Lebanese Civil War

The Lebanese Civil War (Arabic: الحرب الأهلية اللبنانية, al-ḥarb al-ahliyyah al-libnāniyyah) was a multifaceted armed conflict fought in Lebanon from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 120,000 deaths, displaced nearly one million people, and caused widespread destruction across the country.

The war arose from longstanding political and sectarian tensions within Lebanon's confessional system, compounded by demographic change, the presence of Palestinian armed groups following the Arab–Israeli conflict, and the influence of regional rivalries and the Cold War. Fighting initially broke out between Christian militias and Palestinian factions, principally the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), allied with Lebanese Muslim, leftist, and pan-Arab groups. As the conflict escalated, it developed into a complex, multi-sided war involving shifting alliances among Lebanese factions and the military intervention of Syria, Israel, Iran, and other foreign actors.

Throughout the conflict, numerous militias fought for political, sectarian, and territorial objectives, with alliances frequently changing over time. While much of the fighting occurred between opposing sectarian and ideological coalitions, significant violence also took place within individual communities. International peacekeeping forces, including the Multinational Force in Lebanon and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), were deployed during different stages of the war.

The 1989 Taif Agreement laid the foundation for ending the conflict, and most militias were disbanded following the war's conclusion in 1990. In 1991, the Lebanese Parliament enacted a general amnesty for political crimes committed during the conflict. Hezbollah, however, remained armed, citing its role in resisting the Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon. The war left a lasting impact on Lebanon's political system, economy, and society, and many of its underlying political and sectarian divisions have continued to shape the country in the decades since its end.