Page 47 - Why Israel?

Ultimately, Israel lost 1,216 soldiers in Lebanon before
withdrawing in 1985 and leaving behind a small buffer force to maintain order along the border.
to launch multiple deadly attacks on Israel’s northern towns. After several years, Israel could no longer tolerate these endless attacks on its civilian population.
Yasser Arafat’s terrorist army was growing larger and more dangerous inside Lebanon as the death toll from the PLO’s terrorism steadily rose. The situation reached a crisis when a Palestinian terrorist cell tried to assassinate Israel’s Ambassador to Great Britain. On June 6, 1982, Israel sent the IDF into southern Lebanon to drive the PLO out of its hiding place and destroy the threat against Israeli citizens in “Operation Peace for Galilee.”
American officials supported Israel’s war against the PLO in Lebanon. President Ronald Reagan publicly supported Israel’s right to defend its citizens from the intolerable threat of ongoing terrorism that violated Israel’s sovereignty.
The war was difficult. The Palestinian terrorists were deeply entrenched in southern Lebanon’s villages, and just like today, the terrorists hid behind civilian human shields. For three years, Israel was forced to keep the IDF in Lebanon to prevent the PLO from regaining control of the area along Israel’s northern border. Ultimately, Israel lost 1,216 soldiers in Lebanon before withdrawing in 1985 and leaving behind a small buffer force to maintain order along the border. Israel did not fully withdraw from southern Lebanon until May 24, 2000.
1987-1993 First Palestinian Intifada
A four-year period of violence and terrorism broke out in December 1987 after rumors spread in Gaza that Israel had killed four Palestinians in retaliation for an Israeli who had been stabbed to death. Huge riots soon broke out among the
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