Israel-Lebanon conflict - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Israeli–Lebanese conflict describes a series of related military clashes involving Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

, Lebanon

Lebanon

Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...

, and Syria

Syria

Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....

, as well as various non-state militias acting from within Lebanon.

The Palestine Liberation Organization

Palestine Liberation Organization

The Palestine Liberation Organization is a political and paramilitary organization which was created in 1964. It is recognized as the "sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people" by the United Nations and over 100 states with which it holds diplomatic relations, and has enjoyed...

(PLO) recruited militants in Lebanon from among the families of Palestinian refugee

Palestinian refugee

Palestinian refugees or Palestine refugees are the people and their descendants, predominantly Palestinian Arabic-speakers, who fled or were expelled from their homes during and after the 1948 Palestine War, within that part of the British Mandate of Palestine, that after that war became the...

s who had been expelled or fled due to the creation of Israel in 1948. By 1968, the PLO and Israel were committing cross border attacks against each other. After the PLO leadership and its Fatah

Fatah

Fataḥ is a major Palestinian political party and the largest faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization , a multi-party confederation. In Palestinian politics it is on the left-wing of the spectrum; it is mainly nationalist, although not predominantly socialist. Its official goals are found...

brigade were expelled from Jordan

Black September in Jordan

September 1970 is known as the Black September in Arab history and sometimes is referred to as the "era of regrettable events." It was a month when Hashemite King Hussein of Jordan moved to quash the militancy of Palestinian organizations and restore his monarchy's rule over the country. The...

for fomenting a revolt, they entered Lebanon and the cross-border violence increased. Meanwhile, demographic tensions

Demographics of Lebanon

This article is about the demographic features of the population of Lebanon, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population....

over the Lebanese National Pact

National Pact

The National Pact is an unwritten agreement that laid the foundation of Lebanon as a multi-confessional state, and has shaped the country to this day. Following negotiations between the Shi'ite, Sunni, and Maronite leaderships, the National Pact was born in the summer of 1943 allowing Lebanon to...

led to the Lebanese Civil War

Lebanese Civil War

The Lebanese Civil War was a multifaceted civil war in Lebanon. The war lasted from 1975 to 1990 and resulted in an estimated 150,000 to 230,000 civilian fatalities. Another one million people were wounded, and today approximately 350,000 people remain displaced. There was also a mass exodus of...

(1975–1990). Israel's 1978 invasion of Lebanon

Operation Litani

The 1978 South Lebanon conflict was an invasion in Lebanon up to the Litani River carried out by the Israel Defense Forces in 1978. It was a military success for the Israeli Defense Forces, as PLO forces were pushed north of the river...

pushed the PLO north of the Litani River

Litani River

The Litani River is an important water resource in southern Lebanon. The river rises in the fertile Beqaa Valley valley, west of Baalbek, and empties into the Mediterranean Sea north of Tyre. Exceeding 140 km in length, the Litani River is the longest river in Lebanon and provides an average...

, but the PLO continued their campaign against Israel. Israel invaded Lebanon

1982 Lebanon War

The 1982 Lebanon War , , called Operation Peace for Galilee by Israel, and later known in Israel as the Lebanon War and First Lebanon War, began on 6 June 1982, when the Israel Defense Forces invaded southern Lebanon...

again in 1982 and forcibly expelled the PLO. Israel withdrew to a slim borderland buffer zone

Israeli Security Zone

The Israeli Security Zone in southern Lebanon was a strip of territory of varying width, , from the Israeli border and the Golan Heights, occupied by Israeli forces from 1985 to 2000. Additional regions controlled by the South Lebanon Army are sometimes included under the term...

, held with the aid of proxy militants in the South Lebanon Army

South Lebanon Army

The South Lebanon Army , also "South Lebanese Army," was a Lebanese militia during the Lebanese Civil War. After 1979, the militia operated in southern Lebanon under the authority of Saad Haddad's Government of Free Lebanon...

(SLA). In 1985, Hezbollah, a Lebanese Shia resistance movement

Resistance movement

A resistance movement is a group or collection of individual groups, dedicated to opposing an invader in an occupied country or the government of a sovereign state. It may seek to achieve its objects through either the use of nonviolent resistance or the use of armed force...

Background

The territory of what would become the states of Israel and Lebanon was once part of the long-lived Ottoman Empire

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

(1299–1924) until its defeat in World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

. As a result of Sinai and Palestine Campaign

Sinai and Palestine Campaign

The Sinai and Palestine Campaigns took place in the Middle Eastern Theatre of World War I. A series of battles were fought between British Empire, German Empire and Ottoman Empire forces from 26 January 1915 to 31 October 1918, when the Armistice of Mudros was signed between the Ottoman Empire and...

in 1917, the British occupied Palestine

Palestine

Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....

and parts of what would become Syria

Syria

. French troops took Damascus

Damascus

Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...

in 1918. The League of Nations

League of Nations

The League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first permanent international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace...

officially gave the French the Mandate of Syria

French Mandate of Syria

Officially the French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon was a League of Nations mandate founded after the First World War and the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire...

and the British the Mandate of Palestine

Palestine (mandate)

The British Mandate for Palestine, also known as the Palestine Mandate, The British Mandate of Palestine and the Mandate for Palestine, was a legal commission for the administration of Palestine, the draft of which was formally confirmed by the Council of the League of Nations on 24 July 1922 and...

after the 1920 San Remo conference

San Remo conference

The San Remo Conference was an international meeting of the post-World War I Allied Supreme Council, held in Sanremo, Italy, from 19 to 26 April 1920. It was attended by the four Principal Allied Powers of World War I who were represented by the prime ministers of Britain , France and Italy and...

