Bloodstained lyrics of Rabin’s “Song of Peace” from the rally
On 4 November 1995, at a rally in Tel Aviv in support of the peace process, Yitzchak Rabin was shot dead by a Jewish religious fanatic, Yigal Amir. Among those attending the funeral were King Hussein and President Mubarak who delivered eulogies, as well as representatives from Qatar and Oman and the Prime Minister of Morocco. Arafat did not attend, but delivered personal condolences. Shimon Peres assumed the office of Prime Minister on a caretaker basis until elections could be held.
1995-6 Caretaker Government of Shimon Peres – Incursion into Lebanon
On 11 April, under the caretaker administration of Shimon Peres following Rabin’s, Israeli forces entered south Lebanon, in a campaign entitled “Operation Grapes of Wrath”. The incursion was in response to an outbreak of “Katyusha” rocket attacks launched from south Lebanon against northern Israel towns and settlements. The attacks against Israel were made by the Hezbollah (“party of God”), a radical Shi’ite Muslim group, largely financed and armed by Iran, and with the active support of Syria.
The civilian population of South Lebanon were warned to evacuate the area. However a tragedy occurred on 18 April at the village of Kafr Kanna. Israeli artillery, responding to a Hezbollah mortar bombardment, fired from a position next to a United Nations encampment, struck the UN building in which civilians were sheltering, and 105 people were killed.