Historical Overview
The events leading up to the present Israeli-Lebanese conflict over the repatriation of soldiers are controversial, arduous and extremely complex. There is no one truth in this situation and many of the events put forward as fact by one side are regarded as complete fiction by the other. There are events that stand out as crucial for understanding the relationship as it stands between the two nations today.
With the declaration of Israel’s independence in 1948, many Palestinians who had once lived there emigrated or fled to refugee camps in the area of southern Lebanon that borders Israel.
In 1964 the Palestinian Liberation Organization was founded with the aims of liberating Palestine through armed struggle. The organization found much support within refugee camps where Palestinians were denied basic rights of citizenship and longed to return to their homes. In 1967 many of the Arab nations surrounding Israel (with the notable exception of Lebanon) entered into the ‘Six Day War’ with the aims of wiping out the threat of Israel and returning land to Arab Palestinians. The attempt backfired however with Israel not only defeating the attempt but gaining much land including the Gaza strip, the Sinai Peninsula, the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and Golan Heights. Even though Lebanon was not directly involved in the war, it served as a rallying cry for many refugees who felt loss of the remainder of Palestine.
In 1970 the leadership of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) was expelled from their base in Jordan causing an increase in their presence in Lebanon. This in turn led to increasing instances of violence against Israel. Palestinians in Lebanon now numbered around 300,000 and had effectively created their own state in Southern Lebanon along the border with Israel.
Between 1975 and 1990 Lebanon was engulfed in a civil war which involved all demographics and religions though a major source of tension were PLO-Israeli conflicts in the south. In 1978 Israel invaded Lebanon and pushed the PLO northward, simultaneously creating and funding an Israel-allied militia called the Southern Lebanese Army (SLA).
In 1982 Israel again invaded Southern Lebanon to attack the PLO. The violence that ensued resulted in the estimated deaths of 14,000 Lebanese and Palestinians and in Israel’s seizure of Beirut, the capital of Lebanon. The USA negotiated a ceasefire on all sides and the withdrawal of the PLO from the country. The following year the US drafted an agreement titled the ‘May 17th Agreement’ calling for the withdrawal of Israeli troops and for a security zone to be established in southern Lebanon and patrolled by the Lebanese army. Israel retreated from areas southeast of Beirut to the Awali river.
In 1984 the Lebanese Army fell to complete disarray with many units forming individual militias and the National Assembly cancelled the May 17th Agreement. In 1985 Shia Sheik Ibrahim al-Amin declared a manifesto announcing the creation of a resistance movement called Hezbollah who’s aims included the removal of Israeli occupation.
With the end of the civil war in 1991, the National Assembly passed an amnesty law pardoning all political crimes prior to its enactment and leading to the disassembly of all militias except the PLA and Hezbollah.
For the next decade Hezbollah and Israel were involved in attacks on opposing villages, rocket launches, air raids and the deaths of civilians. After a decade of fighting, the SLA fell to the power of Hezbollah and Israel agreed to withdraw to their side of a UN designated border that was put in place nearly twenty-two years before.
In September of 2000 the Hezbollah formed an alliance with the Amal movement and took all 23 political seats available in Southern Lebanon. It was the regions first election since 1972. In 2004 Germany mediated the first official prisoner swap between the two nations. Along with the exchange of prisoners they also mediated an exchange of bodies of victims of the struggle.
Conflict flared again in 2006 with the death of a Palestinian Islamic leader and his brother by a car bomb. Though the Lebanese Prime Minister blamed Israel, they denied any involvement. Rockets were launched into Israel from Lebanon two days later with the USA eventually negotiating a ceasefire.
The last year and a half have seen continual violence and the capture of hostages in what appears to be a never ending battle on both sides leading up to the crises and repatriation of bodies that occurred in July of 2008.