Meidoun (ميدون) is a village in the West Beqaa District in southern Lebanon. Following the 1982 invasion it was just north of the Israeli security zone. In the late 1980s it had become a Hezbollah stronghold.

Meidoun
Village
Meidoun is located in Lebanon
Meidoun
Meidoun
Location within Lebanon
Coordinates: 33°28′9″N 35°38′26″E / 33.46917°N 35.64056°E / 33.46917; 35.64056
Country Lebanon
GovernorateBeqaa Governorate
DistrictWest Beqaa District
Elevation1,090 m (3,580 ft)
Time zoneUTC+2 (EET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+3 (EEST)
Dialing code+961

Modern history

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On 4 May 1988 the Israeli army launched a 48-hour offensive against Meidoun in an operation known as Operation Law and Order. UNIFIL estimated that the invading force involved 1,500 soldiers with a dozen tanks, armoured vehicles and Cobra helecopters and that the village was bombarded overnight with over 1000 shells. After several hours of fighting the army blew up the fifty houses that the village consisted of. Over the following days the South Lebanon Army used bulldozers to demolish the ruins. After the raid Israeli statements claimed 40-50 Hezbollah fighters had been killed. Three Israeli soldiers were killed and seventeen wounded. One of the Israeli fatalities was a result of Lebanese Army artillery fire. According to the claim of Hezbollah organization, at that time the captured Israeli navigator Ron Arad was in the village of Nabi Shit in the Lebanon Valley, and on the night of the operation he was killed.[2][3][4][5][6][7]

References

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  1. ^ Maydoun - Loussia, localiban
  2. ^ Rapaport, Amir (19 July 2008). "They erase the village, they erase Ron Arad". www.makorrishon.co.il. Retrieved 2024-06-03.
  3. ^ 40 Lebanese, 3 Israelis Die as Militia Destroys Village, 4 May 1988, Los Angeles Times
  4. ^ Three Israeli Soldiers Killed, 17 Wounded in Southern Lebanon, 5 May 1988, Jewish Telegraphic Agency
  5. ^ Israel’s 48-hour invasion, May 16, 1988, Maclean's
  6. ^ 359 Interview with Vice Premier and Foreign Minister Peres on Israel Television- 5 May 1988, Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs
  7. ^ Patrick Tyler, (2012): Fortress Israel ISBN 978-0-374-28104-5
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