Lebanese Civil War: Encyclopedia II - Lebanese Civil War - Third phase of the war 1982-83

Lebanese Civil War - Third phase of the war 1982-83

Lebanese Civil War - Israeli invasion of Lebanon

On 3 June 1982, the Abu Nidal Organization attempted to assassinate Israeli ambassador Shlomo Argov in London. Abu Nidal had assassinated numerous PLO diplomats, and attempted to kill both Arafat and Mahmud Abbas, and was in fact condemned to death by the PLO (Chomsky, op. cit., p. 196). Additionally, British intelligence reported that the attempt had likely been sponsored by Iraq, and Israeli intelligence agreed; however, none of this dissuaded Ariel Sharon and Menachem Begin, who ordered a retaliatory aerial attack on PLO and PFLP targets in West Beirut that led to over 100 casualties (Smith, op. cit., p. 378), a clear violation of the cease-fire.

The PLO responded by launching a counterattack from Lebanon with rockets and artillery, also a clear violation of the cease-fire; Israel declared that this was the immediate cause of its subsequent decision to invade. Meanwhile, on 5 June, the UN Security Council unanimously passed a resolution (UNSCR 509) calling for "all the parties to the conflict to cease immediately and simultaneously all military activities within Lebanon and across the Lebanese-Israeli border and no later than 0600 hours local time on Sunday, 6 June 1982." [3].

On June 6, 1982 Israeli forces launched Operation Peace for Galilee, attacking PLO bases in Lebanon. Israeli forces quickly drove 25 miles into Lebanon, moving into East Beirut with the tacit support of Maronite leaders and militia. When the Israeli cabinet convened to authorize the invasion, Sharon described it as a plan to advance 40 kilometers into Lebanon, demolish PLO strongholds, and establish an expanded security zone that would put northern Israel out of range of PLO rockets; in fact, Israeli chief of staff Rafael Eitan and Sharon had already ordered the invading forces to head straight for Beirut, in accord with Sharon's blueprint dating to September 1981. After the invasion had begun, the UN Security Council passed a further resolution on 6 June, UNSCR 509, which reaffirms UNSCR 508 and "Demands that Israel withdraw all its military forces forthwith and unconditionally to the internationally recognized boundaries of Lebanon" [4]. Thus far the US had not used its veto; however, on 8 June, the US vetoed a proposed resolution that "Reiterates [the] demand that Israel withdraw all its military forces forthwith and unconditionally to the internationally recognized boundaries of Lebanon" [5], thereby giving an implicit nod of assent to the Israeli invasion.

Main article: Siege of Beirut

By 15 June, Israeli units were entrenched outside Beirut. The United States called for PLO withdrawal from Lebanon, and Sharon began to order bombing raids of West Beirut, targeting some 16,000 PLO troops who had retreated into fortified positions. Meanwhile, Arafat attempted through negotiations to salvage politically what was clearly a disaster for the PLO, an attempt which eventually succeeded once the multinational force arrived to evacuate the PLO.

The fighting in Beirut resulted in approximately 6,700 deaths, 80 percent civilian, with 1100 PLO deaths against 88 for the IDF; fierce artillery duels between the IDF and the PLO, and PLO shelling of Christian neighborhoods of East Beirut at the outset gave way to escalating aerial IDF bombardment beginning on 21 July [6][[7]. It is commonly estimated that during the entire campaign, approximately 20,000 were killed on all sides, including many civilians, and 30,000 were wounded.

On 26 June, a UN Security Council resolution was proposed that "Demands the immediate withdrawal of the Israeli forces engaged round Beirut, to a distance of 10 kilometres from the periphery of that city, as a first step towards the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon, and the simultaneous withdrawal of the Palestinian armed forces from Beirut, which shall retire to the existing camps" [8]; the United States vetoed the resolution because it was "a transparent attempt to preserve the P.L.O. as a viable political force" (New York Times, 27 June 1982, cited in Chomsky, op. cit., p. 198), an indication of Washington's support for Sharon's objective of destroying the PLO before it could negotiate a withdrawal agreement.

Finally, amid escalating violence and civilian casualties, Philip Habib was once again sent to restore order, which he accomplished on 12 August on the heels of Sharon's intensive, day-long bombardment of West Beirut. The Habib-negotiated truce called for the withdrawal of both Israeli and PLO elements, as well as a multinational force composed of U.S. Marines along with French and Italian units that would ensure the departure of the PLO and protect defenseless civilians.

Lebanese Civil War - International intervention: 1981–84

Main article: Multinational Force in Lebanon

A multinational force landed in Beirut on August 20, 1982 to oversee the PLO withdrawal from Lebanon and U.S. mediation resulted in the evacuation of Syrian troops and PLO fighters from Beirut. The agreement also provided for the deployment of a multinational force composed of U.S. Marines along with French and Italian units.

