1978 South Lebanon conflict

Invasion of southern Lebanon by Israel as part of the Lebanese Civil War the South Lebanon conflict (1985–2000) yes July 2021 October 2023 1978 South Lebanon conflict(First Israeli invasion of Lebanon) the Palestinian insurgency in South Lebanon, the Lebanese Civil War, and the Israeli–Lebanese conflict File:Operation Litani V.jpg 300px Israeli soldiers during the invasion 14–21 March 1978 (03 14 1978 03 21 1978) South Governorate and Nabatieh Governorate Israeli victory Palestinian withdrawal from South Lebanon IsraelFormer Flag of the Lebanese Army.svg SLA Flag of Palestine - short triangle.svg PLO Israel Mordechai Gur Israel Avigdor Ben-Gal Former Flag of the Lebanese Army.svg Saad Haddad Former Flag of the Lebanese Army.svg Antoine Lahad Flag of Palestine - short triangle.svg Yasser Arafat 18 killed113 woundedKober, Avi: Israel's Wars of Attrition: Attrition Challenges to Democratic States, p. 64 300–550 killed 1,100 to 2,000 killed in total (both combatants and civilians)100,000 to 250,000 internally displaced The 1978 South Lebanon conflict, also known as the First Israeli invasion of LebanonFouskas Fouskas Politics of Conflict: A Survey 2010 Routledge 124MacQueen Benjamin An Introduction to Middle East Politics: Continuity, Change, Conflict and Co-operation 2013 Sage Publishing 73 and codenamed Operation Litani by Israel, began when Israel invaded southern Lebanon up to the Litani River in March 1978. It was in response to the Coastal Road massacre near Tel Aviv by Palestinian militants based in Lebanon. The conflict resulted in the deaths of 1,100–2,000 Lebanese and Palestinians, 20 Israelis, and the internal displacement of 100,000 to 250,000 people in Lebanon. The Israel Defense Forces gained a military victory against the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) as the latter was forced to withdraw from southern Lebanon, preventing it from launching attacks on Israel from across its land border with Lebanon. In response to the outbreak of hostilities, the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 425 and Resolution 426 on 19 March 1978, which called on Israel to immediately withdraw its troops from Lebanon and established the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). Israel launched a second invasion of Lebanon in 1982. Background Palestinian insurgency in South Lebanon Though it took the form of an invasion by the Israeli military of southern Lebanon, Operation Litani arose from the long-running Israeli–Palestinian conflict. After 1968, militant groups that formed the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and other Palestinian groups established a quasi-state in southern Lebanon, using it as a base for attacks against civilian targets in northern Israel as well as attacks on diaspora Israelis and other targets worldwide. This violence was exacerbated by an influx of some 3,000 PLO militants who had fled Jordan following the defeat of Palestinian groups to Jordanian forces during the Black September conflict; the Palestinian political cause began to regroup in southern Lebanon and re-shifted the focus of its attacks to Israeli targets, and did so via the Israel–Lebanon border. Israel responded to Palestinian attacks from Lebanon with extensive air raids against PLO bases of operations. thumb|Map showing power balance in Lebanon, 1976: Dark Green – controlled by Syria:Purple – controlled by Maronite groups;Light Green – controlled by Palestinian militias As a consequence of Israeli aerial attacks from 1968 to 1977, some of the Palestinian towns and camps in southern Lebanon were totally leveled. It is estimated that by October 1977, about 300,000 refugees—mainly Lebanese Shia Muslims—had fled southern Lebanon.Grosscup Beau The Newest Explosions of Terrorism: Latest Sites of Terrorism in the 1990s and Beyond https://archive.org/details/newestexplosions00gros_0 New Horizon Press 1998 272 978-0-88282-163-4 registration In November 1977, an exchange of gunfire led to the deaths of several people on both sides of the Israel–Lebanon border and led to Israel's bombing of targets in southern Lebanon that killed 70 people, mainly Lebanese.Chomsky Noam The Fateful Triangle: The United States, Israel, and the Palestinians https://books.google.com/books?id=aHphMCIkhK0C&q=In+November+1977+an+Israeli-initiated+exchange+of+fire+caused+several+casualties+on+each+side%2C+and+finally+Israeli+bombing+%22in+which+some+70+people%2C+nearly+all+Lebanese%2C+were+killed.