Israeli missiles and bombs killed at least 200 Hizballah fighters and destroyed numer-
ous Hizballah military positions, but the attacks also flattened civilian neighborhoods
of Beirut and led some 900,000 Lebanese to flee their homes. The Israeli bombing
also destroyed much of the infrastructure only recently restored after the long civil war.
The reputation of the United States also suffered damage because during crucial
moments in the war the Bush administration appeared less eager to end the fighting
than to give Israel more time to inflict damage on Hizballah.
Lebanon’s weak government once again showed itself incapable of protecting its
citizens. The outside world eventually intervened in the form of UN mediation and
an expanded UN peacekeeping force that along with Lebanese Army troops deployed
to south Lebanon to replace Hizballah as the area’s security force. A resolution of
Lebanon’s underlying economic and political imbalances that might guarantee stabil-
ity remained elusive, however.
330 LEBANON AND SYRIA
TripoliLatakiaAleppoSidon
TyreHimsHamaDamascusBeirutTURKEYIRAQJORDANLEBANONSYRIAISRAELNahralKhabur
O R.
onr
tes
R.AfrinR.Euphrates
R.EuphratesR.
MediterraneanSeaBuhayratal-AsadLake Tiberias Golan HeightsWest BankShabaaFarmsUNDOF Zone0 75 Mi
0 75 KmOccupied by Israel
Modern capital
Modern bordersW ENSLebanon and Syria.