The South Lebanon conflict was an armed conflict that took place in Israeli-occupied southern Lebanon from 1982 or 1985 until Israel's withdrawal in 2000. Hezbollah, along with other Shia Muslim and left-wing guerrillas, fought against Israel and its ally, the Catholic Christian-dominated South Lebanon Army (SLA)."Hezbollah makes explosive return: Israel's proxy militia under fire in south Lebanon". Charles Richards, The Independent. 18 August 1993. Retrieved 15 August 2009. The SLA was supported militarily and logistically by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and operated under the jurisdiction of the Israeli-backed South Lebanon provisional administration, which succeeded the earlier Israeli-backed Free Lebanon State. Israel officially names the conflict the Security Zone in Lebanon Campaign and deems it to have begun on 30 September 1982, after the end of its "Operation Peace for Galilee". It can also be seen as an extension of the Lebanese Civil War (1975–1990).
Israel invaded Lebanon in 1978 and in 1982, to end the Palestinian insurgency in South Lebanon and support Lebanese Maronite Christians in the Lebanese Civil War. The 1982 invasion resulted in the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) leaving Lebanon and marked the beginning of Israeli occupation. Militant groups began attacking Israeli forces in southern Lebanon in September 1982.Schow, Kenneth. "The Lebanon Period". Falcons against the Jihad: Israeli Airpower and Coercive Diplomacy in Southern Lebanon. Air University Press, 1995. pp. 3–8. Amid rising casualties from guerrilla attacks, the IDF retreated south of the Awali river on 3 September 1983. The IDF began a phased withdrawal from Lebanon in February 1985. It withdrew to a "security zone" along the border on 29 April, and most IDF troops withdrew from the "security zone" on 10 June. A small number of IDF soldiers remained in the zone to support the SLA. Throughout its existence, there were about 1,500 IDF and 2,500 SLA troops in the "security zone" at any given time.
The occupation led to the creation of the Shia Islamist paramilitary group Hezbollah. It began waging a guerrilla war against the IDF and the SLA, with support from Iran and Syria. The IDF and the SLA engaged in counterinsurgency, but Israel had no long-term strategy. With Hezbollah increasingly targeting the Galilee with rockets, the official purpose of the Security Zone—to protect Israel's northern communities—seemed contradictory. Hezbollah also excelled at psychological warfare, often recording their attacks on Israeli troops.Israel’s Frustrating Experience in South Lebanon, Begin-Sadat Center, 25 May 2020. Accessed 25 May 2020. Israel launched two major operations in southern Lebanon during the 1990s: Operation Accountability in 1993 and Operation Grapes of Wrath in 1996. Following the 1997 Israeli helicopter disaster, the Israeli public began to seriously question whether the occupation of southern Lebanon was worth maintaining. The Four Mothers movement rose to the forefront of the public discourse, and played a leading role in swaying the public in favour of a complete withdrawal.Four Mothers Archive, at Ohio State University-University Libraries.
The Israeli government hoped that a withdrawal from the security zone could be carried out in the context of a wider agreement with Syria and, by extension, Lebanon. Talks with Syria failed. By 2000, following up on his promise during the 1999 Israeli general election, the new Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak unilaterally withdrew Israeli forces from southern Lebanon on 25 May 2000,Online NewsHour: Final Pullout – May 24, 2000 (Transcript). "Israelis evacuate southern Lebanon after 22 years of occupation." Retrieved 15 August 2009. in accordance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 425 of 1978. Israel's withdrawal resulted in the immediate and total collapse of the SLA, with many of its members escaping to Israel.UN Press Release SC/6878. (18 June 2000). Security Council Endorses Secretary-General's Conclusion on Israeli Withdrawal From Lebanon As of 16 June. The Lebanese government and Hezbollah consider the withdrawal incomplete until Israel withdraws from Shebaa Farms. In 2020, Israel recognized the conflict as an IDF military campaign.
Background
Following the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, the 1949 Armistice Agreements were signed with United Nations mediation. The Lebanese–Israeli agreement created the armistice line, which coincided exactly with the existing international boundary between Lebanon and Palestine from the Mediterranean to the Syrian tripoint on the Hasbani River. From this tripoint on the Hasbani the boundary follows the river northward to the village of Ghajar, then northeast, forming the Lebanese–Syrian border. The southern line from the tripoint represents the Palestine–Syria border of 1923. Israeli forces captured and occupied 13 villages in Lebanese territory during the conflict, including parts of Marjayoun, Bint Jbeil, and areas near the Litani River,Naseer H. Aruri, Preface to the 3rd(?) edition, Israel's Sacred Terrorism, Livia Rokach, Association of Arab-American University Graduates, but withdrew following international pressure and the armistice agreement.
