Lebanon War

The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) established its organizational and operational center in Lebanon after its expulsion from Jordan in 1970, and used southern Lebanon as a base for attacks on Israel.[2][5] Its growing military presence included training centers and positions from which attacks were launched against civilians in northern Israel.[1] By the early 1980s, Lebanon lacked an effective central government: Syria dominated much of the east and north, while the PLO controlled substantial territory south of Beirut.[5] Lebanon’s civil war lasted from 1975 to 1990 and killed an estimated 150,000 people; Syria, Israel, Iran, and the United States were among the external powers involved.[6]

Israel’s involvement in southern Lebanon preceded the 1982 invasion.[7] Following Operation Litani in 1978, Israeli forces withdrew, while an alliance with the South Lebanon Army maintained a buffer zone along the border.[7] Palestinian terrorist groups subsequently reestablished activity in the area.[7] Israel also conducted covert discussions with Lebanese Christian leaders, creating a political and military relationship that would become important during the later campaign.[7]

A ceasefire negotiated by American envoy Philip Habib took effect on July 24, 1981.[5] Israel and the PLO understood its geographical scope differently: the PLO treated it as covering hostilities across the Israel–Lebanon border, whereas Israel understood it as applying to PLO activity everywhere.[5] The American interpretation covered attacks launched from Lebanon or across another international border.[2] Israeli concern that the ceasefire allowed the PLO to strengthen itself formed part of the continuing regional tensions.[8] Although the Lebanese border was relatively quiet in the months immediately preceding June 1982, Israeli plans for an operation in Lebanon had already been formulated.[9]

On June 3, 1982, members of the Abu Nidal Organization attempted to assassinate Shlomo Argov, Israel’s ambassador to Britain, in London, critically wounding him.[9] The organization opposed the PLO, which was not responsible for the shooting.[9] The following day, Israeli leaders authorized strikes on 11 terrorist targets in Lebanon, including two in Beirut.[9] Israeli attacks on June 4 were followed by PLO rocket, artillery, and tank fire against northern Israeli communities.[5] Over June 4–5, 23 Israeli settlements came under attack, approximately 500 Katyusha rockets were fired, two people were killed, and 15 were wounded.[5]

The Israeli cabinet approved Operation Peace for the Galilee on June 5.[5] Prime Minister Menachem Begin described the intended advance as approximately 40 kilometers into Lebanon and said Israeli forces would stop firing upon reaching that line.[9] The public resolution sought to put Galilee communities beyond the range of terrorists, their headquarters, and their bases, while directing that Syrian forces not be attacked unless they attacked Israeli troops first.[5] Begin also told American President Ronald Reagan that Israel did not covet Lebanese territory.[5] The original declared operation was expected to last 48 hours and establish control over an area approximately 25 miles north of the border.[3]

Israeli forces entered Lebanon at 11 a.m. on June 6, 1982, in a four-pronged armored assault supported by aircraft and artillery, accompanied by a seaborne landing north of Sidon.[5] The advance followed the coast, the central mountain region, and the Bekaa Valley, with fighting around Tyre and Sidon and movement through the Shouf Mountains.[10] A landing north of the Awali River separated the PLO headquarters in Beirut from forces farther south.[10] The campaign’s declared immediate purpose was to remove the rocket threat to northern Israel and destroy terrorist organizations’ infrastructure in southern Lebanon.[11][12]

On June 7, the Golani Brigade captured Beaufort castle after close fighting in which six Israeli soldiers, including the assault-force commander, were killed.[5] Israeli troops advancing toward Tyre and Sidon also encountered Syrian forces near Jezzine.[5] Tank battles followed on June 7–8, and six Syrian aircraft were shot down on June 8.[5] The advance brought Israeli troops into a wider confrontation with the Syrian military, extending the operation beyond the removal of PLO positions near Israel’s border.[1]

On June 9, Israel launched an air operation against Syrian surface-to-air missile deployments in the Bekaa Valley.[10] Israeli aircraft destroyed 17 missile batteries and damaged two, while 28 Syrian aircraft were reported shot down in the aerial fighting that day.[2] Other accounts identify the campaign as Operation Mole Cricket and report that no Israeli aircraft were lost in that day’s engagement.[10][2] The campaign demonstrated Israel’s ability to defeat major Syrian air-defense installations while its ground forces continued advancing through Lebanon.[1][2]

