Siege of Beirut

Coordinates: 33°53′23″N 35°30′01″E / 33.8897°N 35.5003°E / 33.8897; 35.5003
Page extended-protected
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Siege of Beirut
Part of the 1982 Lebanon War
Siege of Beirut
Aerial view of the Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium, used by the Palestinians as an ammunition depot amidst armed confrontations with the Israelis
Date14 June 1982 – 21 August 1982
Location
Beirut, Lebanon
Result Israeli victory
  • Palestinian militants evacuated after peace settlement
  • Destruction of much of Beirut
Belligerents
 Israel
SLA
Lebanese Front
PLO
 Syria
LNRF INM
ASALA
PKK
Commanders and leaders
Strength
76,000 12,000
Casualties and losses
Unknown Unknown
4,000–5,000 Lebanese civilians killed[1]

During the

Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) from Beirut and the rest of Lebanon
.

Background

PLO's expulsion from Jordan and relocation to Lebanon

The

Operation Litani
".

Israel in Lebanon and the United Nations ceasefire

In 1978, and again in 1981 and early 1982, the

Israeli government
as a limited incursion into Southern Lebanon but took his troops to Beirut. The invasion was code-named "Operation Pines" or "Peace for Galilee", and was intended to weaken or evict the PLO and impose Bachir Gemayel, head of the Christian Phalange party, as President of Lebanon in order to get Lebanon to sign a peace treaty with Israel and bring the country into Israel's sphere of influence. This plan failed when Gemayel was assassinated not long after being elected President by the Lebanese parliament under Israeli pressure.

Israeli assault on the PLO and Syrian troops

The Israeli forces invaded in a three-pronged attack. One group moved along the coastal road to Beirut, another aimed at cutting the main Beirut-

guerrillas fled Tyre, Sidon
, and other areas for Beirut.

Siege

Camille Chamoun Stadium in 1982 after being bombed

Peace negotiations by the United States

The ring around Beirut was closed by 13 June 1982, 7 days after the start of Israeli invasion to Lebanon. PLO and part of Syrian forces were isolated in the city.

Israel hoped to complete the siege as quickly as possible; their goal all along in invading Lebanon was for a quick and decisive victory. In addition, the

Philip Habib, was pushing for peace negotiations; the longer the siege took, the greater Arafat's bargaining power
would be.

Role of Lebanese Christian militias

At first Israelis thought that

Maronite forces would eradicate the PLO quasi-government in Beirut, but it turned out that the Maronites were not prepared to undertake this task. For the IDF, the capture of Beirut in street-to-street fighting would have involved unacceptable level of casualties. This is why the method chosen, was the combination of military pressure and psychological warfare to persuade the PLO that the only alternative to surrender was total annihilation.[2]

Israeli attacks on Palestinian leaders

For seven weeks, Israel attacked the city by sea, air, and land, cutting off food and water supplies, disconnecting the electricity, and securing the airport and some southern suburbs, but for the most part coming no closer to their goals. As with most sieges, the population of the city, thousands of civilians, suffered alongside the PLO guerrillas. Israel was roundly accused of indiscriminately shelling the city in addition to the other measures taken to weaken the PLO. By the end of the first week of July 500 buildings had been destroyed by Israeli shells and bombs.[3]

On 14 July, Sharon and chief of staff Rafael Eitan obtained Prime Minister Begin's support for a large scale operation to conquer West Beirut in order to achieve the eviction of the PLO. But the plan was rejected on 16 July by the full Israeli cabinet, out of concern for heavy loss of life. Some parties threatened to leave the ruling coalition if the plan was adopted.[4]

At the end of July, with negotiations still deadlocked, the IDF intensified its attacks.

Phalangist contacts, sent Arab agents into Beirut with car bombs in order to terrorize the Palestinians into submission and the Lebanese to increase pressure for their departure. Dozens of people were killed in these bombings. Some of the Israeli agents were caught and ultimately confessed.[4]

The

Abu Iyad). The Israelis were assisted by agents with transmitters on the ground. Although a number of apartment houses were destroyed with hundreds of Palestinians and Lebanese killed or wounded, the leaders managed to evade bombings.[5]

American-brokered peace agreement

On 10 August, when American envoy

Israeli cabinet stripped Ariel Sharon of most of his powers; he was not allowed to order the use of air force, armored force and artillery without agreement of the cabinet or prime minister.[7]

During the siege, the Israelis secured several key locations in other parts of Lebanon, but did not manage to take the city before a peace agreement was finally implemented. Although Syria had agreed on 7 August, Israel, Lebanon, and the PLO finally agreed, with US mediation, on the 18th. On 21 August, 350

US Marines and Italian Bersaglieri plus additional international peacekeepers (for a total force of 2,130) to supervise the removal of the PLO, first by ship and then overland, to Tunisia, Yemen, Jordan, and Syria. Altogether 8,500 PLO men were evacuated to Tunisia, and 2,500 by land to other Arab countries.[7]

Results

In the end, Israel succeeded in ending the rocket attacks for a very short period, and routed the PLO from Lebanon. The siege also saw the