, in accordance with the 1916 Sykes-Picot Agreement

Sykes-Picot Agreement

The Sykes–Picot Agreement of 1916 was a secret agreement between the governments of the United Kingdom and France, with the assent of Imperial Russia, defining their respective spheres of influence and control in Western Asia after the expected downfall of the Ottoman Empire during World War I...

.

The largely Christian

Christian

A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

enclave of the French Mandate became the French-controlled Lebanese Republic in 1926. Lebanon became independent in 1943 as France was under German occupation, though French troops did not completely withdraw until 1946.

The rise of anti-Semitism

Anti-Semitism

Antisemitism is suspicion of, hatred toward, or discrimination against Jews for reasons connected to their Jewish heritage. According to a 2005 U.S...

in Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

, culminating in the Holocaust during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, had meant an increase of Jewish immigrants to a minority Jewish, majority Arab

Arab

Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...

Mandate. During the Great Arab Revolt

Great Arab Revolt

The Great Arab Revolt may refer to:*The 1916-1918 Arab Revolt against Ottoman rule, led by Sharif Hussein bin Ali*The Iraqi revolt against the British in 1920.*The Great Syrian Revolt of 1924-1927.*The 1936-1939 Arab revolt in Palestine....

of 1936–1939, and thereafter, the British increasingly came to rely on Jewish police forces

Notrim

The Notrim were a Jewish Police Force set up by the British in the Mandatory Palestine in 1936 to help defend Jewish lives and property during the 1936-1939 Arab revolt in Palestine. The force was divided into Supernumerary Police and highly mobile Settlement Police...

to help maintain order. Eventually, the resultant rise in ethnic tensions and violence between the Arabs and Jews due to Jewish immigration and collaboration

Collaboration

Collaboration is working together to achieve a goal. It is a recursive process where two or more people or organizations work together to realize shared goals, — for example, an intriguing endeavor that is creative in nature—by sharing...

would force the British to withdraw in 1947. (The area of their mandate

League of Nations mandate

A League of Nations mandate was a legal status for certain territories transferred from the control of one country to another following World War I, or the legal instruments that contained the internationally agreed-upon terms for administering the territory on behalf of the League...

east of the Jordan river had already become the independent state of Jordan

Jordan

Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...

in 1946.) The United Nations General Assembly

United Nations General Assembly

For two articles dealing with membership in the General Assembly, see:* General Assembly members* General Assembly observersThe United Nations General Assembly is one of the five principal organs of the United Nations and the only one in which all member nations have equal representation...

developed a gerrymandered 1947 UN Partition Plan

1947 UN Partition Plan

The United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine was created by the United Nations Special Committee on Palestine in 1947 to replace the British Mandate for Palestine with "Independent Arab and Jewish States" and a "Special International Regime for the City of Jerusalem" administered by the United...

, to attempt to give both Arabs and Jews their own states from the remains of the British Mandate; however, the situation quickly devolved into a full-fledged civil war.

1948 Arab-Israeli war

In 1948, the Lebanese army had by far the smallest regional army, consisting of only 3,500 soldiers. At the prompting of Arab leaders in the region, Lebanon agreed to join the other armies that were being assembled around the perimeter of the British Mandate territory of Palestine for the purpose of invading Palestine. Lebanon committed 1,000 of these soldiers to the cause. The Arab armies waited for the end of the Mandate and the withdrawal of British forces, which was set for March 15, 1948.

Israel declared its independence

Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel

The Israeli Declaration of Independence , made on 14 May 1948 , the day before the British Mandate was due to expire, was the announcement by David Ben-Gurion, the Executive Head of the World Zionist Organization and chairman of the Jewish Agency for Palestine, that the new Jewish state named the...

on May 14, 1948. The next day, the British Mandate officially expired and, in an official cablegram, the seven-member Arab League, including Lebanon, publicly proclaimed their aim of creating a democratic "United State of Palestine" in place of the two-state solution

Two-state solution

The two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the consensus solution that is currently under discussion by the key parties to the conflict, most recently at the Annapolis Conference in November 2007...

proposed by the United Nations

United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

. The League soon entered the conflict on the side of the Palestinian Arabs, thus beginning the international phase of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War

1948 Arab-Israeli War

The 1948 Arab–Israeli War, known to Israelis as the War of Independence or War of Liberation The war commenced after the termination of the British Mandate for Palestine and the creation of an independent Israel at midnight on 14 May 1948 when, following a period of civil war, Arab armies invaded...

. Egypt

Egypt

Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

, Lebanon

Lebanon

, Syria

Syria

, Transjordan

Transjordan

The Emirate of Transjordan was a former Ottoman territory in the Southern Levant that was part of the British Mandate of Palestine...

, and Iraq

Iraq

Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

declared war on the new state of Israel. They expected an easy and quick victory in what came to be called the 1948 Arab-Israeli War

1948 Arab-Israeli War

. The Lebanese army joined the other Arab armies in the invasion. It crossed into the northern Galilee

Galilee

Galilee , is a large region in northern Israel which overlaps with much of the administrative North District of the country. Traditionally divided into Upper Galilee , Lower Galilee , and Western Galilee , extending from Dan to the north, at the base of Mount Hermon, along Mount Lebanon to the...

