Shortly after the invasion of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in the Lebanon war of June 1982 - which according to the Lebanese government killed some 1,200 civilians and injured more than 2,000 non-combatants in the Tyre area alone - the IDF set up a military post in the city and sponsored the return of al-Khalil. When his attempts to reconcile with the Amal Movement failed, he formed his own militia of some 40 men with Israeli support, recruiting mainly young Shiites from a poor background. However, al-Khalil's collaboration not only "discredited" and "delegitimised him in the eyes of the Shi'a, but also earned him the anger of the Syrians. This simple miscalculation was an act from which he was never able to fully recover politically".