The South Lebanon Army or South Lebanese Army (SLA; Arabic: جيش لبنان الجنوبي, Jayš Lubnān al-Janūbiyy), also known as the Lahad Army (جيش لحد) or as the De Facto Forces (DFF),[2] was a Christian-dominated militia in Lebanon. It was founded by Lebanese military officer Saad Haddad in 1977, amidst the Lebanese Civil War, and evolved to operate as a quasi-military during the South Lebanon conflict, basing itself in Haddad's unrecognized State of Free Lebanon.
Initially, it was known as the "Free Lebanon Army" after it broke away from the Army of Free Lebanon, another Christian-dominated militia. After 1979, the SLA's activity was almost exclusively confined to southernmost Lebanon.[3] Under the aegis of Israel, the militia was bolstered by the 1982 Lebanon War. It came under increasing Israeli supervision following the collapse of the State of Free Lebanon in 1984 and subsequent establishment of the South Lebanon security belt administration.
After Israeli forces withdrew from Lebanon on 22 May 2000, the SLA positions collapsed in the face of Lebanese civilians and Hezbollah's advance towards South Lebanon and Saad Haddad's statue was dragged through the streets of Marjayoun. SLA members either fled to Israel, constituting Lebanese people in Israel, or were captured and tried for treason.
In 1975, at the town of Marjayoun in the Jabal Amel region of southern Lebanon, some local 300 Kataeb Regulatory Forces (KRF) and Guardians of the Cedars (GoC) militiamen were mustered together into the so-called "Free Lebanese Militia" – FLM (Arabic: Al-Milishia Al-Lubnaniyyat Al-Hura), ostensibly formed to defend the nearby Christian towns of Kfar Falous, Jezzine, Qlaiaa, Ain Ebel, Rumeish and surrounding villages threatened by Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and later by Lebanese Arab Army (LAA) attacks. In reality, the muster was secretly carried by Lieutenant Ya'ir Ravid of the AMAN (the Israeli military intelligence service), who envisaged using them as a buffer force to prevent a Palestinian military build-up in the border area that could threaten the security of northern Israel. A second muster took place at Qlaiaa in early 1976, gathering a force of some 400 Christian soldiers – mostly deserters from the Lebanese Army and Tigers Militia' militants – led by Major Sami Shidyaq, a Phalange militant.
In January 1976, as a result of the ongoing civil war, the Lebanese Army began to break up into two rival factions, the Muslim-led Lebanese Arab Army (LAA) who sided with the Muslim-leftist militias of the Lebanese National Movement (LNM) and their allies of the PLO guerrilla factions, and the Christian-led Army of Free Lebanon (AFL) aligned with the Christian-rightist militias of the Lebanese Front. Some Christian Lebanese Army officers commanding units based throughout the country joined the AFL with their men, including MajorSaad Haddad, the commander of the 700-strong Marjayoun garrison in southern Lebanon.[4][5][6]
By late 1976, pressure from PLO and LNM-LAA militias finally forced Major Saad Haddad to evacuate the town and withdraw unopposed with his battalion to the village of Qlaiaa, close to the border with Israel. Here Maj. Haddad and his men placed themselves under the protection of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF),[6] eventually providing the cadre – after merging with the local Christian FLM, Shia Muslim and Druze militias, gathered since October 21, 1976, into the informal "Army for the Defense of South Lebanon" or ADSL (French: Armée de Défense du Liban-Sud or ADLS)[7] – of the so-called "Free Lebanese Army" (FLA), formed in March 1978 under the auspices of another AMAN officer, reserve Major Yoram Hamizrachi.[8][9]
Primarily based at the towns of Marjayoun and Qlaiaa in southern Lebanon, and provisionally headquartered at the Hotel Arazim in Metula, Israel, the 1,200-strong FLA/SLA was initially placed under the overall command of Hamizrachi himself. In June 1978, Major Hamizrachi handed over the post to Major (later, Colonel) Saad Haddad, in turn replaced upon his death from Cancer in January 1984 by another ex-LAF Officer, retired Lieutenant general Antoine Lahad, who was also a NLP sympathiser.
