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Operation Litani was the official name of Israel's 1978 invasion of Lebanon up to the Litani river. The invasion was a military success, as PLO forces were pushed north of the river. However, international outcry led to the creation of UNIFIL and a partial Israeli retreat.
Background
Operation Litani occurred after many years of Israeli-Palestinian violence. From 1968 on the PLO, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and other Palestinian groups in southern Lebanon raided northern Israel, and Israel responded with damaging attacks against Lebanese villages. Israel also attacked Lebanon in response to attacks by Palestinians, and later adopted a pre-emptive policy:
- On 26 December 1968 two Palestinian gunmen travelled from Beirut to Athens, and attacked an El Al jet there killing 1 person. In response, on 28 December 1968 Israeli Defense Force (IDF) troops destroyed 13 civilian aircraft in Beirut International Airport.
- On 8 May 1970 three Palestinian gunmen crossed the Lebanese border into the agricultural community of Avivim and ambushed the local schoolbus, killing nine children and three adults, and crippling 19 other children.
- On 10 April 1973 Israeli commandos killed three PLO leaders (Yusef Al Najjar, Kamal Adwan and Kamal Nasserin) in Beirut.
- On 11 April 1974 three members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine infiltrated Kiryat Shmona from Lebanon, killing eighteen residents of an apartment building, including nine children; the terrorists were eventually killed in an exchange of fire with IDF forces.
- On 15 May 1974 members of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine infiltrated the Israeli border town of Ma'alot from Lebanon, killing five adults and taking grade 11 children in a local school hostage. They eventually shot 21 of the children, before being killed by IDF soldiers - see Ma'alot massacre.
- On 5 March 1975 eight PLO gunmen travelled from Lebanon to Tel Aviv by sea in a rubber dinghy, entered the Savoy Hotel and took dozens of hostages. During the rescue mission three IDF soldiers were killed and eight hostages wounded; the PLO gunmen retreated to a room and attempted to blow themselves up, killing eight hostages and wounding 11, as well as killing seven of the PLO gunmen.
- On 11 March, 1978, 9 Fatah gunmen killed several tourists and hijacked a bus near Haifa. The bus was stormed by the IDF soldiers. The gunmen and all 37 Israelis were killed.
According to Robert Fisk, the PLO-Israeli conflict increased political tensions between Maronite Christians and the Muslims and Druze, adding to the factors behind the 1975-76 Lebanese Civil War.
Course of Fighting
On March 14 1978, Israel launched Operation Litani, invading Lebanon and occupying the area south of the Litani River, excepting Tyre, with over 25,000 soldiers. It is estimated 1,100-2,000 Lebanese were killed in the invasion, almost all civilians (Fisk, p. 124). Its stated goals were to push Palestinian militant groups, particularly the PLO, away from the border with Israel, and to bolster Israel's ally the South Lebanon Army. The Israeli Defence Forces first captured a belt of land approximately 10 kilometres deep, but later expanded north to the Litani River. The Lebanese government estimated 285,000 refugees were created (Fisk, p. 130). 20 Israelis were killed. Israeli soldiers were court-martialled after several Lebanese peasants were strangled and prisoners were executed (Fisk, p. 131). 50 Shia Muslims were massacred in Khiyam by Christian militiamen (Fisk, p. 137) [1] (http://domino.un.org/unispal.nsf/0/0a660a16a0ef988d852568b60053c49a?OpenDocument). The PLO retreated north of the Litani River, continuing to fire at the Israelis.
Outcome of the War
In response to the invasion, the UN Security Council passed Resolutions 425 and 426 calling for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon. The UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) [2] (http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/missions/unifil/) was created to enforce this mandate, and restore peace and sovereignty to Lebanon. UNIFIL forces arrived in Lebanon on 23 March, 1978, setting up headquarters in Naqoura.
Israeli forces withdrew later in 1978, turning over positions inside Lebanon along the border to their Maronite ally, the South Lebanon Army (SLA) under the leadership of Maj. Saad Haddad. With Israeli aid, the SLA continually harassed UNIFIL. On 19 April, 1978, the SLA shelled UNIFIL headquarters, killing 8 UN soldiers. (Fisk, 138). In April, 1980, two Irish UN soldiers were kidnapped and murdered by Christian gunmen in SLA territory and another Irish soldier was shot by Haddad's men. The Israeli press at the time, particularly the Jerusalem Post, accused the Irish of pro-PLO bias. (Fisk, pp. 152-154). However, the PLO also attacked UNIFIL, killing an Irish UN soldier in 1981 and continuing to occupy areas in southern Lebanon.
Resolution 425
In 2000, the UN Security Council concluded (http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2000/20000618.sc6878.doc.html) that, as of 16 June 2000, Israel had withdrawn its forces from Lebanon in accordance with resolution 425.
Lebanon has not extended control over south Lebanon, though it was called on to do so by UN Resolution 1391 of 2002 (3 page PDF document:) [3] (http://daccess-ods.un.org/TMP/4027919.html) and urged by UN Resolution 1496 (http://www.unhchr.ch/Huridocda/Huridoca.nsf/TestFrame/7e93b8efbe9e9723c1256d9000289335?Opendocument). Israel has lodged multiple complaints regarding Lebanon's conduct (http://domino.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/22f431edb91c6f548525678a0051be1d/bb095796d02d589785256b910058cc00!OpenDocument).
Lebanon's claim that Israel has not fully withdrawn from Shebaa Farms had been explicitly rejected by the UN's Secretary-General's report which led to UN Security Council Resolution 1583. The fifteen year Syrian occupation of Lebanon has led to UN Security Council Resolution 1559 demanding the remaining 14,000 (of 50,000 originally) Syrian troop withdrawl and the dismantling of Hezbollah and Palestinian militias.
See also
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