Editing History of Lebanon (section)

===Economic prosperity and growing tensions===
In 1958, during the last months of President [[Camille Chamoun]]'s term, [[Lebanon crisis of 1958|an insurrection]] broke out, and 5,000 [[United States Marines]] were [[Operation Blue Bat|briefly dispatched]] to Beirut on July 15 in response to an appeal by the government. After the crisis, a new government was formed, led by the popular former general [[Fuad Chehab]].

During the 1960s, Lebanon enjoyed a period of relative calm, with Beirut-focused tourism and banking sector-driven prosperity. Lebanon reached the peak of its economic success in the mid–1960s—the country was seen as a bastion of economic strength by the oil-rich [[Persian Gulf]] Arab states, whose funds made Lebanon one of the world's fastest growing economies. This period of economic stability and prosperity was brought to an abrupt halt with the collapse of [[Yousef Beidas]]' [[Intra Bank]], the country's largest bank and financial backbone, in 1966.

Additional Palestinian refugees arrived after the [[Six-Day War|1967 Arab–Israeli War]]. Following their defeat in the [[Black September in Jordan|Jordanian civil war]], thousands of Palestinian militiamen regrouped in Lebanon, led by [[Yasser Arafat]]'s [[Palestine Liberation Organization]], with the intention of replicating the modus operandi of attacking Israel from a politically and militarily weak neighbour. Starting in 1968, Palestinian militants of various affiliations began to use southern Lebanon as a launching pad for attacks on Israel. Two of these attacks led to a watershed event in Lebanon's inchoate civil war. In July 1968, a faction of [[George Habash]]'s [[Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine]] (PFLP) [[El Al Flight 426 hijacking|hijacked an Israeli El Al civilian plane]] en route to Algiers; in December, two PFLP gunmen [[El Al Flight 253 attack|shot at an El Al plane in Athens]], resulting in the death of an Israeli.

As a result, two days later, [[1968 Israeli raid on Lebanon|an Israeli commando flew into Beirut's international airport]] and destroyed more than a dozen civilian airliners belonging to various Arab carriers. Israel defended its actions by informing the Lebanese government that it was responsible for encouraging the PFLP. The retaliation, which was intended to encourage a Lebanese government crackdown on Palestinian militants, instead polarized Lebanese society on the Palestinian question, deepening the divide between pro- and anti-Palestinian factions, with the Muslims leading the former grouping and Maronites primarily constituting the latter. This dispute reflected increasing tensions between Christian and Muslim communities over the distribution of political power, and would ultimately foment the outbreak of civil war in 1975.

In the interim, while armed Lebanese forces under the Maronite-controlled government sparred with Palestinian fighters, Egyptian leader [[Gamal Abdel Nasser|Gamal Abd al-Nasser]] helped to negotiate the 1969 "[[Cairo Agreement (1969)|Cairo Agreement]]" between Arafat and the Lebanese government, which granted the PLO autonomy over Palestinian refugee camps and access routes to northern Israel in return for PLO recognition of Lebanese sovereignty. The agreement incited Maronite frustration over what were perceived as excessive concessions to the Palestinians, and pro-Maronite paramilitary groups were subsequently formed to fill the vacuum left by government forces, which were now required to leave the Palestinians alone. Notably, the [[Kataeb Party|Phalange]], a Maronite militia, rose to prominence around this time, led by members of the [[Gemayel family]].<ref>Smith (2006) pp. 310, 353.</ref>

In September 1970 [[Suleiman Franjieh]], who had left the country briefly for [[Latakia]] in the 1950s after being accused of killing hundreds of people including other Maronites, was elected president by a very narrow vote in parliament. In November, his personal friend [[Hafez al-Assad|Hafiz al-Assad]], who had received him during his exile, seized power in [[Syria]]. Later, in 1976, Franjieh would invite the Syrians into Lebanon.<ref>{{cite book |title=From the Holy Mountain: A Journey Among the Christians of the Middle East |last=Dalrymple |first= William |year=1997 |publisher=Vintage Books (Random House) |page=252|isbn=0006547745}}. [https://books.google.com/books?id=jHGYvr7rkrsC Reprint (possibly with different page numbers).]</ref>

For its part, the PLO used its new privileges to establish an effective "mini-state" in southern Lebanon, and to ramp up its attacks on settlements in northern Israel. Compounding matters, Lebanon received an influx of armed Palestinian militants, including Arafat and his [[Fatah]] movement, fleeing the 1970 Jordanian crackdown. The PLO's "vicious terrorist attacks in Israel"<ref>Chomsky (1999), p. 184</ref> dating from this period were countered by Israeli bombing raids in southern Lebanon, where "150 or more towns and villages...have been repeatedly savaged by the Israeli armed forces since 1968," of which the village of [[Khiyam]] is probably the best-known example.<ref>Chomsky (1999), p. 191, quoting ''Guardian'' correspondent Irene Beeson</ref> Palestinian attacks claimed 106 lives in northern Israel from 1967, according to official [[Israel Defense Forces|IDF]] statistics, while the Lebanese army had recorded "1.4 Israeli violations of Lebanese territory per day from 1968–74"<ref>Chomsky (1999), p. 74, citing ''Ha'aretz'', June 22, 1982, and p. 191, citing ''The New York Times'', October 2, 1977.</ref> Where Lebanon had no conflict with Israel during the period 1949–1968, after 1968 Lebanon's southern border began to experience an escalating cycle of attack and retaliation, leading to the chaos of the civil war, foreign invasions and international intervention. The consequences of the PLO's arrival in Lebanon continue to this day.

In 1974, the [[Amal Movement]], a Shi’ite political party and former militia was founded by [[Musa al-Sadr]] and [[Hussein el-Husseini]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Harris |first=William W. |title=Lebanon: A History, 600-2011 |date=2015 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-518111-1 |edition=Oxford University Press |series=Studies in Middle Eastern history |location=New York, N.Y |pages=232, 247}}</ref> Its goals were geared towards improving the social and political conditions of Lebanon's poor population. Although its primary focus was on the Shi'ite community, the movement operated as a secular entity and enjoyed the support of other communities.<ref name=":102">{{Cite book |last1=Najem |first1=Tom |title=Historical Dictionary of Lebanon |last2=Amore |first2=Roy C. |last3=Abu Khalil |first3=As'ad |date=2021 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-5381-2043-9 |edition=2nd |series=Historical Dictionaries of Asia, Oceania, and the Middle East |location=Lanham Boulder New York London |pages=25}}</ref>