| Bombing of Lebanon | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Palestinian insurgency in South Lebanon (the Lebanese Civil War) | |||||
| |||||
| Belligerents | |||||
 Israel | |||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||
|
1 aircraft shot down (claimed by Syria and the PLO; denied by Israel) |
123–300+ killed (Palestinian and Lebanese claims) | ||||
In July 1981, Israeli warplanes began bombarding a number of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) targets across Lebanon, mostly in Beirut and in the south of the country. This was in response to several Palestinian rocket attacks on northern Israel during the Lebanese Civil War.
Buildings, bridges and other infrastructure across Lebanon were either destroyed or badly damaged, and according to Palestinian and Lebanese reports, the operation left from 123 to over 300 killed. Israel vowed to continue fighting the PLO until the latter ceased to launch rockets into Israeli territory, while the PLO said that the bombing would not go unpunished.