Lebanon’s Southern Border: Conflict, Occupation, and Territorial Dispute

Year 2024, Volume: 11 Issue: 2, 71 - 100, 08.12.2024

Yasin Atlıoğlu

https://doi.org/10.26513/tocd.1518988

Abstract

Following the Hamas-led attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip on 7 October 2023, Hezbollah and Israel engaged in a worrying and dangerous military escalation along Lebanon’s southern border. For months, exchanging cross-border attacks has resulted in hundreds of casualties, including civilians, large-scale destruction of property, and displacement in South Lebanon. It also raised the prospect of conflict spilling over into Lebanese territory and escalating into full-scale war. Although conflict on Lebanon's southern border is seen as an armed struggle between Hezbollah and Israel, it is actually a result of historical process backing the 1920s. The border line was first drawn by the British and French in 1923 as the Lebanese-Palestinian border but transformed a de facto Lebanese-Israeli border after the 1949 Armistice Agreement. The demarcation line has provided a basis for conflict, including armed clashes, occupations, and territorial disputes, from the 1967 Arab-Israeli War to the present. This study examines political and military struggles, occupations, territorial disputes, changes in the legal status of the border, and claims over the border in the century-long period. In this context, this study aims to identify the main factors leading to conflict on Lebanon's southern border.

Keywords

Middle East, Lebanon, Israel, Conflict. Border Dispute

Lübnan’ın Güney Sınırı: Çatışma, İşgal ve Toprak İhtilafı

Abstract

7 Ekim 2023'te Hamas'ın Gazze Şeridi'nden İsrail'e saldırmasının ardından Hizbullah ile İsrail arasında Lübnan'ın güney sınırı boyunca kaygı verici ve tehlikeli bir askeri gerginlik ortaya çıktı. Sınırda aylardır karşılıklı olarak düzenlenen saldırılar, Lübnan’ın güneyinde aralarında sivillerin de bulunduğu yüzlerce can kaybına, büyük bir maddi yıkıma ve kitlesel göçe yol açtı. Aynı zamanda çatışmanın Lübnan topraklarına taşınarak geniş çaplı bir savaşa dönüşmesi ihtimalini ortaya çıkardı. Lübnan'ın güney sınırındaki çatışma, her ne kadar Hizbullah ile İsrail arasında bir silahlı mücadele olarak görülse de aslında 1920'lere kadar giden tarihsel bir sürecin ürünüdür. Lübnan’ın güneydeki sınır hattı, ilk kez 1923’te İngilizler ve Fransızlar tarafından Lübnan-Filistin sınırı olarak çizildi, fakat 1949’da yapılan ateşkes antlaşmasıyla de facto bir Lübnan-İsrail sınırına dönüştü. Bu sınır hattı, 1967 Arap-İsrail Savaşı’ndan günümüze, silahlı çatışmaları, işgalleri ve toprak ihtilaflarını içeren bir çatışma için uygun bir zemin oluşturdu. Bu çalışmada, Lübnan’ın güney sınırının yüzyıllık tarihi boyunca yaşanan siyasi ve askeri mücadeleler, işgaller, toprak ihtilafları, sınırın hukuki statüsündeki değişiklikler ve tarafların sınır konusundaki iddiaları incelenmektedir. Bu bağlamda Lübnan’ın güney sınırında çatışmaya yol açan temel faktörlerin tespit edilmesi amaçlanmaktadır.

Keywords

Lübnan, İsrail, Çatışma, Sınır İhtilafı

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