Battle of East Sidon | |||||||
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Part of the Lebanese Civil War | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Lebanese Forces | Progressive Socialist Party ContentsSyria | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Samir Geagea Elie Hobeika Nazar Najarian | Walid Jumblatt Nabih Berri Yasser Arafat | ||||||
Units involved | |||||||
LF: 300-400 | PLO: 2,000+ | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
7 killed 15 wounded | At least 60 killed [1] |
This battle pitted the newly introduced Christian Lebanese Forces element in the region, which sought to protect local Christians, against the already present Shia Amal Movement, Druze Progressive Socialist Party, and the Palestinian Liberation Organization which received help from Muslim elements of the Lebanese Army.
The Israeli invasion of South Lebanon allowed for the return of Christians to regions they were previously expelled from. As Christians returned to the mountain of the Chouf and its coast, the Lebanese Forces entered these regions where they had no previous presence with the aim of protecting returning Christians from groups such as the Druze Progressive Socialist Party and the Palestinian Liberation Organization and the newly armed Shia Muslim Amal Movement. The Christians had hoped to install themselves more comfortably militarily than they had before as the only Christian dominated faction in the South was that of Antoine Lahad which was joined by Etienne Sakr’s Guardians of the Cedars. [2] Israeli presence in the region allowed for peace to prevail and kept militias from fighting until the Israelis’ withdrawal from the city of Sidon on February 16, 1985. [3] A couple days of days before the clashes would start, the Lebanese Forces would see a new leadership take over as Fouad Abou Nader stepped down to give way to the triumvirate of Samir Geagea, Elie Hobeika, and Karim Pakradouni who had rebelled against Lebanese president Amine Gemayel. Gemayel, who at this point sought close relations with Syria, was a cause of great uneasiness for the Lebanese Forces. [4]
The regional commander of the Lebanese Forces was Nazar Najarian, a high ranking Kataeb party member from Beirut. He led the LF in East Sidon.
Clashes began on March 18, 1985, following the kidnapping of three Christians prompting fighting between the Palestinian militants in the Ain al Hilweh camp and Miye ou Miye a previously Christian town which had been taken over by the Palestinian Liberation Organization. [5] The use of artillery by the Lebanese Forces against their enemies, mainly the PLO, saw a great amount of casualties on the Leftist Muslim side who had the advantage of greater numbers.
The battle ended with the withdrawal of the Lebanese Forces from the region, which numbered between 300-400 militiamen, announced on April 22, 1985, by Samir Geagea in Karantina, Beirut. This decision came after much discussion between Geagea and Camille Chamoun and the former expressed his belief in the Lebanese state and its army and hope for the possibility for peace in the region. [6] Despite the Christians’ cooperation and wish for peace, the days following the withdrawal of the LF from the region saw the seizing of these villages by the local Muslim/Druze leftist militias of the Amal Movement and the Progressive Socialist party who looted the homes of the 60,000 fleeing Christians as they fled to Jezzine where the South Lebanon Army was based. [7]
Elie Hobeika was a Lebanese Maronite militia commander in the Lebanese Forces militia during the Lebanese Civil War and one of Bashir Gemayel's close confidants. After the murder of Gemayel, he gained notoriety for his direct involvement in, and overseeing of, the 1982 Sabra and Shatila massacre. Hobeika initially supported the IDF during their invasion, but later switched sides and supported the Syrians. He became president of the Lebanese Forces political party until he was ousted in 1986. He then founded the Promise Party and was elected to serve two terms in the Parliament of Lebanon. In January 2002, he was assassinated by a car bomb at his house in Beirut, shortly before he was to testify about the Sabra and Shatila massacre in a Belgian court.
The Lebanese Civil War was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 150,000 fatalities and led to the exodus of almost one million people from Lebanon.
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Samir Farid Geagea is a Lebanese politician and former militia commander who has been the leader of the Lebanese Forces Christian political party and former militia since 1986.
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The Lebanese Forces was the main Lebanese Christian faction during the Lebanese Civil War. Resembling the Lebanese Front which was an umbrella organization for different parties, the Lebanese Forces was a militia consisting of fighters originating from the different right-wing parties. It was mainly staffed by Maronite Christians loyal to Bachir Gemayel, and fought against the Lebanese National Movement, the Palestine Liberation Organization, and the Syrian Armed Forces among others. The group gained infamy for their perpetration of the 1982 Sabra and Shatila massacre, which primarily targeted Palestinian refugees following Gemayel's assassination.
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