Lebanese Civil War | |||||
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Part of Cold War | |||||
![]() Lebanese Arab Army EML Panhard near a Jeep, c 1982 | |||||
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The Lebanese Civil War (1975-1990) was a civil war in Lebanon that saw an American lead intervention, Syrian invasion, United Nations Intervention, and an Israeli invasion. The war was more of an ethnic conflict between Muslims and Maronite Christians and Jewish minorities in Lebanon. The war was mainly caused due to Black September, as it allowed Palestinians to attack Israel from Lebanon.
After Black September, the Palestinians were expelled alongside their Militias, so they moved their base of operations to Lebanon, where they attacked the Israelis in the Yom Kippur War using Lebanese land. The Christians were annoyed by the Palestinians, after the Palestinians attacked a church in Ain el-Rummaneh, killing 4 Maronites.
Bashir Gemayel, the leader of the Kataeb Party, launched an attack. A bus of 30 Palestinians was stopped, and the Lebanese Front militants opened fire, the massacre was then dubbed the "Bus Massacre". In response, clashes began to happen in the entire country between Maronite militias and Palestinian militias.
On December 6th, 1975, 4 Kataeb party members were killed, in response, the party set up checkpoints in Beirut, most Lebanese Muslims and Palestinians were killed by the Kataeb militants. The Palestinians and Muslim militias also committed their own massacres such as the Damour massacre.
After the attacks, the country fell into a Civil War which resulted in an intervention from the U.S, France, United Kingdom, and the Italians alongside an intervention from Syria, and a United Nations Mission that was meant to ensure the withdrawal of Israeli forces.
During 1516, the Lebanese were invaded by Selim I of the Ottoman Empire, he also invaded Syria.[1] The Ottoman control was only effective in urban areas, not rural ones. The Country at that time was best described as an Iqta',[2] which is an Islamic political system that has autonomous feudal families that obey the Emir.[3] Control over Lebanon was split between the Ma'n Family, a Druze Family, and the Shihabs, a Christian Family.[4] They both provided autonomy for minorities using the Millet System, allowing them to make laws for themselves while they followed the Ottoman administration.[5]
When World War I started, a famine in Lebanon killed between a third or half of the Maronite population.[6] For a long time, the Ottomans wanted to segregate Turks and Non-Turks, which caused the Syrians and Lebanese to help the allies with spy missions, and fighting.[7] Djemal Pasha, the commander of Syria and Lebanon ordered the execution of dozens of Lebanese activists. It led to mass executions in Beirut and Damascus, which made Arab Nationalism stronger. The Lebanese haven't seen any violence in 1860 where the Maronites and Sunni Muslims fought each other.[8][7]
In September of 1918, French Army troops landed in the Coast of Lebanon while the British went through Palestine,[9] which caused the retreat of Ottoman Forces. The Lebanese and Syrians were liberated, and the French took control after the San Romero Conference.[10]
On the September 1st, 1920, the Greater Lebanon Mandate was formed as a League of Nations Mandate.[11] The Mandate was put under command of General Henri Gouraud. He made Beirut the capitol, doubled the size of the Ottoman Lebanon terretories, and made Lebanon a flag.[12][13] The Lebanese were also divided from Syria due to their Christian Majority, unlike the Syrian's Christian Minority.[14]
On March 8th, 1920, King Faisal and his army declared war on France in an attempt to free the Kingdom of Syria.[15] The Syrian king was captured and the rebellion was crushed. The Maronite Christians in Lebanon celebrated the defeat of the Syrian Forces.[16]
After the French Surrendered, the Vichy French took control of Lebanon and Syria, General Henri Fernand Dentz was put as High Commissioner of Lebanon, which is a position similiar to Head of State.[17] The president of Lebanon at that time, Émile Eddé, resigned and Henri put Alfred Naqqache as the new president.[18] The Nazis were allowed to use airfields inside of Syria against the allies, which caused the French and British to enter the Levant.[19] The French and British had disputes over certain areas, the British supported the Syrians against the French in the Levant Crisis.[18]
After the events in the Buss Massacre after a Bus of Palestinians was attacked by Kataeb members,[20] a Church was attacked by Palestinian Militias, which caused nation wide clashes between the Lebanese National Movement and Lebanese Maronite Militias. At first, the skirmishes were mainly between the two, but over time, as some movements split and Sunni movements split, and the Lebanese Armed Forces attempted to stop the clashes.[21]
A large battle happened in early 1976, called the Siege of Tel al-Zaatar, where the city was sieged by Lebanese Front forces, killing over 3,000 Palestinians , including civilians,[22] and killing over 200 Maronite militians.[23] The skirmishes also had massacres, most notably the Karantina massacre, where Maronite militias killed over 1,500 Palestinians, and the Damour massacre, where Palestinian militias launched an attack on Damour.
On June 6th, 1982 the 1982 Lebanon War began. Israeli Defense Forces crossed the border and entered Southern Lebanon, the Israelis called it "Operation Peace for Galilee". The Israelis numbered around 78,000 men and had 1,240 tanks, they were split into 5 divisions, and 2 brigades.[24] the Israelis gave support for militias such as the Tigers Militia and Free Lebanon Army and other militias. The Israelis were split into three groups, the West Group was ordered to take Tyre, while Israeli Navy Commandos and Paratroopers did an amphibious Operation into Sidon.
