Palestinian insurgency in South Lebanon

Palestinian insurgency in South Lebanon
Part of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Lebanese Civil War and the Arab Cold War
Fedayeen of Fatah at a rally in Beirut, 1979
Date 1968–1982 Location South Lebanon North Israel Result Israeli victory Expulsion of the Palestine Liberation Organization from Lebanese territory to Tunisia, after Israel's invasion of Lebanon in 1982 Beginning of the South Lebanon conflict in 1985 Territorial changes Syrian occupation of Lebanon (1976–2005) Israeli occupation of Lebanon (1985–2000)
Belligerents
Israel Free Lebanon SLA Lebanese Front	PLO  Syria LNM Supported by:  Soviet Union[1]
Commanders and leaders
1982: Menachem Begin Ariel Sharon Saad Haddad	1982: Yasser Arafat Hafiz al-Assad Mustafa Tlass
Strength
1982: 78,000 5,000	1982: 15,000 22,000

The Palestinian insurgency in South Lebanon was a multi-sided armed conflict initiated by Palestinian militants against Israel in 1968 and against Lebanese Christian militias in the mid-1970s. It served as a major catalyst for the outbreak of the Lebanese Civil War in 1975. Fighting between the Palestinians and the Christian militias lasted until the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982, which led to the expulsion of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) from Lebanese territory. While the PLO relocated to Tunisia in the aftermath of Israel's invasion, other Palestinian militant factions, such as the Syria-based PFLP–GC, continued to carry out low-level operations from Syrian-occupied Lebanon. After 1982, the insurgency is considered to have faded in light of the inter-Lebanese Mountain War and the Israel–Hezbollah conflict, the latter of which took place for the duration of the Israeli occupation of South Lebanon.

Following the PLO's expulsion from Lebanon, the Israeli military and Lebanese Christian militias became embroiled in a conflict against Iran-backed Lebanese Shia militias, namely Hezbollah, marking the beginning of the Iran–Israel proxy conflict.