The new FLA fought against various groups including the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), the Amal Movement and (after the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon) the emerging Hezbollah. While the group was no longer under the direct control of the Lebanese Army command, from 1976 to 1979 its members were still receiving their pay from the Lebanese central government.[10]
South Lebanon Army (Christian Militia) on Patrol along the Lebanese border in 1977. Dan Hadani Collection
The 1978 Israeli invasion allowed the Free Lebanon Army to gain control over a much wider area in southern Lebanon. On April 18, 1979, Haddad proclaimed the area controlled by his force the "Independent Free Lebanon".[11] The following day, he was branded a traitor by the Lebanese government and officially dismissed from the Lebanese Army under presidential decree No. 1924.[11] Part of the Army of Free Lebanon returned to government control, while Haddad's part split away and was renamed the South Lebanon Army (SLA) in May 1980. In 1982, soldiers from the SLA were reported to have aided in the LF led Sabra and Shatila massacre. Though Haddad's men were cleared by an Israeli panel for the massacre, SLA militiamen were known to still engage in brutality. Following Haddad's death from cancer in 1984, he was replaced as leader by retired Lieutenant General Antoine Lahad.[12]
In 1984 SLA militiamen were paid $300 a month.[13] The SLA was closely allied with Israel. It supported the Israelis by fighting the PLO in southern Lebanon until the 1982 invasion. After that, SLA support for the Israelis consisted mainly of fighting other Lebanese guerrilla forces led by Hezbollah until 2000 in the "security zone" (the area under occupation after a partial Israeli withdrawal in 1985). In return, Israel supplied the organization with arms, uniforms, and logistical equipment.
The SLA hosted the Christian radio station Voice of Hope (established and funded by George Otis, founder of High Adventure Ministries). Beginning in 1982, the SLA played host to Middle East Television (which was also established, funded, and operated by High Adventure Ministries). Otis gave Middle East Television (METV) to TelevangelistPat Robertson, founder of CBN. On May 2, 2000, Middle East Television relocated to Cyprus.[14]
In 1985 the SLA opened the Khiam detention center. Torture was a common tactic, and occurred on a large scale. Israel denies any involvement, and claims that Khiam was the sole responsibility of the SLA; this has been contested by human rights organizations such as Amnesty International.[15] The SLA also imposed military conscription, under which males over 18 living in the territory it controlled served one year as military recruits.[16] While the SLA received funding, weapons, and logistics from Israel during its existence, the SLA did much fighting independent from Israeli forces. The SLA also handled all civilian governmental operations in Israel's zone of control.
Antoine Lahad in 1988.
During the 1990s Hezbollah carried out increasingly effective attacks on the SLA, aided in later years by Lebanese army intelligence which had infiltrated it. These changed circumstances led to a progressive loss of morale and members. In 1997, Israel maintained approximately 1,000 to 1,200 troops in southern Lebanon and supported another 2,000 in the SLA.[17] By 2000 the SLA was reduced to 1,500 soldiers, compared to 3,000 ten years earlier. At its peak during the early 1980s, the SLA was composed of over 5,000 soldiers.
Israeli withdrawal, SLA collapse, and surrender
The increase in Israeli casualties in Lebanon over the previous few years led to growing domestic pressure for an end to Israel's military presence in Lebanon. Ehud Barak's Labor Party pledged during his March 1999 election campaign for Prime Minister to withdraw Israeli troops from Lebanon by July 2000. Barak won a victory in the May 1999 elections.
On 1 June 1999, the South Lebanon Army began dismantling its TV station and headquarters in Jezzine. In the following two weeks they withdrew from the town and thirty six surrounding villages. Retreating SLA members and their families commandeered empty houses in Marjayun, Ibl al-Saqi and Kawkaba in the Indian UNIFIL zone. At the time it was estimated that the SLA had only four hundred men.[18]
On March 5, 2000, the Israeli cabinet voted unanimously for a full troop withdrawal from Lebanon by July. The expectation then was that such a withdrawal would be part of an agreement with Lebanon and Syria; however, negotiations with Syria broke down.[19][20] On May 22, Israeli forces unilaterally began handing over their forward positions in the occupied zone to the SLA. As the chaotic nature of the withdrawal became obvious, civilians from the zone overran SLA positions to return to their occupied villages while Hezbollah guerrillas quickly took control of areas previously controlled by the SLA. The SLA in the central sector of the security zone collapsed in the face of the civilians and Hezbollah's rapid advance.[21] The next day, SLA forward positions in the eastern sector collapsed and Israeli forces began their general withdrawal from the remaining areas of the security zone. With the Israeli withdrawal, the SLA collapsed totally. The withdrawal was complete on Wednesday, May 24, 2000; the sight of Saad Haddad's statue being dragged through the streets of the Lebanese town of Marjayoun was a sure sign that the South Lebanon Army was gone.[22]
As the Israeli withdrawal rapidly progressed, SLA militiamen were left with few choices. The Lebanese government, Hezbollah and many civilians in the area considered them traitors and collaborators. In addition, they were told that Israel's border would be closed after the withdrawal. Many were terrified of being captured (and possibly killed) by Hezbollah guerrillas or vengeful mobs, or being jailed or executed by the Lebanese government.
