Israeli-Palestinian Conflict - 1982 Lebanon War
The 1982 Lebanon War,
also known as the 1982 Invasion of Lebanon, and dubbed Operation Peace
for the Galilee (Shlom HaGalil in Hebrew) by Israel, began June 6, 1982,
when the Israel Defense Force invaded southern Lebanon in response to
the Abu Nidal organization's assassination attempt against Israel's
ambassador to the United Kingdom, Shlomo Argov, mainly to halt Katyusha
rocket attacks launched from southern Lebanon on Israeli population
centers in the northern Galilee region. 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
After the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict, Lebanon became home to more than
110,000 Palestinian refugees. From 1970 to 1973, the PLO was engaged in
the Jordanian Civil War, which routed a large number of Palestinian
fighters and refugees into neighboring 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.
On 10 July 1981, after a period of peace, violence erupted in South
Lebanon. According to the U.N. Secretary-General, the Israeli air force
bombarded Palestinian targets in south Lebanon, and later that day
Palestinian elements fired artillery and rockets into northern Israel.
However, according to the Federal Research Division of the Library of
Congress, "Israel responded to PLO rocket attacks on northern Israeli
settlements by bombing PLO encampments in southern Lebanon." The United
Nations Secretary-General 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 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." 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 staged 270 terrorist
actions in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, and along the Lebanese and
Jordanian borders, in which 29 Israelis were killed and more than 300
were injured.
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 Schiff
and Ya’ari (1984) the PLO 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). The total forces deployed by Syria, the PLO
and Israel during the conflict are detailed in the table below. On 21
April 1982, after a landmine killed an Israeli officer in Lebanon the
Israeli Air Force attacked the Palestinian-controlled coastal town of
Damour, killing 23 people. Despite this and numerous other attacks
launched since 24 July, 1981 the PLO continued to observe the cease-fire
agreement (Cobban, 1984, pp. 119-120). The Secretary-General computed
from his reports 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) . On June 3 the small
Iraqi-supported Palestine National Liberation Movement (headed by Yasser
Arafat's opponent Abu Nidal) attempted to assassinate 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). On June 4 and 5 Israeli F16 planes bombed
Palestinian refugee camps and other PLO targets in Beirut and southern
Lebanon killing 45 and wounding 150. For the first time in over ten
months the PLO responded by launching massive 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 their "Operation Peace for the Galilee".
Reasons for the war
Starting in 1968, Palestinian groups in southern Lebanon raided northern
Israel, and bombarded Israeli towns with katyusha rockets.
Secondly, Israel argued it could derail the establishment of a base of
operations for the PLO, from which they could mount assaults in the
international arena such as the 26 December 1968 attack on an Israeli
civilian airliner in Athens.
Another reason given for the invasion was as an intervention in the
ongoing Lebanese Civil War to counteract Syrian influences in Lebanon,
and possibly enable the establishment of a stable Lebanese leadership
from the Christian population, which would strengthen a central Lebanese
Army, restore security and agree to diplomatic relations with Israel.
According to former chief of Israeli military intelligence Yehoshafat
Harkabi the 1982 invasion of Lebanon was accompanied by deceit at the
highest political levels. Harkarbi cites misleading statements to the
cabinet by Sharon and Begin, inaccurate announcements by Israel's
miliary spokesmen and the Likud government's gross exaggeration of
terrorist acts conducted from Lebanon. Defence Minister Rabin admitted
in the Knesset that during the eleven-month ceasefire preceding the war
Israel's northern settlements had been attacked only twice and that
during this period Israel had suffered a total of two killed and six
wounded from terrorist attacks. These attacks had been preceded by
Israeli strikes in response to the planting of a bomb on a bus and the
attack on Shlomo Argov. Harkabi concludes, "It is true that Begin's
principal motive in launching the war was his fear of the momentum of
the peace process - that he might yet be called upon to honor his
signature to the Camp David Accords and withdraw from the territories.
Calling the Lebanon War 'The War for the Peace of Galilee' is more than
a misnomer. It would have been more honest to call it 'The War to
Safeguard the Occupation of the West Bank'" (Harkabi, 1989, pp. 99-101).
Course of the fighting
Israel's objective was to push back the PLO militants to a distance of
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 many Syrian aircraft over Lebanon,
(reportedly 80 kills, with no air combat losses) as well as performing
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 many of the modern
Soviet T-72 main battle tank.
Later in 1982 an agreement was reached and American, French and Italian
peacekeepers sent the PLO survivors to surrounding Arab states. 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 US marines left West Beirut two weeks before the
end of their official mandate. After the assassination of Bashir Gemayel,
newly appointed President of Lebanon, Israeli forces occupied West
Beirut. The Lebanese Christian Militia, also known as the Phalangists,
allies of Israel were responsible for the Sabra and Shatilain the
refugee camp.
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. A
Beirut newspaper An Nahar estimated that
* 17,825 killed during the invasion
o Outside Beirut
+ Military personnel: 9,797 (PLO, Syria, etc.)
+ Civilians: 2,513
o Beirut area: 5,515 (mil. + civ.)
About 675 Israeli soldiers were killed.
The security buffer zone
In August 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. The instruments
of ratification were never exchanged, however, and in March 1984, under
pressure from Syria, Lebanon canceled the agreement. In June 1985,
Israel withdrew most of its troops from Lebanon, 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.
Political results
Heavy Israeli casualities, 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 300,000 protestor rally in Tel Aviv, organized by the
Peace Now movement, following the 1982 Sabra and Shatila massacre.
In addition, it has been noted that the bombing of the US Marine
barracks in Lebanon on October 23, 1983, was a forerunner of the kinds
of assymmetrical warefare experienced with increasing frequency in later
decades. The US has repeatedly experienced the devastating impact which
a small number of suicide bombers could have against a much larger force
in many later events - from first bombing of the World Trade Center in
1993, to the Oklahama City bombing in 1995, to the bombing of the USS
Cole in Yemen in 2000, to the second bombing of the World Trade Center
in 2001, to the 2003 Iraq war.
Israel finally withdrew from the "security zone" in 2000, during the
Prime Ministership of Ehud Barak. Israel continues to control a small
area called "Shebaa Farms", which Lebanon and Syria claim to be Lebanese
territory but Israel insists to be former Syrian territory with the same
status as the Golan Heights, since they have captured it from the
Syrians. 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 terrorist organizations. The Syrian military was weakened by
combat losses, especially in the air.
* However, the elimination of any opportunity of cross-border attacks
for 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 Hizbullah organization,
which replaced the vanquished PLO in Southern Lebanon.
* The formation of the South Lebanon Army, an allied Lebanese milita
supported by Israel, that maintained a presence in South Lebanon until
Israeli withdrawal in 2000.
* 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.
From:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1982_Invasion_of_Lebanon
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