%22&pg=PA191 Pluto Press 1999 191 978-0-7453-1530-0 The proximate cause of the Israeli invasion was the Coastal Road massacre that took place near Tel Aviv on 11 March 1978.Cobban, p. 94, Shlaim p. 369 On that day, 11 Palestinian Fatah members led by the 18-year-old female fighter Dalal Mughrabi travelled from Lebanon to Israel, where they killed an American tourist at a beach before hijacking a bus on the Coastal Road near Haifa; the group later also hijacked a second bus that was bound for Tel Aviv. After a lengthy chase and shootout, 38 Israeli civilians, including 13 children, were killed and 76 were wounded.Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Statement to the press by Prime Minister Begin on the massacre of Israelis on the Haifa-Tel Aviv Road https://web.archive.org/web/20090624033011/http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Foreign%20Relations/Israels%20Foreign%20Relations%20since%201947/1977-1979/133%20Statement%20to%20the%20press%20by%20Prime%20Minister%20Begin 24 June 2009 . Historical Documents Archive: 12 March 1978. Course of fighting March 2018 On 14 March 1978, Israel launched Operation Litani, after the Coastal Road Massacre. Its stated goals were to push Palestinian militant groups, particularly the PLO, away from the border with Israel, and to bolster Israel's ally at the time, the South Lebanon Army, because of the attacks against Lebanese Christians and Jews and because of the relentless shelling into northern Israel. The area south of the Litani River, excepting Tyre, was invaded and occupied in a week long offensive. The operation began with air, artillery, and naval bombardment, after which IDF infantry and armor forces, comprising about 25,000 soldiers, entered south Lebanon. The Israelis first captured a belt of land approximately 10 kilometers deep, by launching a ground attack on all PLO positions along the Lebanese border with Israel. The ground forces were led by two division commanders, and attacked simultaneously along the entire front. Paratroopers landed from helicopters to capture all the bridges on the Litani River, cutting off the possibility of retreat by the PLO, and later expanded north to the Litani River. Amphibious vessels of the Israeli Navy's Shayetet 11 fleet were used as carrier platforms for helicopters to attack targets on the northern Lebanese coast.Fisk, Robert Robert Fisk Pity the Nation: The Abduction of Lebanon Nation Books 2002 978-1-56025-442-3 The IDF did not succeed in engaging large numbers of PLO forces, who retreated to the north. Many Lebanese civilians were killed by heavy Israeli shelling and air strikes, which also caused extensive property damage and internal displacement.Risk taking and decisionmaking: foreign military intervention decisions 1998 Stanford University Press 978-0-8047-2747-1 Yaacov Vertzberger 328 According to Augustus Richard Norton, professor of international relations at Boston University, the IDF military operation killed approximately 1,100 people, most of them Palestinian and Lebanese. According to IDF reporting and internal investigation, at least 550 of the casualties were Palestinian militants initially holding the front line and killed by the IDF ground operation.Jillian Schwedler Jillian Schwedler (In)security Zones in South Lebanon Journal of Palestine Studies 1993 23 1 61–79 Augustus Richard Norton Augustus Richard Norton University of California Press 10.1525/jps.1993.23.1.00p0030t 2537858Israeli Violations of Human Rights of Lebanese Civilians 2000 B'Tselem 12–13 http://www.btselem.org/sites/default/files/israeli_violations_of_human_rights_of_lebanese_civilians.pdf According to other sources about 2000 Lebanese and Palestinian were killed.The Encyclopedia of Middle East Wars 2010 978-1-85109-947-4 Spencer C. Tucker 728 Bloomsbury Academic Chomsky Noam The Fateful Triangle South End Press 1983 978-0-89608-187-1 registration https://archive.org/details/fatefultriangleu00chom p.192 Estimates for the number of people displaced by the military operations range