Israeli forces encountered Syrian troops near Sultan Yacoub on the night of June 10.[10] Twenty Israeli soldiers were killed, six were initially listed as missing, and eight Israeli tanks were captured.[10] Three of those initially missing were subsequently accounted for: one had been killed and his body was returned, one was captured by Syria and released two years later, and one was held by Ahmed Jibril’s organization and released three years later in a prisoner exchange.[10] Three others remained missing at the time of the cited historical account.[10]

Israeli troops continued toward Beirut rather than stopping at the originally announced border-security line.[1] By June 14, Israeli forces had surrounded Beirut, and a siege followed while negotiations over the PLO’s departure proceeded.[3][5] The plan envisaged cooperation with the Phalange to impose a “new order” in Lebanon, but Israeli forces undertook the siege of West Beirut, where Yasser Arafat and remaining PLO formations were concentrated.[13]

The government’s description of its objectives broadened during the campaign.[5] On June 24, Sharon said that the minimum objective of establishing a 45-kilometer security belt had been achieved, but identified additional aims: removing all foreign forces from Lebanon and establishing a strong central government capable of signing a peace treaty with Israel.[5] During a June 29 Knesset debate, opposition leader Yitzhak Rabin warned against risking soldiers’ lives for “auxiliary goals,” including removing Syrian forces, eliminating the PLO, or creating an independent Lebanese government.[5] The Knesset approved the government’s position by 60 votes to 47.[5]

The siege and blockade of Beirut continued through July and into August as negotiations over evacuation proceeded.[3] At least 11 ceasefire agreements preceded the PLO’s departure.[5] On August 12, Israeli aircraft and artillery carried out the campaign’s most concentrated bombardment of Beirut; it ended after 11 hours following American pressure and mediation by Habib.[5] Approximately 300 deaths were reported in connection with that bombardment, while 18 Israeli soldiers were wounded in exchanges of fire.[5] Negotiations over the evacuation lasted approximately eight weeks.[2]

Under the Habib evacuation plan, departures began on August 21 and were completed on September 1, three days ahead of schedule.[5] A multinational force supervised the departure of PLO and Syrian personnel.[2] An Israeli military communiqué gave the total evacuated as 14,398 PLO, Palestine Liberation Army, and Syrian personnel, accompanied by 664 women and children.[5] Of the military personnel, 8,144 left by sea and 6,254 by land; those traveling by sea went to eight countries, including Tunisia, which became the PLO’s central base.[5] Arafat left Beirut by sea on August 30.[5] The departing fighters were dispersed among several states because no single Arab country agreed to receive all of them.[8]

The evacuation removed the PLO’s command headquarters from Beirut and ended its existing military and political infrastructure in southern Lebanon.[5] It also fulfilled the declared mission of removing the immediate rocket threat to northern Israel.[11] The departure did not, however, end Israel’s military presence or produce a stable political settlement in Lebanon.[11][13] Israeli policy entered a further phase in which political gains and a possible peace treaty remained objectives, while Israeli troops faced guerrilla attacks and became involved in Lebanese internal conflicts.[11][13]

Bashir Gemayel, the Maronite leader whose election as Lebanese president had Israeli backing, was assassinated on September 14, 1982.[8] He had been elected in August and was killed in an explosion at the Phalangist headquarters in Beirut.[13] Israeli forces, which had withdrawn from Beirut during the PLO evacuation, entered West Beirut after the assassination, citing concern about disorder.[8] By September 16, they had surrounded Palestinian and militia strongholds, including the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps.[5]

On September 16, Sharon and Chief of Staff Rafael Eitan permitted Lebanese Christian Phalangist forces to enter Sabra and Shatila, ostensibly to search for PLO fighters who had not evacuated.[1] The Phalangists killed Palestinian civilians, including women and children, while Israeli forces controlled the surrounding area.[3][5] The militiamen left on September 18 following an Israeli military demand.[3] The massacre became a central event in the war’s political aftermath, prompting international condemnation, large Israeli demonstrations, and demands for an independent investigation.[3]

