1982 Lebanon War

1982 Lebanon War (Israel-Lebanon conflict)
Map of modern Lebanon
Date June - September 1982 Location Southern Lebanon Result Conflicted result: PLO withdrawal (1982) Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon (1982–1985) Israeli Security Zone and the SLA (1985–2000) South Lebanon conflict (1982-2000) Syrian de facto occupation of Lebanon (1976–2005) Hezbollah control of southern Lebanon and southern Beirut (1980s–present)
Belligerents
Israel File:SLA patch.pngSouth Lebanon Army File:Logo of Lebanese Forces.gifLF (nominally neutral)	PLO Syria Amal (switched sides) File:Lebanese Communist Party Flag.pngLCP
Commanders and leaders
Menachem Begin (Prime Minister) Ariel Sharon, (Ministry of Defence) Rafael Eitan, (CoS)	Yasser Arafat
Strength
Israel: 76,000 troops 800 tanks 1,500 APCs 634 aircraft	Syria: 22,000 troops 352 tanks 300 APCs 450 aircraft 300 major artillery 225 anti-aircraft (100 guns 125 SAM) PLO: 15,000 troops 300 tanks 150 APCs 350+ major artillery 250+ anti-aircraft
Casualties and losses
Killed: 675 Wounded: unknown	Killed: ~9,798 (Syrian & PLO) Wounded: unknown

The 1982 Lebanon War (Hebrew: מלחמת לבנון, Milkhemet Levanon), ([الإجتياح (Al-Ijtiah or the invasion)] Error: {{Lang-xx}}: text has italic markup (help)), called by Israel the Operation Peace of the Galilee ([מבצע שלום הגליל, or מבצע של"ג Mivtsa Shlom HaGalil or Mivtsa Sheleg] Error: {{Lang-xx}}: text has italic markup (help)), and later colloquially also known in Israel as the First Lebanon War, began June 6, 1982, when the Israel Defense Forces invaded southern Lebanon. The Government of Israel ordered the invasion as a response to the assassination attempt against Israel's ambassador to the United Kingdom, Shlomo Argov by the Abu Nidal Organization. See also Operation Litani.

After attacking PLO, Syrian and Muslim Lebanese forces, Israel occupied southern Lebanon. Surrounded in West Beirut and subject to heavy bombardment, the PLO and the Syrian forces negotiated passage from Lebanon with the aid of international peacekeepers.

Background

Main article: Israel-Lebanon conflict

After the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict, Lebanon became home to more than 110,000 Palestinian refugees from their homes in present day Israel. In 1970 and again in 1971, the PLO was engaged in the attempted overthrow of the Jordanian monarchy, which routed a large number of Palestinian fighters and refugees into Lebanon. By 1975, they numbered more than 300,000, creating an informal state-within-a-state in South Lebanon. The PLO became a powerful force and played an important role in the Lebanese Civil War. Continual violence occurred between Israel and the PLO from 1968, peaking in Operation Litani.

Lead Up to War

On 10 July 1981, violence erupted in South Lebanon. According to the United Nations, Israeli air forces bombarded Palestinian targets in south Lebanon, followed by Palestinian elements retaliating with artillery and rockets into northern Israel. This attack on northern Israel was met with an Israeli bombardment of PLO encampments in southern Lebanon." On July 24, United States envoy Philip Habib brokered a shaky ceasefire, but incidents continued. Over the next 11 months, Israel charged that the PLO committed 270 violations of the cease-fire, in which 29 Israelis were killed and more than 300 were injured. On 21 April 1982, after a land mine killed an Israeli officer in Lebanon, the Israeli Air Force attacked the Palestinian-controlled coastal town of Damour, killing 23 people. The Secretary-General reported to the Security Council (S/14789, S/15194) that from August 1981 to May 1982 inclusive, there were 2096 violations of Lebanese airspace and 652 violations of Lebanese territorial waters (Chomsky, 1999, p. 195; Cobban, 1984, p. 112).

International reaction

U.N. Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim noted, "After several weeks of relative quiet in the area, a new cycle of violence has begun and has, in the past week, steadily intensified." He further stated, "There have been heavy civilian casualties in Lebanon; there have been civilian casualties in Israel as well. I deeply deplore the extensive human suffering caused by these developments." The President of the U.N. Security Council, Ide Oumarou of Niger, expressed "deep concern at the extent of the loss of life and the scale of the destruction caused by the deplorable events that have been taking place for several days in Lebanon."

