2006 Qana airstrike

The 2006 Qana airstrike (also referred to as the 2006 Qana massacre or the second Qana massacre) was an airstrike carried out by the Israeli Air Force (IAF) on a three-story building in the small community of al-Khuraybah near the South Lebanese village of Qana on July 30, 2006, during the 2006 Lebanon War. The strike killed 28 civilians, 16 of whom were children. Israel halted airstrikes for 48 hours following the attack, amid increasing calls for a ceasefire in the conflict between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah guerrillas.

Initial media reports stated that more than 50 people, including 37 children, had been killed, although later reports revised this to a lower figure of 28, including 16 children, with 13 people reported missing. Residents dug through the rubble with their hands, searching for survivors as bodies were removed. Video broadcast by Arab TV showed the bloodied bodies of women and children who appeared to be wearing nightclothes.

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF), although it admitted striking the building, initially denied that the explosion that caused the mass deaths were the result of their attack. This was contested by Qana's residents, who said the building collapsed due to the Israeli bombing. According to the IDF, the bombing was an attempt to stop Katyusha rockets supposedly being fired by Hezbollah into northern Israel from the village over a two-week period and said residents were warned to leave. According to Human Rights Watch, international observers and journalists said there was no evidence the building served any military purpose. Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora accused Israel of war crimes and asked, "Why, we wonder, did they choose Qana yet again?", in reference to an artillery shelling carried out by Israeli forces that killed over 100 civilians at a UN compound 10 years before. Kofi Annan urged the United Nations Security Council to condemn the attack.