User:AmineFazza/sandbox

Syrian Occupation of Lebanon

Since the start of the conflict between the Arab states and the State of Israel, Lebanon found itself squeezed between Israel and Syria, Lebanon's combative larger neighbours. Lebanon itself is touched by the different confessional adherences and by regional and global politics.

Lebanon entered a brutal and protracted civil war in 1975. Disputes erupted between mostly Christian Lebanese militias (known as the Lebanese Right) and Palestinian militias, as well as predominantly non-Christian Lebanese militias (commonly referred to as the Lebanese Left).

The Middle East's geopolitical landscape was reshaped by the conflicts and wars of June 1967 and October 1973. Israel's resounding win in 1967, compounded by its annexation of the Sinai Penisula, East Jerusalem and the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and the Golan Heights, dealt a catastrophic blow to Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser and the pan-Arabist ideology. The 1973 War was accompanied by superpower tensions and direct American involvement in the conflict resolution.

Simultaneously, Syria was concerned about the weak military of Lebanon as it would be a danger for Syria in their fight with Israel. Recognizing that themself also were vulnerable to an attack, Syria moved from mediation to indirect intervention in supporting guerrilla groups to, finally, the deployment of Syrian troops in Lebanon.

(Background)

The hostility between Syria and Israel made Lebanon the 'perfect' playground as it is strategically located as a buffer between the south of Israel and Eastern Syria. Given Syria's proximity and historical ties with Lebanon as part of what was known as "Greater Syria", Syria has always been interested in domestic Lebanese politics.

(Syrian invasion)

At the same time, the Syrian occupation is a proxy war because of two reasons, the first one by reason of the number and purposes of the militias that participated. Major militias were organized along Maronite, Druze, Shi'a and Sunni identities. Militias were organized rather on political identities than confessional ones. This caused that the same confessional groups could battle each other. Amal and Hezbollah, even though both are Shi'a militias, fought brutal fights for control of the community.

Second, in the conflict, diverse foreign powers were involved as well as the militias they backed. Just about every major militia in Lebanon established a proxy relationship with a foreign state. Both Lebanon's neighbors, Syria and Israel, were among the top donors and sponsored militias from the beginning to the end of the conflict. After a few years, following the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982 and a change in the dynamics of the Iran-Iraq war, Iran became actively committed in the conflict. Libya, Iraq and to a lesser extent, the United States and the Soviet Union, supplied backing to various militias. In the first half of the Lebanese Civil War, the PLO was both a proxy and a benefactor, which was unusual in proxy warfare history.

(Foreign interference)

Syrian involvement in the fighting between various Lebanese militias that erupted around the first of the year had previously been limited to tatical actions carried out by portions of the Palestine Liberation Army under Damascus' supervision. Around 4 April, these efforts were bolstered by a virtual blockade of Lebanon's ports by Syrian navy forces, ostensibly to prevent the fighting factions from receiving resupply of arms and ammunition. Syrian armed forces regular infantry and armored units arrived into Lebanese territory with force less than a week later.

(Syrian invasion)

Iran, starting from 1982, began influencing events in Lebanon. Iran, which experienced the Islamic Revolution in 1979, is linked with Syria, primarily due to mutual anti-Iraqi sentiment. Iran wants to build a presence in Lebanon, which would allow it to share a common border with Israel and land fertile ground for extreme Islamic doctrine. Moreover, Iran discovered a long-ignored Shiite community enraged by Lebanon's establishment and hostile to Israel. Israel and Hezbollah have been fighting a low-intensity guerilla war since 1985.

(Foreign interference, Iran)