Palestinian and Lebanese Forces

The Palestinian forces continued to grow in Lebanon with full-time military personnel numbering around 15,000, although only 6,000 of these, including 4,500 regulars, were deployed in the south. They were armed with 60 aging tanks, many of which were no longer mobile, and 100-200 pieces of artillery (Sayigh, 1999, p. 524). According to Israeli analysts Schiff and Ya'ari (1984), the PLO more than tripled its artillery from 80 cannons and rocket launchers in July 1981 to 250 in June 1982 (pp. 83-84). The same authors also refer to Israeli intelligence estimates of the number of PLO fighters in southern Lebanon of 6,000 “divided into three concentrations; about 1,500 south of the Litani River in the so-called Iron Triangle (between the villages of Kana, Dir Amas, and Juya), Tyre, and its surrounding refugee camps; another 2,500 of the Kastel Brigade in three districts between the Litani and a line running from Sidon to northeast of Nabatiye; and a third large concentration of about 1,500-2,000 men of the Karameh Brigade in the east, on the slopes of Mount Hermon” (pp. 134-135).

Israeli casus belli

Starting in 1968, Palestinian groups in southern Lebanon raided northern Israel, and bombarded Israeli towns with katyusha rockets. Israel wanted to protect its northern border and also derail the establishment of a regional base of operations for the PLO's activities, such as the 26 December 1968 attack on an Israeli civilian airliner in Athens.

Another reason given for the invasion was to intervene in the ongoing Lebanese Civil War in order to counteract Syria's influence in Lebanon.

Assassination attempt

On June 3, the Palestinian militant group Fatah-The Revolutionary Council (headed by Yasser Arafat's opponent Abu Nidal) attempted to assassinate Shlomo Argov, Israel's ambassador in London, paralyzing him. Prime Minister Menachem Begin had been informed by Israeli intelligence that the PLO was not involved in the attack on Argov, but withheld this information from his Cabinet (Gilbert, 1998, p. 503). Rafael Eitan, who was then the Chief of Staff of the Israeli Defence Forces, responded to the aforementioned information in his famous saying "Abu Nidal, abu shmidal. We need to screw PLO!" ("!אבו נידאל, אבו שמידאל. צריך לדפוק את אש"ף").

Timeline

An aerial view of the stadium used as an ammunition supply site for the PLO after Israeli airstikes in 1982.

Invasion

On June 4 and 5, Israeli F-16 planes bombed Palestinian refugee camps and other PLO targets in Beirut and southern Lebanon killing 300 and wounding 500. For the first time in over ten months, the PLO responded by launching artillery and mortar attacks on civilian centers in northern Israel. On 6 June 1982, Israeli forces under direction of Defense Minister Ariel Sharon invaded southern Lebanon in "Operation Peace of the Galilee."

Course of the fighting

Main article: Siege of Beirut

Israel's publicly stated objective was to push back the PLO militants 40 kilometers to the north. The Israeli forces soon reached that target but were determined to drive the PLO from southern Lebanon once and for all. Tyre and Sidon (major cities in the south of Lebanon, still within the 40 kilometer limit) were heavily damaged, and the Lebanese capital Beirut was shelled for ten weeks, killing both PLO members and civilians.

The Israeli Air Force shot down 86 Syrian aircraft, with no air combat losses of its own. This was the largest combat of the jet age with 150 fighters from both sides. It also performed ground attacks, notably destroying the majority of Syrian anti-aircraft batteries stationed in Lebanon. AH-1 Cobra helicopter gunships were used widely against Syrian armor and fortifications. The IAF Cobras destroyed dozens of Syrian armored fighting vehicles, including some of the modern Soviet T-72 main battle tanks.

