The Chyah Airstrike was an attack by the Israel Air Force (IAF) on the Shiyyah suburb in the Lebanese capital of Beirut on August 7, 2006, during the
2006 Lebanon War
The 2006 Lebanon War, also called the 2006 Israel–Hezbollah War and known in Lebanon as the July War ( ar, حرب تموز, ''Ḥarb Tammūz'') and in Israel as the Second Lebanon War ( he, מלחמת לבנון השנייה, ''Milhemet Leva ...
. Two missiles fired from an IDF bomber destroyed three apartment buildings in the suburb. Contemporary news accounts stated that the death toll from the airstrikes rose as recovery efforts continued, with 50 corpses recovered at the time of reportage and 61 anticipated.Angry Shi'ites bury the dead after Beirut attack , August 9, 2006" August 11, 2006"
Timeline of events
The nearby area of Haret Hreik, described as " Hizbollah's stronghold", had been targeted over a four-week period prior to the attack on Shiyyah, which had not been targeted by the IAF earlier.
Around 8 pm local time, an IAF missile hit a five-storey residential apartment block in Hijaj Street, just outside central Beirut, instantly killing a number of civilians and wounding other residents.
The area is a densely populated residential district and predominantly
Shi'a
Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam. It holds that the Prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad designated Ali, ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his S ...
. Businesses in Hijaj Street include a supermarket, a hairdressing salon, a fishmonger's, a greengrocer's and a mobile phone shop, with an internet cafe in the basement of the apartment block. Residents stated that there was no Hezbollah activity in the area. Many of the people killed and wounded were
refugee
A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution.
s from previous violence in South Lebanon.Terror of war interrupts quiet evening in Shiyyah August 8, 2006"
Fifteen of the dead were from the Remaiti family which owned a residential building in Asaad al-Assad street. According to survivors, before the missiles exploded, an Israeli drone flew over the Shiyyah district. At the same time, it is reported that a young boy drove down Assaad al-Assad street on a motorcycle and fired into the sky with a rifle opposite the Remaiti home. Not long afterwards, the building was hit by two missiles.
Medical and humanitarian response
Residents of Shiyyah, along with
Lebanese Civil Defense
The Lebanese Civil Defense or General Directorate of the Lebanese Civil Defense is a public emergency medical service of Lebanon that carries out patient transportation, search and rescue activities and fire-fighting response.
It is funded and ad ...
and Red Cross workers, worked at trying to remove rubble after the attack before the rest of the building collapsed. These recovery efforts later focused on the recovery of corpses.
Immediately following the attack some of the wounded were taken to Hayat Hospital, Beirut.
Casualties
Initial reports put the figure at five dead. Reports following this had the figures at 15 to 17 residents killed with 40 wounded.Aftermath of Beirut missile strike August 8, 2006" Lebanese police said on August 8 that the confirmed figure of 30 dead could rise as recovery attempts continued. By August 9 the figure of dead was placed at 41 with the recovery efforts continuing. August 10, 2006"Nasrallah backs troops in South, warns of 'graveyard' for enemy August 8, 2006"
By August 11 the Lebanese Health Minister Mohamad Khalifeh, said 50 bodies had been recovered and 61 were expected to be recovered, as 11 civilians that were known to be in the building were still unaccounted. Minister Khalifeh said: "There is no way to know for certain how many were killed. There were many displaced people in the building who are still unaccounted for."
See also
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Al-Qaa airstrike
The 2006 Qaa airstrike was an attack by the Israel Air Force (IAF) on a building in the area of al-Qaa around 10 kilometers (six miles) from Hermel in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon on 4 August 2006. The attack took place during the 2006 Lebanon ...