Many members of the SLA (including some with their families) fled to Israel; the Christian majority feared being suspected of serious offences committed by SLA members, and a number of members were reportedly granted asylum in European countries (primarily Germany).[23] Others who remained in Lebanon surrendered to authorities or were captured by Hezbollah and handed over to the police. SLA members captured by Lebanon and Hezbollah were tried by Lebanese military courts for treason.
Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak was criticized in Israel by the Jewish settler movement on the grounds that his decision to withdraw without consulting his SLA allies led to the speed and confusion of its collapse.[19] Hezbollah was criticized for preventing the arrest of some members of the SLA; it justified this on the grounds that it was in a position to know who among them had been informants.[24]
By the next month (June 2000), 3,000 former SLA members were in the custody of the Lebanese government; by the end of the year, about 90 percent had been tried in military courts. It has been estimated that a third of the SLA members were sentenced to less than a month and another third received one-year sentences. Two members of the SLA accused of torture at Al-Khiam prison received life sentences. The death penalty was recommended for 21 SLA members, but in each case the military reduced the sentence. Certain other individuals were barred from returning to Southern Lebanon for a number of years.[25]
Of those who initially fled to Israel, many SLA members and their families eventually chose to return to Lebanon after Hezbollah promised they would not be harmed. Others accepted Israel's offer of full citizenship and a financial package similar to that granted new immigrants, and settled permanently in Israel. On April 6, 2006, the Israeli Knesset Finance Committee approved the payment of 40,000 shekels per family to SLA veterans, payable over seven years.[26] Many of the SLA fighters who settled in Israel later moved to the United States and Europe. Approximately 6,500 SLA fighters and family members moved to Israel, of whom 2,700 remained in the country permanently. They are mainly concentrated in Nahariya, Kiryat Shmona, Tiberias, Ma'alot-Tarshiha, and Haifa.[27] As of 2021, there are 3,500 Lebanese in Israel, former SLA members and their families.[28]
Israel continues to host the Government of Free Lebanon, on whose behalf the SLA had operated. The Government of Free Lebanon has operated from Jerusalem since 2000, and still claims to be the true government of Lebanon.[29]
Field organization
The SLA was organized into two regions (western and eastern), each with its own infantry brigade. Each brigade consisted of three battalion-sized infantry regiments; the strength of support included several heavy-artillery batteries (155 and 130mm), subdivided into the infantry battalions as needed. There was also an armored regiment of 55 tanks.[citation needed]
This force manned 46 locations along the front (from Naqoura in the west to the eastern slopes of Mount Hermon), while the Israeli Army had 11 centers, mostly in the rear lines.[citation needed]
The SLA Security Service consisted of 250 officers and men, tasked with:[citation needed]
Counter-espionage by outside forces
Border security
The service included field and intelligence officers, investigators, intelligence analysts, administrative personnel, security officers and guards.[citation needed]
The 1982 Lebanon War, also called the Second Israeli invasion of Lebanon, began on 6 June 1982, when Israel invaded southern Lebanon. The invasion followed a series of attacks and counter-attacks between the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) operating in southern Lebanon and the Israeli military, which had caused civilian casualties on both sides of the border. The Israeli military operation, codenamed Operation Peace for Galilee, was launched after gunmen from the Abu Nidal Organization attempted to assassinate Shlomo Argov, Israel's ambassador to the United Kingdom. Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin blamed the PLO, using the incident as a casus belli. It was the second invasion of Lebanon by Israel, following the 1978 South Lebanon conflict.
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.
Saad Haddad was a Lebanese military officer and the founder and head of the South Lebanon Army (SLA) during the Lebanese Civil War. Originally a Major in the Lebanese Army, he defected and formed the SLA and created the separatist State of Free Lebanon backed by Israel. For years Haddad closely collaborated with and received arms and political support from Israel against Lebanese government forces, Hezbollah, and the Syrian Army. Haddad died of cancer in his house in Marjayoun.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 425, adopted on 19 March 1978, five days after the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in the context of Palestinian insurgency in South Lebanon and the Lebanese Civil War, called on Israel to withdraw immediately its forces from Lebanon and established the United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon (UNIFIL). It was adopted by 12 votes to none; Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union abstained, and China did not participate.
