Israeli Invasion of Lebanon

The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) established a powerful presence in Lebanon after its expulsion from Jordan, operating within the fragmented political and military landscape of Lebanon’s civil war.[8] Palestinian organizations used Lebanese territory to launch cross-border attacks and rocket and mortar fire against northern Israel.[8] These attacks, the weakness of Lebanese central authority, and the presence of Syrian forces formed the setting for Israel’s interventions and its attempts to establish a more secure northern frontier.[1][8]

The immediate antecedent to Operation Litani was the Coastal Road attack of March 11, 1978, when an 11-person Palestinian terrorist cell entered Israel by sea and hijacked buses.[2] The attack killed dozens of Israelis, including children, and wounded many more.[2][9] Israel’s stated purpose in the ensuing operation was to prevent further terrorist attacks and improve the security of northern Israel.[9] Prime Minister Menachem Begin ordered the military to strike armed organizations in southern Lebanon.[2]

Lebanon’s government protested the intervention and maintained that it had no ties to the Palestinian terrorists operating within its territory.[9] The operation nevertheless exposed the problem of armed organizations using southern Lebanon while the Lebanese government lacked effective authority there.[9] Israel’s withdrawal later in 1978 transferred border positions to the South Lebanon Army, led by Israeli ally Saad Haddad, and informally established a security belt intended to protect Israeli territory from cross-border attacks.[1] The PLO subsequently regained strength in areas of southern Lebanon outside the South Lebanon Army’s presence.[10]

A ceasefire negotiated by American envoy Philip Habib in July 1981 preceded the 1982 invasion.[8] Israel and the PLO interpreted its scope differently: the PLO considered it an agreement covering direct cross-border hostilities, whereas Israel understood it to encompass PLO terrorist activity more broadly.[8] A United States-brokered ceasefire involving Israel, Syria, and the PLO had therefore been in place for almost a year when Israeli ground forces entered Lebanon in June 1982.[1] The months immediately before the invasion were relatively quiet along the Lebanese border.[5]

On June 3, 1982, members of the Abu Nidal Organization attempted to assassinate Israel’s ambassador to Britain, Shlomo Argov, in London, critically wounding him.[5] The attackers belonged to an organization opposed to the PLO, and Israeli plans for an invasion of Lebanon had already been prepared before the shooting.[5] Within hours, an Israeli cabinet meeting decided to strike 11 PLO targets in Lebanon; the PLO responded to Israeli airstrikes with mortar and artillery attacks on civilian targets in northern Israel.[5]

On June 4, the cabinet authorized air and artillery attacks on positions in Lebanon, followed by PLO rocket, artillery, and tank fire against Galilee and the Haddad-controlled enclave.[8] Over June 4–5, 23 Israeli communities came under attack, with approximately 500 Katyusha rockets fired, two people killed, and 15 wounded.[8] The attempted assassination and these exchanges immediately preceded the decision to invade, although the attackers’ organizational identity was separate from the PLO forces that became the operation’s principal Palestinian target.[5][8]

Israel’s cabinet decided on June 5 to launch Operation Peace for Galilee the following day.[8] Its resolution stated that the purpose was to place communities in Galilee beyond the range of terrorists, their headquarters, and their bases in Lebanon.[8] It also stipulated that Syrian forces were not to be attacked unless they attacked Israeli forces, and affirmed support for an independent Lebanon with territorial integrity.[8] Begin described the intended advance to President Ronald Reagan as pushing terrorists approximately 40 kilometers north of the border while stating that Israel did not covet Lebanese territory.[8]

The initial operational concept envisaged a 48-hour campaign establishing a security zone about 25 miles, or 40 kilometers, north of Israel’s border.[6] Begin presented the campaign to the cabinet as “an operation that is meant entirely to ensure the peace of our citizens…It’s not the conquest of territory.”[5] Broader strategic objectives included weakening Syrian influence, dismantling Palestinian military and political infrastructure, and supporting a Lebanese political order willing to conclude peace with Israel.[6][8]

The later 2024 operation arose from a different confrontation, involving almost a year of Hezbollah rocket, missile, and drone attacks.[11] Between October 2023 and August 2024, Hezbollah launched more than 7,500 rockets at Israel, while more than 60,000 Israelis remained displaced from northern communities when the ground operation began.[11] Israel’s stated objective was to remove Hezbollah infrastructure near the frontier and enable those residents to return home.[11]

Operation Litani began with Israeli airstrikes on March 15, 1978; ground troops entered Lebanon on March 16 and took most of the area between the international border and the Litani River, stopping short of Tyre.[2] Ynet describes the operation as a six-day campaign.[2] Israeli forces advanced across four sectors and sought to connect three Christian enclaves into a military belt.[2]