. By the end of the conflict, however, it had been repulsed by Israeli forces, which occupied South Lebanon. Israel signed armistice agreement

1949 Armistice Agreements

The 1949 Armistice Agreements are a set of agreements signed during 1949 between Israel and neighboring Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria. The agreements ended the official hostilities of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, and established armistice lines between Israeli forces and the forces in...

s with each of its invading neighbors. The armistice with Lebanon was signed on 23 March 1949.
As part of the agreement with Lebanon, Israeli forces withdrew to the international border.

By the conclusion of that war, Israel had signed ceasefire agreements

1949 Armistice Agreements

with all of the neighbouring Arab countries. The territory it now controlled went well beyond what had been alloctaed to it under the United Nations Partition Plan, incorporating much of what had been promised to the Palestinian Arabs under the Plan. However, it was understood by all the state parties at the time that the armistice agreement

1949 Armistice Agreements

s were not peace treaties with Israel, nor the final resolution of the conflict between them, including the borders.

After the war, the United Nations estimated 711,000 Palestinian Arabs, out an estimated 1.8 million dwelling in the Mandate of Palestine, fled, emigrated or were forced out of Israel and entered neighboring countries. By 1949, there were 110,000 Palestinian Arabs in Lebanon, moved into camps established by and administered by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East

United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East

United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East is a relief and human development agency, providing education, health care, social services and emergency aid to 5 million Palestine refugees living in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria, as well as in the West Bank and the Gaza...

.

With the exception of two camps in the Beirut

Beirut

Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...

area, the camps were mostly Muslim

Muslim

A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...

. Lebanese Christian

Christian

s feared that the Muslim influx would affect their political dominance and their assumed demographic majority

Demographics of Lebanon

. Accordingly, they imposed restrictions on the status of the Palestinian refugees. The refugees could not work, travel, or engage in political activities. Initially the refugees were too impoverished to develop a leadership capable of representing their concerns. Less democratic regimes also feared the threat the refugees posed to their own rule, but Lebanon would prove too weak to maintain a crackdown.

The Palestine Liberation Organization

Palestine Liberation Organization

(PLO) recruited militants in Lebanon from among the families of Palestinian refugee

Palestinian refugee

s who had left Israel in 1948.

The 1967 Six-Day War

Despite sharing in the ongoing border tensions over water, Lebanon rejected calls by other Arab governments to participate in the 1967 Six-Day War

Six-Day War

The Six-Day War , also known as the June War, 1967 Arab-Israeli War, or Third Arab-Israeli War, was fought between June 5 and 10, 1967, by Israel and the neighboring states of Egypt , Jordan, and Syria...

. Militarily weak in the south, Lebanon could not afford conflict with Israel.

Nevertheless, the loss of the remainder of Palestine radicalized the Palestinians languishing in refugee camps hoping to return home. The additional influx of refugees turned Palestinian camps throughout the Middle East into centers of guerrilla activity.

Rise of the PLO (1968–1975)

From 1968 onwards, the Palestine Liberation Organization

Palestine Liberation Organization

(PLO) began conducting raids from Lebanon into Israel, and Israel began making retaliatory raids against Lebanese villages to encourage the Lebanese people to themselves deal with the fedayeen. After an Israeli airline was machine-gunned at Athens Airport, Israel bombed the Beirut International Airport in retaliation, destroying 13 civilian aircraft.

The unarmed citizenry could not expel the armed foreigners, while the Lebanese army was too weak militarily and politically. The Palestinian camps came under Palestinian control after a series of clashes in 1968 and 1969 between the Lebanese military and the emerging Palestinian guerrilla forces. In 1969 the Cairo Agreement

Cairo agreement

The Cairo agreement or Cairo accord was an agreement reached on 2 November 1969 during talks between Yassir Arafat and the Lebanese army commander General Emile Bustani...

guaranteed refugees the right to work, to form self-governing committees, and to engage in armed struggle. "The Palestinian resistance movement assumed daily management of the refugee camps, providing security as well as a wide variety of health, educational, and social services."

On 8 May 1970, a PLO faction called the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine

Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine

The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine is a Palestinian Marxist-Leninist, secular political and military organization. It is also frequently referred to as the Democratic Front, or al-Jabha al-Dimuqratiyah...

(DFLP) crossed into Israel and carried out the Avivim school bus massacre

Avivim school bus massacre

The Avivim school bus massacre was a terrorist attack on an Israeli school bus on May 8, 1970 in which 12 Israeli civilians were killed, nine of them children, and 25 were wounded. The attack took place on the road to Moshav Avivim, near Israel's border with Lebanon. Two bazooka shells were fired...

.

In 1970, the PLO attempted to overthrow a reigning monarch, King Hussein of Jordan

Hussein of Jordan

Hussein bin Talal was the third King of Jordan from the abdication of his father, King Talal, in 1952, until his death. Hussein's rule extended through the Cold War and four decades of Arab-Israeli conflict...

, and following his quashing of the rebellion in what Arab historians call Black September

Black September in Jordan

, the PLO leadership and their troops fled from Jordan

Jordan

to Syria

Syria

and finally Lebanon, where cross-border violence increased.

With headquarters now in Beirut

Beirut

, PLO factions recruited new members from the Palestinian refugee camps. South Lebanon was nicknamed "Fatahland" due to the predominance there of Yasser Arafat

Yasser Arafat

Mohammed Yasser Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf Arafat al-Qudwa al-Husseini , popularly known as Yasser Arafat or by his kunya Abu Ammar , was a Palestinian leader and a Laureate of the Nobel Prize. He was Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization , President of the Palestinian National Authority...