Opposition to the campaign had already become visible before the massacre.[5] A Peace Now demonstration in Tel Aviv on July 3 drew approximately 100,000 people.[5] On September 25, an estimated 400,000 gathered in Tel Aviv to demand a formal inquiry into Sabra and Shatila and the resignations of Begin and Sharon.[5] The gathering was described as Israel’s largest public demonstration up to that time.[5] The wider protest movement included refusal to serve among reservists, while disagreement over the war’s objectives and continuation increased pressure for an inquiry and Sharon’s removal from the defense portfolio.[11]

The Israeli cabinet established a commission of inquiry into Sabra and Shatila in late September 1982, chaired by Supreme Court President Yitzhak Kahan.[5] Its other members were Supreme Court Justice Aharon Barak and retired Major General Yona Efrat.[5] The inquiry examined extensive testimony and documentary material before producing a 149-page report with a classified addendum, made public on February 8, 1983.[3] Its establishment followed substantial public and political pressure for an investigation of the killings.[3]

The Kahan Commission identified the Phalangists as the direct perpetrators and found Israel indirectly responsible.[3] It concluded that Sharon bore personal responsibility for failing to heed the danger of revenge killings and to protect civilians, recommending that the prime minister remove him if necessary.[3] Sharon gave up the defense portfolio but remained in the cabinet.[3] The commission also criticized Eitan and recommended that intelligence chief Yehoshua Sagi not continue in his post; Sagi was dismissed.[14] The inquiry thus distinguished direct responsibility for committing the massacre from failures by Israeli officials to foresee and prevent it.[3]

In May 1983, Israel and Lebanon reached a U.S.-mediated agreement intended to end hostilities and provide a basis for normal relations after withdrawal.[8] Lebanon renounced it the following year under Syrian pressure.[1] The broader objective of securing a durable peace agreement was therefore not achieved.[3] Domestic demands to end the fighting continued to grow, and Begin resigned during the prolonged political and military aftermath.[15]

The multinational presence also continued after the PLO evacuation.[8] American Marines and French and Italian troops served in Beirut, returning after the Sabra and Shatila killings as part of a renewed force intended to stabilize the situation and support Lebanese government authority.[8] On October 23, 1983, suicide bombers attacked the American and French contingent barracks; 241 American servicemen were killed.[8] The attacks also killed 58 French citizens.[13] American forces withdrew offshore in February 1984, and the multinational force subsequently dissolved.[8][13]

Israeli troops increasingly faced attacks rather than the conventional battles that had marked the invasion’s opening.[11] Israel’s invasion and subsequent presence contributed to resistance in Lebanon, including the emergence in the early 1980s of the organization that became Hezbollah.[16] Some Lebanese civilians had initially welcomed Israeli convoys by throwing rice, but hostility developed as the military presence continued, including the use of explosive charges against Israeli forces.[11] Lebanese Shiites initially saw an opportunity to remove the PLO from southern Lebanon, but that sympathy diminished as Israeli political discussions focused on Lebanon’s Christian ruling hierarchy.[16]

In January 1985, the Israeli government decided on a unilateral withdrawal toward the international border while maintaining a security zone in southern Lebanon with Israeli-backed local forces.[13] By June 1985, Israeli forces had completed a phased withdrawal to a zone approximately nine miles wide along the southern border.[1] The zone was intended to shield Israeli civilian communities in the Galilee from cross-border attacks.[1] Israeli troops and the South Lebanon Army maintained the buffer, while Hezbollah continued a guerrilla campaign against them.[13] Israeli soldiers continued to be killed there, particularly in Hezbollah attacks.[1]

The human cost extended well beyond the initial advance and siege.[5] For June 6 through the operation’s declared end on September 1, one contemporary tally recorded 345 Israeli soldiers killed and 2,130 wounded, with three in Syrian captivity and five missing.[5] A broader tally for the first six months of the operation and its aftermath recorded 463 Israeli soldiers and other security personnel killed and more than 2,500 wounded.[5] The same account estimated approximately 1,000 terrorist deaths and several hundred Syrian deaths.[5] These figures cover specified periods rather than the entire subsequent Israeli presence in Lebanon.[5]

