1982-2000 South Lebanon conflict - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The South Lebanon conflict refers to nearly 20 years of warfare between the Israel Defense Force and its Lebanese

Lebanon

Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...

proxy

Proxy war

A proxy war or proxy warfare is a war that results when opposing powers use third parties as substitutes for fighting each other directly. While powers have sometimes used governments as proxies, violent non-state actors, mercenaries, or other third parties are more often employed...

militia

Militia

The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...

s and Lebanese Muslim

Islam

Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

guerrillas led by the Iran

Iran

Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

ian-backed Hezbollah within what was defined by Israelis as the "Security Zone" in South Lebanon. It can also refer to the longer history of conflict in this region, beginning with PLO operations transfer to South Lebanon, following the civil war events of 1971 Black September

Black September

The expression Black September may refer to:* Black September in Jordan, the conflict between Palestinian guerrilla organizations and King Hussein of Jordan that began in September 1970 and ended in July 1971 with the expulsion of the PLO to Lebanon....

in the Kingdom of Jordan

Jordan

Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...

. Historical tension between Palestinian refugee and Lebanese factions fomented the violent Lebanese internal political struggle between many different factions. In light of this, the South Lebanon conflict can be seen as a part of the Lebanese Civil War.

Earlier conflicts prior to 1982 Israeli invasion

1982 Lebanon War

The 1982 Lebanon War , , called Operation Peace for Galilee by Israel, and later known in Israel as the Lebanon War and First Lebanon War, began on 6 June 1982, when the Israel Defense Forces invaded southern Lebanon...

, including Operation Litani

Operation Litani

The 1978 South Lebanon conflict was an invasion in Lebanon up to the Litani River carried out by the Israel Defense Forces in 1978. It was a military success for the Israeli Defense Forces, as PLO forces were pushed north of the river...

attempted to eradicate the PLO bases from Lebanon and support Christian Maronite militias, following PLO's constant attacks on civilian population of Galilee (Northern Israel). The 1982 invasion resulted in the Palestine Liberation Organization

Palestine Liberation Organization

The Palestine Liberation Organization is a political and paramilitary organization which was created in 1964. It is recognized as the "sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people" by the United Nations and over 100 states with which it holds diplomatic relations, and has enjoyed...

's (PLO) departure from Lebanon. The creation of Security Zone in South Lebanon has benefited civilian Israeli population as Galilee suffered less violent attacks by Hezbollah (44 Israeli civilian casulaties), than previously by PLO in the 1970s (hundreds of Israeli civilian casualties). Despite this Israeli success in eradicating PLO bases and partial withdraw in 1985, the Israeli invasion had actually increased the severity of conflict with local Lebanese militias and resulted in the consolidation of several local Shia muslim movements in Lebanon, including Hezbollah and Amal

Amal Movement

Amal Movement is short for the Lebanese Resistance Detachments the acronym for which, in Arabic, is "amal", meaning "hope."Amal was founded in 1975 as the militia wing of the Movement of the Disinherited, a Shi'a political movement founded by Musa...

, from a previously unorganized guerrilla movement in the south. Over the years, military casualties of both sides grew higher, as both parties used more modern weaponry, and Hezbollah progressed in its tactics. By the early 1990s, Hezbollah, with support from Syria

Syria

Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....

and Iran

Iran

, emerged as the leading group and military power, monopolizing the directorship of the guerrilla activity in South Lebanon.

By the year 2000, following his campaign promise, newly elected Prime Minister Ehud Barak

Ehud Barak

Ehud Barak is an Israeli politician who served as Prime Minister from 1999 until 2001. He was leader of the Labor Party until January 2011 and holds the posts of Minister of Defense and Deputy Prime Minister in Binyamin Netanyahu's government....

withdrew Israeli forces from Southern Lebanon within the year. in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 425, passed in 1978; the withdrawal consequently resulted in the immediate total collapse of the SLA

South Lebanon Army

The South Lebanon Army , also "South Lebanese Army," was a Lebanese militia during the Lebanese Civil War. After 1979, the militia operated in southern Lebanon under the authority of Saad Haddad's Government of Free Lebanon...

. Despite the Israeli actions, Lebanese government and Hezbollah consider the withdrawal incomplete until Israel withdraws from Shebaa Farms

Shebaa farms

The Shebaa Farms are a small uninhabited territory claimed by Lebanon, but occupied by Israel which claims they are in Syria's Golan Heights. Syrian policy is to vaguely accept the Lebanese claim, while refusing any binding demarcation until Israeli forces withdraw from the area.The United Nations...