's Fatah

Fatah

organization. With its own army operating freely in Lebanon, the PLO had created a state within a state. By 1975, more than 300,000 Palestinian displaced persons lived in Lebanon.

In reaction to the 1972 Munich massacre

Munich massacre

The Munich massacre is an informal name for events that occurred during the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Bavaria in southern West Germany, when members of the Israeli Olympic team were taken hostage and eventually killed by the Palestinian group Black September. Members of Black September...

, Israel carried out Operation Spring of Youth

Operation Spring of Youth

The 1973 Israeli raid on Lebanon took place on the night of April 9 and early morning of April 10, 1973 when Israel Defense Forces special forces units attacked several Palestine Liberation Organization targets in Beirut and Sidon, Lebanon...

. Members of Israel's elite Special Forces

Sayeret Matkal

Sayeret Matkal is a special forces unit of the Israel Defence Forces , which is subordinated to the intelligence directorate Aman. First and foremost a field intelligence-gathering unit, conducting deep reconnaissance behind enemy lines to obtain strategic intelligence, Sayeret Matkal is also...

landed by boat in Lebanon on 9 April 1973, and with the aid of Israeli intelligence

Mossad

The Mossad , short for HaMossad leModi'in uleTafkidim Meyuchadim , is the national intelligence agency of Israel....

agents, infiltrated the PLO headquarters in Beirut and assassinated several members of its leadership.

In 1974 the PLO altered its focus to include political elements, necessary for a dialogue with Israel. Those who insisted on a military solution left to form the Rejectionist Front

Rejectionist Front

The Rejectionist Front or Front of the Palestinian Forces Rejecting Solutions of Surrender was a political coalition formed in 1974 by radical Palestinian factions who rejected the Ten Point Program adopted by the Palestine Liberation Organization in its 12th Palestinian National Congress ...

, and Yassir Arafat took over the PLO leadership role.

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command

Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command is a Palestinian nationalist organization, backed by Syria and Iran...

, which split from the PLO in 1974, carried out the Kiryat Shmona massacre

Kiryat Shmona massacre

The Kiryat Shmona massacre was an attack by three members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command on civilians in the Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona on 11 April 1974 which resulted in 18 deaths.-The attack:...

in April of that year. In May 1974, the DFLP crossed again into Israel and carried out the Ma'alot massacre

Ma'alot massacre

The Ma'alot massacre was a terrorist attack which included a two-day hostage-taking of 115 people which ended in the deaths of over 25 hostages. It began when three armed Palestinian terrorists of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine entered Israel from Lebanon...

Lebanese Civil War (1975-1990)

The Lebanese Civil War

Lebanese Civil War

(1975–1990) was a complex conflict in the form of various factions and shifting alliances between and among Lebanese Maronite Catholics, Lebanese Muslims, Palestinian Muslims, Lebanese Druze, and other non-sectarian groups. Governmental power had been allotted among the different religious groups by the National Pact

National Pact

based partially on the results of the 1932 census

Demographics of Lebanon

. Changes in demographics

Demographics of Lebanon

and increased feelings of deprivation by certain ethnic groups, as well as Israeli-Palestinian clashes in the south of the county all contributed to the outbreak of the Lebanese Civil War

Lebanese Civil War

.

Beginning in May 1976, Israel supplied the Maronite militias, including the Lebanese Forces

Lebanese Forces

The Lebanese Forces is a Lebanese political party. Founded as a militia by Bachir Gemayel during the Lebanese Civil War, the movement fought as the main militia within the Christian-dominated Lebanese Front...

, led by Bachir Gemayel

Bachir Gemayel

Bachir Gemayel was a Lebanese politician, militia commander, and president-elect...

, with arms, tanks, and military advisers. The border between Israel and Lebanon was at this time was nicknamed the Good Fence

Good Fence

The Good Fence is a popular term for Israel's northern border with Lebanon during the period following the Lebanese Civil War and the 1978 South Lebanon conflict during which southern Lebanon was controlled by the Maronite Christians and the South Lebanon Army, friendly to Israel.From the 1948...

.

Fearing loss of commercial access to the port of Beirut

Beirut

, in June 1976 Syria

Syria

intervened in the civil war to support the Maronite dominated government, and by October had 40,000 troops stationed within Lebanon.

Operation Litani

On 11 March 1978, eleven PLO militants made a sea landing in Haifa, Israel, where they hijacked a bus full of people, killing those on board in what is known as the Coastal Road massacre

Coastal Road massacre

The Coastal Road massacre of 1978 was an attack involving the hijacking of a bus on Israel's Coastal Highway in which 38 Israeli civilians, including 13 children, were killed, and 71 were wounded. The attack was planned by Abu Jihad and carried out by the PLO faction Fatah...

. By the end of the day, nine hijackers and 37 Israeli civilians were dead.

In response, on 14 March 1978, Israel launched Operation Litani

Operation Litani

occupying southern Lebanon, except for the city of Tyre, with 25,000 troops. The objective was to push the PLO away from the border and bolster a Lebanese militia allied with Israel, the South Lebanese Army (SLA). However, the PLO concluded from the name of the operation that the invasion would halt at the Litani River

Litani River

and moved their forces north, leaving behind a token force of a few hundred men. As a result, the casualties were almost all civilians.

