ABSTRACT
The completion of the deployment of the Deterrent Force over most of the area of Lebanon north of the red line created an uncertainty among the Syrians where the problem of southern Lebanon was concerned. The Litani operation produced a new situation in southern Lebanon. The failure of the transference of the force to Nabatiye had an important effect on Syrian tactics in the Lebanese crisis. The Syrians did try to promote their interests in the area by indirect means such as the southern Shtura Agreement and the attempt, in coordination with Syria, to bring a Lebanese military force down to the south. Israel followed with great concern the buildup by the Palestinian organizations of a military infrastructure in the south, and the transformation of southern Lebanon into an area for launching terrorist attacks against Israel. The Syrians suffered another defeat in the series of defeats they had experienced in southern Lebanon since the end of the Lebanese civil war.
