The Brutal Lebanese Civil War in Photographs, 1975-1989

As the civil war continued it drew in other forces, the presence of which only worsened an already complex situation: Syrian troops, the Israeli army, Israel-backed militias, a peacekeeping UN Interim Force in Lebanon, and joint US-French-Italian multinational forces. Massacres, bombings, assassinations and kidnappings became commonplace, and not without consequences.

The 1983 bombings of the US embassy, a US Marines barracks and the headquarters of the French military contingent in Beirut led to the withdrawal of multinational forces. In the end, it fell to the Saudis to bring the various participants to the negotiating table. On Oct. 22, 1989, three weeks of talks in the Saudi city of Taif between Muslim and Christian members of the Lebanese parliament concluded with agreement on a national “reconciliation charter.”

August 28, 2025 | 10:50 pm