Lebanese Civil War

Lebanese Civil War
Ron Garrison · Public domain · source
Conflict	Lebanese Civil War
Date	13 April 1975 – 13 October 1990
Place	Lebanon, Beirut, Mount Lebanon, South Lebanon, East Beirut, West Beirut
Combatant1	Lebanese Front, Kataeb Party, Lebanese Forces, Phalangists, South Lebanon Army
Combatant2	Lebanese National Movement, Palestine Liberation Organization, Progressive Socialist Party, Leftist parties
Commander1	Bachir Gemayel, Pierre Gemayel, Samir Geagea, Elie Hobeika
Commander2	Kamal Jumblatt, Yasir Arafat, Nabih Berri, Walid Jumblatt
Casualties	estimates vary; tens of thousands killed, hundreds of thousands displaced

Lebanese Civil War The Lebanese Civil War was a multifaceted conflict (1975–1990) that devastated Lebanon, reshaped relations among Syria, Israel, and the Palestine Liberation Organization, and transformed Lebanese politics, demography, and infrastructure. Fighting involved sectarian militias, transnational guerrilla movements, and intervention by regional and international powers, culminating in negotiated settlements such as the Taif Agreement and the Syrian occupation of Beirut and much of Lebanon.

Background and Causes

Root causes combined colonial legacies from the French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon, constitutional arrangements in the National Pact (1943), demographic shifts including migration from Palestine and the rise of the Palestine Liberation Organization, and competing ideologies such as Arab nationalism, Pan-Arabism, Communism, and Lebanese sectarian politics embodied by parties like the Kataeb Party and the Progressive Socialist Party. Economic disparities between Beirut's central districts, suburbs such as Achrafieh, agricultural regions in Bekaa Valley, and the port of Tripoli produced local tensions exploited by leaders including Pierre Gemayel, Kamal Jumblatt, and Rashid Karami. Regional crises—most notably the Six-Day War and the Yom Kippur War—amplified the role of the Palestine Liberation Organization in Lebanon and provoked interventions by Syria and Israel.

Major Factions and Foreign Involvement

Domestic factions included right-wing Maronite coalitions like the Lebanese Front, parties such as the Kataeb Party and militia formations like the Lebanese Forces; leftist and multi-sectarian blocs such as the Lebanese National Movement, the Progressive Socialist Party led by Kamal Jumblatt and later Walid Jumblatt; Palestinian entities led by Yasir Arafat's Palestine Liberation Organization; Amal movement under Nabih Berri; and Shiite groups later evolving into Hezbollah. Foreign states and organizations played decisive roles: Syria intervened militarily in 1976 with the Syrian Army and Defense Companies; Israel launched operations including Operation Litani and Operation Peace for Galilee and occupied parts of South Lebanon; the United States deployed the Multinational Force in Lebanon after the Beirut barracks bombing; Iran supported emergent Shiite factions such as Hezbollah; and France and United Kingdom engaged diplomatically and via naval deployments.

Chronology of Conflict (1975–1990)

The conflict began with clashes in Beirut and escalated into nationwide warfare marked by shifting alliances and episodes such as the 1976 Syrian intervention, the 1978 Operation Litani, the 1982 Israeli invasion culminating in the Siege of Beirut and the assassination of leaders including Bachir Gemayel, the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing killing U.S. Marines and French paratroopers, and the 1985–1990 War of the Camps and intra-Christian feuds involving commanders like Elie Hobeika and Samir Geagea. Negotiations and power rearrangements intensified after the 1989 Taif Agreement brokered in Saudi Arabia and witnessed implementation steps through 1990, ending major hostilities with the defeat of forces opposing Syrian dominance and the exile of figures such as Michel Aoun.

Key Battles, Massacres, and Atrocities

Major violent episodes included the Bus Massacre of 1975 that ignited wider war, the Black Saturday killings, the Karantina massacre, the Tel al-Zaatar siege, the Damour massacre, the Sabra and Shatila massacre following the 1982 Lebanon War, the Ain al-Rummaneh clashes, and repeated battles in sectors like West Beirut, East Beirut, Tripoli, Sidon, and the Bekaa Valley. Atrocities involved militias such as the Phalangists, the Shia Amal movement, Palestinian factions, and foreign-aligned forces, provoking international inquiries and galvanizing human rights campaigns against actors including Israel and Syrian-backed militias.

Political Negotiations and Peace Processes

Efforts to resolve the conflict ranged from unilateral ceasefires to international conferences such as negotiations in Cairo, Geneva, and Taif; diplomatic actors included Saudi Arabia, United States, France, and Syria. The centerpiece was the 1989 Taif Agreement which revised parliamentary representation, called for Syrian security presence pending withdrawal, and initiated constitutional reforms implemented under presidents René Moawad and Elias Hrawi. Other processes involved prisoner exchanges, reconciliation accords between militias like the Lebanese Forces and Amal, and UN resolutions such as United Nations Security Council Resolution 425 addressing occupations and peacekeeping.

Aftermath, Reconstruction, and Legacy

Postwar Lebanon faced reconstruction projects led by administrations including Rafic Hariri's government, large-scale rebuilding in Beirut Central District by companies such as Solidere, and enduring Syrian political influence until the 2005 Cedar Revolution which followed the assassination of Rafic Hariri and prompted Syrian withdrawal. Legal and social legacies include debates over amnesty laws passed in 1991, trials in international venues for events like the Hariri assassination and inquiries into Sabra and Shatila, and the emergence of sectarian memory politics embodied by commemorations in Matn District, Nabatieh, and refugee camps. The war transformed entities such as Hezbollah into a major political and military actor, altered demographics across districts like Aley and Byblos, and shaped regional alignments involving Iran and Saudi Arabia for decades.

Category:Lebanon Category:Civil wars