Lebanon through four eras: From independence to an uncertain future

This period witnessed the rise of the Palestinian national movement in Lebanon in the form of armed struggle, which was legitimized by the Cairo Agreement of 1969. This led to the erosion of the Lebanese state’s sovereignty over its territory and the outbreak of the civil war in 1976, against this backdrop and due to sectarian divisions and conflicts within Lebanon, in which the Palestinian national movement became involved, whether intentionally or not. This situation in turn led to Syrian military intervention in Lebanon. This means that the period from 1976 to 1982 was a Palestinian Syrian era, while the purely Palestinian phase lasted only five years.