Lebanon and Israel sign the May 17 Agreement

George Hawi and Mohsen Ibrahim announced a cross-sectarian resistance front against the Israeli occupation. Communist and other secular activists organised underground cells. The front challenged...

UN Security Council Resolution 520 condemned Israeli incursions into Beirut, demanded a return to positions held before 15 September and reaffirmed Lebanese sovereignty. It was an international...

UN observers entering the area found groups of bodies of civilians and reported evidence of a massacre. Their observations became an important contemporaneous record of atrocities and contributed to...

A later anniversary account identifies an operation at Sanayeh in Beirut on 20 September as the front’s first resistance action. This illustrates the rapid move from proclamation to underground...

Following widespread criticism, the Israeli government established a commission of inquiry chaired by Yitzhak Kahan. Its findings were issued in February 1983, distinguishing direct militia...

Israel began withdrawing from the Shouf area; fighting between Lebanese factions intensified after the pullback. Resistance pressure was one factor in the broader military and political environment,...

The Lebanese cabinet formally cancelled the unratified 1983 agreement, after intense domestic and Syrian opposition. The government called for security arrangements consistent with Lebanese...

Hezbollah publicly articulated its political identity, commitment to confronting Israel and religious-political principles. The manifesto marked the public consolidation of a movement that had emerged...

The Israeli government announced withdrawal but maintained a border security zone with the South Lebanon Army and Israeli support. The UN Secretary-General warned that the arrangement violated...

Israeli forces announced completion of their redeployment while continuing to hold a southern security zone with the South Lebanon Army (SLA). Lebanese resistance organisations regarded this as...