South Lebanon conflict (1982–2000)
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During the South Lebanon conflict (1982–2000) Hezbollah waged a guerrilla campaign against Israeli forces occupying Southern Lebanon. It ended with Israeli withdrawal in accordance with 1978's United Nations Security Council Resolution 425[1]. Given that prior Arab Israeli wars were characterized by either Israeli victory or UN-enforced ceasefire, this is often regarded as a success of Hezbollah, which was able to extend its control of Southern Lebanon. The conflict has been described as a sub-conflict of the Lebanese Civil War (the 1982-1990 period). Various participants use different terminology to label the conflict: it has been called an Israeli military occupation[2], a Lebanese resistance movement[3], insurgency[who?], and a variety of other terms.
[edit] SummaryIsrael occupied a security zone of varying sizes in Southern Lebanon between 1982 and 2000. Hezbollah, along with the mainly leftist and secular groups in the Lebanese National Resistance Front, fought a guerilla war against Israel and the Israeli allies South Lebanon Army. The National Resistance Front militias disarmed in accordance with the Taif agreement, but Hezbollah remained defiant, claiming until all Lebanese soil was liberated and Israel expelled, resistance against military occupation would continue. They had become by far the largest and most powerful and effective of the resistance organizations. [edit] 1993After a month of Hezbollah shelling and attacks on its soldiers, Israel conducted a seven-day operation called Operation Accountability in order to destroy Hezbollah. [edit] 1996The fighting culminated during Operation Grapes of Wrath in April 1996 when Israel launched an assault and air-campaign against Hezbollah. The campaign failed and resulted in the Israelis killing more than 150 civilians and refugees in the shelling of a United Nations base at Qana. On 30 May, two staggered road-side bombs killed four Israeli soldiers and injured several others at Marjayoun, where IDF had their headquarters in southern Lebanon. On 10 June, all 13 members of an Israeli patrol north of the Litani river were killed or wounded in an ambush by the Hezbollah. In retaliatory fire after the 10 June incident, Israeli artillery killed one Lebanese Army soldier and wounded one civilian. [edit] 2000: Israeli withdrawalIn January 2000, Hezbollah assassinated the commander of the South Lebanon Army's Western Brigade, Colonel Aql Hashem, at his home in the security zone. Hashem had been responsible for day to day operations of the SLA.[4] On 24 May "after the collapse of the SLA and the rapid advance of Hezbollah forces, Israel announced that it would withdraw its troops from southern Lebanon and completed its withdrawal the next day, more than six weeks before its stated deadline of 7 July."[5] This was widely considered a victory for Hezbollah and boosted its popularity hugely in Lebanon. Israel considered this move as tactical since it always regarded the Security Zone as a buffer zone only to defend Israel's citizens. By Hezbollah losing the "excuse" of "occupation", Israel could gain the upper-hand per international support. Israeli security expert Zeev Maoz views the Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon as the "first clear cut defeat of the IDF". "Interestingly this defeat was not fully recognized by the IDF or by many other elements in the political system", because the conflict had transformed from a conventional war into a prolonged low-intensity conflict. [6] [edit] Aftermath
 The tentative peace, resulting from the withdrawal, lasted for years. However, the Israeli Air Force continuously invaded the Lebanese airspace while Hezbollah carried operations in Shebaa Farms area. In the article "Standing with my Brother", Laleh Khalili writes that "Hizbullah’s military wing has garnered symbolic capital in Lebanon and beyond as the only militant organization to have forced Israel to cede occupied territories in 2000".[7] Also, the Winograd Commission found that, "[t]he ability of Hezbollah to sit 'on the border', its ability to dictate the moment of escalation, and the growth of its military abilities and missile arsenal increased significantly as a result of Israel's unilateral withdrawal in May 2000 (which was not followed, as had been hoped, by The Lebanese Army deploying on the border with Israel)".[8] In July 2006, Israel began another military assault on South Lebanon in response to the kidnapping of two of its soldiers and the killing of eight others.[9][10][11][12] [edit] Notes
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