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This article will be a subsection in the Syrian Intervention entry of the article Syrian Intervention in the Lebanese Civil War.

The prelude
In the mid of 1972, the Lebanese government had started negotiations with the PLO in order to reach an agreement which would reduce the Palestinian militia's militant activity against Israel from the Lebanese soil and the consequent retaliations from Israelis. Syria interfered indirectly to undermine the stability of the Lebanese government by supporting the Palestinian militant groups, As-Sa'iqa and PLFP-GC, which denounced the Lebanese-PLO agreement. But the agreement did not last for long. Between 2nd and 18th of May 1973, military clashes erupted between the Lebanese Army and the Palestinian militia due to the arrest of PDFLP militants by the Lebanese Army and the retaliatory abduction of Lebanese soldiers by PDFLP. Syria responded by closing the borders and allowing the entrance of 3000 to 4000 Palestinian fighters to Lebanese soil, in order to put pressure on Beirut both politically and economically. In this conflict, the Lebanese Shiite Community unanimously supported the government's troops against Palestinians. Shiites considered Palestinian guerillas responsible for their hardships, due to their militancy towards Israel. A few months later Syria and Lebanon on an effort to normalize their relationship, signed the Shtura Accord. As a result the Syrian-Lebanese borders were opened on 17th of August 1973.

In 1970, when Hafez al-Assad established his rule, in Syria, the cities of Aleppo, Hama and  Homs  remained vastly underrepresented politically. The vast majority of the small scale manufacturers, artisans and petroleum industry workers were centred there. Within these cities the main opposition towards the Damascus' regime was merged. The regime's inner political circle came from the Alawite dominated Ba'ath party, rich merchants and the industrial business circle of Damascus, Tartus, and Lattakia.

On 31st January 1973, revolt took place in the Sunni dominated Syrian cities of Homs and Hama due to the new Syrian constitution, reason being it did not require the president to be muslim. In February 1973, according to USA embassy sources in Beirut, materials, arms and funds were sent, from Lebanon to the Syrian rebels. In February 1976 riots broke out again in Hama, Homs and Aleppo. The clashes were instigated by the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood, due to the death of one of its prominent leaders in prison. During the clashes one Syrian security chief was killed. Regime succeeded to repress the uprising, but the violence increased the popularity of the opposition in those cities. The Syrian government was fearful of the ties between the Muslim Brotherhood and the class of the traditional manufacturers and artisans.

The Syrian regime, tried to implement intensive capital and industrialization projects as part of its economical growth plan. Lebanese banks' credits and foreign exchange currency resources were the major sources of the required funds for those projects. Furthermore, Lebanon was a source of cheap imported products for Syria, as well as, a tax free destination for Syrian exported products. By the Spring of 1976 though, the required capital became scarce, because the eruption of fighting in Lebanon caused the reduction of the Lebanese GDP, from $3,2 billion in 1974, to $1 billion in 1976. Moreover, the chaotic situation in Beirut disrupted the function of the banking system. These developments deprived the Syrian economy of its most vital lender for its industrial growth as well as the source of cheap imported products for the Syrian middle class merchants. Additionally, in April 1976, Iraq announced the suspension of oil-transit to Lebanon, through the pipeline next to Homs. This Iraqi decision had a negative impact on the Syrian petroleum exports, a vital source of foreign exchange. This also caused uncertainty amongst the oil-labour of Homs. In addition, the inflation rate in Syria reached 30 per cent that year.