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After attacking PLO, Syrian and Muslim Lebanese forces, Israel occupied southern Lebanon. Surrounded in West Beirut and subject to heavy bombardment, the PLO and the Syrian forces negotiated passage from Lebanon with the aid of international peacekeepers. Subsequently, the Sabra and Shatila massacre occurred during Israel's occupation of West Beirut.
After the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict, Lebanon became home to more than 110,000 Palestinian refugees displaced from their homeland. By 1975, they numbered more than 300,000 and the PLO had become a powerful force in Lebanon, playing an important role in the Lebanese Civil War. Continual violence occurred between IsraelThis article discusses the State of Israel. For other meanings of Israel see Israel (disambiguation). The State of Israel Medinat Yisrael in Hebrew, Daulat Israil in Arabic) is a country in the Middle East on the eastern edge of the Mediterranean Sea. and PLO from 1968, peaking in Operation LitaniOperation Litani was the official name of Israel's 1978 invasion of Lebanon up to the Litani river. The invasion was a military success, as PLO forces were pushed north of the river. However, international outcry led to the creation of UNIFIL and a partia.
On 6 June 1982, following an assassination attempt against its ambassador in LondonLondon is the capital of the United Kingdom and of England, and with over seven million inhabitants in the Greater London area, is the second-most populous conurbation in Europe (after Moscow). From being Londinium the capital of the Roman province of Bri by the Abu Nidal Organization, Israeli forces under direction of Defense Minister Ariel Sharon invaded southern Lebanon in their "Operation Peace for the Galilee." They eventually reached as far north as the capital Beirut in an attempt to drive the PLO forces out of the country.
Israel's objective was to push back the PLO militants to a distance of 40 kilometers to the north. The Israeli forces soon reached that target but were determined to drive the PLO from southern Lebanon once and for all. Tyre and Sidon (major cities in the south of Lebanon, still within the 40 kilometer limit) were heavily damaged, and the Lebanese capital Beirut was shelled for ten weeks, killing both PLO members and civilians.
Israel shot down many Syrian aircraft over Lebanon, and terrestrial objects were also bombed. AH-1 Cobra Cobra helicopter gunships were used widely by the Israeli Air Force to destroy Syrian armor and fortification. The IAF Cobras destroyed dozens of Syrian armored fighting vehicles, including many of the modern Soviet T-72 main battle tank.
According to the journalist Robert Fisk (p. 277, 282), phosphorus shells and cluster bombs sold to Israel by the US under the condition they would not be used against civilians were used against Lebanese civilians by Israel, causing heavy undousable burns and many casualties, often to children.
Later in 1982 an agreement was reached and American, French and Italian peacekeepers sent the PLO survivors to surrounding Arab states. Philip Habib , Ronald Reagan's envoy to Lebanon, provided an undertaking to the PLO that the Palestinian civilians in the refugee camps would not be harmed. However, the US marines left West Beirut two weeks before the end of their official mandate. After the assassination of Bashir Gemayel, newly appointed President of Lebanon, Israeli forces occupied West Beirut. The Lebanese Christian Militia, also known as the Phalangists, allies of Israel, massacred 700-3000 Palestinians in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camp.