However, Israel claimed that some 2,000 PLO militants were hiding in Palestinian refugee camps on the outskirts of Beirut. Accordingly, on 12 September, Bashir Gemayel, who had been elected president under Israeli military control on 23 August, agreed to send troops from his Phalange militia into the camps. Then, on 14 September, Gemayel was assassinated. Many have suspected that Syria had a hand in his assassination.

See Sabra and Shatila massacre

After conferring with Phalange leaders, Sharon and Eitan bypassed the Israeli cabinet and sent Israeli troops into West Beirut, violating the Habib agreement; these troops helped transport approximately 200 Phalange personnel to the camps, which the Phalangists entered on 16 September at 6:00 P.M. The Phalangists remained in the camps until the morning of 19 September, massacring an estimated 700-3000 Palestinians, according to official Israeli statistics, "none apparently members of any PLO unit" (Smith, op. cit., 380-1).

The Kahan Commission, set up by the Israeli government to investigate the circumstances of the massacre, held Sharon and Eitan indirectly responsible, concluding that the Israeli officials should have known what would happen if they sent 200 anti-Palestinian militants into Palestinian refugee camps. The Commission recommended that Sharon resign his post as Defense Minister, which he did, though he remained in the government as an influential Minister without Portfolio (Chomsky, op. cit., 406).

The massacres made the headlines all over the world, and calls were heard for the international community to assume responsibility for stabilizing Lebanon. As a result, the multinational forces that had begun exiting Lebanon after the PLO's evacuation returned as peacekeepers. With U.S. backing, Amine Gemayel was chosen by the Lebanese parliament to succeed his brother as President and focused anew on securing the withdrawal of Israeli and Syrian forces.

Main article: May 17 Agreement

On May 17, 1983, Amin Gemayel's Lebanon, Israel, and the United States signed an agreement (text) on Israeli withdrawal that was conditioned on the departure of Syrian troops; reportedly after the US and Israel exerted severe pressure on Gemayel. The agreement stated that "the state of war between Israel and Lebanon has been terminated and no longer exists." Thus, the agreement in effect amounted to a peace agreement with Israel, and was additionally seen by many Lebanese Muslims as an attempt for Israel to gain a permanent hold on the Lebanese South[9]. The May 17 Agreement was widely portrayed in the Arab world as an imposed surrender, and Amin Gemayel was accused of acting as a Quisling President; tensions in Lebanon hardened considerably. Syria strongly opposed the agreement and declined to discuss the withdrawal of its troops, effectively stalemating further progress.

In August 1983, Israel withdrew from the Chouf District (southeast of Beirut), thus removing the buffer between the Druze and the Christian militias and triggering another round of brutal fighting. By September, the Druze had gained control over most of the Chouf, and Israeli forces had pulled out from all but the southern security zone; the IDF would remain in this zone, in violation of UN Security Council resolution 425, until the year 2000.

The virtual collapse of the Lebanese Army in February 1984, following the defection of many Muslim and Druze units to militias, was a major blow to the government. With the U.S. Marines looking ready to withdraw, Syria and Muslim groups stepped up pressure on Gemayel. On 5 March the Lebanese Government cancelled the May 17 Agreement; the Marines departed a few weeks later.

This period of chaos witnessed the beginning of attacks against U.S. and Western interests, such as the 18 April 1983 suicide attack at the U.S. Embassy in West Beirut (63 dead). Then, on 23 October, in the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing which hit the headquarters of the U.S. and French forces (241 American and 58 French servicemen killed), the multinational force was the target of a devastating suicide bombing[10]. Following the embassy bombing, the Reagan White House had previously "ordered naval bombardments of Druze positions, which resulted in numerous casualties, mostly non-combatant," and the "reply to the American bombardments" was the suicide attack (Smith, op. cit., 383). Months later, American University of Beirut President Malcolm Kerr was murdered on January 18, 1984. After US forces withdrew in February 1984 anti-US attacks continued including a second bombing of the U.S. embassy annex in East Beirut on 20 September 1984 (9 dead, including 2 US servicemen).

During these years the Hizbullah emerged from a loose coalition of Shi'a groups resisting the Israeli occupation of the splintered from the main Shi'a movement, Nabih Berri's Amal Movement. The group found inspiration for its revolutionary Islamism in the Iranian Revolution of 1979, and gained early support from about 1,500 Iranian Pasdaran Guards. With Iranian assistance, and a large pool of disaffected Shi'a refugees to draw upon, Hizbullah quickly grew into a strong fighting force.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Third phase of the war 1982-83", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki