Israelische Soldaten seien „auf den Gipfel von Beaufort zurückgekehrt und haben dort erneut die israelische Flagge gehisst“, erklärte Verteidigungsminister Israel Katz. Er bezog sich dabei auf die frühere Einnahme der Burg durch Israel im Libanonkrieg 1982. Israelische Truppen hatten die Kreuzfahrerburg damals eingenommen und als Stützpunkt genutzt. Erst im Jahr 2000 bei ihrem Abzug aus dem Libanon zogen sie sich von dort wieder zurück.
Archiv: Civil War in Lebanon / Israeli occupation in South Lebanon 1982-2000 / Bürgerkrieg im Libanon 1975-1990 / Israelische Besatzung in Südlibanon 1982-2000
Israel seizes strategic castle as it expands invasion of south Lebanon
Beaufort Castle, known in Arabic as Qalaat al-Shaqif, is a strategic vantage point overlooking large parts of southern Lebanon and northern Israel. It is located about 5km from the major southern city of Nabatieh.
Israeli troops previously captured the castle in 1982 and held it until they withdrew from Lebanon in 2000.
Is Israel trying to foment civil war in Lebanon?
On April 14, the Lebanese and Israeli ambassadors to the United States, Nada Hamadeh and Yechiel Leiter, met in Washington with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The goal is ostensibly to extend the ceasefire while working “on longer term disarming of Hezbollah, along with a peace deal between the countries.” During the two hours in which the meeting took place, Israel bombed at least 23 towns in southern Lebanon; afterward, Leiter said that both Israel and Lebanon were united in “liberating Lebanon” from Hezbollah.
This came less than a week after one of the most violent days in Lebanese history. On April 8, Israeli warplanes ravaged large parts of the country, killing at least 303 people and wounding 1,150.
Lebanese Civil War
Among the consequences of the war was the Syrian occupation of Lebanon until 2005; the Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon until 2000; the creation of the Hezbollah, a Shiʿi militia formed to confront Israel and later adapted into a political party and social welfare network; the expulsion of the PLO from Lebanon; and the rebuilding of Lebanon by a handful of businessmen, including the two-time prime minister (1992–98; 2000–04) Rafic al-Hariri. (…)
With Palestinian forces continuing to conduct cross-border raids into Israel, Israel launched a major reprisal attack in March 1978, sending troops into the south of Lebanon as far as the Litani River. The resulting conflict led to the establishment of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL)—a peacekeeping force meant to secure Israeli withdrawal and support the return of Lebanese authority in the south—as well as to the creation of the South Lebanese Army (SLA)—a militia led by Saad Haddad and armed and financed by Israel to function as a proxy militia under Lebanese Christian command.
Israel has invaded Lebanon six times in the past 50 years – a timeline of events
(October 1, 2024)
Israel has launched its sixth incursion into Lebanese territory since 1978. Here’s a timeline of how this seemingly unending conflict has evolved.
Jun 1979 – Israeli Invasion of Southern Lebanon, March 1978 -Deployment of UN Peace-keeping Force -Israeli Withdrawal
(June, 1979)
Israel on the night of March 14–15, 1978, launched a major invasion of southern Lebanon with 20,000-25,000 ground troops backed by tanks, artillery, fighter planes and gunboats. The operation was mounted notwithstanding a number of diplomatic moves to forestall an anticipated reprisal attack in reply to the March 11 guerrilla raid on Israel and despite assurances by the Lebanese Government that it was in no way responsible for the Palestinian action[see above].
Hezbollah’s Raad: Fake Truce Covers Israeli Violations, Lebanese Gov’t Must Undo Sin of Direct Talks with Israeli Enemy
“Any presumed truce that grants the occupying enemy in Lebanon a special exception to open fire or carry out any movement or field action in confrontation areas and within Lebanese territory—whether to secure a position, plant a mine, carry out an assassination, blow up a house or facility, bulldoze land, or the like—is not a truce at all. Rather, it is cunning deception and an insult to others’ intelligence, entailing cover for Israeli aggression and turning a blind eye to the enemy’s continued violations and breaches,” the statement read.
