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An Untenable Truce | January, 1977 to December, 1982

Publication Date: July, 2014

With the deployment of the ADF in November 1976, which was intended to ensure that the ceasefire held, preserve the country’s sovereignty, and guarantee the application of the 1969 Cairo Accord, the country seemed to have entered a new phase of normalcy. The ADF, mainly composed of Syrian troops, deployed heavily in West Beirut, the Beqaa, Tripoli, Saida, and the Shuf, and had a lighter presence in East Beirut. It was everywhere except South Lebanon. Throughout the month, heavy and light arms were being collected, and banks reopened after 10 months of disruption. Violations continued to be committed, however, albeit on a smaller scale. At this point, only South Lebanon was witnessing increasing turmoil, with sustained fighting between the Christian border militias, supported by Israeli artillery shelling, and Joint Forces.

The truce, however, would not hold long, and in the following years, the country would once again find itself in the grip of violence. A series of sectarian-based violent incidents took place in the Shuf; the Syrian bombardment of East Beirut, known as the Hundred-Day War; the siege of Zahleh; two full- scale Israeli invasions, Operations Litani and Peace for Galilee leading to the siege of West Beirut and the massacre of Sabra and Chatila; and the increasing use of new forms of violence, namely car bombs and targeted assassinations.