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Israel-Lebanon conflict Part of the Arab-Israeli conflict Israel and Lebanon (regional map) Date 1948-present Location Israel and Lebanon Result Ongoing Belligerents Lebanon, File:Flag of Hezbollah.svg Hezbollah, File:Palestine COA.gif PLO Israel, File:SLA patch.png SLA

v t e Israeli–Lebanese conflict Timeline Projectile attacks from Lebanon Palestinian insurgency in South Lebanon 1968 Israeli raid on Lebanon 1970 Avivim bombing 1978 Israeli invasion 1982 Israeli invasion Hezbollah–Israel conflict 1982–2000 conflict 2000–2006 Shebaa Farms 2006 War 2010 Kfar Kila 2013 Hanikra 2015 Shebaa Farms Maritime border dispute Israel–Hezbollah conflict since 2023 September 2024 Lebanon strikes Lebanese displacement Israeli attacks on the Lebanese health sector

Israel-Lebanon conflict describes a series of related military clashes involving Israel, Lebanon, and various non-state militias acting from within Lebanon.

The creation of the Jewish nation of Israel ultimately resulted in a huge demographic shift for Lebanon from a balanced Catholic-Muslim to a country whose southern region became the home of hundreds of thousands Palestinian Arab refugees. The Lebanese Civil War(1975-1990) was expedited, if not caused, by these shifts, and created for Israel a troublesome border full of ex-patriots calling for the destruction of their nation, and coordinating attacks against it. Ultimately, Israel invaded Lebanon in 1982 to forcibly expel the Palestine Liberation Organization, and succeeded, but was forced by international pressure to withdraw to a slim borderland buffer zone. New militias rose up to fill the void left by the PLO, some allied with Israel, like the South Lebanese Army, some with shared interests, like Amal, and others in violent opposition of Israeli occupation of Lebanese territory. Though the Lebanese civil war ended, and all other warring factions laid down their arms in 1991, Hezbollah refused, and eventually forced the surrender of the SLA, and an early Israeli withdrawal in 2000, from all but the disputed Shebaa farms area. Encouraged, Hezbollah continued its campaign intermittantly over the next six years, with varying levels of Israeli military and intelligence responses in reply, leading to the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict. Hostilities have been suspended since 8 September 2006.

Background

The territory of what would become the states of Israel and Lebanon were once both part of the long-lived Ottoman empire (1299-1924). After the empire was defeated in World War I, the League of Nations divided the empire among the victors. The French took control over the Mandate of Syria, while the British ruled the Mandate of Palestine. The largely Christian enclave of the French mandate became the French controlled Lebanese Republic in 1926. Lebanon became independent in 1943 as France was under German occupation, though French troops did not completely withdraw until 1946.

The rise of anti-Semitism in Europe, culminating in the Holocaust during World War II, had meant an increase of Jewish immigrants to what had been a minority Jewish, majority Muslim Palestinian Mandate. During the Great Arab Revolt of 1936-1939, and thereafter, the British increasingly came to rely on Jewish militia forces to help maintain order. Eventually, the resultant rise in ethnic tensions and violence between the Arabs and Jews due to Jewish immigration and collaboration would force the British to withdraw in 1947. (The area of their mandate east of the Jordan river had already become the independent state of Jordan in 1946.) The United Nations General Assembly came up with a gerrymandered 1947 UN Partition Plan, to attempt to give both Arabs and Jews their own states from the remains of the mandate, which would officially expire on May 15 1948. The Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel would be made on May 14 1948, effectively creating the state of Israel.

These events would lead to the first of many clashes between the nations in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.

1948 Arab-Israeli war and aftermath (1948–1975)

in 1948, the Lebanese army was by far the smallest regional army, consisting of only 3,500 soldiers. Of these a token force of 1,000 was committed to invading Israel during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. It crossed into the northern Galilee and was repulsed by Israeli forces. Israeli forces occupied South Lebanon until an armistice agreement was signed on 23 March 1949.

The main effect on Lebanon would be demographic. After the war, 711,000 Palestinians, half of the Arab population of Palestine at the time, fled, emigrated or were forced out of Israel and entered neighboring countries, including Lebanon.

Despite sharing in the ongoing border tensions over water, Lebanon did not itself partipate in the 1967 Six-Day War. However, 300,000 Palestinians from the West Bank fled to Jordan, leading to a dramatic increase in its refugee population of 700,000.

In 1970, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) attempted to overthrow the reigning monarch, King Hussein of Jordan, and following his quashing of the rebellion in what Arab historians call Black September, over 110,000 Palestinian refugees migrated from Jordan to Lebanon. By 1975, more than 300,000 of these displaced persons had entered Lebanon, creating an informal state-within-a-state in southern Lebanon and making the Palestine Liberation Organization a powerful force in the region, as allegedly formallized by the Cairo agreement between the PLO and Lebanon.

These demographic shifts would be among the main causes of the Lebanese Civil War.