On 19 March 1978, the United Nations Security Council

United Nations Security Council

The United Nations Security Council is one of the principal organs of the United Nations and is charged with the maintenance of international peace and security. Its powers, outlined in the United Nations Charter, include the establishment of peacekeeping operations, the establishment of...

passed Resolution 425

United Nations Security Council Resolution 425

United Nations Security Council Resolution 425, adopted on March 19, 1978, five days after the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, called on Israel to withdraw immediately its forces from Lebanon and established the United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon...

, which called for Israel's immediate withdrawal and the establishment of a United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon

United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, or UNIFIL, was created by the United Nations, with the adoption of Security Council Resolution 425 and 426 on 19 March 1978, to confirm Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon which Israel had invaded five days prior, restore international peace and security,...

. When Israel forces withdrew later in 1978, they turned over its positions in Lebanon to the South Lebanon Army which would continue fighting as a proxy for Israel against the PLO until Israel drove the PLO out of Lebanon in 1982.

On 22 April 1979, Samir Kuntar

Samir Kuntar

Samir Kuntar is a Lebanese Druze convicted murderer and former member of the Palestine Liberation Front...

and three other members of the Palestine Liberation Front

Palestine Liberation Front

The Palestine Liberation Front is a Palestinian militant group, which is designated as a terrorist organization by Canada, the European Union and the USA. It is presently led by Dr. Wasel Abu Yousef.-Origins:...

, a sometimes faction of the PLO, landed in Nahariya, Israel

Nahariya

Nahariya is the northernmost coastal city in Israel, with an estimated population of 51,200.-History:Nahariya was founded by German Jewish immigrants from the Fifth Aliyah in the 1930s...

from Tyre, Lebanon by boat. After killing a police officer who had discovered their presence, they took a father and his daughter hostage in an apartment building. After fleeing with the hostages from police back to the beach, a shootout killed one policeman and two of the invaders. Kuntar then executed the hostages before he and the remaining invader were captured.

In April 1981, the United States brokered a cease-fire in southern Lebanon among Israel, Syria and the PLO.

1982 Lebanon war and Israeli occupation (June 6, 1982–January 1985)

The 1982 Lebanon war

1982 Lebanon War

began on 6 June 1982, when Israel invaded again for the purpose of retaliation attacking the Palestine Liberation Organization

Palestine Liberation Organization

. During the conflict, over 17,000 Lebanese were killed, and the Israeli army laid siege to Beirut

Siege of Beirut

The Siege of Beirut took place in the summer of 1982, as part of the 1982 Lebanon War, which resulted from the breakdown of the cease-fire effected by the United Nations...

. Fighting also occurred between Israel and Syria

Syria

. The United States, fearing a widening conflict and the prestige the siege was giving PLO leader Yasser Arafat

Yasser Arafat

, got all sides to agree to a cease-fire and terms for the PLO's withdrawal on 12 August. The predominantly Muslim Multinational Force in Lebanon

Multinational Force in Lebanon

The Multinational Force in Lebanon was an international peacekeeping force created in 1982 and sent to Lebanon to oversee the withdrawal of the Palestine Liberation Organization...

arrived to keep the peace and ensure PLO withdrawal. Arafat retreated from Beirut on 30 August 1982 and settled in Tunisia

Tunisia

Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...

.

The National Assembly of Lebanon narrowly chose Bachir Gemayel

Bachir Gemayel

Bachir Gemayel was a Lebanese politician, militia commander, and president-elect...

as president-elect

President-elect

An -elect is a political candidate who has been elected to an office but who has not yet been sworn in or officially taken office. These may include an incoming president, senator, representative, governor and mayor.Analogously, the term "designate" An -elect is a political candidate who has been...

, but when he was assassinated on 14 September 1982, Israel reoccupied West Beirut and Maronite militias carried out the Sabra and Shatila massacre

Sabra and Shatila massacre

The Sabra and Shatila massacre took place in the Sabra and Shatila Palestinian refugee camps in Beirut, Lebanon between September 16 and September 18, 1982, during the Lebanese civil war. Palestinian and Lebanese civilians were massacred in the camps by Christian Lebanese Phalangists while the camp...

.

In 1983, the United States brokered the May 17 Agreement

May 17 Agreement

The May 17 Agreement of 1983 was a failed U.S.-backed attempt to create peace between Lebanon and Israel during the Lebanese Civil War, after Israel invaded Lebanon and besieged Beirut in 1982...

, a peace treaty between Israel and Lebanon in all but name. The agreement called for a staged Israeli withdrawal over the next eight to twelve weeks and the establishment of a "security zone" to be patrolled by the Lebanese army in southern Lebanon, but was conditional on Syrian withdrawal as well. In August 1983, as Israel withdrew from the areas southeast of Beirut to the Awali River, Lebanese factions clashed for control of the freed territory.

In February 1984, the Lebanese Army collapsed, with many units forming their own militias. The National Assembly of Lebanon, under pressure from Syria and Muslim militias, cancelled the May 17 Agreement on 5 March 1984.

On 15 January 1985, Israel adopted a phased withdrawal plan, finally retreating to the Litani River

Litani River

to form the 4–12 kilometer (2.5–9 mi) deep Israeli Security Zone

Israeli Security Zone

(map at) while using the native South Lebanese Army militia to help control it.

