The Roots of the Conflict in the Middle East

Part 3 - Lebanon

In the late 1970s and early 1980s the focus of the Middle East conflict shifted to Lebanon, where many Palestinians had been living in refugee camps since 1948. Over the years their numbers had increased as more Palestinians were displaced. During this period the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) moved its headquarters to Beirut. By the early 1970s, exchanges of fire between Palestinian fighters and Israeli forces across the Israel-Lebanon border were increasing.

In 1972, ostensibly in retaliation for Palestinian attacks across the border, Israel invaded southern Lebanon and attacked several Palestinian refugee camps. At the request of the Lebanese government the United Nations (UN) intervened, a ceasefire was agreed to and Israel withdrew. In 1978 Israel re-invaded southern Lebanon. The UN Security Council again called for Israel to withdraw and, at the request of the Lebanese government, established the UN Interim Force in Lebanon to oversee and confirm the withdrawal of Israeli forces and assist the Lebanese government to re-establish its authority over the southern part of the country.

However, Israel ignored the UN force and handed control of its positions to the Lebanese Christian militias. Since the onset of civil war in Lebanon in 1975, these militias had allied themselves with and received arms from Israel. The situation remained volatile, with frequent exchanges of fire between the militias and Israeli forces on the one hand, and the PLO and Lebanese nationalist forces on the other.

In May 1982 Israel launched air attacks against Palestinian targets in Lebanon. On June 5 the Security Council called for an immediate halt to all military activities in Lebanon and across the Israel-Lebanon border. The PLO agreed to stop all military operations, but the next day Israel invaded Lebanon with the declared intention of eliminating the PLO. Israeli forces reached Beirut and blockaded the city. According to statistics published in the Third World Quarterly in 1984, the Israelis killed over 29,500 Palestinians and Lebanese in a six-week period in July and August; 40 percent of them were children.

The UN demanded that Israel lift its blockade of Beirut and in August military observers from the U.S., France and Italy were deployed to oversee a ceasefire. In addition, after providing guarantees of safety for the thousands of refugees left behind in the camps, the UN organized the removal of large numbers of Palestinian fighters to other countries. Many, including the PLO leadership, went to Tunis. The removal of Palestinian fighters had been completed by the beginning of September, and the U.S. and other foreign forces withdrew.

Two weeks later, despite the international guarantees of their safety, over 2,700 Palestinian and Lebanese civilians in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps on the outskirts of Beirut were massacred. The direct perpetrators were members of the Christian Phalange militia, but the slaughter took place in an area under the control of the Israeli armed forces, was aided by the Israeli siege around the camps and guided by the light of Israeli flares.

Although the question of direct Israeli involvement has never been resolved, it has generally been acknowledged that Israel, and in particular then Israeli Defence Minister Ariel Sharon, bore responsibility for what happened. A UN resolution unequivocally condemned the massacre and the official Israeli commission of inquiry held Ariel Sharon responsible for what occurred. However, no action has ever been taken against anyone involved in the slaughter at Sabra and Shatila.

In September 1983, the UN-sponsored International Conference on the Question of Palestine adopted a declaration recognizing the following principles: the need to oppose and reject the establishment of settlements in the occupied territory and the actions taken by Israel to change the status of Jerusalem; the right of all states in the region to existence within secure and internationally recognized boundaries; and the attainment of the legitimate, inalienable rights of the Palestinian people.

Despite international support, such declarations did little to change the situation on the ground for the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in refugee camps in the occupied territories. Within a few years they would take matters into their own hands.