1982 Lebanon War: A History from Beginning to End

The politics and recent history of the Middle East can seem baffling to outsiders. Nowhere was that more evident than during the Lebanon War that raged in 1982. Even contemporary reporting often made fundamental mistakes, and there was little general understanding of what was happening and why. This conflict involved a bewildering number of groups and influences from different parts of the world. The precipitating event was the attempted assassination of the Israeli ambassador in London, carried out by members of a Palestinian terrorist group. In response, Israel’s armed forces, the IDF, launched an invasion of Lebanon in which the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) had established its own army. The IDF also found themselves fighting against the armed forces of Syria. Some Lebanese served in the forces directed by Syria, some fought with Palestinian groups, while others aligned themselves with Israel.

The outcome was a savage and confusing war that brought misery and suffering to the majority of ordinary people of Lebanon and turned parts of the Lebanese capital, Beirut, into a war-torn wasteland. While the invasion of Lebanon was a military victory for Israel, it notably failed to bring peace or stability to this region. This is the complex and tragic story of the 1982 Lebanon War.