The Guardians of the Cedars was a far-right ultranationalist Lebanese party and former militia in Lebanon. It was formed by Étienne Saqr and others along with the Lebanese Renewal Party in the early 1970s. It operated in the Lebanese Civil War under the slogan: Lebanon, at your service. The militia was explicitly anti-Palestinian, and gained a reputation for brutality against Palestinian fighters and civilians.
The 1978 South Lebanon conflict, also known as the First Israeli invasion of Lebanon and codenamed Operation Litani by Israel, began when Israel invaded southern Lebanon up to the Litani River in March 1978. It was in response to the Coastal Road massacre near Tel Aviv by Palestinian militants based in Lebanon. The conflict resulted in the deaths of 1,100–2,000 Lebanese and Palestinians, 20 Israelis, and the internal displacement of 100,000 to 250,000 people in Lebanon. The Israel Defense Forces gained a military victory against the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) as the latter was forced to withdraw from southern Lebanon, preventing it from launching attacks on Israel from across its land border with Lebanon. In response to the outbreak of hostilities, the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 425 and Resolution 426 on 19 March 1978, which called on Israel to immediately withdraw its troops from Lebanon and established the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).
Antoine Lahad was a Lebanese military officer and the leader of the South Lebanon Army (SLA) from 1984 until 2000, when the army withdrew from Southern Lebanon and was dissolved.
The Lebanese Forces is a Lebanese Christian-based political party and former militia during the Lebanese Civil War. It currently holds 19 of the 128 seats in Lebanon's parliament, being the largest party of the country.
The Israeli–Lebanese conflict, or the South Lebanon conflict, is a long-running conflict involving Israel, Lebanon-based paramilitary groups, and sometimes Syria. The conflict peaked during the Lebanese Civil War. In response to Palestinian attacks from Lebanon, Israel invaded the country in 1978 and again in 1982. After this it occupied southern Lebanon until 2000, while fighting a guerrilla conflict against Shia paramilitaries. After Israel's withdrawal, Hezbollah attacks sparked the 2006 Lebanon War. A new period of conflict began in 2023, leading to the 2024 Israeli invasion of Lebanon.
The South Lebanon conflict was an armed conflict that took place in Israeli-occupied southern Lebanon from 1982 or 1985 until Israel's withdrawal in 2000. Hezbollah, along with other Shia Muslim and left-wing guerrillas, fought against Israel and its ally, the Catholic Christian-dominated South Lebanon Army (SLA). The SLA was supported militarily and logistically by the Israel Defense Forces and operated under the jurisdiction of the Israeli-backed South Lebanon provisional administration, which succeeded the earlier Israeli-backed Free Lebanon State. Israel officially names the conflict the Security Zone in Lebanon Campaign and deems it to have begun on 30 September 1982, after the end of its "Operation Peace for Galilee". It can also be seen as an extension of the Lebanese Civil War (1975–1990).
Marjayoun or Jdeidet Marjayoun, also Marj 'Ayoun, Marjuyun or Marjeyoun which reflects the area's lush landscape and abundant water resources and Jdeideh / Jdeida / Jdeidet Marjeyoun, is a municipality, in the Marjeyoun District, Nabatieh Governorate in Southern Lebanon.
Israel–Lebanon relations have experienced ups and downs since their establishment in the 1940s.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 426, adopted on 19 March 1978 at the 2075th meeting of the Security Council, is concerned with both the creation of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and the duration of its mandate. It comes immediately after and complements Resolution 425, adopted during an earlier meeting on the same day.
The Army of Free Lebanon – AFL, also known variously as the Colonel Barakat's Army or Armée du Liban Libre (ALL) and Armée du Colonel Barakat in French, was a predominantly Christian splinter faction of the Lebanese Army that came to play a major role in the 1975–77 phase of the Lebanese Civil War.
The battle of Khiam, fought between Hezbollah and the South Lebanon Army (SLA) in April and May 2000, which became a crucial step in the disintegration of the South Lebanon Army, in light of the coming withdrawal of IDF troops from South Lebanon.
