On the evening of June 3, 1982, the Israeli ambassador to the United Kingdom was assassinated in London. The assassin claimed to be a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).
This was effectively a declaration of war.
The next day, Friday, the Israeli cabinet held a secret meeting, which continued until June 5. The final decision reached was to approve Defense Minister Sharon's war plan.
Israeli Prime Minister Begin asked Sharon, "How much time do you need to prepare?"
Sharon smiled coldly. He didn't answer. Because he had already completed all preparations. Since the 1970s, the Palestine Liberation Organization had gradually established a solid base in Lebanon, organized a powerful army, and continuously launched attacks on Israel. Sharon had long planned to invade Lebanon and drive out the PLO. To this end, he conducted extensive and meticulous preparations for war. He even risked his life, disguising himself and infiltrating Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, for a full two days in January 1981. He almost walked through the entire city, carefully observing every street and every important building. This was unprecedented in the history of world warfare!
June 6 was a Sunday. That morning, Major General Callaghan, commander of the United Nations peacekeeping forces stationed on the Israel-Lebanon border, conducted his routine peace patrol. He had recently received intelligence indicating that Israel might invade Lebanon. However, with his seasoned military eye, he detected no signs of troop movements or preparations for war by the Israeli army. At that moment, the border between Lebanon and Israel remained peaceful. Based on his experience, war could not possibly break out in the short term. After all, preparations for modern, three-dimensional warfare are massive and arduous.
However, when General Callaghan entered the Israeli front-line headquarters, his instinct as a soldier alerted him to a sudden change. Even more astonishing was the presence of Israeli Chief of Staff General Eitan! A terrifying word immediately flashed through his mind—war! He asked Eitan, "What are you doing here?"
Eitan coldly announced, "In 28 minutes, the Israeli Defense Forces will enter Lebanon."
Filled with anger at being deceived, Callaghan's face turned pale as he shouted, "I am the commander of the UN forces. I do not allow you to do this!"
Eitan sneered, "We Israelis do not need anyone's approval to act!"
Helpless, General Callaghan stood dejectedly outside the UN peacekeeping outpost, watching Israeli forces surge northward like a tidal wave. He had underestimated Sharon's ability to organize and conceal his troops. Sharon had long ago massed large numbers of troops in the Galilee mountains along the Israel-Lebanon border, with exceptional secrecy. At that moment, armored vehicles, trucks, tanks, half-track personnel carriers, communication vehicles, supply trucks, ambulances, and self-propelled artillery with a range of 130 kilometers poured continuously into Lebanon. From morning to night, the entire day had not yet passed. Sharon sat in a grass-green open-top jeep, racing northward at high speed, constantly cheered by Israeli soldiers along the way. At noon, he ate with the soldiers. After the meal, he got back in the vehicle and waved his arms, calling out: "Soldiers, I give you only one order, the supreme order: advance!"
When the vanguard of the tank units reached the Litani River, PLO fighters in a guard post at the crossing withdrew without fighting. The coffee left on the table was still warm.
The Israeli army was realizing Sharon's long-held operational concept: advancing on three fronts simultaneously to encircle Beirut in the shortest possible time. The left flank entered Lebanon from the west, capturing coastal port cities and cutting off the PLO's maritime supply lines. The central force advanced north from the Galilee region to seize the key Lebanese towns of Hasbaya and Beit ed-Dine on the Litani River. The right flank opened an eastern front with the aim of clearing the "Fatah zone," a 140-square-mile area in southern Lebanon where the PLO's most active combat unit, Fatah, frequently operated.
The PLO put up fierce resistance.
Sharon, however, was confident and in control. His orders to the troops were: quickly capture any point that could be taken; for points that couldn't be captured immediately, assign only a small number of elite troops to contain and besiege them, while the main force would not get bogged down, continuing to advance rapidly toward the final objective. Only after the entire operational concept was complete would they turn back to deal with these isolated strongholds. This tactic allowed the Israeli army to gain the most valuable factor in modern warfare—time.
Meanwhile, the fortresses the PLO had carefully constructed to resist enemy attacks lost their meaning when the enemy didn't attack them directly. As their hinterland fell, their rear was lost, and supplies were cut off, the morale of those defending the fortresses was severely affected. Many fortresses collapsed without a fight.
Two months after the war began, the PLO's main bases in southern Lebanon fell one after another. A newly established tank unit was completely annihilated. Thousands of tons of stored weapons and ammunition fell into Israeli hands. Three thousand fighters died heroically, six thousand were captured, and a large number of Palestinian liberation fighters were forced to go underground.
On August 14, Israeli forces reached Beirut, completing the encirclement of the PLO headquarters and the remaining PLO main forces. The smoke of intense battle had not yet cleared when Sharon appeared on the battlefield. He even sent for Israeli Prime Minister Begin. Standing at the highest point of the Beaufort Castle, once an important PLO base, Sharon looked back proudly, a conqueror's smile on his face. An officer reported to Sharon: "We have completed the encirclement of Beirut. The PLO headquarters and their leaders are all within the encirclement. Confirmed leaders include Arafat, Abu Iyad, Khalid, Hassan, Abu Mawj..."