Consolidation of Hezbollah (February 1985–May 2000)

On 16 February 1985, Shia Sheik Ibrahim al-Amin declared a manifesto

Manifesto

A manifesto is a public declaration of principles and intentions, often political in nature. Manifestos relating to religious belief are generally referred to as creeds. Manifestos may also be life stance-related.-Etymology:...

in Lebanon, announcing a resistance movement

Resistance movement

called Hezbollah, whose goals included combating the Israeli occupation. During the 1982-2000 South Lebanon conflict

1982-2000 South Lebanon conflict

The South Lebanon conflict refers to nearly 20 years of warfare between the Israel Defense Force and its Lebanese proxy militias and Lebanese Muslim guerrillas led by the Iranian-backed Hezbollah within what was defined by Israelis as the "Security Zone" in South Lebanon...

the Hezbollah militia waged a guerrilla campaign against Israeli forces occupying Southern Lebanon and their South Lebanon Army

South Lebanon Army

proxies. "Throughout the period of 1985-92, there were very few limited exchanges between Israeli and Hezbollah or Amal forces in southern Lebanon", and "with the exception of 1988, during which twenty-one Israeli soldiers were killed, the number of Israeli fatalities per year over this period was in the single-digit figure".

By the end of 1990 the Lebanese Civil War

Lebanese Civil War

was effectively over. In March 1991, the National Assembly of Lebanon passed an amnesty law that pardoned all political crimes prior to its enactment, and in May 1991, the militias—with the important exceptions of Hezbollah and the SLA—were dissolved, and the Lebanese Armed Forces

Lebanese Armed Forces

The Lebanese Armed Forces or Forces Armées Libanaises in French, also known as the Lebanese Army according to its official Website The Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) (Arabic: القوات المسلحة اللبنانية | Al-Quwwāt al-Musallaḥa al-Lubnāniyya) or Forces Armées Libanaises in French, also known as the...

began to slowly rebuild themselves as Lebanon's only major non-sectarian institution.

In 1992, Hezbollah won ten out of 128 seats in the Lebanese National Assembly

Parliament of Lebanon

The Parliament of Lebanon is the national parliament of Lebanon. There are 128 members elected to a four-year terms in multi-member constituencies, apportioned among Lebanon's diverse Christian and Muslim denominations. Lebanon has universal adult suffrage...

.

On 25 July 1993 Israel launched Operation Accountability

Operation Accountability

On July 25, 1993, Israeli forces launched a week-long attack against Lebanon named Operation Accountability in Israel and the Seven-Day War in Lebanon...

, known in Lebanon as the Seven-Day War, in retaliation for attacks by both Hezbollah and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command

Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command is a Palestinian nationalist organization, backed by Syria and Iran...

which had killed five soldiers in the security zone. Thousands of buildings were bombed, resulting in 120 dead and 300,000 displaced civilians. Israeli forces also destroyed infrastructure such as power stations and bridges. Hezbollah retaliated with rocket attacks on Israeli villages, though inflicting significantly fewer casualties.

On 11 April 1996 Israel initiated Operation Grapes of Wrath

Operation Grapes of Wrath

Operation Grapes of Wrath is the Israeli Defense Forces code-name for a sixteen-day campaign against Lebanon in 1996 in an attempt to end shelling of Northern Israel by Hezbollah. Israel conducted more than 1,100 air raids and extensive shelling...

, which Hezbollah calls the April War, subsequent to Hezbollah launching missiles into Israel, which was in turn a response to the killing of two Lebanese by an IDF missile, and the killing of Lebanese boy by a road-side bomb. Israel conducted massive air raids and extensive shelling in southern Lebanon. 106 Lebanese died in the shelling of Qana

1996 shelling of Qana

The 1996 shelling of Qana or the First Qana massacre, took place on April 18, 1996 near Qana, a village in Southern Lebanon, when artillery shells fired by the Israeli Defence Force hit a United Nations compound. Of 800 Lebanese civilians who had taken refuge in the compound, 106 were killed and...

, when a UN compound was hit in an Israeli shelling. The conflict ended on 26 April 1996 with the Israeli-Lebanese Ceasefire Understanding

Israeli-Lebanese Ceasefire Understanding

The Israeli–Lebanese Ceasefire Understanding was an informal written agreement between Israel and Hezbollah, reached through the diplomatic efforts of the US, which ended the 1996 military conflict between the two sides...

in which both Hezbollah and Israel agreed to forgo attacks on civilians.

From 1985 through 2000, Israel continued to fund the South Lebanon Army. In January 2000, Hezbollah assassinated the man responsible for day to day SLA operations, Colonel Akel Hashem. The Israeli Air Force, in apparent response, on 7 February struck Lebanon's civilian infrastructure, including power stations at Baalbek

Baalbek

Baalbek is a town in the Beqaa Valley of Lebanon, altitude , situated east of the Litani River. It is famous for its exquisitely detailed yet monumentally scaled temple ruins of the Roman period, when Baalbek, then known as Heliopolis, was one of the largest sanctuaries in the Empire...

, Deir Nbouh and Jambour. Eighteen
people were reported to have been injured.

Following its declaration of intent to implement UNSC Resolution 425

United Nations Security Council Resolution 425

on 1 April 1998, and after the collapse of the South Lebanon Army in the face of a Hezbollah onslaught, Israel declared 24 May 2000 that they would withdraw to their side of the UN designated border, the Blue Line

Blue Line (Lebanon)

The Blue Line is a border demarcation between Lebanon and Israel published by the United Nations on 7 June 2000 for the purposes of determining whether Israel had fully withdrawn from Lebanon...

