Wars and Conflicts
of Lebanon
Lebanon has a long history of civil conflict
involving its competing religious and ethnic factions.
These factions include the Maronite Christian minority,
who are often in conflict with the Muslim majority. The
Muslims are themselves divided between the Sunni Muslim
majority and the Shiite Muslim minority. The Druze
peoples in the southern mountains form another distinct
faction. Added to Lebanon's demographic divisions are the
hundreds of thousands of (mostly) Muslim Palestinian
refugees who live in permanent refugee
settlements.
Druze Revolt (1925-27)--Rebelliono of the Druze
minority against French rule
Arab-Israeli War (1948-1949)-Lebanon joined the
other Arab nations by invading the newly-created State of
Israel. The Lebanese invasion was turned back by the
Israelis. Israel and Lebanon would maintain an official
state of war for many years.
Lebanese Civil War (1958)-Conflict between
Lebanon's Christian and Muslim communities leads to a
civil war which kills between 2,000 and 4,000 people. The
United States lands several thousand Marines in Beirut in
support of the government.
Israeli Raid on Beirut (December 28, 1968)
Palestinian-Lebanese Hostility 1969
Christian-Shia Violence: Beirut 1969-70
Lebanese-Palestinian Clashes 1970
Lebanese-Palestinian Violence 1971
Israeli Raid on Beirut 1973
Lebanese-Palestinian Clashes 1973
Lebanese Civil War 1975-76
Kamal Jumblatt Assassination (March 16,
1977) -- Jumblatt was the leader of Lebanon's Druze
minority. His murder is one of the sparks that set off
the long Lebanese Civil War.
Tony Frangieh Assassination (June 13,
1978) -- A leader of the Christian Maronite faction, Tony
Frangieh was the son of former Lebanese President
Suleiman Frangieh. This assassination was part of the
ongoing battle between the Marada Brigade of the Frangieh
clan, and the Phalangist militia of the Gemayal
family.
Israeli Invasion of Lebanon (1978)--Operation
Litani was the official name of Israel's 1978 invasion of
Lebanon up to the Litani river. The invasion was a
military success, as the Israeli military expelled the
PLO from Southern Lebanon, where they had created a de
facto state within a state. An international outcry over
the invasion forced a partial Israeli retreat and the
creation of a United Nations patrolled buffer zone
between the Arab guerrillas and the Israeli military.
Israeli Bombing in South Lebanon (1981)--In
response to PLO rocket attacks, Israeli forces began
heavy bombing of PLO targets in Lebanon. The United
States negotiated a cease-fire.
The Israeli Invasion of Lebanon (1982-1984)--In
response to repeated guerrilla attacks by the PLO, which
were launched from South Lebanon, Israel invaded with the
intent of destroying Arafat's forces. Syria, which
maintained a large army in Lebanon, fought Israel and
suffered an embarrassing defeat.
Bashir Gemayal Assassination (Sept. 14,
1982)--Gemayal, the President-elect of Lebanon, was
killed by a bomb that destroyed the headquarters of his
Phalangist Party. Gemayal was the leader of the
pro-Israel and pro-Western Phalangist Party and a foe of
Syria and the Palestinians.
The Israeli Occupation of South Lebanon
(1984-2000)--As they withdrew from most of Lebanon seized
in the 1982 invasion, Israel held onto a large part of
Southern Lebanon with the aid of the "South Lebanon Army
(SLA)," a militia set up and supported by Israel. This
occupation was opposed by the PLO and other Palestinian
groups as an extension of their long-running conflict
with Israel. Also, other militia armies (mostly Lebanese
Muslim groups), such as Hezbollah (supported by Iran and
Syria), stepped up attacks on the Israeli-occupied region
as well as on settlements and military targets in
northern Israel. In 2000, Israel withdrew from Lebanon
and the SLA disbanded.
Prime Minister Rashid Karami
Assassination (June 1, 1987)--Karami was a Sunni
Muslim and a veteran political leader. He was killed in a
bombing that destroyed the helicopter he was flying in as
he was returning to Beirut. Karami was an ally and
supporter of Syria.
Grand Mufti Hasan Khaled Assassination
(May 16, 1989)--Khaled was the chief legal cleric of
Lebanon's Sunni Muslims. His death by car bomb is
attributed to his moderate politics.
Nazem el Qadri Assassination (September
22, 1989)--El Qadri, a Sunni Muslim parliamentarian, was
an opponent of Syria's occupation of Lebanon. His
shooting death was seen as a not-too-subtle Syrian
warning to other Lebanese politicians not to oppose
Syria. Peace negotiations were underway in Taif, Saudi
Arabia, and one of the items on the table was a deadline
for a Syrian military withdrawal.