The Lebanese Resistance Regiments (Arabic: أفواج المقاومة اللبنانية, romanized: ʾAfwāj al-Muqāwama al-Lubnāniyya, or أَمَل AMAL), also designated Lebanese Resistance Battalions, Lebanese Resistance Detachments, Lebanese Resistance Legions and Battalions de la Resistance Libanaise (BRL), but simply known by its Arabic acronym أَمَل ʾAmal which means "Hope", were the military wing of the Amal Movement, a political organization representing the Muslim Shia community of Lebanon. The movement's political wing was officially founded in February 1973 from a previous organization bearing the same name and its military wing was formed in January 1975. The Amal militia was a major player in the Lebanese Civil War from 1975 to 1991. The militia has now been disarmed, though the movement itself, now known as the Amal Movement (Arabic: Harakat Amal), is a notable Shia political party in Lebanon alongside Hezbollah.
Khalid Ahmad Bazzi was a Lebanese military commander who was the commander of Hezbollah's military wing, the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon. In the 2006 Lebanon War, he was commanding officer in the battles of Maroun ar-Ras and Bint Jbeil. The heavy Israeli casualties and lack of progress of its army in these two battles is widely seen as the main cause of the Israeli failure in the war.
The Israeli occupation of Southern Lebanon lasted for eighteen years, from 1982 until 2000. In June 1982, Israel invaded Lebanon in response to attacks from southern Lebanon by Palestinian militants. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) occupied the southern half of Lebanon as far as the capital city Beirut, together with allied Maronite Christian paramilitaries involved in the Lebanese Civil War. The IDF left Beirut on 29 September 1982, but continued to occupy the country's southern half. Amid rising casualties from guerrilla attacks, the IDF withdrew south to the Awali river on 3 September 1983.
The State of Free Lebanon was an unrecognized separatist country in Lebanon. On 18 April 1979, Lebanese military officer Saad Haddad proclaimed the independence of a "Free Lebanon" out of the southernmost territory of Lebanon, amidst the hostilities of the Lebanese Civil War. Haddad was the founding commander of the South Lebanon Army, a quasi-military that aimed to serve the political interests of Lebanon's Maronite Christians during the conflict.
Aql Hashem was a Lebanese military officer and Colonel in the South Lebanon Army (SLA) and served under Major Saad Haddad and later Lieutenant General Antoine Lahad. He was killed in a remote-controlled bomb attack by Hezbollah in his farm in January 2000. His death was widely interpreted as the beginning of the end of the Israel-backed SLA.
References
↑ Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Lebanon: SLA/IDF activities in Khiam in 1977; SLA-administered prison camps; SLA recruitment of Shi'ites, 1 June 1989, LBN1077, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6aacb80.html
↑ Tucker, Spencer C. (2019). Middle East conflicts from Ancient Egypt to the 21st century: an encyclopedia and document collection. Roberts, Priscilla Mary. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO. p.1196. ISBN9781440853531. OCLC1099541849.
↑ O'Ballance, Edgar (1998). Civil war in Lebanon, 1975–92. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave. p.87. ISBN978-0-230-37468-3. OCLC759110679.
↑ Islamic Fundamentalism and Islamic Radicalism: Hearings Before the Subcommittee on Europe and the Middle East of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, House of Representatives, Ninety-ninth Congress, First Session, June 24, July 15, and September 30, 1985. Washington D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. 1985. p.322.
Ahron Bregman, Israel's Wars: A History Since 1947, Routledge, London 2002. ISBN0-415-28716-2
Alain Menargues, Les Secrets de la guerre du Liban: Du coup d'état de Béchir Gémayel aux massacres des camps palestiniens, Albin Michel, Paris 2004. ISBN978-2226121271 (in French)
Anthony Tucker-Jones, Images of War: T–54/55, The Soviet Army's Cold War main battle tank – rare photographs from wartime archives, Pen & Sword Military, Barnsley 2017. ISBN978 1 47389 109 8
Beate Hamizrachi, The Emergence of South Lebanon Security Belt, Praeger, New York 1984. ISBN978-0-275-92854-4
Farid El-Kazen, The Breakdown of the State in Lebanon 1967–1976, I.B. Tauris, London 2000. ISBN0-674-08105-6 –
Fawwaz Traboulsi, Identités et solidarités croisées dans les conflits du Liban contemporain; Chapitre 12: L'économie politique des milices: le phénomène mafieux, Thèse de Doctorat d'Histoire – 1993, Université de Paris VIII, 2007. (in French) –
Frédéric Domont and Walid Charrara, Le Hezbollah: un mouvement Islamo-nationaliste, Éditions Fayard, Paris 2004. ISBN2-213-62009-1 (in French)
Harald List, Ein Land im Fadenkreuz: Der Südlibanon zwischen Armeen und Milizen, Freiburg (o.D., ca. 1991) (in German)
Harald List and Antoine Lahad, in ORIENT 2/88 S. pp.179–187.
