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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Lebanon
Index
The government of Syria, although in theory a socialist regime,
feared that a leftist victory and the installation of a radical
government in Lebanon would undermine Syrian security and provide
Israel an excuse to intervene in the area. After repeated
diplomatic efforts failed to quell the Lebanese Civil War, on June
1, 1976, Syria intervened on the side of the Christians. In the
following months, the Syrian presence grew to 27,000 troops. By
November the Syrians had occupied most Muslim-held areas of
Lebanon, including West Beirut and Tripoli. Most Muslim forces
capitulated without firing a shot, overwhelmed by the Syrian show
of force. In Sidon, however, Palestinian and leftist forces fought
off the Syrians for nearly six months before relinquishing their
stronghold.
For nearly the entire first year of the Civil War, the
Phalangists and the PLO had made a mutual attempt to avoid combat,
even as smaller Christian and Palestinian splinter groups clashed.
The PLO tried to enhance its reputation and credibility by playing
the role of a neutral mediator between the Lebanese left and the
Christians. For its part, the Phalange Party avoided antagonizing
the PLO because it feared that the Palestinians would intervene on
the Muslim side. After Syria had subdued the Muslim threat,
however, the Phalangists turned their full attention to the
Palestinians.
The battle for Tall Zatar was the final showdown of the
Lebanese Civil War. Tall Zatar was a Palestinian refugee camp
situated on the Christian side of the Green Line where about 1,500
Palestinian guerrillas defended a civilian population of roughly
20,000 against several thousand Christian militiamen. The
Christians were supported and advised in their siege by the
Lebanese and Syrian armies; Israeli advisers were also present on
the Christian side.
Because Tall Zatar was honeycombed with bunkers and tunnels,
the PLO was able to defend the camp from persistent Christian
attacks for about six months, despite a nearly constant barrage of
artillery fire that took a large toll. On August 12 Christian
forces finally overran the camp and massacred many of the several
thousand civilians who had remained there.
Data as of December 1987
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