The 91st Division, Golani Brigade, 35th Paratrooper Brigade, and the 50th Paratrooper Battalion fought in the Coast area, alongside Shayete 13, the Navy also gave support to the Coastal Sector.[25][26] They also fought in Rosh Hanikra, Tyre, Damour, and Beirut.
Meanwhile the Central Sector had the 36th Armoured Division and the 162nd Armoured Division. Their main goal was to link up with the Coastal Sector, they were the first units to use the Merkava IV in combat.[26] While in the Eastern Sector, the 90th Division, 252nd Division, the Vardi Force, and the Special Maneuver Force were sent in to fight and destroy Syrian Tanks since they were trained in Anti-Tank warfare, but were told to only fight in self defense.[26]Cite error: The opening <ref>
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After the 1983 American Embassy Bombing, the United States made a peace deal, called the May 17 Agreement. The agreement was meant to stop fighting between Israel and Lebanese militias, which didn't work due to Islamic insurgents. On October 23rd, 1983, the United States Marine Corps barrack bombings that killed 241 US Marines, which caused the United States to leave the country.[27][28]
After the Israelis retreated from Sidon,[29] they gave Sidon back to the Lebanese Army but the Israelis still were attacked. The Israelis launched their own raids into Lebanon to retaliate, calling it Operation Iron Fist.[30][31] The Israelis killed 15 and wounded 22 Lebanese in the first week, some villagers said that the Israelis mixed grain with Chemicals and also tore up the Qur'an.[30][32] The Israelis allegedly put a bomb in a mosque, which killed 15 Lebanese civilians.[33][34] The village where the explosion occured was raided two days before.[35]
On March 11th, 1985, the Israelis launched one of the finals raids in Lebanon under the Iron Fist Policy. The village of Zrahieh was raided, and a massacre occured where 40 Lebanese were killed, most of them were civilians while others were AMAL members.[36] Then on March 12th, the United States veto'd a condemnation by the United Nations Security Council for the attack.[37]
By March 23rd, over 98 Lebanese were killed and 2 CBS crew members, and 40 homes were destroyed and an unknown amount of casualties.[34] The Iron Fist Policy also happened in the West Bank, which only deported 36 Palestinians.[38] The policy was placed on Palestine after 8 Israeli Citizens were killed in the West Bank. After April 16th, 1986, the policy was disbanded completely.[39][40]
After the Israelis invaded Lebanon in 1978 in Southern Lebanon to kick the Palestinian Liberation Organization out, the United Nations launched a mission in an attempt to stabilize Lebanon.[41] The UNFIL has over 11,000 men, 10,180 are military while the rest are civilian staff.[42] But during the Lebanon war, only 1,000 UNFIL peacekeepers were in Lebanon, after 2 Ghanaian peacekeepers were killed.[43] The UN at first was usually ignored by the Israeli Defense Forces and the South Lebanon Army after the 1982 Lebanon War.
After 1985, the United Nations mainly patrolled and had checkpoints around South Lebanon. After the French lowered their men in the UNFIL for the Multinational Force, there was a proposal to make the United Nations Mission in Lebanon to an Observer Force.[44] The United Nations didn't see much action other than small clashes and had around 324 casualties.[45][46][47][48] The Irish suffered the most casualties, with 48.[49][50][51]
The Multinational Force was a coalition of American, French, British, and Italian forces, the force consisted of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit, the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, the 32nd Marine Expeditionary Unit, 1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards, the 11th Airborne Division, the 9th Marine Infantry Division, the 31st Infantry Brigade, the 9th Marine Infantry Division, and the Paratroopers Brigade Folgore, alongside naval and air units.[52] [53]
Their main goal was to ensure that the Palestinian Liberation Organization, Israeli Defense Forces and the Syrian Arab Army had withdrawn, while helping the Lebanese government in the war.[54][55] French and American marines were the first to land at Beirut in August 21, 1982.[56] There were a few incidents when Israeli or Syrian forces attacked MNF forces, on December 4th, 1983, Syrian Air Defense Forces shot down a U.S A-6 Intruder and A-7 Corsair.[57] Over time, the forces started to withdraw, Italian Forces withdrew in February 20th, 1984, then the Americans withdrew all but one battalion on February 26th, 1984, and then the French withdrew in March 31st, 1984. The 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment stayed in Beirut to provide security in the Embassy.[58]
The 17th May Agreement was a treaty between Israel and Syria that was done by the United States. The main goal of it was to make sure all forces withdraw from Lebanon and also called for a cease fire.
The War of the Camps was a series of battles between Harakat AMAL and Palestinian Militias, the Palestinians were supported by Hezbollah.[59] Most of the fighting occurred in Palestinian refugee camps, which were protected by the Palestinian Liberation Organization. During the mid to late 1980s, the Lebanese Army mainly supported AMAL, mainly the 8th Maronite Brigade. In the south, heavy clashes between the Palestinians and AMAL, the Israeli Defense Forces launched airstrikes against Palestinian military positions.[60]
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