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.
A picture of an Israeli Army outpost from the Lebanese side of the border in South 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]and a Lebanese resistance movement[3]. Ultimately the argument that leaving southern Lebanon would make Israel less secure has been borne out.
The Blue Line covers the Lebanese-Israeli border; an extension covers the Lebanese-Golan Heights border.
Summary
Israel 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 continued to maintain a sizable fighting force after the Israeli withdrawal.
1993
After a month of Hezbollah shelling and attacks on its soldiers, Israel conducted a seven-day operation called Operation Accountability in order to destroy Hezbollah.
1996
The fighting culminated during Operation Grapes of Wrath in April 1996 when Israel launched an assault and air-campaign against Hezbollah. The campaign did not succeed and resulted in the murder of 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 the 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 Hezbollah. In retaliatory fire after the 10 June incident, Israeli artillery killed one Lebanese Army soldier and wounded one civilian.
2000: Israeli withdrawal
In 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 withdrawal since it always regarded the Security Zone as a buffer zone only to defend Israel's citizens. With an end to the "occupation", Israel could assume it would improve its worldwide image.
A captured SLA Army tank, featuring a wooden portrait of the late Ayatollah Khomeini now on display in southern Lebanon
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]
Aftermath
Billboard in Southern Lebanon depicting Hezbollah fighters
The tentative peace, resulting from the withdrawal, lasted for years. However, the Israeli Air Force continuously overflew the Lebanese airspace for reconnisance while Hezbollah continued to attack the occupied 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, in response to Israel's failure to release the Lebanese prisoners in Israel, Hezbollah kidnapped two Israeli soldiers and killed eight others. In retaliation Israel began the 2006 Lebanon War to rescue the abducted soldiers and weaken Hezbollah .[9][10][11][12]
Notes
- ^ UN Press Release. "Security Council endorses Secretary-General's conclusion on Israeli Withdrawal from Lebanon as of 16 June." Published 18 June 2000
- ^ Address by President Lahoud to the United Nations. 60th session of the United Nations General Assembly. 19 September 2005
- ^ In south Lebanon, resistance from cradle to graveScott Peterson, Christian Science Monitor, 7 June 2007
- ^ Asylum Law.
- ^ Country Profile, BBC News.
- ^ Zeev Maoz Defending the Holy Land Ann Arbor: Univ. of Michigan(2006).[1]
- ^ Laleh Khalili.(2007) "‘Standing with My Brother’: Hizbullah, Palestinians, and the Limits of Solidarity". Comparative Sudies in Society and History. 49(2):276-303
- ^ The main findings of the Winograd partial report on the Second Lebanon War By Haaretz Staff
- ^ Margaret Hall, American Myopia: American Policy on Hizbollah. The Muslim World: Questions of Policy and Politics. Cornell University undergraduate research symposium. April 8, 2006.
- ^ "…Hezbollah enjoys enormous popularity in Lebanon, especially in southern Lebanon…", Ted Koppel on NPR report: Lebanon's Hezbollah Ties. All Things Considered, July 13, 2006.
- ^ BBC: On This Day, May 26th.
- ^ CNN report: Hezbollah flag raised as Israeli troops withdraw from southern Lebanon. May 24, 2000.
See also
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