In
2005, CCR filed a class action lawsuit against Ya'alon, who as head of
the Intelligence Branch of the IDF at the time, made the decision to
shell the UN compound. The case - Belhas v. Ya'alon - was
dismissed in December 2006 by a district court judge who found that
Ya'alon had acted in his official capacity and was therefore immune
from being sued. But CCR argues that knowingly shelling a UN compound
housing civilians is in direct violation of international humanitarian
as well as Israeli law, and that Ya'alon should stand trial for war
crimes.
Few people have heard of or
remember the 1996 Qana massacre. In 1996, the IDF launched an operation
called "Grapes of Wrath," a three-week campaign in southern Lebanon to
pressure the Lebanese government to disarm Hezbollah. More than 800
civilians had taken shelter in a UN compound in Qana, Lebanon, while
their villages were being bombed.
The IDF issued no warning before shelling the UN compound and took no
precautions to prevent civilian casualties. Instead, the IDF continued
to attack the compound even after UN officials notified them that the
compound was sheltering internally displaced civilians. More than 100
civilians were killed and even more were injured. Plaintiff Saadallah
Ali Belhas alone lost more than 30 family members in the attack.
Take action today
More than ten years later, the victims have not been compensated, and
justice has not been done. Take action today to help educate others
about this important human rights case and demand that the victims of
the attack receive the justice that has been denied them for more than
a decade.