Despite a catastrophic Israel attack 50 years prior, Lebanon is still a proxy warfront

 

Infiltrating an upscale Beirut neighbourhood on a chilly night fifty years ago, an Israeli commando squad headed by a man posing as a woman shot and murdered three senior PLO leaders inside their residences.

Although the anniversary is not widely publicized, the April 10, 1973 action is still relevant today.

One of the first occasions Lebanon served as a venue for Israel and its adversaries to settle their differences was during the attack. It still is, as demonstrated by this week's cross-border exchange of rocket fire and airstrikes between Israel and Palestinian terrorist groups in Lebanon.

The Lebanese were astounded by the killings' brazenness—carried out by an Israeli squad that entered and exited Beirut with no opposition. Two years before to the start of the civil war, their nation was mostly recognised as a popular tourist destination where people came to party, visit historical buildings, go skiing on snow-capped mountains, or sunbathe on sandy beaches. It ushered in a new period that has persisted to this day, during which time Lebanon has frequently been intervened in by regional powers.

Ehud Barak, who ultimately rose to the position of chief army commander in Israel and later became prime minister in 1999, oversaw the attack. Its objectives were Kamal Adwan, the PLO official in charge of operations in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Mohammed Youssef Najjar, a PLO executive committee member, and Kamal Nasser, a popular writer and poet who serves as the PLO's spokesperson.