The Syrian occupation of Lebanon lasted from 31 May 1976, beginning with the Syrian intervention in the Lebanese Civil War, until 30 April 2005. This period saw significant Syrian military and political influence over Lebanon, impacting its governance, economy, and society. The Syrian occupation of Lebanon led to an unknown number of deaths, and more than 643 forced disappearances of Lebanese civilians at the hands of the Syrian Arab Army and its "Moukhabarat", a local term for Syria's intelligence agency.
During the Syrian occupation, Lebanese human-rights organizations documented cases of arbitrary detention and enforced disappearance. The Lebanese Center for Human Rights reported that 17,415 people were officially recorded as missing during the Lebanese Civil War, with responsibility for disappearances attributed to multiple parties to the conflict, including Syrian forces.
The occupation ended following intense international pressure and widespread protests after the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri. The legacy of the occupation continues to influence Lebanese-Syrian relations and Lebanon's internal political dynamics.
Summary
In January 1976, Syria proposed restoring the pre-civil war limits on the Palestinian guerrilla presence in Lebanon. This proposal was welcomed by Maronites but rejected by the Palestinian guerrillas. By October 1976, during an Arab League meeting, Syria agreed to a ceasefire, and the League decided to expand a small Arab peacekeeping force into a larger Arab Deterrent Force, primarily composed of Syrian troops, thereby legitimizing Syrian intervention with financial support from the Arab League. Throughout the occupation, the Assad regime promoted the idea of "Greater Syria," taking steps to integrate Lebanon into Syria.
At the end of the civil war in 1989, Lebanon was divided between two rival administrations: a military one led by Michel Aoun in East Beirut and a civilian one under Selim el-Hoss in West Beirut, supported by Syria. Aoun opposed the Syrian presence, referencing the 1982 UN Security Council Resolution 520. The "War of Liberation" broke out in March 1989, resulting in Aoun's defeat and exile. In 1991, Lebanon and Syria signed the Treaty of "Brotherhood, Cooperation, and Coordination," legitimizing Syria's military presence and assigning Syria the responsibility of protecting Lebanon from external threats. Later that year, a Defense and Security Pact was enacted between the two countries.
Following the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 1559 and the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri in 2005, allegedly involving Syria, a public uprising known as the Cedar Revolution occurred. Syria completed its withdrawal from Lebanon on April 30, 2005. On August 18, 2020, a UN-backed special tribunal found a Hezbollah member guilty of Hariri's assassination, but found no direct evidence of Syrian involvement.
Background
The Syrian military presence in Lebanon was established during the Lebanese Civil War, which began on 13 April 1975.
The Middle East's geopolitical landscape was reshaped by the conflicts and wars of June 1967 and October 1973. Israel's resounding win in 1967, compounded by its occupation of the Sinai Peninsula, East Jerusalem and the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and the Golan Heights, dealt a catastrophic blow to Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser and the pan-Arabist ideology. The 1973 War was accompanied by superpower tensions and direct American involvement in the conflict resolution.
Since the start of the conflict between the Arab states and the State of Israel, Lebanon found itself squeezed between Israel and Syria, Lebanon's combative larger neighbours. Lebanon itself is touched by the different confessional adherences and by regional and global politics.
Lebanon entered a brutal and protracted civil war in 1975. Disputes erupted between mostly Christian Lebanese militias (known as the Lebanese Right) and Palestinian militias, as well as predominantly non-Christian Lebanese militias (commonly referred to as the Lebanese Left).
In January 1976, its proposal to restore the limits to the Palestinian guerrilla presence in Lebanon, that had been in place prior to the outbreak of the civil war, was welcomed by Maronites and conservative Muslims, but rejected by the Palestinian guerrillas and their Lebanese Druze-led and leftist allies. Syria's interventions came in response to appeals from Maronite leaders, who were under attack by leftists and Palestinians. After a confrontation with Lebanese Forces Leader Bachir Gemayel, the relationship between the Syrian forces and the Maronite leaderships deteriorated. In 1977, tensions turned into hostility, and turned into an open all-out conflict between the two parties.
Simultaneously, Syria was concerned about the weak military of Lebanon as it would be a danger in their fight with Israel. Recognizing that they were vulnerable to attacks, Syria moved from mediation to indirect intervention in supporting guerrilla groups to, finally, the deployment of Syrian troops in Lebanon.
Syrian invasion of Lebanon
On May 31, 1976, the Syrian Army invaded Lebanon with 2,000 troops and 60 tanks in a three-pronged offensive. The first column marched south across Shuf towards Sidon, where it was halted by PLO forces. The second column moved west along the Beirut–Damascus axis, before being stopped at Beirut. Another column moved north through the Bekaa valley, before then going west towards Tripoli, where it was stopped by Christian forces. The offensive had been halted by 10 June due to massive casualties inflicted onto the Syrians. In Sidon, the PLO halted Syrian advance to the city outskirts of Ain Hilwe refugee camp and on the Beirut-Damascus highway, a combined LAA-PLO force inflicted enormous casualties in Bhamadoun on June 13. In his public speech on 20 July, Hafez al-Assad espoused the notion of a "Greater Syria", stating:
"Syria and Lebanon were one state and one people... and have shared interests and a common history"
A second Syrian offensive in mid-October 1976 succeeded at capturing all of central Lebanon as well as some of the country's most important urban centres. The hostility between Syria and Israel made Lebanon the 'perfect' playground as it is strategically located as a buffer between the north of Israel and Western Syria. Given Syria's proximity and historical ties with Lebanon as part of what was known as "Greater Syria", Syria has always been interested in domestic Lebanese politics.
