Israeli occupation of Southern Lebanon
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South Lebanon Security Zone | |||||||||
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Israeli-occupied territory of Lebanon | |||||||||
1985[1]–2000 | |||||||||
1988 Israeli map of the occupied belt in Southern Lebanon | |||||||||
Capital | Marjayoun | ||||||||
Population | |||||||||
• 1993 | 180,000 | ||||||||
Government | |||||||||
• Type | Military occupation | ||||||||
Administrator | |||||||||
• 1985–2000 | Antoine Lahad | ||||||||
Historical era | Lebanese Civil War | ||||||||
16 February 1985[1] | |||||||||
25 May 2000 | |||||||||
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The Israeli occupation of Southern Lebanon
After the end of Israel's Operation Litani in 1978, the areas of Southern Lebanon that would later comprise Israel's Security Zone also hosted United Nations peacekeepers from the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). While the IDF oversaw the region's general security, the SLA managed most of the occupied territory's ground affairs, including the operation of the Khiam detention centre.
The occupied strip of territory was ten-kilometers-wide except for a salient which reached north to
Background
Palestinian insurgency and Lebanese Civil War
Although the occupied strip was officially formed by
1978 Israeli invasion of Lebanon
Following the Coastal Road massacre by Palestinian militants in Tel Aviv, Israel invaded Lebanon to displace the PLO from along its border, triggering the 1978 South Lebanon conflict. After a week of fighting, the PLO withdrew from Southern Lebanon, and Israel increased its support for the Christian South Lebanon Army (SLA); in 1979, Saad Haddad, the founder of the SLA, proclaimed the establishment of the State of Free Lebanon with Israeli support. After Israel's withdrawal at the end of the operation, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) was deployed along the Israel–Lebanon border.
1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon
Following increased attacks in northern Israel and the attempted assassination of Israeli diplomat Shlomo Argov, Israel invaded Lebanon to displace the PLO from along its border, triggering the 1982 Lebanon War. By 1985, Israel had withdrawn to a front designated as a "Security Zone" in Southern Lebanon, where it retained its forces to fight alongside the SLA against Hezbollah and other Muslim militant groups, which marked the beginning of the 1985–2000 South Lebanon conflict.
History
1985–2000 South Lebanon conflict
During the evacuation in the first Lebanon war, the command of the SLA was delivered into the hands of Antoine Lahad, who demanded and received Israeli permission to hold the Jezzine zone north of the strip. In the first years after the IDF withdrawal from the north part of Lebanon, the strip was relatively quiet. Over the years, the Lebanese militant groups, led by Sh'ite Hezbollah
On 27 July 1989 the
On 16 February 1992, the then-leader of Hezbollah,
In July 1993 the IDF launched Operation Accountability which caused widespread destruction throughout Southern Lebanon but failed to end Hezbollah’s activities.
On 11 April 1996 the Israeli
At the time, Israeli soldiers serving in Southern Lebanon received no ribbon for wartime military service, because Israel considered the maintaining of the security belt as a low-intensity conflict rather than a war.[6] In early 2000, Chief-of-Staff Shaul Mofaz said that 1999 was "the IDF's most successful year in Lebanon" with 11 soldiers killed by hostiles in Southern Lebanon, the lowest casualty rate during the entire conflict.[7] A total number of 256 Israeli soldiers died in combat in South Lebanon from 1985 to 2000.[8] In 2020, Israel recognized the conflict as a war, and retrospectively dubbed it the "Security Zone in Lebanon Campaign".[9]
2000 Israeli withdrawal
Before the Israeli
The Israeli complete withdrawal to the
Provisional security belt administration
The
Active militias
The South Lebanon Army (SLA) was a Lebanese Christian militia that was active during the Lebanese Civil War and its aftermath until its disbandment in 2000. It was originally named the Free Lebanon Army, which split from the Christian splinter faction of the Lebanese Army that was known as the Army of Free Lebanon. After 1979, the SLA operated in Southern Lebanon under the authority of Saad Haddad. It was supported by Israel, and became its primary ally against Hezbollah during the 1985–2000 South Lebanon conflict. At the time of Israel's Operation Accountability, Hezbollah claimed to have 3,000 fighters, but other reports estimated that the number was probably 600–700.[11] Other groups who fought against Israel and the SLA were the PFLP–GC, a Syria-based Marxist–Leninist and Palestinian nationalist organization, and the Popular Guard of the Lebanese Communist Party.
Economy
The launching of the
Israel states that, before 2000, approximately one-third of the patients in the ophthalmology department of the Western Galilee Hospital were Lebanese citizens who crossed the border through the Good Fence and received treatment free of charge.[12] The Good Fence ceased to exist with Israel's withdrawal from Southern Lebanon in 2000 and the disintegration of the South Lebanon security belt administration.
Demographics
According to 1993 estimates, the Security Zone had a population of 180,000; of whom 50 percent were Shia Muslims, 10 percent were Maronites or Greek Orthodox Christians, 10 percent were Sunni Muslims, and 10 percent were Druze (most of whom lived in the town of Hasbaya).[13] In the central zone of the Security Zone was the Maronite town of Marjayoun, which served as the capital of the Israeli-occupied belt. Some residents remaining in the Security Zone had contacts within Israel, many of whom worked there and received various services.
See also
- Israeli–Lebanese conflict, 1968–2006 armed clashes involving Israel, Lebanon, Syria, and the PLO
- 1978 South Lebanon conflict, invasion of Southern Lebanon by Israel
- 1982 Lebanon War, invasion of most of Lebanon by Israel
- 1985–2000 South Lebanon conflict, armed clashes in Israeli-occupied Southern Lebanon
- Operation Accountability, 1993 Israeli military operation against Hezbollah in Lebanon
- Operation Grapes of Wrath, 1996 Israeli military operation against Hezbollah in Lebanon
Notes
References
- ^ a b c Lancaster, Barton Gellman; John (21 April 1996). "THE UNDOING OF ISRAEL'S SECURITY ZONE'" – via www.washingtonpost.com.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Middle East International No 458, 10 September 1993, Publishers Lord Mayhew, Dennis Walters MP; Giles Trendle pp. 18–19
- ISBN 978-0-571-23741-8p. 204. Gives the number of small towns and villages as 150
- ^ Middle East International No 356, 4 August 1989, Jim Muir pp. 3, 4
- ^ Middle East International No 356, 4 August 1989, Peretz Kidron p. 5
- Israeli military decorations by campaign
- ^ "Israeli Losses in Lebanon". jewishvirtuallibrary.org. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
- ^ Israel's Security Zone in Lebanon - A Tragedy? by Gal Luft, Middle East Quarterly September 2000, pp. 13–20
- ^ IDF to recognize 18-year occupation of south Lebanon as official campaign, Times of Israel, Nov 4, 2020. Accessed Nov 5, 2020.
- JSTOR 2676479.
- ^ Middle East International No 456, 6 August 1993 Godfrey Jansen p.9
- ^ admin (27 April 2007). "Doctor at Western Galilee Hospital recalls war's hectic days - j. the Jewish news weekly of Northern California".
- ^ Middle East International No 458, pp. 18–19