Although the Israel–Lebanon border remained relatively quiet, entries in the diary of Moshe Sharett point to a continued territorial interest in the area.Livia Rokach, Israel's Sacred Terrorism, Association of Arab-American University Graduates, On 16 May 1954, during a joint meeting of senior officials of the defense and foreign affairs ministries, Ben Gurion raised the issue of Lebanon due to renewed tensions between Syria and Iraq, and internal trouble in Syria. Dayan expressed his enthusiastic support for entering Lebanon, occupying the necessary territory and creating a Christian regime that would ally itself with Israel. The issue was raised again in 1956 discussions at the Protocol of Sèvres.Avi Shlaim, The Protocol of Sèvres,1956: Anatomy of a War Plot , International Affairs, 73:3 (1997), 509–530
The Israeli victory in the 1967 Six-Day War vastly expanded their area occupied in all neighboring countries, with the exception of Lebanon. With the occupation of the Golan Heights, this extended the length of the effective Lebanon–Israel border. Although with a stated requirement for defense, later Israeli expansion into Lebanon under very similar terms followed the 1977 elections, which for the first time, brought the Revisionist Likud to power.
Emerging conflict between Israel and Palestinian militants
Beginning with the late 1960s and especially in the 1970s, following the defeat of the PLO in Black September in Jordan, displaced Palestinian militants affiliated with the Palestine Liberation Organization began to settle in South Lebanon. The unrestrained buildup of Palestinian militia, and the large autonomy they exercised, led to the popular term "Fatahland"Urban Operations: An Historical Casebook. "Siege of Beirut", by George W. Gawrych. US Army Combat Studies Institute, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. 2 October 2002. Available at globalsecurity.org. for South Lebanon. Since the mid-1970s the tensions between the various Lebanese factions and Palestinians had exploded, resulting in Lebanese Civil War.
Following multiple attacks launched by Palestinian organizations in the 1970, which increased with the Lebanese Civil War, the Israeli government decided to take action. Desiring to break up and destroy this PLO stronghold, Israel briefly invaded Lebanon in 1978, but the results of this invasion were mixed. The PLO was pushed north of the Litani River. A buffer zone was created to keep them from returning, with the placement of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).
After earlier covert support, Israel established a second buffer with renegade Saad Haddad's Christian Free Lebanon Army enclave, initially based only in the towns of Marjayoun and Qlayaa. The now-public Israeli military commitment to the Christian forces was strengthened. For the first time, Israel received substantive adverse publicity in the world press due to damage in South Lebanon, in which some 200,000 Lebanese, mostly Shia Muslims, fled the area and ended up in the southern suburbs of Beirut. This indirectly resulted in the Syrian forces in Lebanon turning against the Christians in late June and complicated the dynamics of the ongoing Lebanese Civil War.Major George C. Solley, The Israeli Experience in Lebanon, 1982–1985, US Marine Corps Command and Staff College, Marine Corps Development and Education Command, Quantico, Virginia. 10 May 1987. Available from GlobalSecurity.org
1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon
In 1982, the Israeli military began "Operation Peace for Galilee", a full-scale invasion of Lebanese territory.1982 Lebanon Invasion. BBC News. The invasion followed the 1978 Litani Operation, which gave Israel possession of the territory near the Israeli–Lebanese border. This follow-up invasion attempted to weaken the PLO as a unified political and military force, and eventually led to the withdrawal of PLO and Syrian forces from Lebanon.Norton, Augustus Richard; Journal of Palestine, 2000
By the end of this operation, Israel had control over Lebanon from Beirut southward, and attempted to install a pro-Israeli government in Beirut to sign a peace accord with it. This goal was not realized, partly because of the assassination of President Bachir Gemayel in September 1982, and the refusal of the Lebanese Parliament to endorse the accord.
The withdrawal of the PLO forces in 1982 forced some Lebanese nationalists to start a resistance against the Israeli army, led by the Lebanese Communist Party and the Amal movement. During this time, some Amal members started the formation of an Islamic group supported by Iran, that was the nucleus of the future "Islamic Resistance" that resulted in the creation of Hezbollah.
Chronology 1982–1985 occupation and emergence of Hezbollah
Increased hostilities against the US resulted in the April 1983 US embassy bombing in Beirut. In response, the US brokered the May 17 Agreement, in an attempt to stall hostilities between Israel and Lebanon. This agreement eventually failed to take shape, and hostilities continued. In October, the United States Marines barracks in Beirut was bombed, usually attributed to the Islamic Resistance groups. Following this incident, the United States withdrew its military forces from Lebanon.
Suicide bombings became increasingly popular at this time, and were a major concern of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) both near Beirut and in the South. Among the most serious were the two suicide bombings against the Israeli headquarters in Tyre, which killed 103 soldiers, border policemen, and Shin Bet agents, and killed 49–56 Lebanese. Israel believes those acts were among the first organized actions made by Shi'ite militants, later forming into Hezbollah. Subsequently, Israel withdrew from the Shouf Mountains, but continued to occupy Lebanon south of the Awali River.
An increased number of Islamic militias began operating in South Lebanon, launching guerrilla attacks on Israeli and pro-Israel militia positions. Israeli forces often responded with increased security measures and airstrikes on militant positions. Casualties on all sides steadily climbed. In a vacuum left with the eradication of PLO, the disorganized Islamic militants in South Lebanon began to consolidate.
The emerging Hezbollah, soon to become the preeminent Islamic militia, evolved during this period. Scholars disagree as to when Hezbollah came to be regarded as a distinct entity. Over time, a number of Shi’a group members were slowly assimilated into the organization, such as Islamic Jihad members, Organization of the Oppressed on Earth, and the Revolutionary Justice Organization.
Israeli withdrawal to southern Lebanon (1985)