. Following the withdrawal, Hezbollah has monopolized its military and civil control of the southern part of Lebanon.

Background

Following the 1948 Arab Israeli War, the 1949 Armistice Agreements

1949 Armistice Agreements

The 1949 Armistice Agreements are a set of agreements signed during 1949 between Israel and neighboring Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria. The agreements ended the official hostilities of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, and established armistice lines between Israeli forces and the forces in...

were signed with United Nations mediation. The Lebanese-Israeli agreement created the armistice line, which coincided exactly with the existing international boundary between Lebanon and Palestine from the Mediterranean to the Syrian tri-point on the Hasbani River. From this tri-point on the Hasbani the boundary follows the river northward to the village of Ghajar

Ghajar

Ghajar is an Alawite village on the Hasbani River on the border between Lebanon and the Israeli-occupied portion of the Golan Heights. It has a population of 2,000.-Early history:...

, then northeast, forming the Lebanese-Syrian border. (The southern line from the tri-point represents the Palestine-Syria border of 1923). Israeli forces captured and occupied 13 villages in Lebanese territory during the conflict, including parts of Marjayun, Bint Jubayl, and areas near the Litani River, but withdrew following international pressure and the armistice agreement.

Although the Israel-Lebanon border remained relatively quiet, entries in the diary of Moshe Sharett

Moshe Sharett

Moshe Sharett on 15 October 1894, died 7 July 1965) was the second Prime Minister of Israel , serving for a little under two years between David Ben-Gurion's two terms.-Early life:...

point to a continued territorial interest in the area. On May 16, 1954, during a joint meeting of senior officials of the defense and foreign affairs ministries, Ben Gurion raised the issue of Lebanon due to renewed tensions between Syria and Iraq, and internal trouble in Syria. Dayan expressed his enthusiastic support for entering Lebanon, occupying the necessary territory and creating a Christian regime that would ally itself with Israel. The issue was raised again in discussions at the Protocol of Sèvres

Protocol of Sèvres

The Protocol of Sèvres was a secret agreement reached between the governments of Israel, France and the United Kingdom during discussions held between 22 and 24 October 1956 at Sèvres, France...

.

The Israeli victory in the 1967 Six Day War vastly expanded their area occupied in all neighboring countries, with the exception of Lebanon, but this extended the length of the effective Lebanon-Israel border, with the occupation of the Golan Heights. Although with a stated requirement for defense, later Israeli expansion into Lebanon under very similar terms followed the 1977 elections

Israeli legislative election, 1977

The Elections for the ninth Knesset were held on 17 May 1977. For the first time in Israeli political history, the right-wing, led by Likud, won the election, ending almost 30 years of rule by the left-wing Alignment and its predecessor, Mapai...

, which for the first time, brought the more militant, expansionist and Revisionist

Revisionist Zionism

Revisionist Zionism is a nationalist faction within the Zionist movement. It is the founding ideology of the non-religious right in Israel, and was the chief ideological competitor to the dominant socialist Labor Zionism...

Likud

Likud is the major center-right political party in Israel. It was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin in an alliance with several right-wing and liberal parties. Likud's victory in the 1977 elections was a major turning point in the country's political history, marking the first time the left had...

to power.

Emerging Conflict between Israel and Palestinian militants

Beginning with late 1960s and especially in 1970s, following the defeat of PLO in Black September in Jordan

Black September in Jordan

September 1970 is known as the Black September in Arab history and sometimes is referred to as the "era of regrettable events." It was a month when Hashemite King Hussein of Jordan moved to quash the militancy of Palestinian organizations and restore his monarchy's rule over the country. The...

, displaced Palestinians, including militants affiliated with the Palestinian Liberation Organization, began to settle in South Lebanon. The unrestrained buildup of Palestinian militia, and the large autonomy they exercised, led to the popular term "Fatahland" for South Lebanon. Since mid 1970s the tensions between the various Lebanese factions and Palestinians had exploded, resulting in Lebanese Civil War.

