Lebanon invasion reaching the Litani River (Litani Operation)
Lebanon invasion reaching Beirut
The official creation of the border strip that includes 171 southern village
July War (Lebanon's Second War)
I paved the way for the operation of the Litani, which the Israeli leadership dubbed 'Operation Stone of Wisdom,' to a more ambitious and larger-scale operation, which is Operation 'Peace for Galilee' in 1982, which almost led to 'security arrangements' that effectively put the whole of Lebanon under Israeli occupation.
According to a report by UNICEF, the number of civilian casualties reached 26,506, including 11,840 children, 868 women, 1,100 fighters, and 2,994 serious burn injuries caused by white phosphorus bombs.
The real objectives of the 1982 war were not just to move the northern settlements in Israel out of the firing range of the armed Palestinian organizations, but rather militarily and politically eliminate the Palestinian Liberation Organization, expel the Syrians from Lebanon, or move them away from Beirut and the Bekaa, elect a Lebanese president loyal to Israel, and sign a peace agreement with Lebanon. Therefore, Sharon concealed his efforts to reach the capital from the American government at the time, but the United States soon acquitted the Zionist enemy.
Starting from 1985, under the pressure of resistance, the Israeli army withdrew from Beirut, occupying the border strip in southern Lebanon for 22 years.
During this period, Israel accomplished a 17 km tunnel project to divert the waters of the Litani River. The tunnel starts from the village of Khirbet Kfarkila near Deir Mimas and ends at the border village of Kafr Kila. It is no longer just a buffer zone protecting the Israeli borders, but it has allowed the Israelis to maintain their heavy military presence, directed towards the heart of the Bekaa, a part of Mount Lebanon, and the entire south, including Sidon, Nabatieh, and Tyre. Moreover, vital coastal roads towards Beirut and the north remained threatened with closure at any time. In short, compared to the 1978 belt, the new 'Security Belt' has become much more strategically valuable for the Israelis than its predecessor.
Israel began its aggression following the abduction of two of its soldiers on July 12, 2006, an aggression it deemed necessary since 2000 to restore its deterrence capability after it had been eroded, and as a retaliation for its defeat and to restore the prestige of its army. It began destroying the Lebanese transportation network from the south and towards it, and closing all the outlets connecting Lebanon to the outside world (by land, sea, and air) with the primary goal of cutting off any kind of supplies to Hezbollah as a direct target, and pressuring the citizens to incite them to rise up against the resistance as an indirect target. The result of this war, after the defeat of the Zionists, was a semi-mutual deterrent balance, as Israel deterred Hezbollah from the danger of resuming its broad activities against the civilian towns, and Hezbollah deterred Israel from launching a comprehensive attack aimed at breaking the organization.
Israel's failure increased the way it ended the war. The United Nations Resolution 1701 marked for the first time in the history of Israel
And today, after the exhaustion imposed by Hezbollah on the Israeli enemy in the northern front, which the resistance considered as a supporting front, the Israeli government was compelled to reintroduce Resolution 1701, which stipulates the expulsion of the resistance forces beyond the Litani. The idea of the security belt, which Israel insists on and the implementation of the resolution, is linked again to the issue of the displaced settlers from the north, estimated to be tens of thousands, who have become a burden on the economy and taxpayers in Israel. In addition, this war has undermined the security doctrine of the Israeli enemy, as the Lebanese resistance has come out to fight and compelled the enemy to establish the security belt inside Israel, because one aspect of this security doctrine is waging war inside the enemy's territory, not the other way around, as is the case in the 2023-2024 war.
The Security Belt on the Borders
The Operation Litani, which took place in the south of Lebanon during the period from 14 to 21 March 1978, was nothing but the starting point of the Israeli strategy towards Lebanon to achieve Israel's ambitions, represented in seizing part of the Lebanese territories (the border strip) and a section of the waters of southern Lebanon, which Israel has coveted since its inception in 1948. Its declared goal was to occupy a belt ten kilometers wide to the north of the border to prevent Palestinian attacks on Israel, but instead, the forces continued to advance until they reached the Litani River. Thus, the Israeli advance in the southern Lebanese territories reached about 20 km, then the militia under the leadership of Saad Haddad. Israeli officers were always present. The geospatial results of Operation Litani, Israel's refusal to implement International Resolution 425 - issued according to Chapter VI of the United Nations Charter, which provides for the peaceful resolution of disputes - led to the occupation of about 1,100 square kilometers of the southern Lebanese land, which is 10 percent of the area of Lebanon.
