Israel Launches Operation Peace for Galilee into Lebanon

Context

By the early 1980s, southern Lebanon had become a base for Palestinian guerrilla groups after the Palestine Liberation Organization relocated there following its expulsion from Jordan in 1970. The Lebanese civil war, which erupted in 1975, further destabilized the country as rival militias, including Christian factions and Syrian-backed forces, vied for control amid a large Palestinian refugee population. Israel had conducted earlier incursions, notably Operation Litani in 1978, to create a buffer zone and support allied Lebanese Christian militias, while tensions with Syria, which maintained troops in much of Lebanon, added another layer of regional friction.

What Happened

The immediate trigger came on June 3, 1982, when gunmen from the Abu Nidal Organization attempted to assassinate Israel's ambassador to Britain, Shlomo Argov, in London. Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin held the PLO responsible despite the group's denial of involvement. Three days later, on June 6, Defense Minister Ariel Sharon directed the launch of Operation Peace for Galilee. Roughly 60,000 Israeli troops supported by hundreds of tanks and extensive air and naval assets advanced in three columns across the border, with an amphibious landing north of Sidon. The publicly stated goal was to drive PLO fighters at least 40 kilometers north of the frontier.

Aftermath

Israeli forces reached the outskirts of Beirut within days and encircled West Beirut by mid-June, initiating a prolonged siege that included heavy bombardment from land, sea, and air. Clashes with Syrian troops in the Bekaa Valley resulted in significant Syrian losses, particularly in the air. Under U.S. mediation, the PLO agreed to evacuate its fighters from the city in August and September 1982, with most relocating to Tunisia under the supervision of a multinational peacekeeping force. Israel withdrew from western Beirut by late September, though its forces remained in southern Lebanon.

Legacy

The invasion accelerated the PLO's shift away from Lebanon as its primary base and contributed to the emergence of Hezbollah, an Iran-backed Shia militant group that launched a guerrilla campaign against the continuing Israeli presence in the south. Israeli troops eventually consolidated into a security zone until their full withdrawal in 2000. The war influenced Israeli domestic politics, prompted greater U.S. diplomatic engagement in the region, and underscored the challenges of confronting non-state actors embedded in civilian areas, patterns that persisted in subsequent Israeli-Lebanese confrontations.