Following multiple terrorist attacks launched by Palestinian organizations in the 1970, which increased with the Lebanese Civil War, the Israeli government decided to take action. Desiring to break up and destroy this PLO stronghold, Israel briefly invaded Lebanon in 1978, but the results of this invasion were mixed. The PLO was pushed north of the Litani River and a buffer zone was created to keep them from returning, with the placement of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon

United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, or UNIFIL, was created by the United Nations, with the adoption of Security Council Resolution 425 and 426 on 19 March 1978, to confirm Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon which Israel had invaded five days prior, restore international peace and security,...

(UNIFIL). In addition and despite earlier covert support, Israel established a second buffer with renegade Saad Haddad

Saad Haddad

Saad Haddad was the founder and head of the South Lebanon Army . Several sources have suggested Haddad's involvement in the Sabra and Shatila massacres in 1982.-Lebanese Civil War:...

’s Christian Free Lebanon Army

South Lebanon Army

enclave (initially based only in the towns of Marjayoun

Marjayoun

Marjayoun is a Lebanese town and administrative district, Marjeyoun District, in the Nabatieh Governorate in Southern Lebanon...

and Qlayaa); the now-public Israeli military commitment to the Christian forces was strengthened. For the first time however, Israel received substantive adverse publicity in the world press for its heavy-handed treatment of South Lebanon, in which some 200,000 Lebanese (mostly Shia muslims) fled the area and ended up in the southern suburbs of Beirut; this indirectly resulted in the Syrian forces in Lebanon turning against the Christians in late June and complicated the dynamics of the on-going Lebanese Civil War

Lebanese Civil War

The Lebanese Civil War was a multifaceted civil war in Lebanon. The war lasted from 1975 to 1990 and resulted in an estimated 150,000 to 230,000 civilian fatalities. Another one million people were wounded, and today approximately 350,000 people remain displaced. There was also a mass exodus of...

Israeli Invasion

In 1982, the Israeli military began "Operation Peace for Galilee", a full scale invasion of Lebanese territory. The invasion followed the 1978 Litani Operation, which gave Israel possession of the territory near the Israeli-Lebanese border. This follow-up invasion attempted to weaken the PLO as a unified political and military force and eventually led to the withdrawal of PLO and Syrian forces from Lebanon. By the end of this operation, Israel got control over Lebanon from Beirut southward, and attempted to install a pro-Israeli government in Beirut to sign a peace accord with it. This goal had never realized, partly because of the assassination of President Bashir Gemayel in September 1982, and the refusal of the Lebanese Parliament to endorse the accord. The withdrawal of the PLO forces in 1982 forced some Lebanese nationalists to start a resistance against the Israeli army led by the Lebanese Communist Party and Amal movement. During this time, some Amal members started the formation of an Islamic group supported by Iran

Iran

that was the nucleus of the future "Islamic Resistance", and eventually become Hezbollah.

Occupation period 1982-1985 - the emergence of Hizbullah

Increased hostilities against the US resulted in the April 1983 United States Embassy bombing

1983 United States Embassy bombing

The 1983 U.S. embassy bombing was a suicide bombing against the United States embassy in Beirut, Lebanon on April 18, 1983 that killed over 60 people, mostly embassy staff members and United States Marines and sailors. It was the deadliest attack on a U.S. diplomatic mission up to that time, and is...

. In response, the US brokered the May 17 Agreement

May 17 Agreement

The May 17 Agreement of 1983 was a failed U.S.-backed attempt to create peace between Lebanon and Israel during the Lebanese Civil War, after Israel invaded Lebanon and besieged Beirut in 1982...

, in an attempt to stall hostilities between Israel and Lebanon. However, this agreement eventually failed to take shape, and hostilities continued. In October, the United States Marines barracks in Beirut was bombed

1983 Beirut barracks bombing

The Beirut Barracks Bombing occurred during the Lebanese Civil War, when two truck bombs struck separate buildings housing United States and French military forces—members of the Multinational Force in Lebanon—killing 299 American and French servicemen...

(usually attributed to the Islamic Resistance groups). Following this incident, the United States withdrew its military forces from Lebanon.

Suicide bombings became increasingly popular at this time, and were a major concern of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) both near Beirut and in the South. Among the most serious were the two suicide bombings

Tyre headquarters bombings

The Tyre truck bombings, also known as the Tyre disaster, were two suicide bombings against the Israel Defense Forces' headquarters building in Tyre, Lebanon, in 1982 and 1983. The blasts killed 103 IDF Israelis and 46–59 Lebanese, wounding 95 people and were some of the worst losses ever for the IDF...

against the Israeli heaquarters in Tyre, which killed 103 soldiers, border policemen, and Shin Bet agents, and also killed 49-56 Lebanese. Israel withdrew from the Shouf Mountains, but continued to occupy Lebanon south of the Awali River.