In March 2000, Israel’s cabinet voted unanimously for a full withdrawal from Lebanon by July.[1] Prime Minister Ehud Barak authorized a unilateral withdrawal after talks with Syria could not continue, and Israeli forces left on May 24, 2000.[1] Hezbollah continued to dispute Israel’s position in the Shebaa Farms/Har Dov area, territory recognized by the United Nations as Syrian rather than Lebanese.[1] The withdrawal ended the Israeli security-zone deployment but did not eliminate the border issues invoked by Hezbollah.[1][17]

The war removed the PLO leadership and its principal military infrastructure from southern Lebanon and Beirut, but did not establish the durable Israeli–Lebanese peace envisaged among its broader objectives.[5][3] Its history consequently includes both substantial Israeli military achievements and the prolonged political and security difficulties that followed the initial campaign.[1][11] The destruction of Syrian missile deployments and the evacuation of PLO forces were distinct outcomes from the unsuccessful effort to secure a lasting political settlement.[1][3]

The relationship between the publicly announced border-security operation and wider strategic objectives remains a major historical debate.[13][18] Beyond removing Palestinian military infrastructure, broader aims included weakening Syrian influence, establishing a new political order under Gemayel, and obtaining a peace treaty.[13][18] Declassified operational orders outlined movement toward Beirut on a timetable extending beyond the declared 40-kilometer objective: they envisaged linking with Lebanese Christian forces near the capital within 48 hours, taking Beirut within 96 hours, and preparing to destroy the Syrian army if necessary.[18] The same orders retained the assigned mission of moving northern Israeli communities out of range and the instruction not to attack Syrian forces unless attacked first.[18]

The Argov shooting’s relationship to the decision for war is another important interpretive issue: the attackers belonged to an organization opposed to the PLO, while Israeli invasion plans predated the assassination attempt.[9] The war’s endpoint also depends on the period being examined. Contemporary and later accounts distinguish the declared end of Operation Peace for the Galilee on September 1, 1982, the staged withdrawal toward the border and security zone beginning in January 1985, and the final withdrawal on May 24, 2000.[5][13] Estimates for Sabra and Shatila include 293 bodies recovered by September 23 and an estimate of 700–800 people killed.[5][3] Israeli military totals likewise vary according to whether they cover the initial campaign or fighting through 1985.[5][15] These differences concern definitions, evidence, and the time periods counted rather than a single universally accepted chronology or tally.[5][15]

The domestic response became an enduring part of the war’s legacy.[5] Large demonstrations occurred during the fighting, while the massacre brought demands for an inquiry from hundreds of thousands of Israelis and resulted in an official investigation of senior political and military responsibility.[5][3] Argov himself later expressed anguish at the human cost, writing: “We are a nation short in human resources. We do not have the ability to run experiments in the hope that one of them comes out all right. Even if one of them does succeed—what’s the good of amputated arms and legs?”[19]

The First Lebanon War must be distinguished from the Second Lebanon War, the separate 34-day Israel–Hezbollah conflict in 2006.[17] That conflict began in July after Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers along the border; on July 12, its forces entered Israel, abducted the two soldiers, and killed eight others.[17] During the war, Hezbollah fired more than 4,000 Katyusha rockets and other missiles into northern Israel, forcing residents of Haifa, Nahariya, Tiberias, and other communities into bunkers.[17] It also used weaponized drones and struck an Israeli naval vessel with an antiship missile.[17]

Israel responded in 2006 with air attacks against Hezbollah launchers and infrastructure, strikes in Beirut and against roads, bridges, and power plants, a ground advance into southern Lebanon, and an air and sea blockade.[17] One official tally recorded at least 110 Israeli soldiers, 43 Israeli civilians, more than 1,000 Lebanese civilians, and four United Nations observers killed.[17] United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, adopted unanimously on August 11, called for a full cessation of hostilities, parallel Israeli withdrawal and Lebanese government–UNIFIL deployment in the south, an increase of UNIFIL to as many as 15,000 troops, and measures against unauthorized arms transfers.[20] Hostilities ceased on August 14, after which Lebanese forces and additional UNIFIL troops deployed, although Hezbollah retained significant influence.[17] The recurrence of war in 2006 belongs to the longer history of the border conflict, not to the course of the 1982 operation itself.[17]