SUMMARY
Lebanese Forces - Hobeika faction (alternatively Forces of Elie Hobeika) was an armed group active in the Lebanese conflict over government. Lebanon has for a long time been a patchwork of different religious groups, with the most important ones in terms of size being the Christian Maronite, Sunni Muslims, Shia Muslims and the Muslim Druze. In order to ensure political and confessional peace, Lebanon relied on an elaborate, albeit unwritten, political power-sharing arrangement upheld by the National Pact (Mithaq al-Watani in Arabic). The Pact (established in 1943) dictated that legislative power in the assembly would be shared 6:5 in favor of the Maronite, that the President would always be a Maronite, that the Prime Minister would always be a Sunni, and that the Speaker of the House would always be a Shiite. However, intergroup tensions in Lebanon was reaching a breaking-point approaching the mid-1970s, as the country’s less favored groups grew increasingly aggrieved by the political and economic domination of the Maronite and Sunni elites. These tensions were aggravated by the influx of Palestinian refugees from Israel, and the increasing influence of PLO in Lebanon. It was generally accepted that these tensions exploded following clashes between right-wing Christian militias and Palestinian fighters, a crisis that forced the Lebanese government to resign. Following this, Lebanon descended into a bloody conflict 1975-1990, characterized by inter-sectarian strife. In simplified terms, the two main factions of the conflict were the Christian/Maronite right-wing groups and the Muslim/Druze left-wing groups, with the latter being supported by PLO and other Palestinian organizations. It was in this context that Lebanese Forces - Hobeika faction emerged. On 28 December 1985, Hobeika signed the Damascus Agreement together with NUF, an alliance of various left-wing/pan-Arab and Shiite Muslim groups fighting against the Government of Lebanon. The signing of this agreement was seen by the UCDP as the Hobeika faction’s statement of incompatibility, as it called for the abolishment of Lebanon’s system of government and a curtailing of presidential powers.
The Lebanese Forces – Hobeika faction was created as the Lebanese Forces splintered on 28 December 1985. The “Lebanese Forces” was a term used interchangeably for the militia of the right-wing Maronite Phalangist Party, and of militias affiliated with the “Lebanese Front” political umbrella organization (which included the Phalangists, among other parties). Cracks within the movement began to appear when its leader Samir Geagea attempted to make the Lebanese Forces independent of the Phalangist Party in February 1985. In response to this move, the Gemayel family (controlling both the Government of Lebanon and the Phalangist Party) expelled Geagea from the party, only to see Geagea seize control of the Lebanese Forces and most of the Christian enclave in Lebanon. However, Geagea later suffered defeats to Druse and Muslim militias near Sidon. As a result, Elie Hobeika was voted to replace Geagea as leader of the Lebanese Forces in May 1985, and Geagea was made Chief of Staff instead. Hobeika was known for having commanded the forces responsible for the massacres in the Palestinian refugee camps Sabra and Chatila in September 1982.
By 1985, Syria had begun to negotiate directly with the various Lebanese militia commanders, rather than the politicians, in order to end the conflict in Lebanon. The Syrian mediators were able accrue the support of Hobeika, who on 17 October 1985 demanded that the Lebanese army should return to its barracks, security be handed over to Syria and other forces, and that far-reaching political reform should be made. Geagea did not agree with this stance (remaining somewhat loyal to President Amin Gemayel) and attempted to seize control of the Lebanese Forces yet again, clashing with Hobeika’s loyalists throughout October. The Lebanese Forces thus splintered into one faction supporting Geagea and Gemayel, and one following Hobeika. The Geagea faction was viewed by the UCDP as being the original Lebanese Forces as the Phalangist Party decided to again endorse Geagea and his faction.
In September 1986, forces loyal to the Government of Lebanon defeated the Hobeika faction.
