Battle of Bint Jbeil
| Battle of Bint Jbeil | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the 2006 Lebanon War | |||||||||
Map of South Lebanon showing the location of Bint Jbeil | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
| Israel | Hezbollah | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
|
Brig. Gen. Gal Hirsch Col. Tamir Yedai Maj. Roi Klein † |
Com. Khalid Bazzi † Com. Muhammad Abu Ta'am † | ||||||||
| Units involved | |||||||||
|
| ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| 5,000 soldiers | 100–150 fighters in the region, incl. 40 Special Forces (IDF estimate) | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| 17 IDF soldiers killed |
32 killed (Hezbollah claim) 50–70 fighters (IDF claim) "A very large number" (Winograd Report) "Dozens" (Reuven Erlich) | ||||||||
| 76 Lebanese civilians killed in Aynata, Bint Jbeil, and Aytaroun. | |||||||||
The Battle of Bint Jbeil was one of the main battles of the 2006 Lebanon War. Bint Jbeil is a major town of some 20,000 (mainly Shia) inhabitants in Southern Lebanon. Although Brigadier General Gal Hirsch announced on 25 July that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had "complete control" of Bint Jbeil, this statement was later discredited. In spite of three sustained attempts by the IDF to conquer the town, it remained in the hands of Hezbollah until the end of the war. The town was the scene of some of the fiercest fighting of the war, with both sides taking heavy losses. Three senior Israeli officers, including Major Roi Klein, were killed in the battle. Hezbollah similarly lost several commanders, most notably Khalid Bazzi, commander of the Bint Jbeil area.