, 22 years after the resolution had been approved. The South Lebanon Army

South Lebanon Army

's equipment and positions largely fell into the hands of Hezbollah.
Lebanon celebrates 25 May, Liberation Day

Liberation Day (Lebanon)

Liberation Day is a holiday in Lebanon on May 25.On May 25, 2000, the Israeli army withdrew from territory in Southern Lebanon after 22 years of occupation. The United Nations certified that the withdrawal was complete, with troops having left territory demarcated by the Blue Line...

, as a national holiday.

Border clashes, assassinations (September 2000–July 2006)

In September 2000, Hezbollah forged an electoral coalition with the Amal movement
Amal Movement
Amal Movement is short for the Lebanese Resistance Detachments the acronym for which, in Arabic, is "amal", meaning "hope."Amal was founded in 1975 as the militia wing of the Movement of the Disinherited, a Shi'a political movement founded by Musa...

. The ticket swept all 23 parliamentary seats allotted for south Lebanon in that region's first election since 1972.

On October 7, 2000, three Israeli soldiers
Israel Defense Forces
The Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal , are the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel...

– Adi Avitan, Staff Sgt. Benyamin Avraham, and Staff Sgt. Omar Sawaidwere – were abducted by Hezbollah across the Israeli-Lebanese border
Blue Line (Lebanon)
The Blue Line is a border demarcation between Lebanon and Israel published by the United Nations on 7 June 2000 for the purposes of determining whether Israel had fully withdrawn from Lebanon...

. The soldiers were killed either during the attack or in its immediate aftermath.

After Hezbollah killed an Israeli soldier in an attack on an armored bulldozer that had crossed the border to clear bombs on 20 January 2004, Israel bombed two of the group's bases.

On 29 January 2004, in a German-mediated prisoner swap, one time Amal
Amal Movement
Amal Movement is short for the Lebanese Resistance Detachments the acronym for which, in Arabic, is "amal", meaning "hope."Amal was founded in 1975 as the militia wing of the Movement of the Disinherited, a Shi'a political movement founded by Musa...

security head Mustafa Dirani
Mustafa Dirani
Mustafa Dirani was a member and held position of "the head of security" of the Amal movement, a Shi'a militia in Lebanon associated with Syria. In 1987 he started contacts with pro-Iran sources, and eventually he created contacts between them and the rest of the leadership of Amal...

, who had been captured by Israeli commandos in 1994, and 22 other Lebanese detainees, about 400 Palestinians, and 12 Israeli-Arabs were released from Israeli prisons in exchange for Israeli businessman Elchanan Tenenbaum, who had been captured by Hezbollah in October 2000. The remains of 59 Lebanese militants and civilians and the bodies of the three Israeli soldiers captured on 7 October 2000 were also part of the exchange. Hezbollah requested that maps showing Israeli mines in South Lebanon be included in the deal.

In May 2004, Hezbollah militiamen killed an Israeli soldier along the border within the Israeli held Shebaa Farms.

Between July and August 2004 there was a period of more intense border conflict. Hezbollah said the clash began when Israeli forces shelled its positions, while Israel said that Hezbollah had started the fighting with a sniper attack on a border outpost.

On 2 September 2004 Resolution 1559

United Nations Security Council Resolution 1559

United Nations Security Council Resolution 1559, adopted on September 2, 2004, after recalling resolutions 425 , 426 , 520 and 1553 on the situation in Lebanon, the Council supported free and fair presidential elections in Lebanon and called upon remaining foreign forces to withdraw from the...

was approved by the United Nations Security council, calling for the disbanding of all Lebanese militia. An armed Hezbollah was seen by the Israeli government as a contravention of the resolution. The Lebanese government differed from this interpretation.

Syria

Syria

n troops withdrew from Lebanon in April 2005.

On 26 May 2006, a car bomb killed Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader Mahmoud Majzoub and his brother in Sidon

Sidon

Sidon or Saïda is the third-largest city in Lebanon. It is located in the South Governorate of Lebanon, on the Mediterranean coast, about 40 km north of Tyre and 40 km south of the capital Beirut. In Genesis, Sidon is the son of Canaan the grandson of Noah...

. Prime Minister of Lebanon Fuad Saniora called Israel the prime suspect, but Israel denied involvement. On 28 May 2006, rockets were fired from Lebanon into Israel. Hours later, Israel responded by bombing suspected militant rocket launch sites and exchanging fire across the border. The United Nations

United Nations

negotiated a ceasefire the same day.

On 10 June 2006 the Lebanese army arrested members of an alleged Israeli spy ring, including Mahmoud Rafeh, his wife, and two children. Police discovered bomb-making materials, code machines and other espionage equipment in his home. Rafeh reportedly confessed to the Majzoub killings and to working for Mossad

Mossad

The Mossad , short for HaMossad leModi'in uleTafkidim Meyuchadim , is the national intelligence agency of Israel....

, and admitted that his cell had assassinated two Hezbollah leaders in 1999 and 2003 and the son of Ahmed Jibril

Jihad Ahmed Jibril

Mohammed Jihad Ahmed Jibril was the son of Ahmed Jibril, founder of the PFLP-GC. He was assassinated in Beirut on May 20, 2002 at the age of 38. Jihad Ahmed Jibril was born in Damascus, Syria in 1964; he attended high school at ثانوية عز الدين التنوخي and graduated in May of 1982. Mr...

, leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command, in 2002. Former Lebanese Minister Walid Jumblatt

Walid Jumblatt

Walid Jumblatt is a Lebanese politician and the current leader of the Progressive Socialist Party . He is the most prominent leader of Lebanon's Druze community.-Family:...