Sharon clapped his hands excitedly and exclaimed, "Well done!"
Israeli forces launched an offensive on West Beirut. Shells whistled as they rubbed against the air, streaking overhead and falling in relentless barrages on West Beirut. Aircraft circled overhead, strafing and bombing. The ancient city, with a history of 3,000 years, was devastated by the ravages of war. Yet the PLO did not surrender. PLO Executive Committee Chairman Arafat declared to his fighters and to the world: "We will fight to the last man!" A senior PLO military commander firmly rejected Sharon's demand for PLO fighters to lay down their arms and surrender, stating resolutely: "You will either see my corpse, or see me continuing to fight!"
West Beirut was completely shrouded in smoke and flames. Gunfire, artillery blasts, the rumble of tanks, the roar of aircraft, and the thunderous collapse of buildings intertwined into a tragic symphony of war. The fiercest fighting took place in Martyrs' Square, where war turned day into night. The eleven statues of martyrs erected in the square to commemorate Lebanese national revolutionary heroes were blown apart, limb from limb, becoming "martyrs" once more. The buildings around the square had been leveled to the ground, and blood and corpses were everywhere among the ruins. Facing an enemy many times stronger, PLO fighters fought to the death. One PLO fighter, rushing toward an enemy tank with an incendiary bomb, shouted: "Comrades, die! Die gloriously! Our cause is just!" Almost every street, every stronghold, and every building held stories of PLO fighters' bloody struggle.
Israeli tanks rumbled into the Suk area of Beirut, preparing to flank and encircle the rear of the PLO headquarters. At a street corner, a flash of fire appeared at the door of a small house on the left. The lead tank exploded with a roar and burst into flames. The tanks behind had to halt their advance. At that moment, another flash of fire appeared at the door of the same house. The second tank shuddered violently as its tracks scattered with a clatter. Israeli soldiers panicked and shouted, "Grenade launcher! Grenade launcher!" Before the words were out, the third tank was hit and caught fire.
The Israeli tanks quickly scattered, but several more were hit by grenades. Enraged, the Israeli soldiers first raked the small house with machine guns, then used flamethrowers and grenade launchers. Finally, the house fell silent. When Israeli soldiers rushed in, they gasped in horror: inside lay only the body of a child, seemingly no more than thirteen or fourteen years old! He still tightly gripped the grenade launcher in his hands, even in death.
After personally leading tank units to capture a PLO stronghold, Israeli Deputy Chief of Staff Adam was filled with the joy of victory. He called a war correspondent to take his photograph and leaned against a tank, striking a pose. Just as the journalist was about to press the shutter, a terrifying shout rang out: "Watch out!" Adam quickly turned his head and instantly turned pale. Three PLO fighters leaped from behind a low wall, rushing at Adam like lightning. Despite the presence of Israeli officers and soldiers all around, everyone was momentarily stunned, unsure of what to do, helplessly watching as the PLO fighters threw a grenade at Adam. With a loud explosion, Adam collapsed into a pool of blood.
Adam's entourage seemed to awaken from a trance, simultaneously opening fire with submachine guns. The bodies of the three PLO fighters were instantly riddled with bullets. But they had accomplished their mission, sacrificing their lives to take the life of Israel's Deputy Chief of Staff. Adam became the highest-ranking Israeli officer killed since the outbreak of the Middle East War in 1948.
The Israeli army advanced slowly, but the cost was heavy. With every step forward, some young Israeli soldiers would forever sleep on foreign soil. For the small nation of Israel, with only three million people, the pressure of such losses was quickly felt. Their attacks intensified. The merciless artillery fire fell not only on the positions and fortresses held by PLO fighters, but also on homes, hotels, schools, and embassies. Even hospitals with large red cross markings painted on their roofs were bombed and strafed by Israeli aircraft. Countless innocent Beirut civilians, including many innocent children, became victims of this war. Every inch of Beirut was burning, yet the PLO fighters' resistance continued.
Some compared Beirut at that time to Stalingrad during World War II, calling it the "Little Stalingrad" great battle!
Nations around the world expressed anger at Israel's blatant invasion of a sovereign state, and waves of protest grew louder. Finally, even U.S. President Reagan felt the "smell of gunpowder was too strong." He sent envoy Habib to mediate between Lebanon, the PLO, and Israel.
Due to excessive casualties in West Beirut, Israel was forced to agree to a ceasefire, demanding that the PLO withdraw from Lebanon.
The PLO, having suffered heavy losses, also accepted the ceasefire. In late August, on a gloomy morning, under the supervision of the United Nations peacekeeping forces, the PLO headquarters and army began to evacuate from Beirut. On the square in front of the PLO headquarters, Arafat delivered a speech to the fighters in a calm voice: "Remember, we are leaving Beirut as an army. We will return one day!"