Syrian involvement in the fighting between various Lebanese militias that erupted around the first of the year had previously been limited to tactical actions carried out by portions of the Palestine Liberation Army under Damascus' supervision. Around 4 April, these efforts were bolstered by a virtual blockade of Lebanon's ports by Syrian navy forces, ostensibly to prevent the fighting factions from receiving resupply of arms and ammunition. Syrian armed forces regular infantry and armored units arrived into Lebanese territory with force less than a week later.
Occupation period
By October 1976, Syria had significantly weakened the leftists and their Palestinian allies, but at a meeting of the Arab League, it was forced to accept a ceasefire. The League ministers decided to expand an existing small Arab peacekeeping force in Lebanon. It grew to be a large deterrent force consisting almost entirely of Syrian troops. The Syrian military intervention was thus legitimized and received subsidies from the Arab League for its activities.
In the late 1980s, General Michel Aoun was appointed President of the Council of Ministers by President Amine Gemayel, a controversial move since Aoun was a Maronite Christian and the post was by unwritten convention reserved for a Sunni Muslim. Muslim ministers refused to serve in Aoun's government, which was not recognized by Syria. Two rival administrations were formed: a military one under Aoun in East Beirut and a civilian one under Selim el-Hoss based in West Beirut; the latter gained the support of the Syrians. Aoun opposed the Syrian presence in Lebanon, citing the 1982 UN Security Council Resolution 520.
Defending Syrian military presence by portraying Lebanon as an integral part of the Syrian nation and denying allegations of Soviet support, Hafez al-Assad stated to The New York Times in 1983:
"Lebanon and Syria are one single people, one single nation. We may be divided into two independent states, but that does not mean that we are two different nations... I would even argue that the feeling of kinship between Syria and Lebanon runs deeper than it does between states in the United States... Soviet Union is not in Lebanon and never was present there, neither before nor after the Israeli invasion. If the aim is to do away with the Syrian presence in Lebanon, Syria, as I told you, has been at home in Lebanon for centuries. Eight years ago, we answered the call of the President of the Lebanese republic and the heart-rending call of the Lebanese people."
The Syrian military remained in Lebanon; after a successful campaign against the Lebanese Forces militia who had controlled Beirut's port, Aoun, now with massive popular support in his East Beirut enclave, declared a "War of Liberation" against the Syrian forces.
Conflict with the Lebanese Army that was led by Michel Aoun began on 14 March 1989. Casualties among civilians on both sides from indiscriminate artillery bombardments across the front line were numerous. Aoun initially received a greater degree of international support than el-Hoss, but this ended abruptly with the American build-up for war with Iraq over Kuwait. Aoun had received considerable support from the Iraqi government, anxious to weaken the rival Baathist government in Damascus; on October 13, 1990 the Syrian forces attacked and occupied the Presidential Palace at Baabda.
Aoun took refuge in the French embassy and was later exiled from Lebanon to France. Circumstances surrounding his exile are controversial; his apprehension and exile are variously attributed to Syrian forces, Israel Defense Forces, Shiite militias, and the Lebanese Forces militia of Samir Geagea.
Since then, Syrian forces remained in Lebanon, exercising considerable influence. In 1991, a Treaty of "Brotherhood, Cooperation, and Coordination", signed between Lebanon and Syria, legitimized the Syrian military presence in Lebanon. It stipulated that Lebanon would not be made a threat to Syria's security and that Syria was responsible for protecting Lebanon from external threats. In September that same year a Defense and Security Pact was enacted between the two countries.
After the Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon and the death of Hafez al-Assad in 2000, the Syrian military presence faced criticism and resistance from the Lebanese population.
With the consequent adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 1559 and following the assassination of the Lebanese ex-premier Rafik Hariri and allegations of Syrian involvement in his death, a public uprising nicknamed the Cedar Revolution swept the country. On 5 March 2005, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad announced that Syrian forces would begin its withdrawal from Lebanon in his address to the Syrian parliament. Syria completed its full withdrawal from Lebanon on 30 April 2005.
Foreign interference
The Syrian occupation was a proxy war because of two reasons, the first one by reason of the number and purposes of the militias that participated. Major militias were organized along Maronite, Druze, Shi'a and Sunni identities. Militias were organized rather on political identities than confessional ones. This meant that factions of the same confessional groups could battle each other. Amal and Hezbollah, even though both are Shi'a militias, fought brutal fights for control of the community.
Second, in the conflict, diverse foreign powers were involved as well as the militias they backed. Just about every major militia in Lebanon established a proxy relationship with a foreign state. Both Lebanon's neighbours, Syria and Israel, were among the top donors and sponsored militias from the beginning to the end of the conflict. After a few years, following the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982 and a change in the dynamics of the Iran-Iraq war, Iran became actively committed in the conflict. Libya, Iraq and to a lesser extent, the United States and the Soviet Union, supplied backing to various militias. In the first half of the Lebanese Civil War, the PLO, Palestine Liberation Organization, was both a proxy and a benefactor, which was unusual in proxy warfare history.