camp, said U.N. spokesman Timor Goksel. He said shortly before the Israeli barrage, Hezbollah guerrillas fired three Katyusha rockets from an area 300 meters (about two-tenths mile) from the U.N. base.

In apparent response, at least five 155mm howitzer shells struck the base in Cana, about six miles (10 kilometers) south of Tyre.

Israeli Foreign Minister Ehud Barak

"We are very sorry about any harm done to civilians. I am convinced . . . that no one meant to cause the casualties that we saw today, certainly not at U.N. facilities and not on civilians," Barak said in a television interview monitored by CNN's Jerrold Kessel.

Nevertheless, responsibility for the deaths rested with Hezbollah, Barak told CNN in a separate interview. (153K AIFF sound or 153K WAV sound)

While Israel plans to "reassess" its operation in Lebanon, Barak said "we will probably have to go on with our overall objective . . . to bring stability to the area," Kessel reported.

Lebanese response

Moubarak Samir, Lebanese ambassador to the U.N., called the attack a deliberate massacre of civilians. He said Lebanon was urging the U.N. Security Council to pressure Israel to stop the military strikes.

"The violence taking place in Lebanon is due to the occupation of Israel. When they leave, the violence will cease," he said.

"Israel has to comply with resolution 425 and withdraw from my country," he said, referring to an 18-year-old U.N. resolution calling on Israel to withdraw troops from south Lebanon.

"We are asking the international community to force Israel to put an end to this massacre," he added.

U.N. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali earlier said he was shocked and horrified at Israel's shelling of the post.

U.N. soldiers cry

Hezbollah fired volleys of Katyusha rockets into northern Israel Thursday, causing some damage and wounding a woman in the town of Kiryat Shmona, the Israeli military said.

"This is not a war against Hezbollah but a war on civilians," shouted an outraged Lebanese resident after artillery shells hit the U.N. base, which housed about 600 refugees, according to Goksel.

Dozens of bodies were covered with blankets, and children covered with blood were taken away on stretchers, as distraught relatives screamed and cried. One man said he had lost his wife and five children in the attack.

U.N. soldiers were weeping over the pain and suffering they witnessed. CNN's Brent Sadler, reporting from Tyre, said a baby had been decapitated.

Israel has used both its air power and artillery to hit suspected Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon and had ordered an evacuation of the area.

The fighting has driven some 400,000 southern Lebanese from their towns but Hassan Awada, a witness to the attack on the base, told CNN that thousands of other civilians have nowhere to go. (187K AIFF sound or 187K WAV sound)

Correspondents Brent Sadler in Tyre, Lebanon, and Jerrold Kessel and Walter Rodgers in Jerusalem contributed to this story. Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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