page_title: Burj el-Shemali
section_title: 1978 South Lebanon conflict with Israel
hierarchical_section_title: Burj el-Shemali / History / Modern Times / Post-Independence (since 1943) / Lebanese Civil War (1975-1990) / 1978 South Lebanon conflict with Israel
caption_attribution_description: English: Visit of Imam Musa al-Sadr from the bombarded areas of southern Lebanon English: بازدید امام موسی صدر از مناطق بمباران شده جنوب لبنان
context_page_description: Burj el-Shemali is a municipality located some 86 km south of Beirut and 3 km east of the Tyre/Sour peninsula, merging into its urban area. It is part of the Tyre Union of Municipalities within the Tyre District of the South Governorate of Lebanon.
  It is particularly known for hosting the second-largest of the twelve Palestinian refugee camps in the country as a de facto autonomous exclave effectively out of the reach of Lebanese officials: The camp is ruled by Popular Committees of Palestinian parties under the leadership of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation which is de facto recognised by the municipality through some degree of coordination and cooperation. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East has the mandate to provide basic services, assisted by local and international NGOs. The Lebanese Armed Forces control entry and exit through the camp's main gate.
context_section_description: On 11 March 1978, Dalal Mughrabi – a young woman from the Palestinian refugee camp of Sabra in Beirut – and a dozen Palestinian fedayeen fighters sailed from Tyre to a beach north of Tel Aviv. Their attacks on civilian targets became known as the Coastal Road massacre that killed 38 Israeli civilians, including 13 children, and wounded 71. The PLO claimed responsibility for the bloodbath and three days later the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) invaded Lebanon and after a few daysoccupied the whole South, except Tyre urban area. Nevertheless, Tyre was badly affected in the fighting during the Operation Litani, with civilians bearing the brunt of the war, both in human lives and economically. The IDF targeted especially the harbour on claims that the PLO received arms from there and the Palestinian refugee camps.
  On 23 March 1978 the first troops of the newly-established United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) arrived in Southern Lebanon, but the Palestinian forces were unwilling to give up their positions in and around Tyre. UNIFIL was unable to expel those militants and sustained heavy casualties. It therefore accepted an enclave of Palestinian fighters in its area of operation which was dubbed the "Tyre Pocket". In effect, the PLO kept ruling Tyre with its Lebanese allies of the Lebanese National Movement, which was in disarray though after the 1977 assassination of its leader Kamal Jumblatt.
caption: Al-Sadr visiting bombarded areas in Southern Lebanon (undated)
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