, an outspoken critic of Hezbollah, suspected that the exposure of the spy ring was a Hezbollah fabrication.

2006 Lebanon War

On 12 July 2006, in an incident known as Zar'it-Shtula incident

Zar'it-Shtula incident

The 2006 Hezbollah cross-border raid was a cross-border attack committed by Lebanon-based Hezbollah militants on an Israeli military patrol on 12 July 2006 on Israeli territory....

, the Hezbollah initiated diversionary rocket attacks on Israeli military positions near the coast and near the Israeli border village of Zar'it

Zar'it

Zar'it is an moshav in northern Israel. Located in the Upper Galilee near the Lebanese border, it falls under the jurisdiction of Ma'ale Yosef Regional Council. In 2006 it had a population of 250....

, while another Hezbollah group crossed from Lebanon into Israel and ambushed two Israeli Army vehicles, killing three Israeli soldiers and seizing two.

Hezbollah promptly demanded the release of Lebanese prisoners held by Israel, including Samir Kuntar

Samir Kuntar

Samir Kuntar is a Lebanese Druze convicted murderer and former member of the Palestine Liberation Front...

and an alleged surviving perpetrator

Yahya Skaf

Yahya Skaf, also spelled Yehia Skaff, from the Bhanine district of Lebanon, is a person claimed to have been arrested by Israel on 11 March 1978 for participation in the Coastal Road massacre. He has never been tried and Israel claims he was killed during battle with his body never found...

of the Coastal Road massacre

Coastal Road massacre

, in exchange for the release of the captured soldiers.

Heavy fire between the sides was exchanged across the length of the Blue Line

Blue Line (Lebanon)

The Blue Line is a border demarcation between Lebanon and Israel published by the United Nations on 7 June 2000 for the purposes of determining whether Israel had fully withdrawn from Lebanon...

, with Hezbollah targeting IDF positions near Israeli towns.

Thus began the 2006 Lebanon War. Israel responded with massive airstrikes and artillery fire on targets throughout Lebanon, an air and naval blockade, and a ground invasion of southern Lebanon. In Lebanon the conflict killed over 1,500 people, mostly civilians, severely damaged infrastructure, displaced about one million people. Israel suffered 42 civilian deaths as a result of prolonged rocket attacks being launched into northern Israel causing the displacement of half a million Israelis. Normal life across much of Lebanon and northern Israel was disrupted. These are besides the deaths in combat.

A United Nations

United Nations

-brokered ceasefire went into effect on 14 August 2006. The blockade was lifted on 8 September.

Post-2006 war activity

Since the 2006 Lebanon War, there have been only isolated incidents.

On 7 February 2007, there was an exchange of gunfire near Avivim

Avivim

Avivim , is an Israeli moshav in the far north of Israel, in the Upper Galilee. It is located less than one kilometre from the Lebanese border, and on the land of the depopulated Shiite village of Salha ....

between the Lebanese Armed Forces

Lebanese Armed Forces

and the Israel Defence Forces, culminating in the firing of two IDF tank shells over the border. There were no injuries on either side. The UN Secretary-General stated it was first armed incident since the end of the last war and that the first fire was by the Lebanese army without any provocation since the IDF was operating inside Israeli territory.

On 17 June 2007, an unknown militant group fired two rockets from Lebanon

Lebanon

into northern Israel, an action which the UN condemned as a serious violation of the ceasefire. Hezbollah denied involvement in the incident, and Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

emphasized that it would restrain itself from responding by force. Saniora pledged that "The state ... will spare no effort in uncovering those who stand behind this incident."

As of December 2007, Hezbollah had not disarmed, and continued to recruit armed fighters, with a focus on influencing anti-Government protests in Lebanon.

On August 3, 2010, IDF forces clashed

2010 Israel–Lebanon border clash

The 2010 Israel–Lebanon border clash occurred on August 3, 2010, between the Lebanese Armed Forces and Israel Defense Forces , after an IDF team attempted to cut down a tree on the Israeli side of the Blue Line, near the Israeli kibbutz of Misgav Am and the Lebanese village of Adaisseh...

with the Lebanese army, resulting in the deaths of one Israeli officer, 2 Lebanese soldiers and a Lebanese journalist. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the situation, stating that he holds the "Lebanese Government totally responsible for violating United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701

United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701

". The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon

United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon

(UNIFIL) confirmed Israeli soldiers were on the Israeli side of the Blue Line border when Lebanese troops opened fire. However, the Syrian, Egyptian, and Lebanese governments hold the IDF accountable for the breach the UN resolution.

On August 19, 2010, the Lebanese military reported that 12 aircraft belonging to the IDF entered into Lebanese territory, which they claim is a violation of Resolution 1701. In the three incidents, the IDF planes made circle maneuvers, fired no shots and left Lebanese airspace soon after.

On August 1, 2011, Israeli soldiers and Lebanese soldiers clashed in a fire fight. At first it was reported that a Lebanese soldier was killed, but UNIFIL later said no one was killed. UNIFIL findings showed that Israel had not crossed the border, and there was no cause for the clash.

Background

1948 Arab-Israeli war

The 1967 Six-Day War

Rise of the PLO (1968–1975)

Lebanese Civil War (1975-1990)

Operation Litani

1982 Lebanon war and Israeli occupation (June 6, 1982–January 1985)

Consolidation of Hezbollah (February 1985–May 2000)

Border clashes, assassinations (September 2000–July 2006)

2006 Lebanon War

Post-2006 war activity

See also