Lebanon » History

During the civil war, Lebanon was invaded and occupied twice by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), during 1978 and 1982. Israel remained in control of Southern Lebanon till 2000, when there was a general decision, led by Ehud Barak the Israeli PM, to withdraw due to continuous guerrilla attacks executed by Hezbollah militants and a belief that Hezbollah activity would diminish and dissolve whithout the Israeli presence. Although the Israeli withdrawal was approved as a full withdrawal behind the blue line by the U.N. in accordance with its UN Security Council Resolution 425 (issued 22 years earlier), Hezbollah claimed that Israel still occupied small areas of Lebanon and declared that it will not stop its operations against Israel until these areas and what they described as "all of occupied Palestine" were liberated.

After the end of the civil war and until recently, Lebanon has seen a period of relative calm, although conflicts between Hezbollah and Israel have occurred every few years.

 

Longer Historical Perspective

Lebanon was the homeland of the Phoenicians, a seafaring people that spread across the Mediterranean before the rise of Alexander the Great. Carthage, which threatened Rome, was a Phoenician colony. Alexander burned Tyre, the leading Phoenician city, ending the Phoenician independence. The country became part of numerous succeeding empires, among them Persian, Roman, Byzantine, Arab, Crusader, and Ottoman.

Lebanon was part of the Ottoman Empire for over 400 years, but following World War I, the area became a part of the French Mandate of Syria. On September 1, 1920, France formed the State of Greater Lebanon as one of several ethnic enclaves within Syria. Lebanon was a largely Christian (mainly Maronite) enclave but also included areas containing many Muslims and Druzes. On September 1, 1926, France formed the Lebanese Republic. The Republic was afterward a separate entity from Syria but still administered under the French Mandate for Syria.

Lebanon and Syria both gained independence in 1943, while France was occupied by Germany. General Henri Dentz, the Vichy High Commissioner for Syria and Lebanon, played a major role in the independence of both nations. The Vichy authorities in 1941 allowed Germany to move aircraft and supplies through Syria to Iraq where they were used against British forces. The United Kingdom, fearing that Nazi Germany would gain full control of Lebanon and Syria by pressure on the weak Vichy government, sent its army into Syria and Lebanon.