Long History of Warfare on Israel-Lebanon Border

Escalating hostilities between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah group are the latest episode in decades of conflict across the Lebanese-Israeli border. Here is the history:

1948

Lebanon fights alongside other Arab countries against the nascent state of Israel. Around 100,000 Palestinians who fled or were expelled from their homes in what had been British-ruled Palestine during the war arrive in Lebanon as refugees. Lebanon and Israel agree to an armistice in 1949.

1968

Israeli commandos destroy a dozen passenger planes at Beirut airport in response to an attack on an Israeli airliner by a Lebanon-based Palestinian armed group.

The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) relocates to Lebanon two years later after its expulsion from Jordan, leading to increased cross-border flare-ups.

1973

Disguised Israeli special forces shoot dead three Palestinian militant leaders in Beirut in retaliation for the killing of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics. Palestinian raids into Israel and Israeli military reprisals on targets in Lebanon intensify during the 1970s, leading many Lebanese to flee their country's south and aggravating sectarian tensions in Lebanon, where civil war is starting.

1978

Israel invades south Lebanon and sets up a narrow occupation zone in an operation against Palestinian fighters after a militant attack near Tel Aviv. Israel backs a local Christian militia called the South Lebanese Army (SLA).

1982

Israel invades Lebanon all the way to Beirut in an offensive that followed tit-for-tat border fire. Thousands of Palestinian fighters are evacuated by sea after a bloody 10-week siege of the Lebanese capital involving heavy Israeli bombardment of West Beirut. Lebanon's newly elected Maronite president is killed by a car bomb. Iran's Revolutionary Guards establish the Shiite armed group Hezbollah in Lebanon.

1985

Israel pulled back from central Lebanon in 1983 but retained forces in the south. It establishes a formal occupation zone in southern Lebanon, about 15 km (nine miles) deep, controlling the area with its SLA ally. Hezbollah wages guerrilla war against Israeli forces.

1996

With Hezbollah regularly attacking Israeli forces in the south and firing rockets into northern Israel, Israel mounts a 17-day "Operation Grapes of Wrath" offensive that kills more than 200 people in Lebanon, including 102 who die when Israel shells a UN base near the south Lebanon village of Qana.

2000

Israel withdraws from southern Lebanon, ending 22 years of occupation.

2006

In July, Hezbollah crosses the border into Israel, kidnaps two Israeli soldiers and kills others, sparking a five-week war involving heavy Israeli strikes on both Hezbollah strongholds and national infrastructure.

While Israeli ground forces move into southern Lebanon, much of the conflict is conducted by Israeli airstrikes and Hezbollah rocket fire. It ends without Israel achieving its military objectives and with Hezbollah declaring it a "divine victory".

At least 1,200 people in Lebanon, mostly civilians, and 158 Israelis, mostly soldiers, are killed.

2023

On Oct. 8, Hezbollah begins trading fire with Israel a day after the Palestinian group Hamas attacked communities in southern Israel and sparked the Gaza war.

Hezbollah, a Hamas ally, says its attacks aim to support Palestinians under Israeli bombardment in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli airstrikes pound border areas of south Lebanon and target sites in the Bekaa valley while Hezbollah strikes northern Israel. Tens of thousands flee their homes on both sides of the border.

2024

In July, a strike on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights kills 12 youths. Hezbollah denies involvement, but Israel kills a senior commander from the group in a strike near Beirut.

In August, Hezbollah retaliates with hundreds of rockets and drones onto Israel, saying it targeted a base north of Tel Aviv.

The conflict escalates further in September when thousands of Hezbollah's wireless communications devices explode in an apparent Israeli attack, killing dozens and wounding thousands. An Israeli strike in Beirut kills senior Hezbollah commanders.

Days later, Israel launches its biggest bombardment of the war, killing more than 500 people in a single day and driving tens of thousands to flee the south, according to Lebanese authorities.

In eastern Lebanon's city of Baalbek, the Jawhari family gathered around a gaping crater where their home once stood, tears streaming as they tried to make sense of the destruction.

“It is heart-breaking. A heartache that there is no way we will ever recover from,” said Lina Jawhari, her voice breaking as she hugged relatives who came to support the family. “Our world turned upside down in a second.”

The home, which was a gathering place for generations, was reduced to rubble by an Israeli airstrike on Nov. 1, leaving behind shattered memories and twisted fragments of a once-vibrant life.

The family, like thousands of Lebanese, were returning to check on their properties after the US-mediated ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah went into effect early Wednesday.

Intense Israeli airstrikes over the past two months leveled entire neighborhoods in eastern and southern Lebanon, as well as the southern suburbs of Beirut. Nearly 1.2 million people have been displaced.

The airstrikes have left a massive trail of destruction across the country.

A photo of the Jawhari family's home — taken on a phone by Louay Mustafa, Lina’s nephew — is a visual reminder of what had been. As the family sifted through the rubble, each fragment recovered called them to gather around it.

A worn letter sparked a collective cheer, while a photo of their late father triggered sobs. Reda Jawhari had built the house for his family and was a craftsman who left behind a legacy of metalwork. The sisters cried and hoped to find a piece of the mosque-church structure built by their father. Minutes later, they lifted a mangled piece of metal from the debris. They clung to it, determined to preserve a piece of his legacy.

“Different generations were raised with love... Our life was music, dance, dabke (traditional dance). This is what the house is made up of. And suddenly, they destroyed our world. Our world turned upside down in a second. It is inconceivable. It is inconceivable," Lina said.

Despite their determination, the pain of losing their home and the memories tied to it remains raw.

Rouba Jawhari, one of four sisters, had one regret.

“We are sad that we did not take my mom and dad’s photos with us. If only we took the photos,” she said, clutching an ID card and a bag of photos and letters recovered from the rubble. “It didn’t cross our mind. We thought it’s two weeks and we will be back.”

The airstrike that obliterated the Jawhari home came without warning, striking at 1:30 p.m. on what was otherwise an ordinary Friday.

Their neighbor, Ali Wehbe, also lost his home. He had stepped out for food a few minutes before the missile hit and rushed back to find his brother searching for him under the rubble.

“Every brick holds a memory,” he said, gesturing to what remained of his library. “Under every book you would find a story.”

Long History of Warfare on Israel-Lebanon Border