Arab-Israeli Peace Process - Essay Example

Its goal was to destroy PLO bases there and to end the attacks across its borders. Meeting little resistance, Israeli commanders pushed northward. They reached the outskirts of Beirut within a week. Fighting with Syrian forces erupted as well; nearly 80 Syrian MiGs and 19 missile batteries in the Bekaa Valley were destroyed without the loss of a single Israeli plane. By the end of June, Israel had captured most of southern Lebanon and besieged PLO and Syrian forces in West Beirut. The siege ended through U.S. mediation in August.

Israel agreed to leave Beirut provided Syrian and PLO forces also withdrew. A multinational force from the United States and Western Europe supervised the Syrian and PLO evacuation. On September 15, after the assassination of Lebanese president-elect Bashir Gemayel, Israel reoccupied Beirut. It then authorized Gemayels Phalangist militia to "cleanse" Palestinian refugee camps of any remaining PLO fighters. The Phalange massacred hundreds of Palestinians. The massacre sparked antiwar protests in Israel.

(Ovendale, p. 243) Israel signed an agreement with Lebanon ending the state of war in May 1983. Under Syrian pressure, Lebanon renounced the pact in March 1984. Public pressures in Israel led to the withdrawal of Israeli troops by June 1994; Israel left some 1,000 "security personnel" behind to assist its Lebanese allies. Although Israels borders remained secure, its internal stability was threatened by ongoing demands for Palestinian self-determination and by an intifada (uprising) in the occupied territories launched in December 1987.

Israel and the PLO signed a series of agreements on Palestinian self-rule beginning in 1993. These led to the turnover of much of the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip to Palestinian control. Israel and Jordan formally ended their state of war in 1994. Peace talks between Israel and Syria resumed in December 1999. But they soon broke down. On a more