1982 - First Lebanon War
Analysis
1982 Lebanon War
Introduction
Often overlooked, the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon is perhaps one of the more controversial and complicated wars Israel has ever fought. The complexity is primarily attributed to the unique physical and historical landscape that shapes modern Lebanon. From this, in 1975 the Lebanese Civil War erupted, which lasted until 1990 and claimed over 100,000 lives. This devastating civil war was brought on by Lebanese internal grievances such as Christian-Sunni Muslim relations, Shi’a Muslim disenfranchisement, and external factors such as the Palestinian refugees and PLO. It is within the context of the Lebanese Civil War that Israel invaded on 6 June 1982, after years of terrorist attacks by the PLO and other Palestinian terrorist organizations based and operating out of war torn Lebanon. Known as Operation Peace for the Galilee and later the First Lebanon War, the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon marked the introduction of Lebanon as a major battleground in the wider Arab-Israeli conflict.