An increased number of Islamic militias began operating in South Lebanon, launching guerilla attacks on Israeli and pro-Israel militia positions. Israeli forces often responded with increased security measures and airstrikes on militant positions, and casualties on all sides steadily climbed. In a vacuum left with eradication of PLO, the disorganized Islamic militants in South Lebanon began to consolidate. The emerging Hezbollah, soon to become the preeminent Islamic militia, evolved during this period. However, scholars disagree as to when Hezbollah came to be regarded as a distinct entity. Over time, a number of Shi’a group members were slowly assimilated into the organization, such as Islamic Jihad members, Organization of the Oppressed on Earth, and the Revolutionary Justice Organization.

Israeli withdrawal to Security Zone

In February 1985, Israel withdrew from Sidon

Sidon

Sidon or Saïda is the third-largest city in Lebanon. It is located in the South Governorate of Lebanon, on the Mediterranean coast, about 40 km north of Tyre and 40 km south of the capital Beirut. In Genesis, Sidon is the son of Canaan the grandson of Noah...

and turned it over to the Lebanese Army, but faced attacks: 15 Israelis were killed and 105 wounded during the withdrawal. Dozens of SLA members were also assassinated. From mid-February to mid-March, the Israelis lost 18 dead and 35 wounded. On March 11, Israeli forces raided the town of Zrariyah, killing 40 Amal fighters and capturing a large stock of arms. On April 9, a Shiite girl drove a car bomb into an IDF convoy, and the following day, a soldier was killed by a land mine. During that same period, Israeli forces killed 80 Lebanese guerrillas in five weeks. Another 1,800 Shi'as were taken as prisoners. Israel withdrew from the Bekaa valley on April 24, and from Tyre on the 29th, but continued to occupy a security zone in Southern Lebanon.

In 1985 Hezbollah released an open letter to "The Downtrodden in Lebanon and in the World", which stated that the world was divided between the oppressed and the oppressors. The oppressors were named to be mainly the United States and Israel. This letter legitimized and praised the use of violence against the enemies of Islam, mainly the West. The newfound unity among these Shi'a resistance groups in 1985 has been credited to the disappearance of Musa al-Sadr

Musa al-Sadr

For the Twelver Shī‘ah Imām, see Mūsá al-KāżimMūsá aṣ-Ṣadr , also Musā-ye Sader and Moussa Sadr), was an Iranian-Lebanese philosopher and Shī‘ah religious leader who disappeared in August 1978...

. Fighting the Israeli occupation included hit-and-run guerrilla attacks, suicide bombings, and the Katyusha rocket attacks on civilian targets in Northern Israel, including Kiryat Shmona

Kiryat Shmona

Kiryat Shmona is a city located in the North District of Israel on the western slopes of the Hula Valley on the Lebanese border. The city was named for the eight people, including Joseph Trumpeldor, who died in 1920 defending Tel Hai....

. The Katyusha proved to be an effective weapon and became a mainstay of the resistance in South Lebanon. The attacks resulted in both military and civilian casualties. However, a considerable number of Lebanese guerillas were killed fighting Israeli and SLA troops, and many were captured. Prisoners were often detained in Israeli military prisons, or by the SLA in the infamous Khiam detention center

Khiam detention center

The Khiam Detention Center, located near Khiam, Lebanon, was a French barrack complex originally built in the 1930s. It became a base for the Lebanese army before falling under control of the South Lebanon Army and in 1985 was converted into a prison camp...

, where detainees were often tortured. Lebanese prisoners in Israel

Lebanese prisoners in Israel

Lebanese prisoners in Israel have been a source of contention between Lebanon and Israel and were an issue in the 2006 Lebanon War. The number of such detainees is disputed. According to the Lebanese militant organization Hezbollah, there are two Lebanese citizens in Israeli prisons, but Israel...

were arrested and detained for participating in guerilla movements, and many were held for long periods of time.

After Israel destroyed Hezbollah's headquarters in the town of Marrakeh, a Hezbollah suicide bomber destroyed an Israeli transport truck carrying soldiers on the Israel-Lebanon border. In response, Israeli forces ambushed two Hezbollah vehicles, killing eight Hezbollah fighters.

