page_title: South Lebanon conflict (1985–2000)
section_title: Aftermath
hierarchical_section_title: South Lebanon conflict (1985–2000) / Aftermath
caption_attribution_description: English: My own work, taken in August 2007. A picture from the Lebanese-side of the Israeli-Lebanon border. This photo shows in the distance an Israeli army outpost.
context_page_description: The South Lebanon conflict (1985–2000) or the Security Zone conflict in Lebanon refers to 15 years of warfare between the Lebanese proxy militias SLA with military and logistic support of Israel Defense Forces against Lebanese Muslim guerrillas led by the Iranian-backed Hezbollah, within what was defined as the "Security Zone" in South Lebanon. It can also refer to the continuation of conflict in this region, beginning with the Palestine Liberation Organization operations transfer to South Lebanon, following Black September in the Kingdom of Jordan. Historical tension between Palestinian refugees and Lebanese factions fomented the violent Lebanese internal political struggle between many different factions. In light of this, the South Lebanon conflict can be seen as a part of the Lebanese Civil War.
  In earlier conflicts prior to the 1982 Israeli invasion, including Operation Litani, Israel attempted to eradicate PLO bases from Lebanon and support Christian Maronite militias. The 1982 invasion resulted in the PLO's departure from Lebanon. The creation of the Security Zone in South Lebanon benefited civilian Israelis, although at great cost to Palestinian and Lebanese civilians.
context_section_description: Upon Israel's withdrawal, an increasing fear that Hezbollah would seek vengeance against those thought to have supported Israel became widespread among the Christian Lebanese of the Southern Lebanon. During and after the withdrawal around 10,000 Lebanese, mostly Maronites, fled into Galilee. Hezbollah later met with Lebanese Christian clerics to reassure them that the Israeli withdrawal was a victory for Lebanon as a nation, not just one sect or militia.
  The tentative peace, resulting from the withdrawal, did not last. On 7 October 2000 Hezbollah attacked Israel. In a cross-border raid, three Israeli soldiers, who were patrolling the Lebanese border were attacked and abducted. The event escalated into a 2-month fire exchanges between Israel and Hezbollah, primarily at the Hermon ridge. The bodies of the abducted soldiers were returned to Israel in a January 2004 prisoner exchange involving 450 Lebanese prisoners held in Israeli jails. The long-time Lebanese prisoner Samir al-Quntar was excluded from the deal. The government of Israel, however, had agreed to a "further arrangement", whereby Israel would release Samir al-Quntar if it was supplied with "tangible information on the fate of captive navigator Ron Arad".
  According to Harel and Issacharoff the second phase of the prisoner exchange deal was only a "legal gimmick". Israel was not satisfied with the information supplied by Hezbollah and refused to release al-Quntar. "Cynics may well ask whether it was worth getting entangled in the Second Lebanon War just to keep Kuntar […] in prison for an extra few years."
  In July 2006, Hezbollah performed a cross-border raid while shelling Israeli towns and villages. During the raid Hezbollah succeeded in kidnapping two Israeli soldiers and killing eight others. In retaliation Israel began the 2006 Lebanon War to rescue the abducted soldiers and to create a bufferzone in Southern Lebanon.
caption: An Israeli Army outpost, in 2007, as seen from the Lebanese side of the border
exif: {"Image Make": "FUJI PHOTO FILM CO., LTD.", "Image Model": "SP-2500", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "FDi V4.5 / FRONTIER390-7.6-0E-446", "Image DateTime": "2007:07:25 12:37:34", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "8", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "690", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "6844", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0210", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": ":  :     :  :", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2007:07:25 12:37:34", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF Tag 0x920C": "197100", "EXIF Tag 0x920D": "4", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1840", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1232", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "324", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed"}