Editing Sidon (section)

===After World War I===
[[File:Sidon-coast.jpg|thumb|Sidon with a view of the Mediterranean coast]]
After [[World War I]] it became part of the French [[League of Nations mandate|Mandate]] of [[French Mandate of Lebanon|Lebanon]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lebanon - French Mandate, Mediterranean, Phoenicians {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Lebanon/French-mandate |access-date=2024-05-28 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref> During [[World War II]] the city, together with the rest of Lebanon, was [[Syria–Lebanon Campaign|captured by British forces]] fighting against the [[Vichy French]], and following the war it became a major city of independent [[Lebanon]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bacha |first=François El |date=2021-05-08 |title=Lebanon / History: Lebanon in the turmoil of WWII and its independence |url=https://libnanews.com/en/lebanon-history-lebanon-in-the-turmoil-of-wwii-and-its-independence/ |access-date=2024-05-28 |website=Libnanews, Le Média Citoyen du Liban |language=en-US}}</ref> Following the [[1948 Palestinian expulsion and flight]], [[Palestinian people|Palestinian]] refugees arrived in Sidon, as in other Lebanese cities, and were settled at the large refugee camps of [[Ein el-Hilweh]] and [[Mieh Mieh (camp)|Mieh Mieh]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lax |first=Chaim |date=2023-03-09 |title=The Palestinian Refugees: 1948 to Today |url=https://honestreporting.com/the-palestinian-refugees-1948-to-today/ |access-date=2024-05-28 |website=HonestReporting |language=en-US}}</ref> At first these consisted of enormous rows of tents, but gradually houses were constructed. The refugee camps constituted de facto neighborhoods of Sidon, but had a separate legal and political status which made them into a kind of enclaves. At the same time, the remaining Jews of the city fled, and the Jewish cemetery fell into disrepair, threatened by coastal erosion.

On [[Easter Sunday#Eastern Christianity|Easter Sunday]], 19 April 1981, at least sixteen people were killed in Sidon after the ([[South Lebanon Army]]) SLA's long-range artillery indiscriminately shelled the city centre. It was reported that it was in response to a request from [[Bashir Gemayel]] in connection with ongoing Syrian attacks on [[Lebanese Forces|Phalangist]] positions around [[Zahle]]. Israel denied involvement.<ref>[[Middle East International]] No 149, 8 May 1981; Publishers [[Christopher Mayhew|Lord Mayhew]], [[Dennis Walters|Dennis Walters MP]], Editor [[Michael Adams (journalist)|Michael Adams]]; [[John Bulloch (journalist)|John Bulloch]] pp.6-7. No 148, 24 April 1981; [[Jim Muir]] p. 3</ref> After the 1982 Israeli [[Operation Peace in Galilee|invasion]] of Lebanon Sidon was occupied by the [[Israel Defence Force|Israeli army]] for almost two and a half years.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Fisher |first=Dan |date=1985-02-17 |title=Israel Quits Sidon in 1st Pullout Step : No Incidents Mar Troop Withdrawal in South Lebanon |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-02-17-mn-3532-story.html |access-date=2024-05-28 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref>

On 18 August 1997, following a roadside bomb near [[Jezzine]] which killed two teenage members of a [[South Lebanon Army|SLA]] leader's family, SLA artillery shelled Sidon killing seven civilians and wounding thirty-five. [[Hizbollah]] responded the following day by firing 60–80 rockets into the [[Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon|security zone]] and northern Israel. According to [[UNIFIL]] observers the missiles appeared to be targeted at uninhabited areas. The attack on Sidon is credited with leading to a truce between Hizbollah and [[Amal Militia|Amal]] and increased cooperation between the two groups and the [[Lebanese Army]]. This was evident in the [[Ansariya ambush]] the following month.<ref>Middle East International No 557, 29 August 1997; Michael Jansen, pp. 3-7. No 558. 12 September 1997.</ref>

On 8 June 1999 two gunmen entered the Palais de Justice, Sidon's main courthouse, and shot dead three magistrates and a chief prosecutor. The attackers escaped. No group claimed responsibility but suspicion focused on [[Osbat al-Ansar]] whose leader had been sentenced to death ''in absentia'' for the murder of the head of the [[Sufi]] [[Al-Ahbash]] movement and the attempted assassination of the [[mufti]] of [[Tripoli, Lebanon|Tripoli]]. He was believed to be in hiding in the [[Ain al-Hilwa]] refugee camp.<ref>Middle East International No 602, 18 June 1999; Jim Quilty p.9</ref>

Studies in 2000 showed a population of 65,000 in the city, and around 200,000 in the metropolitan area. The little level land around the city is used for cultivation of wheat, vegetables, and fruits, especially citrus and bananas. The fishing in the city remains active with a newly opened fishery that sells fresh fish by bidding every morning. The ancient basin was transformed into a fishing port, while a small quay was constructed to receive small commercial vessels (see "Old City" and the "Architecture and landscape" sections below).
{{wide image|Panorama of Sidon from the castle.jpg|900px|alt=Panorama of Sidon as seen from the top of the Sea Castle, 2009|{{center|Panorama of Sidon as seen from the top of the Sea Castle, 2009}}}}
[[Saida Municipal Stadium]] was inaugurated in 2000 for the [[Asian Cup 2000|Asian Football Confederation's Cup 2000]].