An agreement was reached later in 1982, and American, French and Italian peacekeepers, known as the Multinational Force in Lebanon, sent more than 14,000 PLO combatants out of the country in August and September. About 6,500 Al Fatah fighters sailed from Beirut to Jordan, Syria, Iraq, Sudan, North and South Yemen, Greece, and Tunisia, which became the new PLO headquarters. Philip Habib, Ronald Reagan's envoy to Lebanon, provided an undertaking to the PLO that the Palestinian civilians in the refugee camps would not be harmed. However, the United States Marines left West Beirut two weeks before the end of their official mandate following the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing.

After the assassination of Bashir Gemayel, newly appointed President of Lebanon, September 14, Israeli forces occupied West Beirut the next day, in violation of the Habib agreement. At that time the Lebanese Christian Militia, also known as the Phalangists, were allied with Israel. The Israeli command authorized the entrance of a force of approximately 150 Phalange fighters' into the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps, claiming there was a remaining force of approximately "2000 PLO terrorists" in the camps. The result was a massacre of between 700 and 3500 defenseless Palestinians by the Phalange -- who suffered only two casualties. Meanwhile, Israeli troops surrounded the camps with tanks and checkpoints, monitoring entrances and exits. Further Israeli investigation found that Ariel Sharon was indirectly responsible for failing to prevent the massacre, leading to his resignation as Israel's Defense Minister.

Outcome of the war

Casualties

It is estimated that around 17,825 Arabs were killed during the war. There are different estimates of the proportion of civilians killed. Beirut newspaper An Nahar estimated that 5,515 people, military and civilian, were killed in the Beirut area only during the conflict, and 9,797 military personnel (PLO, Syrian, and others) and 2,513 civilians were killed outside of the Beirut area. Approximately 675 Israeli soldiers were killed.

The security buffer zone

In September 1982, the PLO withdrew most of its forces from Lebanon. With U.S. assistance, Israel and Lebanon reached an accord in May 1983 that set the stage to withdraw Israeli forces from Lebanon while letting them patrol a "security zone" together with the Lebanese Army. The instruments of ratification were never exchanged, however, and in March 1984, under pressure from Syria, Lebanon canceled the agreement. In January 1985 Israel started to withdraw most of its troops, leaving a small residual Israeli force and an Israeli-supported militia in southern Lebanon in a "security zone," which Israel considered a necessary buffer against attacks on its northern territory. The Israeli withdrawal to the security zone ended in June 1985.

Political results

In the voting in the Knesset on the war, only Hadash opposed the war (and even submitted a no-confidence motion against the government). Hadash Knesset member Meir Vilner, said in the Knesset plenary session that "The government is leading Israel to an abyss. It is doing something that in the course of time might lead to crying for generations". In response they were condemned and calls were heard, among others from the editor of Yediot Ahronoth to prosecute them for treason. Left-wing Knesset members, including Shulamit Aloni and Yossi Sarid were absent from the plenary for the vote. The Labour faction even voted in support. The newspapers, except Haaretz, also supported the war: optimistic articles were published (for instance, reports were made on a lessening in the number of theft in Gush Dan region, implying that there was a connection with the war).

The most famous case of the cooperation between the media with the government was during the conquest of Beaufort. The Prime Minister of Israel reported that Beaufort was conquered "without losses", even though it was known that six soldiers of Sayeret Golani, including the commander of the Sayeret, Major Goni Hernik, fell during the fighting. The media itself reported the courage and bravery of the soldiers in the battle, but did not mention the losses. Only fastidious examination of the obituaries showed another picture: "on the death of Major Goni Hernik, in the time of the conquest of Beaufort, mourn Peace Now movement."

But heavy Israeli casualties, alleged disinformation of government leaders and the public by military and political advocates of the campaign, and lack of clear goals, led to increasing disquiet among Israelis. This culminated in a large protester rally in Tel Aviv, organized by the Peace Now movement, following the 1982 Sabra and Shatila massacre. Organizers claimed 400,000 people participated in the rally, and it became known as the "400,000 rally." Other estimates put the figure much lower.

In addition, it has been noted that the US Embassy bombing on April 18 1983 and the bombing of the United States Marine barracks in Lebanon on October 23 1983 were forerunners of the kinds of asymmetrical warfare experienced with increasing frequency in later decades. Such attacks revealed the limited utility of overwhelming superiority of conventional forces in providing immunity from highly visible losses when the attackers are willing and able to operate anonymously from the midst of noncombatant populations which the leadership of those conventional forces are unwilling to destroy.