from at least 100,000 to 250,000. Syrian troops deployed inside Lebanon, some of which were within visual range of the IDF, but did not take part in the fighting. The PLO retreated north of the Litani River, continuing to fire at the Israelis. The IDF used cluster bombs provided by the United States. According to U.S. President Jimmy Carter, this use of the cluster bombs violated the legal agreement between Israel and the U.S. because the weapons had been provided for defensive purposes against an attack on Israel.The blood of Abraham: insights into the Middle East https://archive.org/details/bloodofabrahamin00cart registration 1993 University of Arkansas Press 978-1-55728-862-2 92–93 Jimmy Carter Jimmy Carter Israel also transferred American weapons to Saad Haddad's Lebanese militia, a violation of American law. Carter's administration prepared to notify Congress that American weapons were being used illegally, which would have resulted in military aid to Israel being cut off. The American consul in Jerusalem informed the Israeli government of their plans and, according to Carter, Prime Minister Begin said that the operation was over. UNSC Resolution 425 thumb|Map showing the Blue Line demarcation line between Lebanon and Israel, established by the UN after the Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon in 1978 In response to the invasion, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 425 and Resolution 426 calling for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon were both adopted on 19 March 1978. The UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) was created to enforce this mandate, specifically "for the purpose of confirming the withdrawal of Israeli forces, restoring international peace and security and assisting the Government of Lebanon in ensuring the return of its effective authority in the area". http://legal.un.org/cod/repertory/art98/english/rep_supp5_vol5-art98_e.pdf#pagemode=none Extracts relating to Article 98 of the Charter of the United Nations: Supplement No 5 (1970–1978) PDF Repertory of Practice of United Nations Organs United Nations 69 UNIFIL forces arrived in Lebanon on 23 March 1978, setting up headquarters in Naqoura. Resolution 425 didn't result in an immediate end to hostilities.The Palestinian Liberation Organisation: People, Power, and Politics https://archive.org/details/palestinianliber00hele registration 1984 Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-27216-2 95–96 Helena Cobban Helena Cobban The Israelis continued military operations for 2 more days until they ordered a ceasefire. The PLO's initial reaction was that the resolution didn't apply to them because it didn't mention the PLO. The PLO leadership finally ordered a ceasefire on 28 March 1978, after a meeting between UNIFIL commander General Emmanuel Erskine and Yasser Arafat in Beirut. Helena Cobban has described the agreement as "a turning-point in the history of the Palestinian resistance moment" because it was the first open acceptance of a ceasefire agreement with Israel that was endorsed by all official PLO bodies. Parts of the Palestinian resistance movement opposed the agreement and tried to violate the ceasefire. In April 1978, second-level Fatah leader Mohammad Daoud Oudeh (Abu Daoud) organized cells of about 70 to 80 fighters with the intention of breaking the ceasefire. Arafat and Khalil Wazir ordered the arrest of all involved and Abu Daoud was later accused of collaborating with Fatah renegade Abu Nidal to break the ceasefire. thumb|Transfer of the area of Lebanon occupied by the Israeli army to its auxiliaries in the South Lebanon Army, led by Saad Haddad, June 1978 Israeli forces withdrew later in 1978, turning over positions inside Lebanon to their ally, the South Lebanon Army (SLA) militia under the leadership of Maj. Saad Haddad. On 19 April 1978, the SLA shelled UNIFIL headquarters, wounding 8 UN soldiers (Fisk, 138). In April 1980, three Irish UN soldiers (Privates Barrett, Smallhorne and O'Mahoney) were kidnapped and two of them murdered by Christian gunmen. Private O'Mahoney survived (being shot by a sub-machine gun during the incident) in SLA territory; in a separate incident another Irish soldier, Private S. Griffin, was shot by Haddad's men, and