In 1982 officials of the Israeli government decided to curtail the continued Palestinian guerrilla raids by launching an invasion of Lebanon and driving out the PLO. The invasion succeeded. Yasir Arafat fled Lebanon and set up his new headquarters in Libya, a Muslim nation that favored the establishment of a Palestinian state.
The Israeli army set up a permanent security zone in southern Lebanon, which greatly reduced guerrilla raids inside Israel. However, the Israelis paid a high price for their victory. Lebanese Christians allied with the Israelis massacred several hundred innocent Palestinian refugees during the war. The Israeli failure to prevent the massacre drew worldwide condemnation. Once again, only a U. S. veto in the United Nations Security Council prevented international intervention in Lebanon.
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In 1987 the Palestinian people on the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip spontaneously rose up against the Israeli government in a rebellion called the Intifada. The Intifada was originally leaderless and consisted of youths throwing rocks at Jewish soldiers and policemen and a general strike by Palestinian workers. Israeli soldiers and policemen retaliated with often fatal plastic bullets and tear gas. During the next six years, an average of one Palestinian died at the hands of the Israelis every day.
Pressure from continued guerrilla raids on Jewish property around the world, the Intifada, and the United States finally forced the Israelis to negotiate with the PLO in 1993. In 1994-1995 in Oslo, Norway, the PLO and the Israelis worked out a peace agreement and a timetable for implementing it. Arafat returned to his homeland as head of a new organization called the Palestinian Authority (PA) and entered into prolonged negotiations with the Israelis to eventually establish an independent Palestinian state.
World History