Many armed operatives fled during the operation’s first hours, while Israeli forces destroyed bases in the area.[2] Reported losses included 15 Israeli combatants and 300 armed operatives.[2] Armed groups continued shelling communities in northern Israel during the fighting.[2] The operation also drew international condemnation over its effects on southern Lebanon’s civilian population.[2]

On March 19, 1978, the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 425.[2] It called on Israel to cease military action against Lebanon’s territorial integrity and withdraw its forces from all Lebanese territory.[12] The resolution established the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, or UNIFIL, to confirm Israeli withdrawal, restore international peace and security, and assist the Lebanese government in reestablishing effective authority in the area.[12]

Resolution 426 was adopted the same day, and Defense Minister Ezer Weizman ordered withdrawal three days later.[2] UNIFIL personnel arrived on March 23 and established their headquarters in Naqoura.[2] As Israeli forces withdrew, Haddad’s Christian forces took over a stretch of the border area.[2] The resulting Israeli-supported enclave became an important element of the security arrangements preceding the next invasion.[1][8]

The 1982 invasion began at 11 a.m. local time on June 6 with a four-pronged armored assault, supported by aircraft and artillery, and a seaborne landing north of Sidon.[8] Israeli troops advanced northward, surrounded Tyre and Sidon, and engaged Syrian forces.[8] The original mission focused on eliminating PLO positions in southern Lebanon, but the advance soon extended beyond the announced security belt.[5][13]

The Security Council had adopted Resolution 508 on June 5, calling on all parties to cease military activities within Lebanon and across the Lebanese-Israeli border by 6 a.m. on June 6.[14] After the invasion began, Resolution 509 demanded that Israel withdraw its military forces “forthwith and unconditionally” to Lebanon’s internationally recognized boundaries and reiterated the demand for all parties to cease hostilities.[14]

Israeli forces rapidly overran Palestinian positions and destroyed Syrian installations in the Bekaa Valley.[13] The Israeli air force attacked Syrian missile batteries and fought Syrian aircraft, while ground forces confronted Syrian deployments in Lebanon.[8] The campaign broadened to include Beirut and areas northward toward the Beirut–Damascus highway.[15] Israeli forces had nearly encircled Beirut by June 12 and were surrounding the city by June 14.[8][10]

The movement beyond the 40-kilometer line brought increasing confrontation with Syrian forces and criticism from Washington.[5] On June 9, Reagan expressed concern that Israel had gone “substantially beyond” the line Begin had described.[5] Begin later argued that advancing beyond the line was necessary to secure it.[5] Israeli officials said the initial security-belt mission had been achieved, but the campaign continued.[8]

As operations expanded, Sharon described a security belt of approximately 45 kilometers as the minimum objective, while additional aims included removing foreign forces and establishing a strong Lebanese central government that might sign a peace treaty with Israel.[8] In parliamentary debate, Yitzhak Rabin warned against retaining Israeli forces in Lebanon to pursue such “auxiliary goals,” including removing Syrian forces, liquidating the PLO, or establishing an independent Lebanese government.[8] The broader political plan envisaged cooperation with Lebanese Christian forces and a government led by Bashir Gemayel that would make peace with Israel.[10]

Israeli forces besieged West Beirut, where Yasser Arafat and PLO units were concentrated.[16] The siege involved extensive shelling and bombardment, as well as interruptions to water and electricity.[8][16] Heavy bombardments and airstrikes caused substantial civilian casualties.[16] The blockade and fighting continued through July and August as negotiations sought a mechanism for the departure of Palestinian and Syrian forces.[6][10]

A United States-mediated arrangement established multinational supervision for the evacuation from Beirut.[16] Departures began on August 21 and were completed by September 1, with Palestinian personnel dispersed among several states.[8] A detailed count recorded 14,398 PLO, Palestine Liberation Army, and Syrian personnel leaving Beirut, accompanied by 664 women and children.[8] Arafat departed on August 30, and the PLO subsequently transferred its headquarters to Tunis.[8][16]

Gemayel, elected Lebanon’s president in August with acknowledged Israeli backing, was assassinated on September 14.[1] Israeli troops entered West Beirut the next day.[1] On September 16, Sharon and Chief of Staff Rafael Eitan permitted Lebanese Christian Phalangist forces to enter the Sabra and Shatila Palestinian refugee camps to search for remaining PLO forces.[13] Instead, the Phalangists massacred Palestinian civilians, with the killings continuing through September 18.[8][13]

The Israeli military had surrounded the camps, and the massacre generated intense scrutiny of the decision to allow the Phalangists inside and of Israeli officials’ subsequent actions.[8][17] After the massacre, Israeli troops left West Beirut and the multinational force returned.[10] Israel gradually retreated south amid continuing attacks and heavy losses.[10]