On July 28, 1989, Israeli commandos captured Sheikh Abdul Karim Obeid, the leader of Hezbollah. This action led to the adoption of United Nations Security Council Resolution 638

United Nations Security Council Resolution 638

United Nations Security Council Resolution 638, adopted unanimously on July 31, 1989, after reaffirming resolutions 579 and 618 , the Council expressed its deep concern at the prevalence in incidents of hostage-taking having grave consequences for the international community and relations between...

, which condemned all hostage takings by all sides.

Taif Accord

The Lebanese Civil War officially came to an end with the 1989 Ta'if Accord, but the armed combat continued at least until October 1990, and in South Lebanon until at least 1991. In fact, the continued Israeli presence in South Lebanon resulted in continued low-intensity warfare and sporadic major combat until the Israeli withdrawal in 2000.

Post Civil War conflict

Though the majority of the Lebanese civil war conflicts ended in the months following the Ta'if Accord

Taif Agreement

The Taif Agreement was an agreement reached to provide "the basis for the ending of the civil war and the return to political normalcy in Lebanon." Negotiated in Taif, Saudi Arabia, it was designed to end the decades-long Lebanese civil war, politically accommodate the demographic...

, Israel kept maintaining a military presence in South Lebanon. Consequently, the Islamic Resistance, by now dominated by Hezbollah, continued operations in the South. On February 16, 1992, Hezbollah leader Abbas al-Musawi

Abbas al-Musawi

Abbas al-Musawi was an influential Shia cleric and co-founder and Secretary General of Hezbollah. He was killed by Israeli forces in 1992.Al-Musawi was born in the village of al-Nabi Shayth in the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon....

was killed along with his wife, son and four others when Israeli AH-64 Apache

AH-64 Apache

The Boeing AH-64 Apache is a four-blade, twin-engine attack helicopter with a tailwheel-type landing gear arrangement, and a tandem cockpit for a two-man crew. The Apache was developed as Model 77 by Hughes Helicopters for the United States Army's Advanced Attack Helicopter program to replace the...

helicopter gunships fired three missiles at his motorcade. The Israeli attack came in retaliation for the killings of three Israeli soldiers two days earlier when their camp was infiltrated. Hezbollah responded with rocket fire onto the Israeli security zone, and Israel then fired back and sent two armored columns past the security zone to hit Hezbollah strongholds in Kafra and Yater

Yater

Yater is a Lebanese municipality located in Bint Jbeil District. It is 112 kilometers away from Beirut....

. Musawi was succeeded by Hassan Nasrallah

Hassan Nasrallah

Hasan Nasrallah, became the third Secretary General of the Lebanese political and paramilitary organization Hezbollah after Israel assassinated the previous leader, Abbas al-Musawi, in 1992. Hezbollah in its entirety is considered a terrorist organization by The United States, the Netherlands,...

. One of Nasrallah's first public declarations was the "retribution" policy: If Israel hit Lebanese civilian targets, then Hezbollah would retaliate with attacks on Israeli territory. Meanwhile, Hezbollah continued attacks against IDF targets within occupied Lebanese territory.

In 1993, hostilities flared again. After a month of Hezbollah shelling on Israeli towns and attacks on its soldiers, Israel conducted a seven-day operation called Operation Accountability

Operation Accountability

On July 25, 1993, Israeli forces launched a week-long attack against Lebanon named Operation Accountability in Israel and the Seven-Day War in Lebanon...

in order to hit Hezbollah. One Israeli soldier and 8-50 Hezbollah fighters were killed in the operation, along with 2 Israeli and 118 Lebanese civilians. After one week of fighting in South Lebanon, a mutual agreement mediated by the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

prohibited attacks on civilian targets by both parts. However, Hezbollah soon broke the cease-fire, and sporadically attacked Israeli positions and its proxy, the SLA

South Lebanon Army

.

In May 1994, Israeli commandos kidnapped an Amal leader Mustafa Dirani

Mustafa Dirani

Mustafa Dirani was a member and held position of "the head of security" of the Amal movement, a Shi'a militia in Lebanon associated with Syria. In 1987 he started contacts with pro-Iran sources, and eventually he created contacts between them and the rest of the leadership of Amal...