“The authority should be ashamed before its people and withdraw from what has been called direct negotiations with the Zionist enemy. What we fear most from the insistence on this sin is that the country will fall into something worse than what it was dragged into on the ominous May 17 in the early 1980s.”
Israel flattening civilian buildings in southern Lebanon during truce, say commanders
Israel has continued to systematically flatten civilian buildings in southern Lebanon during the ceasefire, according to a report in Haaretz on Sunday.
A 10-day pause in hostilities in Lebanon began on Thursday last week.
But since then, Israeli army commanders have told Haaretz that systematic destruction of civilian buildings in southern villages was continuing to take place.
The commanders said civilian engineering tools had been brought into the area, including excavators, and were being operated by paid Israeli civilian contractors.
Spiel auf Zeit
Durchaus als historisch zu bezeichnen ist hingegen das Versagen der libanesischen Regierung. Sie nimmt mit ihrem Versuch, die Hisbollah zu entwaffnen, nicht nur in Kauf, dass die libanesische Bevölkerung der israelischen Kriegs- und Annexionsmaschinerie ausgeliefert wird. Sie riskiert auch einen Bürgerkrieg.
The Renegade Militia Major
(May 16, 1983)
Haddad calls the territory “Free Lebanon.” To most people, however, the area is known as “Haddadland.” With Israeli backing, Haddad established the border enclave to thwart deployment of United Nations peace-keeping forces and regular Lebanese army units. Last February, he announced that he was extending his control over the entire 28-mile-wide zone that Israel has said is essential to its security.
South Lebanon Army
The South Lebanon Army (SLA) was a Lebanese militia established during the 1975–1976 Lebanese Civil War by Major Saad Haddad, a defected Lebanese Army officer, to secure southern Lebanon against Palestinian fedayeen incursions backed by the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).[1] With Israeli military and logistical support, the SLA controlled a border „security zone“ from the late 1970s, evolving into Israel‘s primary local proxy force after Haddad‘s death in 1984, when retired General Antoine Lahad assumed command.[2] Comprising 2,500 to 3,000 fighters drawn mainly from Christian and other non-Shiite communities in a predominantly Shiite region, the SLA conducted patrols, ambushes, and defensive operations alongside the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).[3]
(…)
In May 2000, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak implemented a unilateral withdrawal of Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) from southern Lebanon, fulfilling an election pledge from July 1999 to end the occupation of the security zone by July 2000, though accelerated due to mounting pressures.[64][3] On April 17, 2000, Israel formally notified the United Nations of its intent to withdraw in compliance with UN Security Council Resolution 425, but proceeded without a negotiated agreement with Lebanon or Syria, leaving the South Lebanon Army (SLA) exposed to immediate collapse.[65][28] The withdrawal commenced on May 23 and concluded on May 24, 2000, with IDF forces pulling back to the 1949 armistice line amid rapid disintegration of SLA positions.[66][67]
‘Collateral damage’: Exiled Lebanese tells ‚Post‘ refugees back Israel’s fight against Hezbollah
(today)
Maryam Younnes was only five years old when she fled her home in Dibil in southern Lebanon, leaving behind her grandmother and cousins, unable to legally see or speak to them again.
Maryam’s father, Elias, was a commander in the South Lebanon Army (SLA). He defended the country’s sovereignty against the Palestinian Liberation Organization, which used the territory to launch attacks against Israel and brutalize local populations.
“We were in no man’s land. No one helped us. No one looked after us, just like what’s going on right now.
Israeli opposition leader calls to revive ‚South Lebanon Army‘ to assist with occupation
(October 10, 2024)
Lapid advocated regime change in Lebanon, saying, “the international community will need to appoint a sort of oversight committee for Lebanon to manage its civilian life for a set period until elections can be held and a new government can take control.”
Crucial to this effort would be the establishment of a collaborator Lebanese army loyal to Israel and its Western and Gulf allies.
(…)
Lapid claimed it would be easy to recruit Lebanese by paying soldiers in a new army $500 a month. New recruits would then be trained by French, Emirati, and US military officers.
The South Lebanon Army (SLA) was established by Israel in 1976 after the collapse of the Lebanese government due to civil war.