Lebanese Civil War, Operation Litani (1975-April 1981)

The Lebanese Civil War (1975–1990) was a complex conflict between and among Lebanese Maronite Catholics, Lebanese Arabs, and Palestian Arabs, in the form of various factions and shifting alliances. Beginning in May 1976, Israel supplied the Marionite militias, including the Lebanese Forces, led by Bashir Gemayel, with arms, tanks, and military advisors. The border between Israel and Lebanon was at this time was nicknamed the Good Fence.

Fearing loss of commercial access to the port of Beirut, in June 1976 Syria intevened in the civil war to support the Maronite dominated government, and by October had 40,000 troops stationed within Lebanon.

On 14 March 1978 Israel launched Operation Litani and invaded southern Lebanon in response to the Coastal Road massacre. As a result, the United Nations Security Council passed Resolutions 425 and 426, which called for Israel's immediate withdrawal and the establishment of a United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon. When it withdrew later in 1978, Israel turned over its positions in Lebanon to the South Lebanon Army which would continue fighting as a proxy for Israel against the PLO until Israel drove the PLO out of Lebanon in 1982.

In April 1981, the United States brokered a cease-fire in southern Lebanon between Israel, Syria and the PLO.

1982 Lebanon war, Israeli occupation (June 6 1982–January 1985)

The 1982 Lebanon war began 6 June, when Israel invaded again for the purpose of attacking the Palestinian Liberation Organization. During the conflict, 14,000 Lebanese and Palestinians were killed, and the Israeli army seiged Beirut. Fighting also occurred between Israel and Syria. The United States, fearing a widening conflict and the prestige the siege was giving PLO leader Yassir Arafat, got all sides to agree to a peace treaty on 18 August. The Multinational Force in Lebanon arrived to keep the peace and ensure PLO withdrawal. Arafat retreated from Beirut on 30 August 1982 and settled in Tunisia.

The National Assembly of Lebanon narrowly chose Bachir Gemayel as president-elect, but when he was assassinated on 14 September 1982, Israel reoccupied West Beirut and Maronite militias carried out the Sabra and Shatila massacre. In 1983, the United States-brokered the May 17 Agreement, a peace treaty between Israel and Lebanon in all but name, which called for Israeli withdrawal, but was conditional on Syrian withdrawal as well. In August 1983, as Israel withdrew from the areas southeast of Beirut to the Awali River, Lebanese factions clashed for control of the freed territory.

In February 1984, the Lebanese Army collapsed, with many units forming their own militias. The National Assembly of Lebanon, under pressure from Syria and Muslim militias, cancelled the May 17 agreement on 5 March 1984.

On 15 January 1985, Israel adopted a phased withdrawal plan, finally retreating to the Litani River to form the 4–12 kilometre (2.5–9 mi) deep Israeli Security Zone (map at ) while using the native South Lebanese Army to help control it.

Foundation of Hezbollah through Israeli withdrawal (February 1985–May 2000)

On 16 February 1985, Shia Sheik Ibrahim al-Amin declared a manifesto in Lebanon, announcing a resistance movement called Hezbollah, whose goals included combating the Israeli occupation. During the 1982-2000 South Lebanon conflict the Hezbollah militia waged a guerrilla campaign against Israeli forces occupying Southern Lebanon and their South Lebanon Army allies.

In 1992, Hezbollah won ten out of 128 seats in the Lebanese National Assembly.

On 25 July 1993 Israel launched Operation Accountability, known in Lebanon as the Seven-Day War, in retaliation for attacks by both Hezbollah and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine which had killed five soldiers in the security zone. Thousands of buildings were bombed, resulting in 120 dead and 300,000 displaced civilians. Israeli forces also destroyed infrastructure such as power stations and bridges. Hezbollah retaliated with rocket attacks on Israeli villages, though inflicted significantly fewer casualties.

On 11 April 1996 Israel initiated Operation Grapes of Wrath, which Hezbollah calls the April War, subsequent to Hezbollah launching missiles into Israel, which was in turn a response to the killing of two Lebanese by an IDF missile, and the killing of Lebanese boy by a road-side bomb. Israel conducted massive air raids and extensive shelling in southern Lebanon. 118 Lebanese died in the Qana Massacre, when a UN compound was shelled by Israel. The conflict ended on 24 April 1996 with a ceasefire in which both Hezbollah and Israel agreed to forgo attacks on civilians.

From 1985 through 2000, Israel continued to fund the South Lebanon Army. In January 2000, Hezbollah assassinated the man responsible for day to day SLA operations, Colonel Akel Hashem. The Israeli Air Force, in apparent response, on 7 February struck Lebanon's civilian infrastructure, including power stations at Baalbek, Deir Nbouh and Jambour. Eighteen people were reported to have been injured.

Following its declaration of intent to implement UNSC Resolutions 425 and 426 on 1 April 1998, and after the collapse of the South Lebanon Army in the face of a Hezbollah onslaught, Israel declared 24 May 2000 that they would withdraw to their side of the UN designated border, the Blue Line, 22 years after the resolutions had been approved. The South Lebanon Army's equipment and positions largely fell into the hands of Hezbollah.

