| Lebanese Civil War | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Cold War, Arab Cold War, Arab–Israeli conflict, Iran–Israel and Iran–Saudi proxy wars | |||||||||||
Left-to-right from top: Monument at Martyrs' Square in the city of Beirut; the USS New Jersey firing a salvo off of the Lebanese coast; smoke seen rising from the ruins of the American barracks in Beirut shortly after the 1983 bombing; the ruined Holiday Inn Beirut shortly after the Battle of the Hotels; a Palestinian rally for Fatah in Beirut | |||||||||||
| |||||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||||
 Army of Free Lebanon (until 1977) SLA (from 1976) Israel (from 1978)
 Tigers Militia (until 1980) |
(1975–1982) Jammoul (1982–1990)
Islamic Unification Movement (from 1982) |
(1976, 1983–1991) Amal Movement PNSFMarada Brigades (left LF in 1978; aligned with Syria) |
List
| ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||||
|
Dany Chamoun † |
Said Shaaban |
 Hafez al-Assad Mustafa Tlass Nabih BerriTony Frangieh † |
 Emmanuel Erskine William O'Callaghan Gustav Hägglund Timothy J. Geraghty | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||||
|
25,000 troops (1976)[1] |
 1,200 troops[1] 1,000 troops[1] 1,000 troops[1] 700 troops[1] 700 troops[1] | ||||||||||
|
120,000–150,000 people killed[4] | |||||||||||
| History of Lebanon |
|---|
 |
| Timeline |
 Lebanon portal |
The Lebanese Civil War (Arabic: الحرب الأهلية اللبنانية Al-Ḥarb al-Ahliyyah al-Libnāniyyah) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 150,000 fatalities[5] and led to the exodus of almost one million people from Lebanon.[6]
The religious diversity of the Lebanese population played a notable role in the lead-up to and during the conflict: Lebanese Christians and Lebanese Sunni Muslims comprised the majority in the coastal cities; Lebanese Shia Muslims were primarily based throughout southern Lebanon and in the Beqaa Valley in the east; and Druze and Christians populated the country's mountainous areas. At the time, the Lebanese government was under the influence of elites within the Maronite Christian community.[7][8] The link between politics and religion was reinforced under the French Mandate from 1920 to 1943, and the country's parliamentary structure favoured a leading position for Lebanese Christians, who constituted the majority of the population. However, Lebanon's Muslims comprised a large minority and the influx of thousands of Palestinians—first in 1948 and again in 1967—contributed to Lebanon's demographic shift towards an eventual Muslim majority. Lebanon's Christian-dominated government had been facing increasing opposition from Muslims, pan-Arabists, and left-wing groups. The Cold War also exerted a disintegrative effect on the country, closely linked to the political polarization that preceded the 1958 Lebanese crisis. Christians mostly sided with the Western world while Muslims, pan-Arabists, and leftists mostly sided with Soviet-aligned Arab countries.[9]
Fighting between Lebanese Christian militias and Palestinian insurgents, mainly from the Palestine Liberation Organization, began in 1975 and generated an alliance between the Palestinians and Lebanese Muslims, pan-Arabists, and leftists.[10] The conflict deepened as foreign powers, namely Syria, Israel, and Iran, became involved and supported or fought alongside different factions. Over the course of the conflict, these alliances shifted rapidly and unpredictably. While much of the fighting took place between opposing religious and ideological factions, there was significant conflict within some faith communities, especially amongst both Christians and Shias. Peacekeeping forces, such as the Multinational Force in Lebanon and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, were stationed in Lebanon during this time.
In 1989, the Taif Agreement marked the beginning of the end for the fighting as a committee appointed by the Arab League began to formulate solutions to the conflict. In March 1991, the Parliament of Lebanon passed an amnesty law that pardoned all political crimes that had been perpetrated prior to the law's time of enactment.[11] In May 1991, all of the armed factions that had been operating in Lebanon were dissolved, excluding Hezbollah, an Iran-backed Shia Islamist militia. Though the Lebanese Armed Forces slowly began to rebuild as Lebanon's only major non-sectarian armed institution after the conflict,[12] the federal government remained unable to challenge Hezbollah's armed strength. Religious tensions, especially between Shias and Sunnis, persisted across Lebanon since the formal end of the hostilities in 1990.[13]
- ^ a b c d e f g Mays, Terry M. Historical Dictionary of Multinational Peacekeeping. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 1996, pp. 9–10
- ^ "The Taif Agreement" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 April 2018. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
- ^ Ranstorp, Magnus, Hizb'allah in Lebanon: The Politics of the Western Hostage Crisis, New York, St. Martins Press, 1997, p. 105
- ^ World Political Almanac, 3rd ed., Chris Cook.
- ^ UN Human Rights Council. 23 November 2006. "IMPLEMENTATION OF GENERAL ASSEMBLY RESOLUTION 60/251 OF 15 MARCH 2006 ENTITLED HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL." p.18.
- ^ Byman, Daniel, and Kenneth Michael Pollack. Things Fall Apart: Containing the Spillover from an Iraqi Civil War. p. 139
- ^ Inhorn, Marcia C., and Soraya Tremayne. 2012. Islam and Assisted Reproductive Technologies. p. 238.
- ^ "Who are the Maronites?". BBC News – Middle East. 6 August 2007.
- ^ "Beware of Small States: Lebanon, Battleground of the Middle East." p. 62
- ^ Halliday, 2005: 117
- ^ "Ex-militia fighters in post-war Lebanon" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
- ^ "Lebanon's History: Civil War". ghazi.de.
- ^ Rolland, John C. 2003. Lebanon: Current Issues and Background. p. 144. ISBN 978-1590338711.
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