Palestinian insurgency in South Lebanon

During the 1948 Palestine war, 730,000 Palestinians fled or were forced to leave by Zionist forces, of which 100,000 arrived in Lebanon. Most of the guerrillas would be recruited from Palestinian refugee camps. By 1969, this population had grown to 235,000 as a result of natural population growth and immigration, including Palestinians who fled or were expelled by Israel during the 1967 war. On the eve of the 1982 Israeli invasion, the Palestinian population in Lebanon was 375,000. While the first Palestinian attack on Israel from Lebanon happened in 1965, the number of armed Palestinians prior to 1967 was estimated at just 200. The 1967 Six-Day War stimulated the growth of the Palestinian fedayeen (guerrillas). After 1967, the number of armed Palestinians increased to 2,000 and by 1968 it had reached 15,000. ==History==

Palestinian raids into Israel from Lebanese soil From 1968 onwards, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) began conducting raids from Lebanon into Israel, while Israel began making retaliatory raids into Lebanon and encourage the Lebanese factions to deal with the Palestinian fedayeen. South Lebanon was nicknamed "Fatahland" due to the predominance there of Yasser Arafat's Fatah organization. With its own army operating freely in Lebanon, the PLO had created a state within a state. The border between Israel and Lebanon was at this time was nicknamed the Good Fence. Fearing loss of commercial access to the port of Beirut, in June 1976 Syria intervened in the civil war to support the Maronite-dominated government, and by October had 40,000 troops stationed within Lebanon. The following year, however, Syria switched sides and began supporting the Palestinians. On 11 March 1978, eleven PLO militants made a sea landing in Haifa, Israel, where they hijacked a bus, 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon The 1982 Lebanon war began on 6 June 1982, when Israel invaded again in direct retaliation over the assassination attempt by ANO (Abu Nidal organization), a splinter group from Fatah) on Shlomo Argov, the Israeli ambassador to the UK, attacking Palestinian military bases and refugee camps affiliated with Palestine Liberation Organization and other Palestinian military movements, including the ANO. During the conflict, over 17,000 Lebanese were killed, and the Israeli army laid siege to Beirut. During the war, fighting also occurred between Israel and Syria. The United States, fearing a widening conflict and the prestige the siege was giving PLO leader Yasser Arafat, got all sides to agree to a cease-fire and terms for the PLO's withdrawal on 12 August. The predominantly Muslim Multinational Force in Lebanon arrived to keep the peace and ensure PLO withdrawal. Arafat retreated from Beirut on 30 August 1982 and settled in Tunisia. == PLO's political objectives ==

Palestinian guerrilla action intended to serve as a war of national liberation for Palestinians. The goal was akin to regime change in Israel, as opposed to a drastic redrawing of borders. In 1974, PLO accepted the creation of a "national authority" in the West Bank and Gaza as a first stage towards liberating Palestine. This represented a fundamental change in PLO's objectives, as it was interpreted as an acceptance of two states in historic Palestine, and thus an implied recognition of Israel. This tacit recognition of Israel caused the Rejectionist Front to break away. who accused the PLO of "capitulation" and even assassinated PLO diplomats. This ideological struggle continued until the 13th PNC meeting in March 1977, which endorsed the idea of a Palestinian state alongside Israel. ==Aftermath==

PLO's relocation to Tunisia after expulsion from Lebanon The 1982 Israeli invasion in support of Lebanese Christian militias resulted in the Palestine Liberation Organization's (PLO) departure from Lebanon to Tunisia. The creation of Security Zone in South Lebanon has benefited civilian Israeli population as Galilee suffered lesser violent attacks (dozens civilians killed), than previously by PLO in the 1970s (hundreds of Israeli civilian casualties). The relocation of PLO bases to Tunisia resulted in deterioration of the Israeli-Tunisian ties, which had previously considered relatively tolerant. Beginning of the Israel–Hezbollah conflict Despite this Israeli success in eradicating PLO bases and partial withdraw in 1985, the Israeli invasion had actually increased the severity of conflict with local Lebanese militias and resulted in the consolidation of several local Shia Muslim movements in Lebanon, including Hezbollah and Amal, from a previously unorganized guerrilla movement in the south. Over the years, military casualties of both sides grew higher, as both parties used more modern weaponry, and Hezbollah progressed in its tactics. By the early 1990s, Hezbollah, with support from Syria and Iran, emerged as the leading group and military power, monopolizing the directorship of the guerrilla activity in South Lebanon. ==See also==