, and in June, an Israeli airstrike against a training camp killed 30-45 Hezbollah cadets. Hezbollah retaliated by firing four barrages of Katyusha

Katyusha

Katyusha multiple rocket launchers are a type of rocket artillery first built and fielded by the Soviet Union in World War II. Compared to other artillery, these multiple rocket launchers deliver a devastating amount of explosives to a target area quickly, but with lower accuracy and requiring a...

rockets into northern Israel.

Continued hostility in late 1990s

Operation Grapes of Wrath

Operation Grapes of Wrath is the Israeli Defense Forces code-name for a sixteen-day campaign against Lebanon in 1996 in an attempt to end shelling of Northern Israel by Hezbollah. Israel conducted more than 1,100 air raids and extensive shelling...

resulted in the deaths of more than 150 civilians and refugees, most of them in the shelling of a United Nations base

1996 shelling of Qana

The 1996 shelling of Qana or the First Qana massacre, took place on April 18, 1996 near Qana, a village in Southern Lebanon, when artillery shells fired by the Israeli Defence Force hit a United Nations compound. Of 800 Lebanese civilians who had taken refuge in the compound, 106 were killed and...

at Qana

Qana

Qana also spelled Cana is a village in southern Lebanon located southeast of the city of Tyre and north of the border with Israel. The 10,000 residents of Qana are primarily Shiite Muslim although there is also a Christian community in the village....

. Within a few days, a ceasefire was agreed between Israel and Hezbollah, committing to avoid civilian casualties; however, combat continued for at least two months. A total of 14 Hezbollah fighters, 1 Syrian soldier, and 3 Israeli soldiers were killed in the fighting.

On 4 February 1997, two Israeli transport helicopters collided

1997 Israeli helicopter disaster

The 1997 Israeli helicopter disaster occurred on 4 February 1997. 73 IDF soldiers were killed when two Sikorsky CH-53 Sea Stallion Yas'ur 2000 helicopters, 357 and 903, collided over She'ar Yashuv in northern Israel. The helicopters were supposed to have crossed the border into Israel's "security...

over She'ar Yashuv

She'ar Yashuv

She'ar Yashuv is a workers' moshav in the Upper Galilee in the northeastern Hula Valley in northern Israel. It belongs to the Mevo'ot HaHermon Regional Council....

in Northern Israel while waiting for clearance to fly into Lebanon. A total of 73 IDF soldiers were killed in the disaster. On 28 February one Israeli soldier and four Hezbollah guerrillas were killed in a bloody clash. On 4 August 1997, Israeli soldiers killed five Hezbollah gunmen, including two area commanders, in a clash north of the security zone. On September 5th 1997, a raid by 16 Israeli Shayetet 13

Shayetet 13

Shayetet 13 is the elite naval commando unit of the Israeli Navy. The unit is considered one of the primary Special Forces units of the Israel Defense Forces . S'13 specializes in sea-to-land incursions, counter-terrorism, sabotage, maritime intelligence gathering, maritime hostage rescue, and...

naval commandos failed after the troops stumbled into an IED

Improvised explosive device

An improvised explosive device , also known as a roadside bomb, is a homemade bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional military action...

ambush, killing 12. Shortly afterward, Hezbollah fighter Hadi Nasrallah was killed in a clash with Israeli soldiers. Hadi was the son of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah

Hassan Nasrallah

.

During 1999, several dozen Hezbollah and Amal fighters were killed. Twelve Israeli soldiers and one civilian were also killed, one of them in accident. Hezbollah also captured an Israeli M113 armored personnel carrier

M113 armored personnel carrier

The M113 is a fully tracked armored personnel carrier that has formed the backbone of the United States Army's mechanized infantry units from the time of its first fielding in Vietnam in April 1962. The M113 was the most widely used armored vehicle of the U.S...

2000: Israeli withdrawal

In July 1999, Ehud Barak

Ehud Barak

became Israel's Prime Minister, promising Israel would unilaterally withdraw to the international border by July 2000. Prior to his actions, many believed that Israel would only withdraw from South Lebanon upon reaching an agreement with Syria.

In January 2000, Hezbollah assassinated the commander of the South Lebanon Army's Western Brigade, Colonel Aql Hashem, at his home in the security zone. Hashem had been responsible for day to day operations of the SLA. After this assassination there were doubts about the leadership of the South Lebanon Army (SLA).

