Battle of Tripoli (1983)

Battle of Tripoli
Part of the Lebanese Civil War
Battle of Tripoli (1983) is located in Lebanon
Tripoli
Tripoli
Battle of Tripoli (1983) (Lebanon)
Date3 November – 20 December 1983
(1 month, 2 weeks and 3 days)
Location
Tripoli, Lebanon
Result

Pro-Syrian Palestinian victory

  • PLO driven out of Lebanon
Belligerents
Palestine Liberation Organization Pro-Syrian Palestinian factions
 Syria
 Libya (alleged)
Palestine Liberation Organization Palestine Liberation Organization
Islamic Unification Movement (IUM)
Commanders and leaders
Palestine Liberation Organization Said al-Muragha ("Abu Musa")
Palestine Liberation Organization Abu Khalid al-Amla
Palestine Liberation Organization Ahmed Jibril
Syria Hafez al-Assad
Syria Suleyman al-Issa
Palestine Liberation Organization Yassir Arafat
Palestine Liberation Organization Khalil al-Wazir
Said Shaaban
Units involved

PLO dissidents

Non-PLO Palestinian factions

Syria Syrian Armed Forces

Pro-Syrian Alawite militants[2]
Fatah
Strength
6,000 Palestinian troops
10,000 Syrian soldiers
4,500–8,000
Casualties and losses
Unknown 200 killed, 2,000 wounded
~1,500 casualties overall (first month)[3]

The Battle of Tripoli (Arabic: مَعْرَكَة طَرَابُلُس, romanizedMaʿrakat Ṭarābulus) was a major battle during the middle of the Lebanese Civil War in late 1983. It took place in the northern coastal city of Tripoli between pro-Syrian Palestinian militant factions and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) led by Yassir Arafat. It resulted in the withdrawal of PLO and mostly ended their involvement in the war.

  1. ^ Treaster, Joseph B. (21 November 1983). "TRIPOLI IS BITTER OVER PALESTINIANS". New York Times. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference friedmann2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Fosse, Husum & Giannou 1988, pp. 660–663.