Jago Salmon, Massacre and Mutilation: Understanding the Lebanese Forces through their use of violence, Workshop on the 'techniques of Violence in Civil War', PRIO, Oslo, August 20–21, 2004. –
Joseph A. Kechichian, The Lebanese Army: Capabilities and Challenges in the 1980s, Conflict Quarterly, Winter 1985.
Joseph Hokayem, L'armée libanaise pendant la guerre: un instrument du pouvoir du président de la République (1975–1985), Lulu.com, Beyrouth 2012. ISBN9781291036602, 1291036601 (in French) –
Judith Palmer-Harek: Hezbollah: the Changing Face of Terrorism, I.B. Tauris, London 2003. ISBN978-1845110246
Marius Deeb, The Lebanese Civil War, Praeger Publishers Inc., New York 1980. ISBN978-0030397011
Moustafa El-Assad, Blue Steel: T-55 tanks in South Lebanon, Blue Steel books, Sidon 2006. ASINB000JEI5ZY
Moustafa El-Assad, Blue Steel 2: M-3 Halftracks in South Lebanon, Blue Steel books, Sidon 2006. ASINB001F8Q0X2
Moustafa El-Assad, Blue Steel III: M-113 Carriers in South Lebanon, Blue Steel books, Sidon 2007. ASINB001F8OPZW
Moustafa El-Assad, Blue Steel IV: M-50 Shermans and M-50 APCs in South Lebanon, Blue Steel books, Sidon 2007. ASINB0011X4YIY
Moustafa El-Assad, Civil Wars Volume 1: The Gun Trucks, Blue Steel books, Sidon 2008. ISBN9789953012568
Nicholas Blanford, Rob Shapiro, et al., Warriors of God, Inside Hezbollah's Thirty-Year Struggle Against Israel, Random House, New York 2011. ISBN978-1400068364
Samuel M. Katz and Ron Volstad, Battleground Lebanon (1003), Concord Publications, Hong Kong 1990. ISBN962-361-003-3
Samuel M. Katz, Lee E. Russel, and Ron Volstad, Armies in Lebanon 1982–84, Men-at-arms series 165, Osprey Publishing Ltd, London 1985. ISBN0-85045-602-9
Samuel M. Katz and Ron Volstad, Arab Armies of the Middle East Wars 2, Men-at-arms series 194, Osprey Publishing Ltd, London 1988. ISBN0-85045-800-5
Samer Kassis, 30 Years of Military Vehicles in Lebanon, Beirut: Elite Group, 2003. ISBN9953-0-0705-5
Samer Kassis, Véhicules Militaires au Liban/Military Vehicles in Lebanon 1975–1981, Trebia Publishing, Chyah 2012. ISBN978-9953-0-2372-4
Samer Kassis, Les TIRAN 4 et 5, de Tsahal aux Milices Chrétiennes (1960–1990), Trucks & Tanks Magazine No. 50, July–August 2015, Caraktère, Aix-en-Provence, pp.54–61. ISSN1957-4193 (in French)
Samer Kassis, Tiran in Lebanese Wars (Ammo_A.MIG-6000), AMMO of Mig Jimenez S.L., 2018. ASINB00KFUXRGE
Steven J. Zaloga, Armour of the Middle East Wars 1948–78, Vanguard series 19, Osprey Publishing Ltd, London 1981. ISBN0 85045 388 7
Tony Badran (Barry Rubin ed.), Lebanon: Liberation, Conflict, and Crisis, Palgrave Macmillan, London 2010. ISBN978-0-230-62306-4
Oren Barak, The Lebanese Army: A National institution in a divided society, State University of New York Press, Albany 2009. ISBN978-0-7914-9345-8 –
Zachary Sex & Bassel Abi-Chahine, Modern Conflicts 2 – The Lebanese Civil War, From 1975 to 1991 and Beyond, Modern Conflicts Profile Guide Volume II, AK Interactive, 2021. EAN8435568306073
Zahera Harb, Channels of Resistance in Lebanon, Liberation, Propaganda, Hezbollah and the Media, I.B. Tauris, London 2011. ISBN978-1848851207
"Saad Haddad and the South Lebanon Army - Who Was Saad Haddad and the South Lebanon Army (SLA)". Middleeast.about. 14 January 1984. Archived from the original on 18 November 2012. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
Israel 
Hezbollah 
Ba'athist Syria 
Palestine Liberation Organization 
