Qana, Lebanon shelters bombed three times in three decades

Qana, a small Lebanese village near the southern border, has seen its civilian shelters bombed three times over the past thirty years, according to data compiled by the monitoring group AJLabs. The first strike occurred in 1996 during the Israeli military’s Operation Grapes of Wrath, when artillery fire hit a United Nations‑run shelter, killing over a hundred civilians. A second attack was recorded in 2006 amid the Israel‑Hezbollah war, when Israeli airstrikes targeted a makeshift refuge used by displaced families. The most recent bombing took place in 2023, when Israeli forces again struck a shelter that housed residents fleeing ongoing cross‑border hostilities, resulting in multiple casualties and extensive damage to the village’s infrastructure.

AJLabs, which uses satellite imagery and on‑the‑ground reports to document conflict‑related damage, has highlighted Qana as a recurring target of Israeli military operations, noting a pattern of repeated strikes on the same locality despite international calls for the protection of civilian structures. The organization’s findings underscore the challenges faced by humanitarian agencies operating in the area, as repeated bombings have strained local resources and complicated evacuation efforts. While Israeli officials have cited security concerns for the operations, the documented incidents raise questions about compliance with international humanitarian law and the long‑term impact on the civilian population of Qana.