Operation Grapes of Wrath

Operation Grapes of Wrath
	Part of the Israeli-Lebanese conflict and the South Lebanon conflict (1985–2000)
	; An Israeli M109 Paladin firing on Hezbollah positions in Lebanon, taken on 15 April 1996
Date	11–27 April 1996
Location	Lebanon, northern Israel
Result	Ceasefire on civilian targets; much Lebanese infrastructure destroyed.
Belligerents
Israel; SLA	Hezbollah; Syria
Commanders and leaders
Shimon Peres; Amnon Lipkin-Shahak	Hassan Nasrallah; Mustafa Tlass
Casualties and losses
No casualties	13 Hezbollah fighters killed
	62 Israeli civilians wounded; 20,000–30,000 Israeli civilians displaced; 149 – 250 Lebanese civilians killed; 354 Lebanese civilians wounded; 350,000–500,000 Lebanese civilians displaced

Operation Grapes of Wrath (Hebrew: מבצע ענבי זעם Mivtsa Enavi Zaam), known in Lebanon as the April Aggression (Arabic: عدوان نيسان, romanized: ʿUdwān Nīsān), was a seventeen-day campaign of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) against Hezbollah in 1996 which attempted to end the Iran-backed group's rocket attacks on northern Israeli civilian centres by forcing the group north of the Litani River, out of easy range of these civilian centres. Prior to the operation, Hezbollah had launched 151 rockets from Lebanon into Israel, killing two Israeli civilians and seriously wounding 24 other Israeli civilians.

In their attempt to degrade and destroy Hezbollah, the IDF conducted more than 600 air raids and fired approximately 25,000 shells, killing approximately 154 Lebanese civilians and wounding 351. Over 100 Lebanese civilians died after the IDF shelled the UNIFIL position in Qana where they had taken shelter. After the outbreak of Israel’s response, 639 Hezbollah cross-border rocket attacks targeted northern Israel, wounding 62 civilians. Hezbollah forces also participated in numerous engagements with Israeli and South Lebanon Army forces.

The conflict was de-escalated on 27 April by a ceasefire agreement banning attacks on civilians.