The Lebanese Civil War (1975-2005) was a lengthy and destructive civil war that occurred in Lebanon during the late 20th century. Caused by divisions between the Maronites and Muslims, the latter of which formed the Amal Movement and Jammoul to install a democracy in Lebanon, the civil war saw Syria and Israel compete for influence over the country. The pro-Israeli president Bachir Gemayel was assassinated before he could take office, and Syria engaged in a campaign of assassinations against anti-Syria politicians, overseeing the election of pro-Syrian presidents. Although the Taif Agreement in 1990 brought an end to the inter-factional fighting, war between the Hezbollah resistance movement and the Israel Defense Forces and their Christian South Lebanon Army allies continued in South Lebanon until Israel's withdrawal in 2000. In 2005, following the assassination of Prime Minister Rafic Hariri, the people of Lebanon rose up against Syrian occupation in the Cedar Revolution, ending the civil war for good.
Background[]
The Old Lebanon[]
Since independence in 1946, Lebanon was a divided country. It was divided down the middle between a Christian population that made up 45% of Lebanon's citizens and the upper class and the remaining 55%, which consisted of Muslims and Druze. In 1946, the National Pact divided Lebanese society, with government positions being delegated to specific religions; the President was supposed to be a Maronite Christian and the Prime Minister was to be a Sunni Muslim, with the Speaker of Parliament being a Shi'ite. Society was corrupt in Lebanon, with the rich getting richer and the poor (mostly Muslim) remaining poor. Matters were complicated when Lebanon was repeatedly defeated in failed wars against Israel as a part of the Arab League alliance, and Lebanon's Muslim population was united behind the Amal Movement and similar organizations during the 1970s. Kamal Jumblatt led the leftist opposition against the Maronite government, which sought to maintain the old Lebanon despite the changing times.
Palestinian takeover of South Lebanon[]
In 1970, following Black September in Jordan, the defeated Palestine Liberation Organization was forced to relocate from Jordan to Lebanon. West Beirut became the PLO's stronghold, and they set up bases at refugee camps such as Sabra and Chatila in Lebanon. From there, they carried out terrorist attacks against Israel during the late 1960s and early 1970s, including the Ma'alot massacre and Coastal Road massacre; the 1972 Munich Massacre was planned at a PLO meeting in the capital of Beirut. These horrible attacks led to Israel bombing the Palestinian camps in Lebanon, and the Lebanese government, like Jordan before them, sought to drive them out of their country. Yasser Arafat planted a seed for the PLO to flourish for coming years, with West Beirut becoming a major hub of Palestinian terrorists and guerrillas; South Lebanon was filled with PLO bases, including the old crusader fort of Beaufort, which now became an artillery base. The Palestinians were hated by the Maronite majority, as they were poor and were dangerous to Lebanon's security.
War[]
1975-77: Sectarian violence[]
The division of Lebanon in 1976: purple is the Maronite militias; dark green is the land occupied by Syria, and light green is the area occupied by the PLO
Tensions between the Maronites and the Palestinians escalated early in the morning of 13 April 1975 when Christian Kataeb Party (also called the "Phalangists") traffic police shot a PLO driver during a PLO rally in East Beirut, leading to clashes between the Phalangists and PLO. The shooting of the driver took place outside of an Orthodox Christian church; soon after, a car rigged with PFLP posters and bumper stickers pulled up to the church and killed four people after the congregation left the services. Phalangists took to the streets and set up roadblocks, and they killed 27 PLO militants and Lebanese sympathizers riding on a bus and wounding 19, including the driver; the "Bus massacre" led to sectarian violence between Christians in East Beirut and Muslims in West Beirut. Sectarian massacres followed, and the Karantina massacre on 18 January 1976 saw 1,500 Muslims be killed by Dany Chamoun's Christian militiamen as they were forced out of their slum of Karantina. Two days later, the PLO massacred 582 Maronites in the Damour massacre, continuing the violence. Soon, it became clear that Lebanon was now in a sectarian conflict between the Maronites of the Kataeb Party, Guardians of the Cedars, and the newly-formed South Lebanon Army of Saad Haddad (collectively the "Lebanese Front") and the Muslims of the PLO, PFLP, DFLP, and other Palestinian groups. On 12 August 1976, 60,000 Palestinian refugees were displaced after the Tel al-Zaatar camp was destroyed, leaving 3,000 Palestinians and 200 Maronites (including William Hawi) dead.
Lebanon's state of crisis led to intervention by neighboring Syria, with 12,000 Syrian Arab Army troops coming in to help President Elias Sarkis in putting down the Palestinian and leftist militias. They arrived in June; the May before, Israel had begun sending advisors, tanks, and weapons to the Phalangists to help them in fighting against the PLO. In October 1976, the Arab Deterrent Force was formed, with 40,000 Syrian troops being dispatched to occupy Lebanon. By 1977, the fighting had ended, with 60,000 people dying at that point.
