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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Lebanon
Index
Some Israeli policymakers considered South Lebanon's Shias
natural allies, especially because both Israel and the Shias wanted
to prevent the PLO from returning to the area. Some Israelis
envisioned a Shia buffer state modeled after "Free Lebanon,"
controlled formerly by Saad Haddad (Haddad died of cancer in
January 1984 and was replaced by retired Lebanese general Antoine
Lahad). Indeed, about 10 percent of the SLA was Shia, and the IDF
armed and supported several Shia groups.
These hopes, however, were never realized. The Shias, in fact,
turned out to be implacable foes, vehemently resisting the Israeli
presence in southern Lebanon. Concerned about the growing number of
casualties inflicted on the IDF by Shia militants, on February 16,
1985, the IDF implemented the first stage of a withdrawal from
Lebanon, evacuating its troops from the northern front at the
Awwali River to south of the Litani River, thus removing Sidon from
Israeli control. Sidon's feuding factions, determined to avoid a
flare-up of internecine violence in the wake of the Israeli
withdrawal, formed a special committee to organize the smooth entry
of Lebanese Army troops into the city. On February 17, a 3,000-man
detachment of the army's predominantly Shia Twelfth Brigade took
over the Israeli positions as the populace celebrated in the
streets.
But the celebration was short lived. In March and April, a new
round of Christian-Muslim fighting pitting a Palestinian-Druze-Shia
coalition against the Phalangists engulfed Sidon. The army was
dispatched but appeared powerless to stop the combat. The
Phalangists suffered a major defeat, as thousands of Christian
civilians retreated east to Jazzin, where they were protected by
Lahad's SLA. Others fled behind Israeli occupation lines.
Yet Israel's withdrawal gave it no respite from guerrilla
attacks. On the contrary, the guerrilla campaign escalated into
full-scale warfare, with most of the attacks occurring in the
vicinity of Tyre. Frustrated by its inability to curb the
resistance fighters, Israel resorted to what it called the "Iron
Fist" policy, which entailed retaliatory and preemptive raids on
villages suspected of harboring Shia guerrillas. On March 4, an
explosion devastated a mosque in the village of Marakah--only hours
after the IDF had inspected the site--killing at least twelve
people, many of whom were Shia guerrilla commanders. On March 11,
a large Israeli armored force wreaked vengeance on the village of
Az Zrariyah, killing 40 people and detaining 200 men.
The IDF hastened its withdrawal from southern Lebanon, adhering
to an accelerated deadline voted by the Israeli cabinet, and pulled
its troops back to the armistice line on June 6, 1985. Israel also
closed its detention center in Ansar and freed 752 of the inmates.
But, in violation of the Geneva Conventions, which forbids
transporting prisoners of war across international boundaries,
1,200 prisoners were transferred to Israel. Israel preserved a
security zone approximately five to ten kilometers wide, which it
handed over to the SLA. Some 150 Israeli combat troops and 500
advisers remained within the security zone.
Data as of December 1987
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