During the spring of 2000, Hezbollah operations stepped up considerably, with persistent harassment of Israeli military outposts in occupied Lebanese territory. As preparation for the major withdrawal plan, Israeli forces began abandoning several forward positions within the security zone of South Lebanon. On 24 May, Israel announced that it would withdraw all troops from South Lebanon. All Israeli forces had withdrawn from Lebanon by the end of the next day, more than six weeks before its stated deadline of 7 July.

The Israeli pullout resulted in the collapse of the SLA and the rapid advance of Hezbollah forces into the area. As the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) withdrew, thousands of Shi'a Lebanese rushed back to the South to reclaim their properties. This withdrawal was widely considered a victory for Hezbollah and boosted its popularity in Lebanon. The completeness of the withdrawal is still disputed as Lebanese Government and Hizbollah claim Israel still holds Shebaa farms

Shebaa farms

, a small piece of territory on the Lebanon-Israel-Syria border, with disputed sovereignty.

As a Syrian-backed Lebanese government refused to demarcate its border with Israel, Israel worked with UN cartographers led by regional coordinator Terje Rød-Larsen

Terje Rød-Larsen

Terje Rød-Larsen is a Norwegian diplomat, politician and sociologist.He came to wide international prominence as a key figure in the negotiations that led to the Oslo Accords, when he served as the Director of the Fafo institute...

to certify Israel had withdrawn from all occupied Lebanese territory. On June 16, 2000, UN Security Council concluded that Israel had indeed withdrawn its forces from all of Lebanon, in accordance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 425

United Nations Security Council Resolution 425

United Nations Security Council Resolution 425, adopted on March 19, 1978, five days after the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, called on Israel to withdraw immediately its forces from Lebanon and established the United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon...

(1978).

Israel considered this move as tactical withdrawal since it always regarded the Security Zone

Israeli Security Zone

The Israeli Security Zone in southern Lebanon was a strip of territory of varying width, , from the Israeli border and the Golan Heights, occupied by Israeli forces from 1985 to 2000. Additional regions controlled by the South Lebanon Army are sometimes included under the term...

as a buffer zone to defend Israel's citizens. By ending the occupation, Barak's cabinet assumed it would improve its worldwide image. Ehud Barak

Ehud Barak

has argued that "Hezbollah would have enjoyed international legitimacy in their struggle against a foreign occupier", if the Israelis had not unilaterally withdrew without a peace agreement.

Aftermath

Upon Israel's withdrawal, there was increasing fear among the Christian people of the South that Hezbollah would seek vengeance against those thought to have supported Israel. Hezbollah met with Christian clerics to reassure them that the Israeli withdrawal was a victory for Lebanon as a nation, not just one sect or militia.

The tentative peace, resulting from the withdrawal, did not last.

On October 7, 2000 Hezbollah attacked Israel

2000 Hezbollah cross-border raid

In the 2000 Hezbollah cross-border raid Hezbollah militants captured three IDF soldiers; Benny Avraham, Adi Avitan and Omar Sawaid, while they were patrolling the security fence along the border with Lebanon, and took them across the border. It is not clear when or under which circumstances the...

. In a cross-border raid, three Israeli soldiers who were patrolling the Lebanese border were attacked and abducted. Their bodies were returned to Israel in a 2004 prisoner exchange. During this exchange, it was also agreed that the price for the release of Lebanon's longest-held prisoner Samir Kuntar

Samir Kuntar

Samir Kuntar is a Lebanese Druze convicted murderer and former member of the Palestine Liberation Front...

would be solid information on the fate of captured Israeli pilot Ron Arad

Ron Arad (pilot)

Lieutenant Colonel Ron Arad , was an Israeli Air Force weapon systems officer who is officially classified as missing in action since October 1986, but is widely presumed dead...

. As Hezbollah failed to unearth any solid evidence as to Arad's fate, Kuntar remained incarcerated for his crimes.

In July 2006, in response to Israel's failure to release the Lebanese prisoners in Israel

Lebanese prisoners in Israel

, Hezbollah kidnapped two Israeli soldiers and killed eight others. In retaliation Israel began the 2006 Lebanon War to rescue the abducted soldiers and destroy Hezbollah.

Background

Emerging Conflict between Israel and Palestinian militants

Israeli Invasion

Occupation period 1982-1985 - the emergence of Hizbullah

Israeli withdrawal to Security Zone

Taif Accord

Post Civil War conflict

Continued hostility in late 1990s

2000: Israeli withdrawal

Aftermath

See also