Border clashes, Assassinations (October 2000–June 2006)

On 7 October 2000 three Israeli combat engineering soldiers were kidnapped from the Shebaa Farms after Hezbollah guerrillas set off a bomb next to their jeep. The parents of the soldiers later suspected that the hostages were killed after the abduction and accused the United Nations and UNIFIL of cooperating with Hezbollah. Their bodies were later retrieved in a prisoner swap deal.

On 2 September 2004 Resolution 1559 was approved by the United Nations Security council, calling for the disbanding of all Lebanese militia. An armed Hezbollah is seen by the Israeli government as a contravention of the resolution. The Lebanese government differs from this interpretation.

After Hezbollah killed an Israeli soldier in an attack on a vehicle that had crossed the border on 20 January 2004, Israel bombed two of the group's bases.

On 29 January 2004, a prisoner swap was carried out.

July and August 2004 saw more border clashes, the most serious since May 2004, when Hezbollah had killed an Israeli soldier in a disputed area along the border. Hezbollah said the clash began when Israeli forces shelled its positions, while Israel said that Hezbollah had started the fighting with a sniper attack on a border outpost.

Syrian troops withdrew from Lebanon in April 2005.

Pulitzer Prize winning invesigative journalist Seymour Hersh has claimed that Israeli government officials travelled to the US in May 2006 to share plans for attacking Hezbollah. Quoting a US government consultant, Hersh wrote: "Earlier this summer ... several Israeli officials visited Washington, separately, 'to get a green light for the bombing operation and to find out how much the United States would bear'." However, former Israeli intelligence chief Shabtai Shavit also told him: "We do what we think is best for us, and if it happens to meet America’s requirements, that’s just part of a relationship between two friends."

On May 26, 2006, a car bomb killed Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader Mahmoud Majzoub in Lebanon. Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora called Israel the prime suspect, but Israel denied involvement. On May 28, 2006, rockets were fired from Lebanon into Israel. Hours later, Israel responded by bombing suspected militant sites and exchanging fire across the border. The United Nations negotiated a ceasefire the same day.

On 14 June 2006 Lebanese authorities arrested members of an alleged Israeli spy ring. Mahmoud Rafeh reportedly confessed to the Majzoub killings and admitted working for Mossad. He admitted that his cell had assassinated three Hezbollah leaders over the past seven years. Bomb-making materials and espionage equipment were seized; however, Lebanese opponents of Hezbollah suspected that the exposure of the spy ring was a Hezbollah fabrication.

2006 Israel-Lebanon Conflict (July 2006-September 2006)

The six week ceasefire ended on 12 July 2006 after Hezbollah initiated a diversionary Katyusha rocket and mortar attack on Israeli military positions and border villages, while another Hezbollah unit conducted a cross-border raid and captured two Israeli soldiers (the Zar'it-Shtula incident). Israel responded with massive airstrikes and artillery fire on targets throughout Lebanon, an air and naval blockade and a ground invasion of southern Lebanon. Hezbollah launched rockets into northern Israel and engaged the Israeli Army in guerrilla warfare.

The conflict killed over 1,500 people, mostly Lebanese civilians, severely damaged Lebanese infrastructure, displaced about one million Lebanese and 500,000 Israelis, and disrupted normal life across much of Lebanon and northern Israel.

A United Nations-brokered ceasefire went into effect on 14 August 2006. The blockade was ended 8 September.

References

1. last update 16 September 2006
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15. cite visual |url=http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/meast/9904/16/israel.lebanon.01/lebanon.isreal.cities.4.15.jpg |title=None (main article link name "military occupation zone") |producer=Magellan Geographixs |distributor=CNN |year=1992}}
16. also spelled Aql Hashem
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20. Stern, Yoaw (2006). "New film leaves parents in the dark on sons' fate during kidnap". Haaretz. Retrieved 13 September. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |day= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
21. Butcher, Tim (August 17, 2006). "Lebanese troops will not disarm Hizbollah". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 6 Septemeber. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
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23. "Hezbollah rejects call to disarm". ABC (AU). 2005-04-27. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
24. "Israeli jets hit Lebanon targets". BBC News. 2004. Retrieved 13 July. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |day= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
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26. Hersh, Seymour. "Watching Lebanon: Washington's interests in Israel's war". The New Yorker. Retrieved 15 September. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |day= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |yeah= ignored (help)
27. Mroue, Bassem (26 May 2006). "Islamic Jihad leader killed in Lebanon". Boston Globe. Retrieved 14 August 2006.
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29. Blanford, Nicholas (15 June 2006). "Lebanon exposes deadly Israeli spy ring". The Times UK. Retrieved 14 August. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
30. "Lebanese Premier Seeks U.S. Help in Lifting Blockade". Washington Post. 24 August 2006. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
31. "Let's face it: Israel's refugees (in Hebrew)". Walla News. 2006-08-10. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
32. Pannell, Ian (9 September 2006). "Lebanon breathes after the blockade". BBC News. Retrieved 9 September 2006.

• Arab-Israeli conflict
• Israel-Lebanon conflict