SUMMARY

The Joint Command Council of the Lebanese Forces, what was later to become known only as Lebanese Forces, was established in August 1976. The Lebaneses Forces was a unification of a number of Christian militias that had been expanding and cooperating for some time in Lebanon. The leader of the newly formed group was Bashir Gemayel. The group was thus originally made up by a number of party militias, of the individual member parties, but in 1979 the group also started to create its own militia. By depleting or absorbing other Christian groups the LF made sure that, by the early 1980s, it became the only representation of the Christian Maronite society in Lebanon.

During the long intrastate conflict in Lebanon, which started in 1975, the Lebaneses Forces was one of the parties controlling territory in Beirut. The group is often associated with the Phalangist party, but was according to some not only an instrument of the Phalangist but of all the member groups. However, it is worth noting that the leadership of the organisation remained in the hands of the Phalangist Gemayel family, with Bashir Gemayel being the commander of the troops until, in 1985, an internal coup placed Samir Geagea in command.

The Lebaneses Forces supported the Ta’if Agreement, signed by former members of parliament to end the conflict in Lebanon in 1989. In the aftermath of the agreement the group handed over its arsenal to the state in 1992. Two years later Syria decided to act against the LF leader, Geagea, who was arrested and sentenced to prison for crimes that he had committed during the war. Geagea received an amnesty from the Parliament in 2005, upon which time he returned to command the Lebanese Forces.

The Lebanese Forces have been involved in the intra-state and non-state categories of UCDP organised violence.