Israel finally withdrew from the security zone to behind the Blue Line in 2000, during the Prime Ministership of Ehud Barak. Lebanon and Hezbollah continue to claim a small area called Shebaa Farms as Lebanese territory, but Israel insists that it is captured Syrian territory with the same status as the Golan Heights. The United Nations has determined that Shebaa Farms is not part of Lebanon. The UN Secretary-General had concluded that, as of 16 June 2000, Israel had withdrawn its forces from Lebanon in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 425 of 1978, bringing closure to the 1982 invasion as far as the UN was concerned.

Consequences

• From the standpoint of the Israeli Military, the invasion was a limited success, removing PLO presence from Southern Lebanon and destruction of its infrastructure, as well as increasing deterrence on other Arab anti-Israeli militant organizations. The Syrian military was weakened by combat losses, especially in the air.
• The elimination of any opportunity of cross-border attacks for the PLO forced it eventually to seek a political solution of the conflict with Israel.
• Increased erosion of the sacred cow status of the military in Israeli public opinion and disillusionment with its leadership, a process which is commonly held to be rooted in the aftermath of the Yom Kippur War.
• The invasion is popularly held to be the major catalyst for the creation of the Iranian and Syrian supported Hezbollah organization, which by 1991 was the sole armed militia in Lebanon not supported by Israel and by 2000 had completely replaced the vanquished PLO in Southern Lebanon.
• The Lebanese Council for Development and Reconstruction estimated the cost of the damage from the invasion at 7,622,774,000 Lebanese pounds, equivalent to US$2 billion at the time.
• Osama bin Laden said in a videotape released on the eve of the 2004 U.S. presidential elections that he was inspired to attack the buildings of the United States by the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon in which towers and buildings in Beirut were destroyed in the siege of the capital.
• The withdrowal of the IDF back to South Lebanon in the summer of 1983, led to one of the bloodiest phases of the Lebanese war, where the Christian Militia (the Lebanese Forces) was left alone to defend the "Mountain" area which composed of the Aley and Chouf districts, against a coalition of Druze PSP, palestinian PLO, Syrian Army, Lebanese Communist, and Syrian Social National Party. The result was catastrophic on the civilian population from both sides, mainly christians (more than 5,000 killed from both sides). The war ended after the Christian forces and civilians withdrew to the town of Deir el Kamar where they were besieged for 3 month before all hostilies seized and they were transported to East Beirut.

Bibliography

• "Arab-Israeli Conflict." The Continuum Political Encyclopedia of the Middle East. Ed. Avraham Sela. New York: Continuum, 2002. pp. 58-121.
• Bregman, Ahron (2002). Israel's Wars: A History Since 1947. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-28716-2
• Brzoska, M., & Pearson, F. S. (1994). Arms and Warfare: Escalation, De-Escalation, and Negotiation. University of South Carolina Press. ISBN 0-87249-982-0
• Chomsky, N. (1999). Fateful Triangle: The United States, Israel and the Palestinians. London, Pluto Press. ISBN 0-89608-601-1
• Cobban, H. (1984). The Palestinian Liberation Organization: People, Power and Politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-27216-5
• Gilbert, M. (1998). Israel: A History. London, Black Swan. ISBN 0-688-12362-7
• Harkabi, Y. (1989). Israel's Fateful Hour. New York, NY: Harper & Row. ISBN 0-06-091613-3
• Sayigh, Y. (1999). Armed Struggle and the Search for State: The Palestinian National Movement, 1949-1993. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-829643-6
• Schiff, Z. & Ya'ari, E. (1984). Israel's Lebanon War. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-671-47991-1

See also

• Israeli-Palestinian conflict
• Sabra and Shatila massacre
• Palestine Liberation Army
• Lebanese civil war
• UN Security Council Resolution 425
• Siege of Beirut
• Golan Heights Law
• 2006 Lebanon War

External links

• Lebanese civil war 1982 Full of Pictures and Information
• A detailed account of 1982 Lebanon War - From Ariel Sharon's Biography
• 1978 Israel - Lebanon Conflict by Ynetnews
• www.lebanon-israel.info An ongoing discussion on the Lebanon-Israel conflict