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LEBANON 1982-1985 |
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LEBANON 1982-1985 |
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US Army Photo |
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IDF Armored Personnel Carrier in Lebanon, 1982 |
The IDF War in Lebanon can be divided into two phases. The first was a conventional war, Operation Peace for the Galilee, which lasted from June 6 to August 23 1982, when the PLO terrorists were expelled from southern Lebanon and Beirut. The second phase, which lasted for the next three years, was a counter-insurgency campaign.
Israeli objectives in Lebanon, at a minimum, were to destroy the PLO's military power in southern Lebanon and to create a security zone there. If it proved possible, the plan would expand to encompass completely eradicating the PLO's military, political and economic hold over Lebanon, evicting Syrian forces from Lebanon, and facilitating the creation of a Christian-dominated Lebanon which would sign a peace treaty with Israel.
On June 6, 1982, under the direction of Defense Minister Ariel Sharon, Israel invaded Lebanon with a massive force, called Operation Peace for the Galilee, driving all the way to Beirut and putting the PLO fighters and residents, as well as the Lebanese civilian population of that city, under siege, forcing a PLO evacuation. Israel justified its breech of the cease-fire (negotiated by US Ambassador Philip Habib in 1981) by citing the attempted assassination of the Israeli ambassador in London, continuing PLO cross-border attacks on the Galilee settlements, and a build-up of PLO armaments and troops in South Lebanon.
The first phase was limited by both Israel and Syria because they were determined to isolate the fighting, not allowing it to turn into an all-out war. During this phase, Israeli forces were numerically superior, allowing Israel to maintain both the initiative and an element of surprise. Syria fielded six divisions and 500 planes, while Israel had eleven tank divisions and eleven infantry brigades, in addition to 600 planes.
During the first week of Israel's operations in Lebanon, Syrian troops engaged in battles with Israeli forces. The Israelis destroyed or damaged 18 of the 19 Syrian missile batteries and, in one day, shot down 29 Syrian MiG fighters without the loss of a single plane. Syria and Israel carefully avoided confrontations for the remainder of the war.
After crossing into Lebanon, the IDF advanced along the shore, crossed the Awall River, went into Beirut, and then continued north through the Shouf Mountains along the flank of the main Syrian forces in the Beka'a Valley, threatening their rear as well as communications between Beirut and Damascus. As they captured PLO bases in southern Lebanon, the IDF found huge caches of weapons supplied from virtually every arms-dealing country in the world, including the US, Britain, China, France, Germany, Japan, Libya, the Soviet Union, Sweden, and Vietnam. The IDF captured rocket-launchers, cannon, anti-aircraft guns, tanks, and thousands and thousands of light arms and ammunition, enough to equip many brigades.
In August 1982, US Ambassador Philip Habib negotiated the withdrawal of Yaser Arafat and his PLO forces from Lebanon. By September 1, 1982, over 14,000 armed PLO forces had left Beirut. The PLO relocated their operations to Tunis, Tunisia. A Multinational Force (MNF) was authorized to facilitate the process and to provide protection for Palestinian civilians left in Lebanon. On August 21, French troops arrived and on August 24 the US Marines went ashore in Beirut. The PLO evacuation was completed without significant incident and the Marines withdrew to their ships on September 10.
Over the next few weeks the situation in Lebanon fell apart. President-elect Bashir Gemayel, a Maronite Catholic who favored cooperation with Israel, was assassinated by Syrian agents in a bomb explosion in East Beirut on September 14. On September 15, Israeli forces moved forward, under orders from Defense Minister Ariel Sharon who acted without Israeli cabinet authorization. They took up positions throughout much of West Beirut, prompting the US and UN to call for Israeli withdrawal. Concerned that PLO fighters might be lurking in the Beirut Palestinian refugee camps, the Israelis permitted Christian Phalangist forces to enter the camps for the purpose of routing out any remaining PLO forces that had evaded evacuation. But on September 16-18, an estimated 700-800 Palestinian civilians were massacred in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in Beirut by the Christian Lebanese forces, who were motivated to avenge the murder of their leader (Gemayel) by the murder of men, women, and children in the camps.
This extreme instability, and horror at the massacre, led President Reagan to announce on September 20, the formation of a new MNF from the US, France and Italy intended to give the Lebanese a chance to stabilize. On September 29, the first elements of some 1,200 Marines began to arrive in Beirut, eventually growing to about 1,800.
During the autumn of 1982, there were active negotiations among the United States, Israel, and Lebanon over the withdrawal of Israeli forces and the terms of a possible treaty between Lebanon and Israel. There were also negotiations over the removal of Syrian troops and PLO forces that still remained in Lebanaon. The presence of the US Marines put pressure on the Lebanese to agree to the American plans and implied some measure of protection for the Lebanese authorities against those Lebanese, Palestinians, Syrians and other Arabs who adamantly opposed any normalization between Lebanon and Israel.
In early 1983 there was still no settlement in Lebanon and all the non-Lebanese forces remained in the country. The US Marines more and more became the only stabilizing influence. On April 18, a car bomb, placed by Hizbullah terrorists operating from Syrian-controlled territory, exploded at the US embassy in Beirut, killing 17 US diplomatic and military personnel and over forty Lebanese employees and citizens.
On May 17, 1983, after intense American shuttle diplomacy, Lebanon and Israel signed an agreement ending the State of War between the two countries and providing for a phased Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon. The agreement was contingent on the withdrawal of Syrian and Palestinian forces in parallel with the Israelis. However, Syria, who occupied about 35% of Lebanon, had no intention of withdrawing. The agreement did not go into effect.
As 1983 wore on, the MNF, and the US Marines in particular, were more and more often involved in firefights with armed elements of PLO, Syrian supplied Druze, or Lebanese muslim factions. On August 29, Marine positions came under mortar, rocket, and small-arms fire. Two Marines were killed and fourteen wounded in a preview of coming events.
On October 23, just after dawn 241 Marines died when a truck packed with explosives blew up a Marine barracks at Beirut International Airport. At the same moment a similar explosion blew up a French military barracks a few kilometers away, killing 56 French troops. The US and France both retaliated with air and naval strikes against opposing positions in Lebanon, but to little effect. By February 1984 active fighting had broken out between Syrian-backed Druze and Muslim militia forces and the Lebanese Army. The position of the MNF as peace-keepers became untenable, their continuing value unclear, and their withdrawal was ordered. By Sunday, February 26, 1984 the last US Marines had been moved out of Lebanon to ships offshore.
On March 5, the Government of Lebanon, under pressure from Syria, announced that it had canceled the May 17, 1983 agreement providing for the withdrawal of Israeli troops and the end of the state of war with Israel.
In June 1985, Israel withdrew most of its troops from Lebanon, leaving a small residual Israeli force and an Israeli-supported militia (the so-called "South Lebanon Army") in southern Lebanon. These forces created a "security zone," a strip of land three to five miles wide along the length of the Lebanese-Israeli border, which Israel considers a necessary buffer to protect its northern areas from attacks originating in Lebanon.
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