The Tyre headquarters bombings were two

suicide bombing A suicide attack (also known by a wide variety of other names, see below) is a deliberate attack in which the perpetrators knowingly sacrifice their own lives as part of the attack. These attacks are a form of murder–suicide that is ofte ...

s against the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...

' headquarters building in Tyre,

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

, in 1982 and 1983. The blasts killed 104 Israelis and 47–59 Lebanese, wounded 95 people, and were some of the worst losses ever for the IDF. The second attack occurred in November 1983 and was attributed to Hezbollah.

First bombing

After invading Lebanon in June, the Israeli military set up command posts to run the cities they occupied. On November 11, 1982, a

Peugeot Peugeot (, , ) is a French automobile brand owned by Stellantis. The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was established in 1810, making it the oldest car company in the world. On 20 November 1858, Émile Peugeot applie ...

504 car packed with explosives struck the seven-story building being used by the Israeli military to govern Tyre. The explosion leveled the building and killed 75 Israeli soldiers, border policemen, and

Shin Bet The Israel Security Agency (ISA; , (GSS); ), better known by the Hebrew acronyms, acronyms Shabak (; ; ) or Shin Bet (from the abbreviation of , "Security Service"), is Israel's internal Security agency, security service. Its motto is "''Magen ...

agents. In addition, anywhere from 14–27 Lebanese and

Palestinian Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...

prisoners that were being held by Israel were killed. The injured included 27 Israelis and 28 Arabs. The Israeli government said soon after the blast, and insisted until 2024, that the explosion was an accident resulting from

gas cylinder A gas cylinder is a pressure vessel for storage and containment of gases at above atmospheric pressure. Gas storage cylinders may also be called ''bottles''. Inside the cylinder the stored contents may be in a state of compressed gas, vapor ov ...

s exploding. This is contrary to the three witnesses who saw the Peugeot speed to the building, the identification of the car's parts in the rubble of the building, and the existence of a Shin Bet report detailing the Hezbollah preparations for the bombing. In July 2024, a joint IDF-Shin Bet-police investigation concluded it was "highly probable" that the explosion was caused by a suicide bomber driving a car packed with at least 50 kg of explosives, including gas canisters, into the ground floor of the building and detonating. The investigation indicated 76 Israeli soldiers, Shin Bet, and border policemen, as well as 15 Lebanese detainees, were killed in the attack. There is a monument near

Baalbek Baalbek (; ; ) is a city located east of the Litani River in Lebanon's Beqaa Valley, about northeast of Beirut. It is the capital of Baalbek-Hermel Governorate. In 1998, the city had a population of 82,608. Most of the population consists of S ...

, Lebanon, dedicated to 17-year-old Ahmad Qasir, the suicide bomber responsible for the attack. Hezbollah celebrates the attack annually on November 11, as Hezbollah's Martyr Day.

Second bombing

Almost a year later, a nearly identical bombing happened in Tyre. On November 4, 1983, a suicide bomber drove a

pickup truck A pickup truck or pickup is a Truck_classification#Table_of_US_GVWR_classifications, light or medium duty truck that has an enclosed cabin (truck), cabin, and a back end made up of a cargo bed that is enclosed by three low walls with no roof (th ...

filled with explosives into a

building at an IDF base in Tyre. The explosion killed 28 Israelis and 32 Lebanese prisoners, and wounded about 40 others. The attack was carried out by the Shia Lebanese organization

Hezbollah Hezbollah ( ; , , ) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and paramilitary group. Hezbollah's paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council, and its political wing is the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc party in the Lebanese Parliament. I ...

First bombing

Second bombing

See also

References

Further reading