Lebanese President René Moawad
Assassination (November 22, 1989)--Moawad, a
Maronite Christian who had been President for only 17
days, died as his car was destroyed by a bomb in Beirut.
Moawad had been attempting to form a unity government in
order to end the civil war.
Dany Chamoun Assassination (October 21,
1990)-Chamoun was a Maronite Christian leader and the son
of former Lebanese President Camille Chamoun. The younger
Chamoun was an ally of General Michel Aoun, who opposed
the pro-Syrian Government of President Elias Hrawi.
Another Chamoun rival was Samir Geagea.
Operation Accountability/The Seven-Day War
(1993)--Israeli Forces launched Operation Accountability
(July 25-July 31, 1993), a week-long military campaign
directed at Hezbollah (this conflict is called The
Seven-Day War by the Lebanese).
Operation Grapes of Wrath (April 11-April 27,
1996) --Israel's massive air and artillery attack on
Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon which attempted to
end shelling of northern Israel by the Iranian and
Syrian-backed Lebanese Islamic militia. Israel forces
launched 1,100 air raids and fired nearly 25,132 shells
at Hezbollah targets during the sixteen-day offensive. A
United Nations camp at Qana, Lebanon, was hit by Israeli
shelling, killing 118 Lebanese civilians who sought
shelter there. Nearly 640 Hezbollah rockets hit northern
Israel in this time period, particularly the often-hit
settlement of Kiryat Shemona. Israel's ally and proxy
force, the South Lebanon Army (a mixed Christian and
Shiite Muslim militia under the command of renegade
Lebanese Major Saad Haddad), also engaged in ground
fighting with Hezbollah. At least 350 civilians were
wounded in Lebanon , and 62 Israeli civilians were
wounded in Israel.
Prime Minister Rafik Hariri Assassination
(February 14, 2005)--Prime Minister Hariri was a
foe of the Syrian Occupation of Lebanon, and his murder
was widely believed (though never proven) to be the work
of Syria. His death sparked the so-called Cedar
Revolution.
The Cedar Revolution (2005) -- The
assassination of Prime Minister Hariri on February 14,
2005 triggered huge rallies opposing the 29-year Syrian
occupation of Lebanon. The Cedar Revolution led to the
withdrawal of Syrian forces in the spring of 2005.
George Hawi Assassination (June 21,
2005) -- Hawi, a member of the Christian minority, was
another opponent of the Syrian Occupation to be
assassinated, and a former head of the Lebanese Communist
Party. Hawi was particularly critical of Syria's
intelligence service and its influence in Lebanese
affairs.
Pierre Gemayal Assassination (June 21,
2006) -- Pierre Gemayal, the son of former president Amin
Gemayal and the nephew of Bashir Gemayal, was a cabinet
minister.
Walid Eido Assassination (June 13, 2007)
-- Eido was a member of Parliament and a Sunni Muslim. He
belonged to the Future Movement, which was led by Saad
Hariri and an opponent of Syrian influence in
Lebanon.
June 16, 2007-The United Nations
Security Council resolution creating an international
tribunal to try suspects in the assassination of Rafik
Hariri took effect.
The
Israeli-Hezbollah War (also known in Israel as
"The Second Lebanon War (2006)--In response to repeated
guerrilla attacks by the Shiite Lebanese militia
Hezbollah, Israel invaded southern Lebanon, set up a
naval blockade, and launched a powerful bombing campaign
in order to win the release of two captured Israeli
soldiers.
North
Lebanon Conflict-(May 20, 2007- September 2,
2007)--This conflict began in May, 2007, when the
Lebanese Army began a siege of the Nahr al-Bared refugee
camp in order to drive out a militant Islamic militia
called Fatah Islam. The resulting combat killed 158
Lebanese soldiers, 120 Fatah al-Islam militants and 42
civilians. The violence began on May 20, 2007, when
Lebanese authorities raided a Fatah al-Islam safe-house
in Tripoli, sparking a gun battle. The fighting spread to
the nearby Nahr al-Bared camp, where Fatah al-Islam was
based. The Lebanese Army quickly cordoned off the camp
and began a siege which ended in September, 2007, as the
defeated remnants of Fatah al-Islam attempted to break
out of the camp and were destroyed in firefights with the
Lebanese military.
Brigadier General François al-Hajj
Assassination (December 12, 2007)-- General
al-Hajj commanded the Lebanese Army in the North Lebanon
Conflict's Battle of Nahr el-Bared, that pitted the
government against the Fatah al-Islam militia. Al-Hajj
was scheduled to succeed General Michel Suleiman (the
president-elect) as the army chief of staff in 2008.
Hezbollah Rebellion (May 7-May 21,
2008)-Conflict between Hezbollah and the Lebanese
government.
