From Foreign Policy · Jackie Northam · · 1m 50s
Lebanon’s Middle East Battleground
How Lebanon’s 1982 war set the stage for today’s Middle East conflicts.
In brief
How Lebanon’s 1982 war set the stage for today’s Middle East conflicts. Lebanon’s 1982 Israeli invasion created lasting regional tensions that still shape Middle East conflicts today. Originally reported by Foreign Policy.
1982 Israeli invasion
Israeli forces invaded Lebanon in 1982 to remove the PLO from Lebanon.
Hezbollah’s rise
Iran sent fighters to Lebanon in 1982 to form Hezbollah, a proxy force.
Malcolm Kerr’s murder
Malcolm Kerr, a U.S. scholar of the Middle East, was murdered in Lebanon in 1984.
U.S. involvement
U.S. Marines deployed to Lebanon in 1982 to oversee PLO withdrawal.
Sabra-Shatila massacre
3,500 Palestinians and Lebanese Shia died in Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in 1982.
1983 embassy bombing
63 people died when a truck bomb hit the U.S. Embassy in Beirut in 1983.
1984 embassy attack
241 U.S. service members died when a suicide bomber hit Marine barracks in 1983.
Iran-Contra affair
Reagan secretly sold weapons to Iran to fund Nicaraguan Contras in 1986.
2006 war
Hezbollah ambushed Israeli soldiers in Lebanon in 2006, leading to a month-long war.
2023 Hamas attacks
Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and kidnapping 251.
2024 ceasefire
A shaky 2024 ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel broke after U.S. strikes on Iran.
Current conflict
At least 4,300 Lebanese have been killed and over 1 million displaced in southern Lebanon.
Iran’s leverage
Iran controls the Strait of Hormuz, giving it military leverage in the Middle East.
Kerr’s legacy
Malcolm Kerr’s murder remains unsolved despite decades of investigation.
Historical pattern
Lebanon’s 1982 war set the stage for today’s Middle East conflicts.
What it means
Lebanon’s 1982 Israeli invasion created lasting regional tensions that still shape Middle East conflicts today.
