Iran Haunts the 46th Anniversary of the Lebanese Civil War

Prior to the civil war, Lebanon was a functioning multi-sectarian country, with Maronite Christians and Sunni Muslims making up the majority of the population. The mid-twentieth century brought regional shifts which altered the fabric of Beirut. The establishment of Israel, the surge of Pan-Arabism, and the arrival of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) were crucial factors that helped catalyze the conflict that would consume Beirut for fifteen years.

The PLO-supported Lebanese National Movement (LNM) arose during the early years of the war. This pan-Arabist front was comprised of Sunni Muslims and Arab nationalists. In opposition, the Phalanges Christian democratic political party contained the Maronite population. Although tensions between the two groups escalated in the mid to late twentieth century, two key events directly triggered the onset of the war. On April 13, 1975, a gunman opened fire on a church in a Christian suburb in Eastern Lebanon, killing four people. The Phalangists claimed the perpetrator was an LNM guerilla. Hours later, a Phalangist gunman ambushed a bus carrying mostly Palestinian passengers, killing twenty-seven on board.

As retaliations continued to unfold, PLO guerilla fighters were able to expand their armed struggle against Israel. The group’s expulsion from the Hashemite Kingdom in 1970 and arrival in Lebanon gave them a tactical advantage to attack the Jewish State from the border. Israel responded to their assaults from the border by invading southern Lebanon twice, in 1978 and 1982.

The effort to expel the PLO from Lebanon expanded by 1982 as a Western peacekeeping coalition dubbed the Multinational Force was created. The task force, comprised of Italy, the United States, the United Kingdom, and France, became increasingly scrutinized on the ground as a partisan entity. At this point, the ongoing civil war, Western troop presence, and general turmoil created opportune conditions that Iran was able to exploit.