On October 1, 2024, the IDF confirmed that ground forces had begun limited, focused operations against Hezbollah targets near the border in southern Lebanon.[3] The operation followed a plan developed by Northern Command and the General Staff and months of preparation by the participating forces, with air and artillery support accompanying the ground action.[3]

Israeli officials described the immediate purpose as dismantling Hezbollah’s offensive infrastructure along the frontier and enabling residents of northern Israel to return safely to their communities.[3] The operation’s security rationale centered on preventing Hezbollah from retaining infrastructure close to Israeli border communities.[3]

A renewed war followed Hezbollah rocket fire into Israel in early March 2026, two days after the United States and Israel launched a war on Iran.[4] Israeli forces began another ground invasion and captured dozens of Lebanese villages and towns along the border.[4] In mid-March, forces from the 91st and 36th divisions conducted ground operations in eastern and other parts of southern Lebanon, while the 146th Division was deployed defensively in the west.[18]

The stated military objective was to expand the forward defense area and buffer zone, with airstrikes and artillery shelling preceding troop movements.[18] By March 16, Lebanese authorities reported at least 886 people killed in Israeli strikes, including at least 98 children identified in a World Health Organization count; the Israeli military separately reported more than 400 Hezbollah members killed since March 2.[18] A United States-brokered ceasefire paused the conflict in late June.[4]

The Sabra and Shatila massacre led to public pressure in Israel for an official inquiry, followed by the establishment of the Kahan Commission.[6] Over four months, the commission heard 58 summoned witnesses and collected additional testimony.[6] It published a 149-page report, accompanied by a classified addendum, on February 8, 1983.[6]

The commission identified the Phalangists as the perpetrators and concluded that Israel bore no direct responsibility for the massacre.[17] It nevertheless found indirect Israeli responsibility because officials had failed to give adequate consideration to the danger of a massacre when approving the Phalangists’ entry and had not acted energetically enough after reports of killings emerged.[17] It assigned personal responsibility to Sharon for disregarding the danger of bloodshed and revenge and failing to protect civilians.[6][17]

The inquiry concluded that Israel had not intended civilians to be harmed, while recommending that Sharon draw the appropriate personal conclusions and that the prime minister remove him if necessary.[6][17] Sharon resigned as defense minister.[13][17] The commission’s distinction between direct perpetration and indirect responsibility became central to the official Israeli assessment of the massacre.[17]

Israel withdrew from the Beirut area under American mediation following the 1983 Israel-Lebanon agreement.[1] The government decided on January 14, 1985, to withdraw most forces and establish a southern security zone.[10] A phased pullback in 1985 left Israeli troops and local allies in a strip intended to protect Galilee communities from cross-border attacks.[13] The zone was approximately nine miles wide.[13]

Israeli troops continued to suffer casualties in the security zone, particularly in attacks by Hezbollah.[13] During the ensuing conflict, Hezbollah emerged from a coalition of Shiʿi groups supported by Iran and Syria and became a principal opponent of Israeli forces in southern Lebanon.[1][13] The military presence consequently extended far beyond the original short operation presented in June 1982.[6][13]

In March 2000, Israel’s cabinet voted for a full withdrawal.[13] The remaining Israeli troops left unilaterally on May 24 under Prime Minister Ehud Barak’s government, ending Israel’s prolonged presence in the southern security zone.[10][13] Israeli forces had remained in Lebanon for nearly two decades after the initial invasion.[19]

The fighting imposed substantial Israeli military losses across different phases.[6][8] By the September 1, 1982 endpoint used in one contemporary account, 345 Israeli soldiers had been killed and 2,130 wounded.[8] For the first six months of the operation and its aftermath, the same account recorded 463 soldiers and other security personnel killed and more than 2,500 wounded.[8] The broader 1982–1985 war cost Israel 1,216 soldiers killed in action.[6] A separate official account records 353 Israeli soldiers killed in the fighting, using a narrower description of the campaign.[20]

Lebanese and Palestinian losses were also extensive. One account reports that Lebanese authorities attributed 17,825 deaths to the invasion, 84 percent of them civilians.[16] The figure reflects that source’s stated estimate and should not be combined with casualty figures drawn from different periods or methodologies.[16]

The 2024 fighting ended in a cessation of hostilities that took effect at 4 a.m. on November 27.[7] The agreement provided for Israeli forces to withdraw south of the Blue Line in phases while the Lebanese Armed Forces deployed in the southern Litani area.[7] Withdrawal and deployment were to be coordinated and completed within no more than 60 days.[7] Its provisions also sought to prevent armed groups other than Lebanon’s official forces from operating in the southern Litani area.[7]

