Israel in Lebanon

The Report of the International
Commission to enquire into reported
violations of International Law by
Israel during its invasion of the Lebanon

Chapter Two

The professed and declared aims of Israel have been described earlier in the previous chapter of this Report. They embrace two aspects. Firstly, there is the dear objective to extirpate the PLO from the south of Lebanon, then from the whole of Lebanon, together with the Syrian forces. This later embraced General Eitan’s call for the disarming and expulsion of local radical militia, such as the Mourabitoun, even though they are Lebanese in nationality and in their political role.[1] There was then no reference to the disarming of the Phalange or the Haddad militia. Associated with this aim has been the articulated demand for a security zone to the north of the Galilee. The second aim, professed only after the invasion had got under way, was the demand for a peace treaty between Lebanon and Israel which, on the Camp David formula, would have neutrali1>ed Lebanon by removing it from the Arab camp, led to the dispersal of the civilian Palestinian population and established a friendly, preferably Christian, government in a country where Muslims and non-Maronite Christians constitute nearly 80% of the population.
But it has been obvious that there were deeper and more fundamental objectives associated with the invasion. Witnesses in Israel and Lebanon, in particular, drew the attention of the Commission to different strands in the thinking and strategy of the present Israeli leadership. Confirmation of these views can be found in the testimony of witnesses, the statements of Israeli leaders and the commentaries of analysts, particularly from the West.[1]
The original and announced objective of clearing the guerillas from a 25