was evacuated to Israel where he subsequently died during medical treatment. The Israeli press at the time, particularly The Jerusalem Post, accused the Irish of pro-PLO bias. (Fisk, 152–154). Palestinian factions also attacked UNIFIL, kidnapping an Irish UNIFIL soldier in 1981 and continuing to occupy areas in southern Lebanon.Private Kevin Joyce was kidnapped and is presumed dead. See Guardian article here 20-year hunt for kidnapped Irish soldier almost over UK news The Observer Hostilities continued as the Lebanese civil war escalated as fighting intensified in the south. Continued attacks in Israel from the Lebanese based PLOTucker, Spencer C.; Roberts, Priscilla (2008). The Encyclopedia of the Arab-Israeli Conflict. A Political, Social, and Military. ABC-CLIO. p. 623. 978-1-85109-841-5.Bickerton, Ian J. (2009). The Arab-Israeli Conflict: A History. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 151. 978-1-86189-527-1.Martin, Gus (2013). Understanding Terrorism: Challenges, Perspectives, and Issues. Sage Publications. 978-1-4522-0582-3. The operation was called Operation Peace for Galilee and was launched in reply to ongoing PLO attacks from its Lebanese bases. culminated in a second Israeli invasion in 1982 resulting in a flare-up that persisted over the next decade. Israeli withdrawal thumb|UNIFIL road block in Lebanon, 1981 In 2000, the UN Security Council concluded that, as of 16 June 2000, Israel had withdrawn its forces from Lebanon in accordance with Resolution 425.https://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2000/20000618.sc6878.doc.html Security Council Endorses Secretary-General's Conclusion on Israeli Withdrawal From Lebanon as of 16 June un.org 14 March 2016 Lebanon has not extended control over south Lebanon, though it was called on to do so by Resolution 1391 of 2002 and urged by Resolution 1496. Israel has lodged multiple complaints regarding Lebanon's conduct.http://domino.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/22f431edb91c6f548525678a0051be1d/bb095796d02d589785256b910058cc00!OpenDocument https://web.archive.org/web/20090221231503/http://domino.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/22f431edb91c6f548525678a0051be1d/bb095796d02d589785256b910058cc00%21OpenDocument A/56/898-S/2002/345 Letter dated 2 April 2002 from the Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General Lancry Yehuda United Nations General Assembly 3 April 2002 14 March 2016 21 February 2009 dead Hezbollah's claim that Israel has not fully withdrawn (see Shebaa Farms) was explicitly rejected by the UN's Secretary-General's report which led to Resolution 1583. The Syrian occupation of Lebanon led to UN Security Council Resolution 1559 demanding the remaining 14,000 (of 50,000 originally) Syrian troop withdrawal and the dismantling of Hezbollah and Palestinian militias. On 26 April 2005, after 29 years of Syrian military presence in Lebanon, the last of the Syrian troops withdrew in accordance with the resolution. See also 1982 Lebanon War 2006 Lebanon War History of Lebanon Israel-Lebanon conflict Israeli casualties of war Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon Lebanese Civil War Operation Accountability Operation Grapes of Wrath List of extrajudicial killings and political violence in Lebanon References 30em Further reading Bregman, Ahron Ahron Bregman Israel's Wars: A History Since 1947 Routledge London 2002 978-0-415-28716-6 Fisk, Robert Robert Fisk Pity the Nation: The Abduction of Lebanon Nation Books 2002 978-1-56025-442-3 Shlaim, Avi Avi Shlaim The Iron Wall: Israel and the Arab World W. W. Norton & Company 2001 978-0-393-32112-8 The South Lebanon Border Zone: A Local Perspective Journal of Palestine Studies 1992 21 3 35–53 2537518 Ahmad Beydoun University of California Press 10.1525/jps.1992.21.3.00p01145 External links Operation Litani, ALS.Miniature Lebanese civil war 1978 Full of Pictures and Information Terrorist attacks in Israel, GlobalSecurity Conflict in Lebanon, GlobalSecurity www.lebanon-israel.info An ongoing discussion on the Lebanon-Israel conflict South Lebanon conflict Category:Palestinian insurgency in South Lebanon Litani South Lebanon conflict Lebanon 1978 Category:March 1978 in Asia Category:Military occupations of Lebanon