Battle of Bint Jbeil

Battle of Bint Jbeil
Part of the 2006 Lebanon War
Map of South Lebanon showing the location of Bint Jbeil
Date 23 July – 11 August 2006 (2 weeks and 5 days) Location Bint Jbeil, Southern Lebanon Result Hezbollah victory IDF failed to captured the town[1][2]
Belligerents
Israel	Hezbollah
Commanders and leaders
Brig. Gen. Gal Hirsch Maj. Roi Klein †	Com. Khalid Bazzi  † Com. Muhammad Qanso †
Units involved
35th Paratroopers Brigade 101st battalion 890th battalion Recon company Golani Brigade 51st battalion Egoz Recon unit 12th battalion 401st Armored Brigade 52nd battalion 7th Armored Brigade 847th Armored Brigade Units from air force and artillery[3]	Armed wing Local garrison Nasr Unit, Hezbollah Special Forces unit
Strength
5,000 soldiers	100–150 fighters in the region, incl. 40 Special Forces (IDF estimate)[4][5]
Casualties and losses
17 IDF soldiers killed[6]	32 killed (Hezbollah claim)[7] 50–70 fighters (IDF claim)[8] "A very large number" (Winograd Report)[9] "Dozens" (Reuven Erlich)[10]
76 Lebanese civilians killed in Aynata,[11] Bint Jbeil,[7] and Aytaroun.[12]

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 (mainly Shia) inhabitants in Southern Lebanon. Although Brig.-Gen. Gal Hirsch announced on 25 July that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) 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.^[13] 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.