1982 Lebanon invasion

ISRAEL TIMELINE

Overview

1948: The State of Israel is founded

1956: The Sinai campaign

1967: The Six-Day War

1973: October War

1977-1979: Egyptian-Israeli peace

1982: Lebanon invasion

1987: First Intifada

1993: Oslo agreement

2000: Second intifada

2005: Gaza withdrawal

2006: Lebanon war

2008: Israel now

With Egypt a treaty partner and Syria and Jordan quiet, Israel turned its attention to the Palestinian guerrillas. Many of them had grouped in Lebanon after being expelled from Jordan by King Hussein, and began attacking Israel from there.

The Palestinians, led by Yasser Arafat and his Palestine Liberation Organisation, would not recognise Israel and Israel would not support a Palestinian state.

In 1982, Prime Minister Begin launched "Operation Peace for Galilee", which was an invasion of Lebanon, taking the Israelis right up to and into Beirut.

Yasser Arafat and his fighters were forced to depart for Tunisia. But the operation went wrong for Israel. It was condemned by world - and much of its own - opinion when Christian fighters massacred hundreds of Palestinian civilians as the Israeli army stood by, and it failed to make a political agreement with the Christians stick. It pulled back to an enclave north of their border.