Editing Sabra and Shatila massacre (section)

=== Lebanese Civil War and Israeli-PLO skirmishes ===
From 1975 to 1990, groups in competing alliances with neighboring countries fought against each other in the [[Lebanese Civil War]]. Infighting and massacres between these groups claimed several thousand victims. Examples: the Syrian-backed [[Karantina massacre]] (January 1976) by the Kataeb and its allies against [[Kurds in Lebanon|Kurds]], [[Syrians in Lebanon|Syrians]] and [[Palestinians in Lebanon|Palestinians]] in the predominantly Muslim slum district of Beirut; [[Damour massacre|Damour]] (January 1976) by the PLO against Christian [[Maronite Christianity in Lebanon|Maronites]], including the family and fiancée of the Lebanese Forces intelligence chief [[Elie Hobeika]]; and [[Tel al-Zaatar massacre|Tel al-Zaatar]] (August 1976) by Phalangists and their allies against Palestinian refugees living in a camp administered by [[United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East|UNRWA]]. The total death toll in Lebanon for the whole civil war period was around 150,000 victims.<ref>{{cite news |last=Wood |first=Josh |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=12 July 2012 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/12/world/middleeast/after-2-decades-scars-of-lebanons-civil-war-block-path-to-dialogue.html |title=After 2 Decades, Scars of Lebanon's Civil War Block Path to Dialogue |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231229170727/https://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/12/world/middleeast/after-2-decades-scars-of-lebanons-civil-war-block-path-to-dialogue.html |archive-date=29 December 2023}}</ref>

As the civil war unfolded, Israel and the PLO had been exchanging attacks since the early 1970s until early 1980s.<ref name="Metz1988">{{cite book |editor-first=Helen Chapin |editor-last=Metz |editor-link=Helen Chapin Metz |title=Israel: A Country Study |url=http://countrystudies.us/israel/33.htm |year=1988 |publisher=GPO for the Library of Congress |location=Washington |chapter=Israel in Lebanon |access-date=24 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230930071007/https://countrystudies.us/israel/33.htm |archive-date=30 September 2023 |quote=In July 1981 Israel responded to PLO rocket attacks on northern Israeli settlements by bombing PLO encampments in southern Lebanon. United States envoy [[Philip Habib]] eventually negotiated a shaky cease-fire that was monitored by UNIFIL.}}</ref>

The [[casus belli]] cited by the Israeli side to declare war, however, was an assassination attempt, on 3 June 1982, made upon Israeli Ambassador to Britain [[Shlomo Argov]]. The attempt was the work of the [[Iraq]]-based [[Abu Nidal]], possibly with [[Syrian]] or Iraqi involvement.{{sfn|Becker|1984|p=362}}{{sfn|Schiff|Ya'ari|1985|pp=[https://archive.org/details/israelslebanonwa00zeev/page/99 99–100]}} Historians and observers<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/abu-nidal-notorious-palestinian-mercenary-was-a-us-spy-972812.html |title=Abu Nidal, notorious Palestinian mercenary, 'was a US spy' |last=Fisk |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Fisk |date=25 October 2008 |work=[[The Independent]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240504005119/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/abu-nidal-notorious-palestinian-mercenary-was-a-us-spy-972812.html |archive-date=4 May 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/christopherhitch00thom |url-access=registration |quote=shlomo argov casus belli. |title=Christopher Hitchens and His Critics: Terror, Iraq, and the Left|first1=Thomas |last1=Cushman |first2=Simon |last2=Cottee |first3=Christopher |last3=Hitchens |year=2008 |publisher=[[NYU Press]] |isbn=978-0814716878 |page=[https://archive.org/details/christopherhitch00thom/page/300 300]}}</ref> such as [[David Hirst (journalist)|David Hirst]] and [[Benny Morris]] have commented that the PLO could not have been involved in the assault, or even approved of it, as Abu Nidal's group was a bitter rival to Arafat's PLO and even murdered some of its members.<ref name="rival">{{harvnb|Hirst|2010|p=134}}: "Clearly, the Israelis had just about dispensed with pretexts altogether. For form's sake, however, they did claim one for the launching of the Fifth Arab–Israeli war. The attempted assassination, on 3 June, of the Israeli ambassador in Britain, Shlomo Argov, was not the doing of the PLO, which promptly denounced it. It was another exploit of Arafat's arch-enemy, the notorious, Baghdad-based, Fatah dissident Abu Nidal ... the Israelis ignored such distinctions."</ref> The PLO issued a condemnation of the attempted assassination of the Israeli ambassador.<ref name="rival" /> Nonetheless, Israel used the event as a justification to break the ceasefire with the PLO, and as a casus belli for a full-scale invasion of Lebanon.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YlA2UM1r2gIC&q=shlomo+argov+casus+belli&pg=PA158 |title=Israel's Wars: A History since 1947 (Warfare and History) |first=Ahron |last=Bergman |year=2002 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-0415424387 |pages=158–159 |access-date=24 March 2016 |archive-date=8 October 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241008001753/https://books.google.com/books?id=YlA2UM1r2gIC&q=shlomo+argov+casus+belli&pg=PA158#v=snippet&q=shlomo%20argov%20casus%20belli&f=false |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Military Occupations in the Age of Self-Determination: The History Neocons Neglected (Praeger Security International) |url=https://archive.org/details/militaryoccupati0000gann |url-access=registration |year=2008 |publisher=Praeger |isbn=978-0313353826 |first=James |last=Gannon |page=[https://archive.org/details/militaryoccupati0000gann/page/162 162] |access-date=24 March 2016}}</ref>