1977-1978: Hundred Days' War[]
The end of the first phase was more of a ceasefire than a peace treaty, with the Syrian forces occupying the north and east, the Christians the middle of the country and the west, and the Palestinians West Beirut and South Lebanon. The Muslims formed the Lebanese National Movement alliance, while the Christians united in the Lebanese Front. On 16 March 1977, the Syrian Social Nationalist Party assassinated LNM leader Kamal Jumblatt, the leader of the leftists, and the LNM crumbled after his death. From February-April 1978, the Maronites and Arab Deterrent Force fought against each other in the Hundred Days' War after far-right Maronites attacked occupying Syrian troops; Tony Frangieh and the Marada Brigades sided with Syria, dividing the Maronites. Frangieh was killed in the Ehden massacre with his family, and the Maronites had inter-clan violence from then on.
1978: Operation Litani[]
Following the Coastal Road Massacre of 38 Israeli civilians by a PLO squad led by Dalal Mughrabi, Israel decided to invade South Lebanon and punish the Palestinians. From 14 to 21 March 1978, the Israelis fought the PLO, pushing them up to the Litani River in "Operation Litani". Israel's use of cluster bombs brought international condemnation, as the United States had intended for the bombs to be used for defense, not aggression. 2,000 Palestinians and Lebanese were killed and 250,000 Lebanese displaced, and the operation was such a defeat for the Palestinians that they all agreed to a temporary peace with Israel for the first time in history. The PLO withdrew to Beirut, and Israel withdrew as United Nations peacekeepers established a buffer zone there.
1978-1982: Continued Fighting[]
The war with Syria continued in the years from 1978 to 1982, and it saw continued inter-clan fighting among the Maronites. On 7 July 1980, the Phalangists carried out the Safra massacre against Dany Chamoun's Tigers Militia, weakening the group by killing 83 of them. From December 1980 to June 1981, the Lebanese Forces fought the Syrian Army and some PLO units in the Battle of Zahleh, inflicting heavy losses and taking over the town. The leader of the Phalangists in the battle, Bachir Gemayel, became a hero for defeating the Syrians, paving his way to the presidency.
1982: Israeli invasion of Lebanon[]
On 3 June 1982, when the Abu Nidal Organization attempted to assassinate Israeli ambassador Shlomo Argov in London, Israel bombed PLO and PFLP bases in West Beirut, killing 100 people. The PLO resumed artillery and rocket attacks on north Israel as a result, breaking the ceasefire. On 6 June, Israel launched "Operation Peace for Galilee", sending soldiers to invade Lebanon. They fought against Syrians on the Beirut-Damascus Highway, in Jezzine, and in the Beqaa Valley, and they besieged the PLO in West Beirut, which was heavily-pounded. The Siege of Beirut resulted in a great victory for Israel over their PLO enemies, who almost lost Arafat to a sniper. On 21 August 1982, the Palestinians agreed to a peace settlement with the Israelis in which they would leave Lebanon and relocate to Tunisia, and Tunis became the new PLO base as Lebanon was evacuated. The PLO withdrawal from Lebanon was a major success for Israel, which stopped cross-border attacks from continuing. However, on 23 August 1982 Bachir Gemayel, who was soon to assume the presidency of Lebanon and make peace with Israel, was assassinated by Syria before he could take office. His brother Amine Gemayel took office, and the Maronites blamed the Palestinians for his murder; from 16-18 September 1992, Elie Hobeika and Samir Geagea's Maronite militias massacred as many as 3,500 Palestinians in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps, with the massacres being revenge for Gemayel's murder.
1983-1985: International intervention[]
Lebanon in 1983: green is occupied by Syria, purple by Maronites, yellow by Israel, and blue by UNIFIL
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL)/Multinational Force in Lebanon, consisting mostly of soldiers from the United States, France, and Italy, was deployed to Beirut and southern Lebanon to enforce peace in the country, with US Navy ships shelling Syrian and Shi'ite/Druze rebel positions to assist the Lebanese Army during their "Mountain War" against the militants. On 18 April 1983, 63 Americans were killed when their embassy in West Beirut was bombed, and 241 US Marine Corps troops and 58 French servicemen were killed when their barracks in Beirut was hit by a suicide bombing on 23 October 1983. The Americans and French were hit hard by attacks, and in 1984 President Ronald Reagan authorized the withdrawal of US forces from Lebanon, with the US Sixth Fleet also withdrawing. The American withdrawal was followed by French and Italian soldiers leaving, and the country was left at the mercy of the militias.
