South Lebanon security belt

South Lebanon Security Belt also known as the Israeli occupation of Lebanon was an area in Southern Lebanon near Lebanon's border with Israel, which existed from 1982 to 2000. Large parts of Lebanon, including the capital Beirut were seized by Israeli Army and allied Christian militias during Operation Peace for Galilee in 1982, during the Lebanese Civil War. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) remained in partial military control of the belt, in coordination with the South Lebanon Army (SLA), after retreating from Beirut and the rest of South Lebanon during 1983-5. The IDF withdrew from the security belt to Israel's international border in the year 2000. Israel's stated purpose for the Security Zone was to create a space that separates the northern border towns and terrorists residing in Lebanon.

During the stay in the security belt, the IDF held many positions and supported the SLA. The SLA took over daily life in the security zone, initially as the official force of the Free Lebanon State and later as an allied militia. Notably, the South Lebanon Army controlled the prison in Khiam. In addition, United Nations (UN) forces and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) were deployed to the security belt (from the end of Operation Litani in 1978).

The strip was a few miles wide, and consisted of about 10% of the total territory of Lebanon, which housed about 150,000 people who lived in 67 villages and towns made up of Shiites, Maronites and Druze (most of whom lived in the town of Hasbaya). In the central zone of the Strip was the Maronite town Marjayoun, which was the capital of the security belt. Residents remaining in the security zone had many contacts with Israel, many of whom have worked there and received various services from Israel.

Historical background

Map of southern Lebanon, featuring the Blue Line, UNIFIL zone, and Litani River (2006)

Although the strip was officially formed in 1985, following the IDF withdrawal from most of South Lebanon, it has its roots in the early Lebanese civil war. From 1968, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) controlled southern Lebanon. In 1975, the PLO's control became a severe nuisance to Christians and local residents. The Christians asked Israel for its assistance. From mid-1976, Israel began to assist the Christian residents across the border by opening the border, or Good Fence, in Metola, and through military cooperation with the Christian militia, the Free Lebanon Army, which was established under the Christian officer Major Saad Haddad.

1985 until 2000

During the evacuation in the first Lebanon war, the command of the SLA was delivered into the hands of Antoine Lahad, who demanded and received Israeli permission to hold the Jezzine zone north of the strip. In the first years after the IDF withdrawal from the north part of Lebanon, the strip was relatively quiet. Over the years, the Lebanese resistance, led by Hezbollah, increased on the Israeli side in the security belt. Driving on the roads became dangerous, and IDF forces stayed more in the military camps than on the roads. Hezbollah made many efforts to attack the IDF's military camps. On 16 February 1992, the then-leader of Hezbollah, Abbas Musawi, was assassinated by IDF's helicopter missiles. The IDF assumed that the Hezbollah leadership would curb their activities for fear of their lives and the lives of their families. Hezbollah was headed by Sheikh Nasrallah.

Israeli soldiers serving in Southern Lebanon received no ribbon for wartime military service, because Israel considered the maintaining of the security belt as a low-intensity conflict rather than a war.^[1] In early 2000, Chief-of-Staff Shaul Mofaz said that 1999 was "the IDF's most successful year in Lebanon" with 11 soldiers killed by hostiles in Southern Lebanon, the lowest casualty rate during the entire conflict.^[2] A total number of 256 Israeli soldiers died in combat in South Lebanon from 1985 to 2000.^[3]

Withdrawal from the security belt

Before the Israeli election in May 1999 the prime minister of Israel, Ehud Barak, promised that within a year all Israeli forces would withdraw from Lebanon. When negotiation efforts failed between Israel and Syria—the goal of the negotiations was to bring a peace agreement between Israel and Lebanon as well, due to Syrian control of Lebanon until 2005—Barak led the withdrawal of the IDF to the Israeli border on 24 May 2000. No soldiers were killed or wounded during the redeployment to the internationally recognized border.

See also

• Israeli–Lebanese conflict

References