Editing 1982 Lebanon War (section)

====Incidents 1975–1980====
The violence between Israel and the PLO peaked during [[Operation Litani]] in 1978, provoked by the [[Coastal Road Massacre]] which was carried out by Palestinian militants. The [[United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon]] (UNIFIL) was created after the incursion, following the adoption of [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 425]] in March 1978 to confirm Israeli withdrawal from Southern Lebanon, restore international peace and security, and help the government of Lebanon restore its effective authority in the area.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://legal.un.org/repertory/art98/english/rep_supp5_vol5-art98_e.pdf#pagemode=none |title=Extracts relating to Article 98 of the Charter of the United Nations: Supplement No 5 (1970–1978) |access-date=6 August 2006|work=Repertory of Practice of United Nations Organs |publisher=United Nations |pages=§275 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131019222951/http://legal.un.org/repertory/art98/english/rep_supp5_vol5-art98_e.pdf |archive-date=19 October 2013 }}</ref>

[[File:Lebanon civil war map 1976.gif|thumb|300px|A map showing the power balance in Lebanon, 1976: <br/>Dark Green – controlled by Syria:<br/>Purple – controlled by Maronite groups;<br/>Light Green – controlled by Palestinian militias]]

As early as 1976, Israel had been assisting Lebanese Christian militias in their sporadic battles against the PLO.<ref name="Morrisp???">[[#refMorris1999|Morris, p. ???]]</ref> During [[Operation Litani]] in 1978, Israel established a security zone in southern Lebanon with mostly Christian inhabitants, in which they began to supply training and arms to Christian militias which would later form the [[South Lebanese Army]].<ref name="Moris1999p503">[[#refMorris1999|Morris, p. 503]]</ref> But Israel's main partner was to be the [[Maronites|Maronite]] [[Kataeb Party|Phalange]] party, whose paramilitary was led by [[Bashir Gemayel]], a rising figure in Lebanese politics.<ref name="Moris1999p503" /> Gemayel's strategy during the early stages of the [[Lebanese Civil War]] was to provoke the Syrians into retaliatory attacks on Christians, such that Israel could not ignore.<ref name="Morris, p. 505">[[#refMorris1999|Morris, p. 505]]</ref>

In 1978, [[Menachem Begin]] declared that Israel would not allow a genocide of Lebanese Christians, while refusing direct intervention.<ref name="Morris, p. 505"/> Hundreds of Lebanese militiamen began to train in Israel, at the IDF Staff and Command College. The relationship between Israel and the Maronites began to grow into a political-strategic alliance, and members of the Israeli government like [[Ariel Sharon]] began to conceive of a plan to install a pro-Israel Christian government in Lebanon, as it was known that Bashir wanted to remove the PLO and all Palestinian refugees in the country.<ref>[[#refMorris1999|Morris, p. 509]]</ref>

From June to December 1980 the [[United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon]] (UNIFIL) recorded an increase in activities along the border zone. No attacks by Palestinian forces on Israel were recorded, while the IDF incursions across the armistice line into Lebanon increased markedly, with minefields being laid, gun posts established, and generally involving numerous violations of Lebanese air-space and territorial waters. This was formally protested by the Lebanese government to the UN Security Council and General Assembly in several communications as violations by Israel of United Nations Security Council Resolution 425. During the same period Israel protested numerous attacks by Palestinian forces, unrelated to the Lebanese border zone.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://daccess-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N80/333/72/PDF/N8033372.pdf?OpenElement|title=UN Security Council report S/14295|work=UN.org|access-date=1 May 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141020052325/http://daccess-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N80/333/72/PDF/N8033372.pdf?OpenElement|archive-date=20 October 2014}}</ref>