Israeli Invasion of Lebanon
Israel invaded Lebanon on 6 June 1982 following the assassination attempt on Ambassador Shlomo Argov in London — attributed to Abu Nidal, not the PLO — as a pretext for an operation long planned by Defence Minister Ariel Sharon to destroy the PLO's political and military infrastructure in Lebanon and install a pro-Israeli Maronite government. The invasion reached Beirut within days; the PLO, under siege, negotiated an evacuation to Tunis under international guarantees in August 1982. The subsequent massacres at the Sabra and Shatila Palestinian refugee camps (16-18 September 1982), carried out by Lebanese Phalangist militia while Israeli forces controlled the surrounding area, killed between 700 and 3,500 Palestinian and Lebanese Shia civilians. The Kahan Commission found Ariel Sharon bore personal responsibility and forced his resignation as Defence Minister. Israel maintained a 'security zone' in southern Lebanon until its unilateral withdrawal in 2000; Hezbollah, founded in 1982 with Iranian support partly in response to the invasion, became the dominant force in southern Lebanon. The war's intended outcome — a compliant Lebanon, PLO destroyed — was not achieved; its unintended outcome — Hezbollah — proved more strategically significant.
- Year: 1982 CE
- Category: Military
