The Palestine-Israel Conflict - Fourth Edition by Harms Gregory Ferry Todd M

Author:Harms, Gregory,Ferry, Todd M.
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781786801142
Publisher: Book Network Int'l Limited trading as NBN International (NBNi)

The only order of business before execution of the operation called Peace for Galilee was to secure a reasonably sufficient amount of permission from the United States. Sharon met with Reagan’s secretary of state, Alexander Haig, who stressed that only a flagrant violation on the part of the PLO would justify a substantial response of the kind Sharon had planned. In the dialogue between Sharon and Haig, “one side spoke in veiled language and allusive gestures that made it possible for the other to understand exactly what it wanted to.”31 Sharon returned to Israel with what he felt was permission enough. Pulling the trigger was all that remained.

On June 3, an anti-Arafat splinter group by the name of Abu Nidal attempted to assassinate the Israeli ambassador, Shlomo Argov, in London. Though Israeli intelligence knew and reported who the perpetrating organization was, the incident was justification enough for Sharon. Regardless of the PLO’s compliance with the July 1981 ceasefire, events had already been set in motion. The next day Israeli fighter jets hit PLO targets in Beirut and South Lebanon, prompting the PLO “violation” that would provide the desired pretext for attack. Begin’s cabinet was notified of a limited 25-mile invasion, and once their approval was secured, Big Pines was set in motion.

On June 6, 80,000 Israeli ground troops entered Lebanon. Though that night the Security Council passed a resolution (509) demanding immediate Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon, Israel exhibited the same defiance as the IDF had when moving past the UNIFIL security zone at the border. The ground divisions moved through South Lebanon with tanks, artillery and air support, and in the matter of a few days accomplished (and surpassed) the goals of Little Pines. In the first week thousands of Palestinians and Lebanese had been killed, the vast majority civilians.32 By the end of the first week Israel had overwhelmed the hesitant Syrian troops, and with American pressure, entered into a ceasefire with Syria; the PLO offered to join the agreement but was dismissed. With the Palestinians displaced in the south and Syria out of the picture, Lebanon’s capital lay wide open. The IDF then sealed off and shelled West Beirut for the next two months.

By the beginning of August, Arafat’s only option was withdrawal, which was simultaneously being called for by the Israelis. The United States sent Philip Habib to arrange a final settlement, and by August 11 a plan was forged and agreed upon by all parties. An international peacekeeping force was deployed – French, Italian, and US troops – to ensure safe passage of the PLO out of Beirut as well as protection for remaining non-combatant Palestinians in the refugee camps. Sharon, who did not share the cabinet’s agreement with the Habib plan, gave the order for a renewed attack on Beirut, which featured a solid day of saturation bombing and causing an estimated 300 dead.33 The Americans and the Israeli cabinet were outraged with Sharon, the latter suspending his power to order attacks. By September 1

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