1985-1988: Rise of Hezbollah[]
Imad Mughniyah, leader of Hezbollah
The group responsible for the attacks against the Americans was called the "Islamic Jihad Organization", but it became better-known as Hezbollah, meaning "The Party of God" in Arabic. Hezbollah sided with the PLO and the Muslim militants during the war, and from 1985 they helped the PLO against the Amal Movement, Syrian Arab Army, and PFLP-GC in the War of the Camps, which raged until 1988. Muslim refugee camps were besieged by the Amal Movement in hopes of forcing the PLO out of their country, and it resulted in the destruction of several Palestinian camps, the Syrian occupation of West Beirut, and the division of the Muslims in a way that the Christians had experienced in the late 1970s.
1989-1990: "War of Liberation"[]
On 1 June 1987, Prime Minister Rashid Karami was assassinated by the radical Maronite Samir Geagea, and President Amine Gemayel's last action as president was to appoint Christian Michel Aoun as Prime Minister, breaking the National Pact; Prime Ministers were supposed to be Muslim. Selim Hoss was chosen by the Muslims as the true Prime Minister, and the Maronite military government of Aoun in East Beirut fought against the civilian government of Hoss in West Beirut. Aoun declared a "war of liberation" against the Syrians and their Lebanese militia allies, but Elias Hrawi's government recognized Hoss as Prime Minister and began peace talks. In 1989, the Taif Agreement was agreed to, which gave Christians and Muslims equal representation in the government, but Aoun's war of liberation raged on. Saddam Hussein's government of Iraq was unable to keep up supplying Aoun's government due to the Gulf War's start in late 1990, and the Syrian army launched a major operation against Aoun in the Baabda presidential palace. The "October 13 massacre" of 13 October 1990 saw 240+ Lebanese Army soldiers be executed after surrendering to the Syrians following the deaths of 700 Lebanese troops in the fighting for the palace, and Aoun was deposed, fleeing to France. In May 1991, all militias were dissolved, and the main war ended.
1990-2000: South Lebanon conflict[]
A captured South Lebanon Army tank with a wooden cutout of Ayatollah Khomeini on top
Unfortunately for Lebanon, the Syrian Arab Army still occupied much of the country, and Israel occupied South Lebanon, a predominantly-Shi'ite region. Hezbollah grew in numbers in the region, and it allied with the Amal Movement and Jammoul against the Israelis and the South Lebanon Army. Hezbollah began to progress in its tactics and use modern weapons, leading to casualties mounting on both sides. Syria and Iran supported Hezbollah in fighting Israel, and the Lebanese people hailed Hezbollah as national heroes for fighting as a resistance movement against Israel. They were stronger than the Lebanese Army could ever be, so their fighting against Israel made them popular even with the government of President Emile Lahoud. In 2000, the last Israeli troops withdrew from the "Security Zone" of South Lebanon, and the South Lebanon Army was left to its total destruction by the terrorists. Shebaa Farms was still occupied by Israel, and Lebanon and Hezbollah continued Israel's withdrawal incomplete until they left the farms as well. However, Israel had officially complied with UN Security Council Resolution 425 (which had actually been created in 1978 when Israel first invaded Lebanon) by withdrawing, and the South Lebanon conflict ended.
2000-2005: Lebanese independence[]
Prime Minister of Lebanon, Rafic Hariri
Syria continued its occupation of Lebanon, being the last remaining country to have its soldiers on Lebanese soil. Most of the Maronite leadership had been assassinated, exiled, or jailed, with Syria supporting Hezbollah and Shi'ites taking leadership roles in the government. Prime Minister Rafic Hariri was an opponent of Syria's occupation of Lebanon, and he led an active political struggle to free Lebanon of their rule. On 14 February 2005, he was assassinated in a car bombing, leading to riots that escalated into the Cedar Revolution on 14 March 2005. The Syrians were now unpopular, and they lost all of their influence over Lebanon. President Bashar al-Assad ordered their withdrawal, and by 30 April 2005, all Syrian troops had left the Lebanon. The war was over.
Aftermath[]
The Lebanese Civil War had left over 250,000 people dead, and it had left Lebanon greatly divided. The country once said to be the most advanced in the Middle East was now in ruins and had to deal with clashes between pro-Syria and anti-Syria political alliances that formed in the aftermath of the war; the March 14 Alliance sought to eradicate Syrian influence in the country, while the March 8 Alliance was pro-Syrian and wanted more Syrian influence. Syria was accused of assassinating several anti-Syrian politicians such as Pierre Amine Gemayel, and the issue of Syrian dominance remained. In addition, conflict with Israel would continue due to Hezbollah's rocket attacks on Israeli cities, leading to a 2006 invasion of Lebanon by Israeli forces. Lebanon's divisions would later be felt in the Syrian Civil War, when violence spilled over into Lebanon as pro-Syria groups like Hezbollah fought against anti-Syria groups, including Syrian Opposition groups such as the Free Syrian Army, Islamic Front, al-Nusra Front, and the Islamic State that had crossed the border. For many, it seemed that Lebanon had perpetually been at war since 1975.