Operation Litani

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Operation Litani
date March 14 - March 21, 1978
place Southern Lebanon
Casus Belli PLO attacks in Israel
output Withdrawal of the PLO from southern Lebanon
Parties to the conflict

IsraelIsrael Israel
South Lebanese Army

PLO PLO

Troop strength
25,000 10,000
losses

20th

1,000 to 2,000

In the course of Operation Litani , the Israeli army marched into Lebanon on March 14, 1978 with 25,000 soldiers and occupied the area south of the Litani River . Between 1,000 and 2,000 people were killed and, according to estimates by the Lebanese government, around 280,000 were displaced. The immediate impetus was the coastal road attack on March 11 , the last and, with 37 dead and 71 injured, Israeli civilians the worst of a series of attacks. During the coastal road attack, a landed armed force from Fatah shot dead pedestrians and motorists on the coastal road and kidnapped the passengers of two transport buses , including many children, on their way to Tel Aviv , set the bus on fire at a roadblock by the police and began to murder the passengers .

background

Although it took the form of an Israeli military incursion into Lebanon, Operation Litani is rooted in the longstanding Israeli-Palestinian conflict . From 1968 the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), and other Palestinian groups established a quasi-state in southern Lebanon and used the area as a base for terrorist attacks and attacks on northern Israel. Israel responded by attacking PLO leaders. The 1982 Lebanon War aimed at the final expulsion of the PLO from the Israeli area.

Major incidents that preceded Operation Litani:

  • On December 26, 1968 two Palestinian armed terrorists were traveling from Beirut to Athens and hijacked an El Al - Jet . One person was killed. In the retaliatory act of December 28, 1968, Israeli forces destroyed 13 civilian aircraft at Beirut International Airport .
  • In an attack on 8 May 1970, three Palestinian terrorists crossed the Lebanese-Israeli border and penetrated into the kibbutz of Avivim one. There they set fire to the local school bus, killing nine children and three adults and seriously injuring 19 other children ( Avivim school bus attack ).
  • On April 10, 1973, Israeli commandos killed three PLO leaders, Yusef Al Najjar , Kamal Adwan and Kamal Nasserin in Beirut ( Operation Spring of Youth ).
  • On April 11, 1974, three members of the PFLP infiltrated from Lebanon into Kirjat Shmona and killed eighteen residents of a residential complex, including nine children ( Kirjat-Shemona attack ); they were eventually killed during a firefight by an Israeli rescue mission.
  • On May 15, 1974, PFLP members infiltrated the Israeli border town of Ma'alot , killing five adults and initially taking 21 elementary school children hostage at a local school. They eventually shot 11 of the children before they were killed by Israeli soldiers ( Ma'alot attack ).
  • On March 5, 1975, eight armed PLO terrorists drove in a rubber dinghy across the Mediterranean from Lebanon to Tel Aviv , entered the Savoy Hotel and took dozens of hostages. Three soldiers were killed and eight hostages wounded during the Israeli army rescue mission. The PLO terrorists withdrew and tried to blow themselves up, killing eight hostages and wounding eleven. Seven of the PLO terrorists were also killed ( Savoy operation ).
  • On March 11, 1978, eleven Fatah members from Lebanon invaded Israel and killed a US tourist on the beach. They then robbed a bus on the coastal road near Haifa and boarded a second on the way to Tel Aviv. After a long pursuit and exchange of fire, 37 Israelis were killed and 76 wounded. This was the casus belli for the Israeli invasion three days later. ( Coastal road stop )

According to Robert Fisk , the conflict between the PLO and Israel heightened political tension between the Maronite Christians , the Druze and the Muslims .

course

On March 14, 1978 Israel began Operation Litani and occupied the area south of the Litani River, with the exception of the city of Tire , with over 25,000 soldiers. The declared aim was to push militant Palestinian groups, especially the PLO, away from the Israeli border and to position the South Lebanese Army in their place . During the seven-day offensive, the Israeli forces first occupied a strip about 10 kilometers wide. This zone was later extended north to the Litani River. The Lebanese government estimated that 285,000 people fled. Estimates of casualties on the Lebanese side range from 300 to 2,000 dead. Some Israeli soldiers were brought to justice after Lebanese farm workers were strangled and prisoners were executed. 20 Israelis were killed in the fighting. The PLO withdrew north of the Litani River and continued shelling the Israelis.

Result of the war

In response to the invasion, the UN Security Council adopted resolutions 425 and 426 , calling for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon. The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) was set up to enforce this mandate and restore peace and Lebanese sovereignty in southern Lebanon. The UNIFIL forces arrived in Lebanon on March 23, 1978 and moved to their headquarters in Ras Naqoura .

The Israeli Armed Forces partially withdrew during 1978 , handing the positions over to their ally, the South Lebanese Army (SLA), led by Major Saad Haddad . The SLA regularly harassed the UNIFIL soldiers. On April 19, 1978, the SLA fired mortar shells at UNIFIL headquarters, killing eight UN soldiers . In April 1980 two Irish UN soldiers were kidnapped and murdered by armed Christian terrorists in the area controlled by the SLA. Another Irish soldier was shot dead by Haddad's men. The Israeli press at the time, particularly the Jerusalem Post , accused the Irish of being pro-PLO. However, the Palestinian side also targeted UNIFIL. In 1981 she kidnapped an Irish UNIFIL soldier, and in 1981 she continued to occupy areas in southern Lebanon.

UN Security Council resolutions

In 2000, the UN Security Council determined that Israel withdrew its forces from Lebanon on June 16, 2000, in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 425.

Lebanon has not increased control of southern Lebanon, despite the resolution encouraging it to do so. He was also urged to do this by resolutions 1391 and 1496 . Israel has therefore made multiple protests against the leadership of Lebanon.

Lebanon's assertion that Israel was not completely withdrawn (see Shebaa farms ) was expressly rejected by the report of the United Nations Secretary-General . The report led to resolution 1583 . The Syrian occupation of Lebanon prompted the UN Security Council to pass Resolution 1559 , which calls for the withdrawal of the remaining 14,000 soldiers (from the original 50,000) and the dissolution of Hezbollah and other Palestinian militias. On April 26, 2005, in accordance with Resolution 425, the Syrian presence in Lebanon ended after 29 years .

See also

Web links

swell

  1. ^ Press release by the Israeli government
  2. ↑ (Cobban, p.94, Shlaim p.369)
  3. ^ Fisk, p. 130
  4. ↑ http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/lebanon.htm Global Security (website)
  5. ^ Fisk, p. 124
  6. ^ Fisk, p. 131
  7. ^ Fisk, p. 138
  8. ↑ Fisk, pp. 152-154
  9. ↑ Private Kevin Joyce has been kidnapped and is believed to be dead.
    The Guardian : 20-year hunt for kidnapped Irish soldier almost over , May 6, 2001
  • Bregman, Ahron (2002): Israel's Wars: A History Since 1947 . London: Routledge. ISBN 0415287162 .
  • Cobban, Helena (1984) The Palestinian Liberation Organization: People, Power and Politics . Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521272165 .
  • Fisk, Robert (2002): Pity the Nation: The Abduction of Lebanon . Nation Books. ISBN 1560254424 .
  • Shlaim, Avi (2001): The Iron Wall: Israel and the Arab World . WW Norton & Company. ISBN 0393321126 .