The Lebanese army was to deploy at designated positions, dismantle unauthorized sites and infrastructure, and seize unauthorized weapons.[7] An explicit purpose was to enable civilians on both sides of the Blue Line to return safely to their homes.[7] The withdrawal deadline was subsequently set for February 18, 2025.[21]

On that date, Israeli forces withdrew from the other positions they had occupied but retained five strategic points near Israeli communities.[21] Israel maintained that control of these positions remained important for the security of northern residents.[21] Hezbollah and Lebanese leaders demanded a full withdrawal and criticized the continued Israeli presence.[21]

The 2026 war again produced large-scale displacement in Lebanon, reaching approximately 1.2 million people at its height, with more than 300,000 still displaced in subsequent reporting.[4] A June 26 framework agreement linked gradual Israeli withdrawal to verified Hezbollah disarmament, dismantling of its military infrastructure, and expanded deployment of the Lebanese Armed Forces.[22]

By late October 2026, President Joseph Aoun said that major issues—including a ceasefire, Israeli withdrawal, border demarcation, and prisoner releases—remained unresolved.[22] The process had largely stalled, and Israel continued holding a buffer zone in southern Lebanon.[22] Reporting on November 3 described sporadic fighting after the June agreement, with Israel characterizing its strikes as targeting Hezbollah or responding to fire on Israeli troops.[23] Lebanese officials argued that the strikes obstructed efforts to disarm Hezbollah, while Israel maintained that the Lebanese army had not demonstrated an ability to assume the envisioned security role.[23]

Accounts of the First Lebanon War use several possible endpoints: September 1, 1982, when the Beirut evacuation was completed and the opening operation was officially deemed to have ended; the January 1985 decision to withdraw most forces; or the final departure from the security zone in May 2000.[8][10] These definitions distinguish the initial Operation Peace for Galilee from the longer military presence and subsequent fighting in southern Lebanon. They also explain why casualty figures and accounts of the war’s duration differ substantially between treatments focused on the opening campaign and those covering the extended conflict.[8][10]

The 1982 invasion was a major Israeli intervention in the Lebanese Civil War.[1] It expelled the PLO’s leadership and military presence from Beirut and transferred the organization’s headquarters to Tunis, but the campaign also developed into a prolonged deployment against different adversaries in southern Lebanon.[8][16] Hezbollah’s emergence as an Iranian- and Syrian-supported force confronting Israel became a major part of that later military landscape.[1][13]

Within Israel, the war helped generate a large antiwar movement.[19] One account places participation in a major demonstration against the war at 400,000 people, approximately 8 percent of the population.[16] The conflict divided Israeli society and damaged Israel’s international image.[16] Growing opposition to the war was also among the factors contributing to Begin’s resignation in August 1983.[10]

Argov himself criticized the campaign’s human cost and Israel’s political and military leadership in a letter dictated approximately a year after he was shot.[19] His letter argued that planners “would have saved the lives of hundreds of our best sons.”[19] His intervention connected the suffering of the ambassador whose shooting preceded the invasion with criticism of the decisions that followed it.[19]

Debate over the 1982 war’s aims centers on the relationship between its publicly announced security belt and its broader political ambitions.[6][8] The latter included weakening Syrian influence, changing Lebanon’s political order under Gemayel, and obtaining a peace treaty.[6][10] Some cabinet ministers later accused Sharon of concealing the army’s real plans, while criticism in the United States intensified as Israeli forces moved farther north and the bombardment of Beirut increased.[5][10] The disagreement concerned both the necessity of invading after the Argov shooting and the decision to continue beyond the initially stated objective.[5][8]

The massacre at Sabra and Shatila remains another major focus of the war’s historical assessment, with differing victim estimates and continuing debate over responsibility.[16][17] The Kahan Commission’s report distinguished the Phalangists’ direct responsibility from Israel’s indirect responsibility and acknowledged that an exact death toll could not be established.[17] Its evidence included 460 bodies found by September 30 and an Israeli military intelligence estimate of 700–800 victims; other estimates place the toll at 800–1,500 Palestinian and Lebanese civilians.[16][17]

The separate operations should not be treated as one uninterrupted invasion: Operation Litani in 1978, the advance to Beirut in 1982, and the 2024 ground operation differed in scale, adversaries, and stated aims.[1][3] The 2026 invasion was likewise reported as a renewed campaign rather than a continuation of the earlier operations.[4] Nevertheless, the campaigns repeatedly involved the security of northern Israeli communities and questions about the ability of Lebanese authorities to prevent armed organizations from operating near the border.[9][7] The unresolved implementation of withdrawal and security arrangements after the 2024 and 2026 campaigns continued those questions into the latest reporting covered here.[21][23]