Armor Brigade commander, Eli Geva, who refused to lead his forces into the city, arguing this would result in "the excessive killings of civilians."[citation needed
]

The conclusion to the conflict has been portrayed as a tactical victory for Israel, but a strategic victory for the PLO:

"Dating from the siege of Beirut in 1982, Israel has practiced a complex and limited form of urban warfare. In Beirut, this involved a cordon around the city, accompanied by limited attacks with artillery, ground, and air forces to put pressure on the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) and Syrian forces inside. The IDF did not launch a general assault on the city; it awaited a political solution that resulted in evacuation of enemy forces under the auspices of outside powers. Despite the IDF's restraint, it was depicted as little short of barbaric by much of the international media. The PLO's evacuation was treated as a victory parade, rather than the retreat it was, and the PLO lived to fight another day. The battle was a tactical victory for Israel, but a strategic defeat."[8]

International reaction

  • New York Times interview) that during one of two phone conversations on 12 August between US president Ronald Reagan and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, Reagan angrily described the bombing of West Beirut as a "holocaust".[10]
  • Israel Israel: While Prime Minister Begin did not deny that civilians were hurt, and he reportedly expressed regrets over the loss of innocent life, he stressed that their deaths were "...not the Israelis' fault".[10]
  • Soviet Union Soviet Union: The Soviet Union tried to pass a United Nations resolution calling for a worldwide arms embargo on Israel, which was vetoed by the U.S.[9][10]

Aftermath

Sabra and Shatila massacre

Bachir Gemayel, the Lebanese president-elect, was killed in Eastern Beirut a few weeks after the withdrawal of PLO forces. His death resulted in the Lebanese Forces entering the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps and slaughtering almost two thousand Palestinian civilians, mostly women, children and the elderly.[11] This occurred under the supervision of Israeli troops who illuminated the areas with flares and provided bulldozers for mass burials of the victims.

PLO retreat from Lebanon

Following the siege of Beirut, Arafat left for Greece, and then Tunis, establishing a new headquarters there. PLO fedayeen continued to operate out of Yemen, Algeria, Iraq, and the Sudan, as well as within Israeli-controlled territory.[citation needed]

In late 1983, 4,000 Arafat loyalists were evacuated from Tripoli on five Greek vessels.[12]

Osama bin Laden's rationale for the 9/11 attacks

Decades later, the siege was cited by

September 11, 2001 attacks.[13]

God knows it did not cross our minds to attack

U.S. Sixth Fleet. As I watched the destroyed towers in Lebanon, it occurred to me to punish the unjust the same way: to destroy towers in America so it could taste some of what we were tasting and to stop killing our children and women.

— Osama bin Laden, 2004[14]

See also

References

Citations

  1. ^ Shlaim. 1999, p. 410.
  2. ^ Shlaim. 1999, p. 411.
  3. ^ a b Morris. 2001, p. 535.
  4. ^ Morris. 2001, pp. 535–536.
  5. ^ Jilani, Zaid (2016-12-30). "Barack Obama Wasn't Nearly As Tough on Israel as Republican Presidents". The Intercept. Retrieved 2023-11-02.
  6. ^ a b Shlaim. 1999, p. 413.
  7. ^ Keiler, Jonathan F. (2010). "Who won the Battle of Fallujah?". In Schlosser, Nicholas J. (ed.). U.S. Marines in Iraq, 2004-2008: Anthology and Annotated Bibliography. U.S. Marines in the Global War on Terrorism. University of Michigan. p. 108.
  8. ^ a b When Push Comes to Shove: Israel flouts U.S. diplomacy with an attack on Beirut, Time, August 16, 1982.
  9. ^ a b c "Begin 'deeply hurt' by Reagan in call on Beirut 'holocaust'". Ottawa Citizen. 30 August 1982. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  10. ^ "The forgotten massacre". The Independent. September 15, 2012.
  11. ^ "4,000 Palestinians evacuate Tripoli on Greek vessels". The New York Times. 21 December 1983.
  12. ^ "Osama Bin Laden Warns America". CBS news. 2004-10-30.
  13. ^ "God knows it did not cross our minds to attack the towers". The Guardian. London. October 30, 2004. Retrieved May 25, 2010.

Source

  • An Nahar, September 1, 1982.
  • Davis, M. Thomas. 40 km into Lebanon. Washington, DC: National Defense University Press (1987), pp. 96–101.
  • Davis, Paul K. Besieged: 100 Great Sieges from Jericho to Sarajevo. Oxford: Oxford University Press (2000).
  • Gabriel, Richard. Operation Peace for Galilee: The Israel-PLO War in Lebanon. New York: Hill and Wang (1984).
  • Rabinovich, Itmar. The War for Lebanon 1970–1985. Ithaca: Cornell University Press (1985).
  • Shlaim, Avi. The Iron Wall. New York: Norton press (1999)
  • Morris, Benny The righteous victims. New York: Vintage books (2001)

External links

33°53′23″N 35°30′01″E / 33.8897°N 35.5003°E / 33.8897; 35.5003