page_title: Battle of Bint Jbeil
section_title: Operation Change of Direction (August 1–9)
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of Bint Jbeil / Operation Change of Direction (August 1–9)
caption_attribution_description: July 25, 2006 Hezbollah operated communication devices found during IDF operations in Bint Jbeil in southern Lebanon.
context_page_description: 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 inhabitants in Southern Lebanon. Although Brigadier-General Gal Hirsch announced on July 25 that the Israel Defense Forces 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.
context_section_description: According to the Winograd report there were ground battles in Bint Jbeil during Operation Change of Direction 8 (1-3 of August) but it gives no details. There are no other reports confirming any serious fighting in Bint Jbeil, or of any Israeli casualties, during this period. Lebanese sources claim that "what appeared to be a truce" [hudna] was observed from July 29 until August 7, when Operation Change of Direction 10 was launched.
  In the beginning of August discussions were held at IDF command about what to do about Bint Jbeil. Chief of Staff Halutz decided to occupy the remaining pockets of resistance close to the border; Bint Jbeil, Ayta ash-Sha’b and Mays al-Jabal. This time Bint Jbeil would be effectively surrounded and attacked simultaneously from all sides. The operation was to be completed by August 8.
  On the evening of August 6, the battle began again. The Israeli advance into Bint Jbeil was slow. The following day a paratrooper was killed and four others were wounded in a clash that lasted several hours. Two Israeli tank crew members, including a senior officer, were killed and two others injured when their tank was hit by an anti-tank missile. The IDF claimed that 5 Hezbollah fighters were also killed during the clash.
  A column of tanks was ordered to occupy the former Israeli headquarters building in Saff al-Hawa neighborhood in the northern outskirts of the town, close to the place where Nasrallah held his "cobweb" speech in 2000. Paratrooper Brigade commander Hagai Mordechai was commissioned the task of hoisting the Israeli flag on this building. Thus began the so-called "Battle of the Flag".
  At the entrance to Bint Jbeil stood a large ten-story building, later nicknamed "the Monster" by Israeli soldiers, where about ten Hezbollah fighters had taken up positions, preventing further Israeli advance. A heavy exchange of fire ensued, and the Israelis were reluctant to call in an airstrike because of its proximity to the Salih Ghandour hospital. Although it was assumed to be vacant, Israel did not want to risk a repetition of the disastrous mistake in Qana. While advancing on the building an Israeli soldier was critically wounded in a suspected friendly fire incident. It was clear that the soldier would not survive unless he could be taken to hospital. The wounded soldier was evacuated in a dramatic rescue operation but died in the helicopter before reaching the hospital. Another soldier was killed in the rescue operation. The Israeli Air Force eventually bombed the building, causing it to collapse. According to the IDF, at least four Hezbollah fighters were also killed.
  Mordechai told his deputy to "take the flag, put it on the building where [the Israeli] forces are, take pictures and leave. No one should die for this picture.” The flag was raised on a different building than intended and a photograph taken (reproduced here ). In the end, the IDF decided not to publish the picture. By the time it was ready to be distributed it had become irrelevant. The IDF had already begun to withdraw from the town.
  On the same day Chief of Operation Gadi Eisenkot had to inform the Israeli cabinet that the army had not occupied Bint Jbeil and some other localities close to the border. Hezbollah managed to hold its positions in the town throughout the war. In the last days of the war the fighting was concentrated to areas north of the town and there were no reports of heavy fighting in the town itself.
  Less than three days before the ceasefire Operation Changing Direction 11 was launched with the aim of pushing further into Lebanese territory. About a dozen Israeli soldiers died in the fighting around the villages of Hadatha, Yatar, at-Tiri, Rashaf and Ayta az-Zut, to the north of Bint Jbeil. In spite of the fact that the IDF was ordered once again to capture Bint Jbeil, there are no reports of any offensive Israeli action against Hezbollah positions in the town itself.
  A The New York Times correspondent accompanied a platoon from the Golani 51st Battalion in the last days of the war. The unit occupied an unfinished buildin
caption: Hezbollah communication devices captured in Bint Jbeil
exif: {"Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon PowerShot A610", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "QuickTime 7.6.4", "Image DateTime": "2010:02:08 11:05:38", "Image HostComputer": "Mac OS X 10.5.8", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "254", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/60", "EXIF FNumber": "14/5", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2006:07:25 10:23:49", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2006:07:25 10:23:49", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "3", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "189/32", "EXIF ApertureValue": "95/32", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "95/32", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash fired, auto mode, red-eye reduction mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "73/10", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1944", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2697", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "2592000/283", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "486000/53", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard"}